KALIMAR
Kalimar is a well-known photographic marketing and distribution company
in Australia, and that was their target market, but their offerings can be
found in many markets. Kalimar sold a few re-badged SLR cameras, and
most of them used a Pentax 42mm-thread screw-mount. But there were
two Kalimar cameras of the Seagull DF-300-type, and despite the "K" in their
names, they used a Minolta/Rokkor lens mount. I guess, in this case,
the "K" comes from "Kalimar", as opposed to the famous Pentax K-bayonet
lens-mount.
Kalimar KX 5000
The KX 5000 is a stripped-down version of the Minolta X-370n. Most-importantly, it is strictly a metered-manual only camera. It has a built-in TTL meter, but it lacks the auto-exposure of the X-370n -- despite what some websites claim. It has three LED's in the viewfinder which indicate the correct exposure as you manually change the shutter speed (1-1/1,000, plus B) and the aperture. The viewfinder has a split-image rangefinder with a micro-prism collar, and shows a RED LED on the top for "over-exposure", a GREEN LED in the middle for "correct exposure", and a YELLOW LED on the bottom for "under-exposure" -- when the plain (non-sensa-switch) shutter release is pressed half-way. No LEDs is the battery check. The shutter is an electronic, quartz-controlled, horizontal-traverse cloth curtain, using two A76 batteries. It uses a silicon, center-weighted meter cell, has a self-timer, hot shoe, and film speeds from 12-3200 (although the diagram in the manual only shows 25-3200). Also, it will not acccept a motor drive.
It is the same camera as the Seagull DF-99 and the Phoenix P-2000 -- so it was obviously made by Seagull -- and is typically seen with a 50mm f1.8 Kalimar lens (also made by Seagull). Like its big brother, it was only available in a black body -- and although it is most often seen with a Minolta lens mount, it can also be found with a Pentax K mount instead -- adding to the confusion!
Kalimar KX 7000
There are lots of differences between the KX 5000 and the KX 7000, but they are easy to miss at first glance -- and some of them are significant. Cosmetically, the covering of the hand grip on the KX 7000 is changed slightly -- the three grooves of the KX 5000's front hand grip are gone. The back of the camera is the same on both.
More importantly, mechanically, the KX 7000 has exposure control with auto-exposure capability -- in addition to manual mode. The typical LED shutter speed scale appears on the right side of the viewfinder indicating the automatically selected shutter speed in A mode, and both the set & recommended shutter speeds in M mode.
Another addition is multiple exposure capability. A small lever next to the shutter release is pressed forward while the film is advanced. Actually, this prevents the film from being advanced, but the shutter is cocked. On top of this, the Kalimar KX 7000 displays the manually set f-stop of the lens on the bottom of the viewfinder -- like the Minolta XK and SRT102, among others. Of course they will only appear if the lens is designed with the f-numbers in the correct location -- most do. Plus, the KX 7000 adds the connections on the bottom for a motor drive.
Kalimar sold an autowinder, the M-1. It was designed for the KX 7000, but will fit on many other SLR cameras that use the Minolta auto-winder G.
It is slighty larger than the Minolta autowinder G, but it offers both single and contiuous exposure control. It was also sold under other labels, such as Centon and Soligor.
So, you can see that the Kaimar KX7000 is a big step up from the Kalimar KX 5000 -- even though they frequently sell for about the same pricce! And unlike its younger brother, the KX 7000 is often seen with a very nice, two-touch, constant-aperture, 35-70mm f3.5 Kalimar zoom lens -- which is really a Seagull 35-70mm -- which is really a copy of the great Minolta 35-70mm zoom.
| Shutter | Shutter speeds |
Flash synch speed |
TTL meter- ing? |
ISO settings |
Auto expo- sure? |
AE lock? |
View- finder info |
Flash shoe |
Sensa- switch? |
PC plug? |
Multi- expo- sure? |
Cable release plug? |
Stop down button? |
Self timer? |
Mirror lock-up? |
Motor drive option? |
Battery used for |
Film indicator |
|
| Kalimar KX 5000 | cloth, horizontal |
1-1,000 B |
1/60 | Y | 12- 3200 |
N | NA | 3 LED's | Dedicated | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | N | meter & shutter | Film window |
| Kalimar KX 7000 | cloth, horizontal |
4-1,000 B |
1/60 | Y | 12- 3200 |
Y | Y | Shutter speed scale |
Dedicated | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | meter & shutter | Film window |