Rootsmagic 9 has been released today. I've been a fan for quite a few years, since Bruce Buzbee reached out to me in response to this blog post. Each release brings something new but the last release (Rootsmagic 8) was a rebuild from the ground up. 

Rootsmagic 9 builds onto this new foundation and introduces the following features:

1. Associations: these are new relationships beyond spouse, child, parent. A list of associations is provided plus you can make your own. Examples, friends, neighbours, apprentice, employee, employer. 

2. Colour code sets: currently I have two colours set in my file - a blue for my husband and his ancestors, and a red for mine. Colour codes let you have up to 8 sets of colours - each set can have quite 27 colours. The example provided was war (WWI, WWII, Civil, Revolutionary etc). I'm thinking it could be used to track Countries or Nationalities (Canada, USA, England, Scotland, etc). 

3. New database tools: Rearrange children or spouses for everyone in the file based on dates; Delete multiple people in a group, combining groups, change or removing fact types from everyone, enhanced property list. Note: BACKUP FIRST! These tools are particularly useful for people who have imported a gedcom into your own file in the past and need to do some cleanup.

4. View media from person view without having to select each fact or source citation. This is filterable by fact. This can be really helpful to identify duplicate copies of media. However, there is still no "merge" feature to merge two citation media together. This is one of my pet peeves with Ancestry source sync'ing as you end up with multiple copies.

5. Saved searches: I have been waiting for this for soooo long. I like to set these up and reuse them as task lists. For example, I have a search that looks for people who were alive and living in England during the 1880 census but whose census I haven't found yet:

The searches in Rootsmagic could still use some upgrading and aren't as good as genealogy software I was using in the year 2000 (Bruce please fix this!). I would like to see ability to add more parameters, ability to reorder parameters, and the ability to duplicate the saved search (e.g. I'd like to make a copy of this for 1870 census and just change the dates).

6. Filter tasks: Again another feature I've been waiting for. Tasks needed to be grouped by place, website, microfilms, books and so on. For example, if I am scouring birth records in England - I may as well be looking for *all* of the missing births at the same time. I've typically managed this with creative naming in the past but this is much better.

7. Citation usage: allows you to see all uses of the citation from the citation source and edit from there.

8. Groups: criteria for adding to people to groups. This feature is *powerful*. It allows you to select from the screen list, a saved search, or criteria you set on the fly. After you create the group you can then filter people from the people screen using the group. So if I use this feature with my saved search above, I can then filter people based on their membership of the search group.

A small ask

Upgrading to Rootsmagic 9 from Rootsmagic 8 is 50% off and comes in at $20 USD. Please support the Rootsmagic team by purchasing a copy and even buying the accompanying book. Bruce has spent years building and then rebuilding this software. Genealogy software is "niche" and large online companies like Ancestry are competing with the smaller guys. I want to make sure my file is available locally and I don't have to share *everything* with Ancestry for privacy reasons. Support Rootsmagic - buy your copy here.

I recently acquired a Prazisa optical rangefinder while thrifting in Kamloops, B.C. I had been wanting a rangefinder since acquiring a Leica rangefinder camera (IIIf) with a broken rangefinder. 

This camera could be used in zone focusing mode, but I didn’t have the confidence to do that unless shooting at f/8 to f/16 as my guesstimating of distances is really poor. Using f/8-f/16 would provide significant almost infinite depth of field it doesn’t allow you to isolate the subject and forces you into slower (sometimes blurry) shutter speeds.

I had looked on eBay for an optical rangefinder but didn’t have great confidence in finding one that actually worked, wasn’t foggy/fungus etc. I also wanted one that mounted horizontally on the camera cold shoe and not one that mounted vertically which I thought would attract too much attention when in use (like the Leica Fokos rangefinders).

I had wandered around the whole thrift store 2x. Given the thrift store was in support of our local hospitals  where I work, I was determined to find something to buy. I took a look in the cabinet under the cash register which was full of jewelry and trinkets, and noticed the rangefinder in a box. The two circular windows were staring up at me.

The Minolta Maxxum 7000 family

I thrifted my first Minolta Maxxum 7000 with a 28mm 2.8 AF lens for $10. I spotted it at thrift store next to a Minolta SRT101 film camera (also $10). I'd had the SRT101 before and sold it. It was very heavy and I gravitated towards my Canon AE1 film camera instead, so it wasn't interesting to me. But the Minolta Maxxum (or Dynax) 7000 intrigued me. I had been looking for a more modern SLR, thinking I'd run into a Canon EOS or Nikon SLR at some point. 

My $10 thrifted Minolta Maxxum 7000 with 28mm 2.8 lens

I hadn't considered a Minolta and was not even aware of them as a camera brand bar a few digital SLRs I'd seen back in the early 2000s. The camera had several recognizable buttons, ISO, Drive, Mode, and a +/- exposure compensation button. I tested the auto focus - quite snappy although a bit loud - fired a few test shots and the camera focused and fired. For $10 how could I go wrong. The camera even had working batteries - 4 AAAs.

Maxxum 7000 comes with a top LCD screen showing aperture, shutter speed etc.

I later learned the Minolta Maxxum 7000 was the first film SLR to be equipped with auto focus. It was produced in 1985 and interestingly the overlapping XX in the logo was controversial with Exxon suing Minolta for trademark infringement. What a claim to fame! 

