Minolta Zoom 60: manual and user guide

An autofocus compact with a 35-60 mm zoom. Its official PDF manual, then the essentials for using it.

Minolta’s official PDF, which it no longer publishes: the link opens the copy kept by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Getting started

Batteries Fit two AA alkaline batteries. Nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride and lithium batteries aren’t suitable. With the camera off, open the battery compartment, follow the polarity marked under the cover, then close it. On the date version, the date and time need setting each time the batteries are put in.
Loading Use DX-coded 35 mm negative film and load it in subdued light. Push the back latch up, put in the cartridge and pull the film leader to the FILM TIP mark, nice and flat. Close: the film advances by itself and “1” appears. If the cartridge indicator blinks, open it again and start over.
Sensitivity Nothing to set: it reads the DX code and exposes for ISO 100 or 400. ISO 200 film or film without a DX code is exposed for ISO 100. The manual recommends ISO 400 and advises against slide film.
Your first photo Switch on with the main switch and hold the camera without covering the flash, the lens or the AF window. Zoom with the T and W buttons, place the focus frame on the subject and press halfway. When the green lamp stays lit, press all the way: in low light, the flash fires by itself.
Rewinding After the last frame, the lens retracts and it rewinds by itself. Wait until the motor stops and the display goes out before opening the back. To rewind mid-roll, gently press the manual rewind button with the small tip on the strap.

A 35-60 mm zoom, f/6.3-10.3, controlled by the T (telephoto) and W (wide-angle) buttons.
Five modes on the mode button: auto flash, red-eye reduction, flash off, fill flash and self-timer. It goes back to auto flash when you switch it off.
Focus lock, for a subject outside the focus frame: aim at it, press halfway until the green lamp lights, reframe without lifting your finger, then press all the way.
A self-timer of about 10 s, to use on a tripod: the lamp blinks during the countdown and stays steady just before the photo. Press the shutter button or switch the camera off to stop it.

Range at ISO 100: 0.90 to 2.20 m at 35 mm, 1.20 to 1.40 m at 60 mm. At ISO 400: 0.90 to 4.20 m at 35 mm, 1.20 to 2.50 m at 60 mm, for colour film.
If the confirmation lamp blinks, the flash is charging.
With red-eye reduction, the lamp on the front lights up when you press halfway.
Fill flash fires on every shot, to soften backlighting or light that is too harsh. With the flash off, the shutter speed may be slow: use a tripod.

The subject must be at least 90 cm away at wide angle, and at least 1.20 m at telephoto.
The battery indicator has three states: full, everything works. Half, have new batteries ready. Empty, replace them.
It switches itself off after 5 minutes of non-use and the lens then retracts into the body: don’t touch it while it is moving.
Blank display: switch off and on again. “0” alone on the display: don’t open the back, take the batteries out and put them back in.
Through a window, the autofocus can get it wrong: focus on an object at the same distance, then reframe.

It’s designed to work between -10 and 40 °C. Don’t leave it in a glovebox or on the rear parcel shelf of a car.
It isn’t waterproof, dustproof or sandproof: protect it near water and at the beach. Keep the AF window clean.
For the lens, first blow off dust and sand, then wipe in circles with a clean cloth or lens tissue. Never fingers, alcohol or solvent.
After a long time in storage or before a trip, check that it works and take some test shots.

Format: 35 mm negative film, DX-coded
Lens: 35-60 mm zoom, f/6.3-10.3
Focusing: autofocus, from 0.90 m to infinity at wide angle and from 1.20 m to infinity at telephoto, focus lock available
Shutter: 1/3 s to 1/250 s
Metering: EV 7 to 15 at wide angle, EV 8 to 16 at telephoto (ISO 100)
Sensitivity: ISO 100 or 400 read from the DX code, ISO 200 and uncoded film exposed for ISO 100
Flash: built-in, 4 modes, up to 4.20 m at wide angle with ISO 400 film
Self-timer: about 10 s
Power: 2 AA alkaline batteries, about 12 rolls of 24 exposures (flash on half the shots)
Dimensions and weight: 115 × 67 × 39 mm and 185 g without batteries, date version: 115 × 67 × 44 mm and 190 g