Specialists In Astrophotography

Point & Shoot Ease
Exciting Features
High-Quality Results

There are a number of ways to explore life. But have you ever tried exploring life  with pictures? Well, Minolta has the perfect camera for exploring life. The Freedom Zoom Explorer EX.

The Zoom Explorer EX’s 2.7-times zoom lens lets you shoot high-quality photographs with ease. Get as close as 15.6 inches to capture a hidden world that often goes unseen. Or widen out for sweeping landscapes, beautiful night views, memorable travel photos, or full-frame portraits. The Freedom Zoom Explorer EX does it all,
and it’s ready when you are -- in your pocket, purse, or fanny pack.

Features

Pocketsize, Stylish Design with Silver Metallic Finish
Minolta’s Freedom Zoom Explorer EX features a slim, smooth, and protective design that makes it very easy to carry in a pocket, purse, or fanny pack. When the camera is turned off, the lens and flash retract completely into the camera body to form a smooth, capsule-like shape weighing only 8.6 ounces (without batteries). The body is finished in eye-catching metallic silver matte, and the control buttons are in brilliant metallic silver, to give the camera an elegant, high-precision appearance.
 
Easy Operation
To make the Explorer EX very easy to operate, each button is positioned next to its corresponding indicator in the data panel, so that the user can see at a glance which functions each button controls.
 
28 - 75mm (2.7x) Aspheric Zoom Lens
The compact 28-75mm zoom lens features Minolta’s exclusive four-element lens design with two double-sided aspheric elements, and a multi-coated lens surface. This design minimizes optical aberrations and creates an outstanding level of compactness while providing razor-sharp, high-contrast images. The wide-angle 28mm position is ideal for photographing sweeping landscapes or groups of people in front of famous landmarks, and for shooting in tight spaces. The 75mm focal length is perfect for full-frame portraits or for zooming in on the main subject.
 
3-Beam, 300-Step Autofocusing
A triple-beam, 300-step autofocus system ensures crisp, precise focus in a wide variety of shooting situations. In addition to the central focusing beam, two lower side beams prevent the camera from focusing on the background if people are positioned on each side of the focus frame.
 
Full-Range Close-Up Capability
The Freedom Zoom Explorer EX can photograph subjects as close as 15.6 inches throughout its entire zoom range. Shooting at this close distance is especially effective for capturing detailed, magnified pictures of miniature subjects like flowers and tabletop knickknacks. The high-quality lens ensures crystal clear close-up images.
 
Subject Program Selection
The Freedom Zoom Explorer EX features a fully automatic point & shoot mode for general photography, plus three additional exposure programs that custom-tailor the camera’s automatic systems for specific types of subjects or scenes. This allows photographers to use the camera in a variety of situations with ease and confidence.

Full Auto - Provides standard "point & shoot" operation for everyday snapshots. This mode is set automatically whenever the camera is turned on, or after a picture is taken using one of the specialized subject programs. If the light is low, the built-in flash will fire automatically.

Close-Up - Fixes the lens at 75mm for maximum subject magnification and limits the autofocusing range to 1.3 - 3.28 ft., for optimum sharpness with close-up subjects.

Night Portrait - This mode is ideal for photographing a person in front of an illuminated night scene or at sunset. It fixes the flash to manual fill with selectable red-eye reduction, and synchronizes the flash with a slow shutter speed to balance the flash illumination on the subject with the ambient light in the background. Because of the slow shutter speed, a tripod is recommended to prevent blurring caused by hand-held camera shake.

LandscapeNight View – Cancels the flash and fixes the focus at infinity for crisp, clear photos of distant scenery, even if photographed through a windowpane. This mode is also effective for capturing beautiful photos of night scenes such as a city skyline.
 
Pop-Up, Multi-Mode Flash
When the camera is turned on, the built-in flash pops up ready for use. When the camera is turned off, the flash retracts completely into the camera body. The flash has four modes: Auto Flash, Auto Flash with Red-Eye Reduction, Manual Fill, and Flash Cancel. Because the flash pops up out of the camera, it lessens the chance of the flash being accidentally blocked by the user’s finger.
 
Automatic Soft Flash
Conventional compact cameras always fire a full flash burst with each flash exposure. Unfortunately, this could result in an overexposed subject if the subject is too close to the camera. To prevent a close subject from being overexposed and "washed out," the Freedom Zoom Explorer EX uses IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) control circuitry which automatically sets a softer flash intensity for close-ups. This same circuitry also controls the intensity of the red-eye reduction pre-flash burst.
 
