I’ve been eyeing the Minolta P’s for quite some time, indecisive about whether or not I really needed another camera. Two weeks ago, I decided that a panorama camera was exactly what I needed to re-inspire my photography. I was tired of photographing the same old places over and over, and if I had to photograph them again, I could at least do so with a panorama camera. With this use-case in mind, I bought the Minolta P’s.

The Minolta P’s (aka Minolta Riva Panorama, aka Minolta Freedom Vista) is a 35mm point & shoot panorama camera with auto-everything (auto-focus, exposure, DX coding, film loading, advance, and rewind). The camera features a built-in mask which crops the photo into a panorama within a normal 35mm frame. Yes, it wastes part of the negative when creating an image, but what makes the Minolta P’s so compelling is the lovely panoramic viewfinder. It’s thrilling to view and compose your photos in cinematic widescreen panorama!

With all the automatic features, a panoramic viewfinder, and a light, compact, pocketable body, the Minolta P’s is a joy to use.

That being said, there are three drawbacks to this camera as far as I can see.

First, the 24mm lens is anything but stellar. The lens’ lack of sharpness is noticeable and photos are a little soft in the corners too.

Second, the Minolta P’s uses automatic DX coding to determine ISO, but it really only uses two film speeds: 100 & 400. Anything below ISO 400 defaults to 100 and anything rated ISO 400 or above defaults to 400. Plus, non-DX coded film defaults to ISO 100. Why Minolta chose to omit ISO 200 is beyond me. Coincidentally, the photos featured here were taken at Heritage Park with Kodak Gold 200 (which the Minolta P’s exposed as ISO 100 film, naturally).

And third, the Minolta P’s has a top shutter speed of 1/200 of a second. That’s okay for most picture taking, but too slow if you are hoping to freeze any quick movement.

To summarize, I really had fun using the Minolta P’s. It’s so easy to use and I absolutely love the way the panorama viewfinder changes the way you view and frame your photos. I wish the lens were sharper, but it isn’t enough of a drawback to make me hate the camera.

(Full disclosure: I did apply a little sharpening to the photos here when I scanned and converted the negatives.)

What I like about the Minolta P’s:
– Small, light, and pocketable
– Panoramic viewfinder
– Automatic convenience

What I dislike about the Minolta P’s:
– A noticeably less-than-sharp lens
– DX coding only has two usable ISO speeds: 100 & 400
– A maximum shutter speed of 1/200 of a second