Minolta AF-S V "Talker" 35mm camera
Minolta AF-S V "Talker" 35mm camera
The AF-S V "Talker" is a superb 80's Minolta point-and-shoot with illuminated auto-focus confirmation icons in its viewfinder (one of my favorite features in that generation of compact cameras) and an optional "talking" mode.
When the 'talking' feature is switched on, the camera will warn you in a lo-fi voice to 'charger le film si vous plaît!' if the film isn't loaded or 'utiliser le flash' if the light is too low if you set the switch in the back to 'F' for French (and the equivalent expression in German if you set the switch to 'D'). The talking can be switched off when the novelty fades (after about five seconds for me), leaving you with a very nice conventional camera built around a sharp 4-element 35mm f/2.8 Rokkor lens.
The film speed is manually set from ISO 25 to ISO 1000 by a dial around the lens. The camera requires two AA batteries (not included).
Vintage TV ad (English version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=kPVEJUd7bZo
(Note: the voice is much, much lower fidelity in reality!)
Example photos
Here are some pictures other people have taken with the Minolta AF-S V: https://www.lomography.com/cameras/3337501-minolta-af-s/photos
Condition notes
We film tested this camera and it produced very sharp, correctly exposed negatives. All functions are working correctly. The camera is in very good cosmetic condition as well (see photos) with the only noteworthy flaw being some rust on the included wrist-strap's rivet (we only noticed this when looking at the photos; we were able to clean most of the rust off afterward).