Minolta's first SR-mount SLR — fully mechanical, no built-in meter, MD mount, 1958.
The Minolta SR-2 was the first 35mm single-lens reflex camera in Minolta's SR line, introduced in 1958 and marking the company's entry into the interchangeable-lens SLR market. It established the SR bayonet mount that Minolta manual-focus bodies would use for decades and set the pattern for the SR-1, SR-3 and later SRT and X-series cameras.
It is a fully mechanical 35mm SLR taking the Minolta SR/MC/MD bayonet mount, referred to here as Minolta MD. The horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter runs on a mechanical escapement, so the body fires without any battery. There is no built-in exposure meter, so metering was handled separately with an accessory or handheld meter, and exposure was set manually. The reflex viewfinder shows the scene through the taking lens via a pentaprism.
As an early mechanical body it suits collectors and photographers who want a battery-independent camera and are comfortable metering by hand or with an external meter. Controls are simple and the all-mechanical design has no electronics to fail, though the lack of a built-in meter means it is less convenient than the later metered SRT bodies for quick shooting.
On the used market, check the cloth shutter for pinholes and even travel across the frame, and confirm slow speeds do not hang. Foam light seals and the mirror-damper foam are commonly perished on cameras of this age and usually need replacing. Inspect the prism for desilvering or foam haze, test film advance and rewind for smooth feel, and expect no meter to verify since none was fitted. Being fully mechanical, it operates normally without a battery.