Customer Reviews

Minolta Freedom Family Zoom II 35mm Camera

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I ordered this camera to be delivered to my vacation spot. It was and I was disappointed all the way. The camera was supposed to come with film and batteries, neither was in the box. The zoom was horrible. I went to reload a new roll of film and could not get the tab for the film to roll over to hook it on. I am returning it for a refund. I must say that Amazon is great with their customer service though.

Bought this camera around September. The first roll of film came out great. About halfway through the second roll I turned the camera on and the zoom came all the way out and the lights flashed etc. I returned the camera for repair and Minolta repaired it under warranty, great. Went through 2 rolls of film for Christmas, all blurry. Returned camera to Minolta explainingg the problem and they send me an estimate for $61.00 to fix it, saying that I dropped it. I can buy a new camera for that price. I'll never buy another Minolta product.

This camera has a lot going for it. It's easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to buy film and batteries for. I bought this camera as a gift for my sister and took a test roll of film with it. The pictures came back sharp and the flash worked perfectly. The only thing keeping this camera from getting 5/5 is it's minimum focus distance, about 6 feet.

I am an avid amateur photographer that needed a compact camera for vacations. I have always used manual focus SLR's so I was totally unfamiliar with auto anything. In making a decision on my purchase, I tried to stick with brand names. I was familiar with Canon products in the SLR arena and was always quite pleased. However, not wanting to put my eggs in one basket, I chose Minolta. WHAT A MISTAKE. The camera worked well for the first 3 months, taking brilliant color photos. After that it was down hill quickly. The camera would auto-advance the film went it felt like it, Would double and even triple expose frames, overlap frames, etc. I changed batteries, film types, and film brands in hopes of fixing the situation but none worked. In speaking with Minolta service center representatives I learned that the cost of even estimating the repairs was (...)not very cost effective. Turns out this is just an expensive disposable camera. I think I'll stick to Canon from now on.