Front view. Plastic grip showing some white coating due to age

These types of camera are not terribly popular. Most people getting into film want full manual mode - cameras like the Pentax K-1000, Canon AE1/A1 or the Minolta SRT101/X700. But I have already been down that path. I kept my AE1 as it was the smallest of the SLRs I owned and I had 3 lenses already as well as the power winder. I wasn't quite willing to part with it yet.

Maxxum's Data Back 70. Disappointingly only goes up to 2019.

The Minolta Maxxum 7000 uses an A Mount lens. Wait. I've heard of that before. I am a Sony A6000 owner and I guess am aware of the other Sony line up of DSLRs also using A mount lenses (you have to be careful buying lenses to make sure you buy E Mount for the A6000 and not A mount). So it turns out that Sony bought the rights to the A Mount for their first series of DSLRs like the A99. And even more strange (to me) the lenses are compatible between the two brands.

I checked out the Flickr (yes it's still around) groups for the Minolta 7000 camera. The photos I saw were actually sharp, clear, and really quite good for such an old camera. The photos shot with the 28mm 2.8 lens looked really decent, but I also noticed photos shot with a 50mm 1.7 lens that looked even better. Hmmm, I really wanted to look into that lens. I hopped onto our local buy and sell and spotted the lens for $40. Well that would turn my $10 bargain into a $50 investment. I offered the seller $25 but he turned me down. Did I really need it? Or did I just want it? I hesitated.

A few days later I found myself out thrifting again. I purchased a nice $10 point and shoot Canon Sure Shot Owl AF with an original Canon case for the kids to use (disposables are all the rage but this is better and cheaper). I was pretty much done for the day but in my last thrift store noticed a camera on the bottom shelf of the locked area. On checking it, guess what, another Minolta Maxxum 7000 but this time with two lenses and a flash. $25. Ok lady behind the counter, can I take a closer look?

Minolta Maxxum 7000 #2 with the XX logo and 50mm 1.7 lens

The second Minolta had a 28-85mm 3.5-4.5 lens mounted. A big heavy lens but one with Macro on it. Interesting. But what was the other lens? Oh yes, the coveted 50mm 1.7 lens. You know that feeling you have when you just put it out in the world that you'd find something and then it happened. Yes that. So I found my 50mm 1.7 for $25 (the turned down offer) but with a bonus camera body, 28-85mm lens, half case and a Minolta flash.

Minolta Maxxum #2 with the 28-85 lens

So now I own two Minolta Maxxum 7000s (did I mention that the 2nd one has the famous overlapping XX in the logo - so I know it was produced in the first 3 months of production before they had to change the logo), 3 lenses and a flash for the grand sum of $35. Canadian. Not even American dollars.  

Maxxum with flash and half body case

I'm running my first roll of film through Minolta #1 but the camera is looking good so far. These cameras seem to be quite readily available on Facebook marketplace and if you find one (or two!) at a thrift store, I encourage you to check them out.

Minolta 7000 Flickr Group

Minolta Lens Reviews (coming soon):
50mm 1.7 AF
28mm 2.8 AF
28-85mm AF

My first typewriter was an Adler Tippa. It was gifted to me by my aunt who had purchased it new a few years before. The typewriter was made in Holland in 1972 by the Triumph Adler company. While not the best typer out there (I prefer my Olivetti Lettera 32) it is extremely portable, as it is only 2.75 inches thin in the case. I also adore the colour!

Luckily the storage case also kept the manual with the typewriter. You can download a PDF copy of the manual here.

And here is the story of the typewriter:

Does anyone really need 4 typewriters? I'm told (by members of www.typepals.com) it doesn't seem to matter how many typewriters you acquire, you can always use another one. 

Typewriters are getting harder to find in thrift stores. Lots of electrics but not so many manuals. I guess this is a sign that more people are discovering the joy of using typewriters - which is a good thing as these machines often have lots of life left in them. 

My latest find was in the local classifieds. It is an Underwood Rhythm Touch. I watched the ad for several days as the typewriter was calling my name. At $50 it was around half the price of a couple of giant standards also listed. I finally succumbed to the temptation and drove over to take a look. The typewriter was working and a faint image could be seen on the paper. The space bar was sticky and the bell only rang about 1/2 the time. After paying the sellers $40 I drove away with my new typewriter.

After a bit of cleaning using air and alcohol (tip: don't blow the typewriter out on your office desk) the spacebar was no longer sticky. The bell took a bit longer to figure out. It required both cleaning with alcohol but also some sewing machine oil on the mechanism to allow it to reset between rings. It is now ringing the bell on every line as I approach the margin.

The serial number is 6716768 which identifies it as being manufactured in 1950. This is my oldest typewriter and also my first standard sized typewriter. The 11 indicates the carriage is 11 inches and will take an 8.5x11 in landscape orientation. This was originally designed for typing full size envelopes and such and is a handy feature without needing a wide carriage (like my Olympia SM9) which can be a bit too wide and unwieldy.

I was a little apprehensive about purchasing a standard typewriter because of the extra size required to store it, but I am enjoying the fact the page is so high. The paper is in your line of sight and limits the distraction around your - it is so easy to focus on the words on the page and the writing experience.

I have ordered a new two coloured ribbon and will still type on this one while I'm waiting.