When the Minolta Maxxum 7000 was released in the mid 1980's, it was probably the world's most technically advanced 35 mm camera. It was the first with both integrated auto focus and motor drive, and offered quite a few features, mostly controlled electronically. There were several operation modes... Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter priority, and "Manual," with up and down electrical buttons to change variables. Focus was switchable between Manual and AF. Battery holder loads with 4 readily available batteries, AAA size. With the dedicated flash unit, it had some state of the art flash capabilities.

Good friend of mine acquired a Minolta Maxxum 7000 body with attached 100-200 mm long zoom from Goodwill for mere pennies. She was going to destroy them, but I made a deal with her.
The body proved worthless, with some missing parts, but the lens seemed very good in condition.

Saturday the weather looked promising, so I attached the lens to one of my good Maxxum 7000 bodies, loaded with Kodak 400 film, and headed to the St. Louis Zoo early, to secure good parking.
The idea was to limit myself to the one 24 exp. roll of film, and the one long lens, and see what I could capture with minimal film waste, while testing lens performance.

The long reach of the lens seemed to suit itself to intimate portraits of larger animals.

All images are hand held, and I used available light, the dedicated flash stayed in my bag.
I think the lens helped produce some pleasant images.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are Copyright 2013 E.J.Kowalski.