I was preparing to shoot my first and third rangefinder cameras for yet another excercise. Both of these were classics in their day, and to this day, among non-exotics. Then it hit me: I was an available-light junkie even back in 1963, when I bought myself the Minolta as a combined graduation and honeymoon gift.

Both the Minolta and later the Canon were chosen in part because of their fast lenses. In the case of the Minolta, it was the f/2 lense (as well as the 1/1000ss) at a time when most every other affordable camera was 2.8 if not 3.5. And in the case of the Canon, this was the faster of the two models at f/1.7 and replaced my stolen Minolta HiMatic 9 at a time when f/1.7 and f/1.8 lenses were still rare on rangefinders (f/2.8 the norm).

Both these cameras are exquisitely crafted and heavy...keep in mind these were not exotics...simple good quality consumer cameras. I believe my Minolta cost $87 and change in 1963...a goodly sum perhaps equivalent to buying a Nikon D40 today (the simplest and least expensive Nikon DSLR).

So because of their sentimental value, exquisite industrial design, and the dawning realization of my available-light fixation, I believe these qualify readily for "Seeing it again for the first time"....the gist of the assignment.