Red-Eye Reduction
To reduce the unpleasant red-eye effect caused by the flash reflecting off the inside of the subject’s eyes, the camera fires a short flash burst to close down the subject’s pupils before the exposure flash is fired and the picture is taken.
 
Continuous Film Advance
For action-catching sequences, the Freedom Zoom Explorer EX can be set to advance the film at approximately 1 frame every 1.5 seconds for as long as the shutter-release button is held down.
 
Self-Timer
The 10-second self-timer lets the user set up the shot and appear in the photo. The camera’s self-timer lamp blinks to signal countdown.
 
Automatic Film Operation
Film loading is no problem with the Freedom Zoom Explorer EX. Simply position the film cartridge and leader, then close the camera back. The camera automatically sets the DX-coded film speed, threads the film to the first frame, advances the film after each shot, then rewinds the film when the roll is finished. The power rewind function can be activated at any time.
 
 
 
Remote Control RC-3 (Included)
 
The card-style, wireless remote control RC-3 provides greater convenience and creative versatility by allowing the photographer more time to get into a picture than a self-timer, and freedom to take multiple photos without returning to the camera. The RC-3 has a working range of approximately 16 feet and provides two shutter-release modes: immediate and 2-second delay.
 
Data Imprinting (Panorama DATE model only)
The Freedom Zoom Explorer EX imprints the date or time right onto each photo, when desired. Data imprinting is very useful for cataloging photographs or keeping photo records of birthdays, weddings, graduations, and other important events. The Explorer EX uses a front-imprinting data module to eliminate the thick back cover required by conventional data back cameras.
 
Switchable Panorama Format (Panorama DATE model only)
A panorama mode selector switch lets the photographer take both standard and panorama format pictures on the same roll of film. When panorama format is selected, the viewfinder is automatically masked.
 
Specifications
 
Type:
35mm lens-shutter camera
 
Lens:
28 - 75mm; f/3.5-8.9; 4 elements, 4 groups; two double-sided aspheric elements
 
Focusing Range:
1.3 ft. - infinity (0.4m - infinity); Close-up mode: 1.3 – 3.28 ft. (0.4-1.0m)
 
Autofocus System:
3-beam, active infrared type with approx. 300 focusing steps; focus lock available with the shutter-release button pressed partway down; maximum magnification 1 / 4.3.
 
Autoexposure System:
Programmed AE with center weighted metering
 
Shutter Speed Range:
8 - 1/500 sec
 
Metering range (ISO 100):
W: Ev 2.6-17; T: Ev 3.3-17
 
Film Speed Range:
ISO 25-3200 in 1Ev-stop increments
 
Film Transport:
Auto loading, automatic rewinding, mid-roll rewinding possible
 
Viewfinder:
Real-image zoom type
 
Magnification:
0.30 - 0.68X
 
Diopter (for subject at 9.8 ft.):
-1 diopter
 
Field-of-View:
88% (for subject at 9.8 ft.)
 
Eye-Relief:
19mm from the eyepiece frame
 
Flash:
Built-in, pop-up type; electronic flash-matic with flash intensity control
 
Flash Range (in feet at ISO 100):
W: 1.3 – 19.35 ft.; T: 1.3 – 7.54 ft.; (in meters): W: 0.4-5.9m, T: 0.4-2.3m
 
Flash Recycling Time:
0.3 - 7 sec
 
Flash Modes:
Autoflash (in low-light), Autoflash with red-eye reduction, Manual fill-flash, Flash cancel, Red-eye reduction flash
 
Subject Program Selection Modes:
Close-up, Night Portrait, Landscape/Night View
 
Self-Timer:
10 sec
 
Continuous Drive:
1.5 sec./frame
 
Remote Control:
RC-3, infrared type; Modes: Immediate, 2 sec. delay
 
Data Imprinting (Panorama DATE model only):
Year, month, date / Month, date, year / Date, month, year / Date, hour, minute / No imprinting
 
Battery:
One 3V lithium (CR123A); Battery-condition indication: 2-stage indication
 
Battery Performance:
Approx. 13 rolls using 24 exposure film with flash on 50% of exposures
 
Dimensions (WxHxD inches):
4.76 x 2.6 x 1.73 in. (121 x 66.5x 44mm); Remote control: 1.24 x 2.59 x 0.23 in. (31.5 x 66 x 6mm)
 
Weight (w/o battery):
Camera: 8.6 oz. (245g); Remote control (w/ battery): 0.42 oz. (12g)
 
Specifications are based on the latest information available at the time of posting and are subject to change without notice.