Minolta's affordable early SR SLR — mechanical, external metering, MD mount, 1959.
The Minolta SR-1 was introduced in 1959 as a more affordable companion to the SR-2, positioned below it in the SR line and produced in several revisions over its long run. It shares the SR bayonet mount and the mechanical design of the early SR bodies, and it sold in large numbers as an entry point into Minolta's SLR system.
It is a fully mechanical 35mm SLR using the Minolta SR/MC/MD bayonet mount, here labelled Minolta MD. The horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter is mechanically timed, so the camera fires without a battery. Early versions had no built-in meter and were used with clip-on accessory meters or a handheld meter, with exposure set manually. The reflex pentaprism finder shows the image through the taking lens.
The SR-1 suits students, collectors and anyone wanting a simple battery-independent mechanical body. Its stripped-back feature set keeps operation straightforward, though metering without a built-in cell relies on an external meter, and some early bodies capped the shutter speed range below that of the SR-2.
On the used market, inspect the cloth shutter for pinholes and confirm even curtain travel and functioning slow speeds. Foam light seals and mirror-damper foam commonly perish and usually need renewal. Check the prism for desilvering or foam haze, test the film advance and rewind for smoothness, and note that meter behaviour cannot be checked on bodies with no built-in meter. As a mechanical camera it works fully without a battery.