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Why Sony / Minolta at all?

dirk

DPRF-Founder
Administrator
Hi,

I would like to know why you have choosen Minolta over Nikon, Canon etc. Is it because Minolta introduced the AF first, is it the better price/performance ratio compared to others (a Maxxum 9xi was a really bargain compared to Nikon F4!)etc.?

I do not want to start a Minolta vs. Nikon vs. Canon battle. I would be more interested in your general thoughts for your decision and why you picked Minolta model "A" over Minolta model "B" also why digital and not analog etc.

For a detailed comparison between specific Minolta models, please use the specific camera threads - not this one here.

Dirk
 
> I chose the Maxxum 7 for the incredible information it provides on > exposure: the honeycomb metering EV +/- information is the best > available for optimizing exposure and exposure is the key to > successful photographs.
 
To be entirely honest, I just happened to get my XD-11 handed down to me. As it turned out, I'd been handed down an intuitive, rugged camera that felt entirely natural to shoot. The availability of a wide range of very nice lenses for reasonable prices also has me hooked. That's why when it came time to either replace or repair the camera, I chose to pay the $125 to repair it. After all, I've already spent nearly twice that on a wide angle zoom lens for it.

As a loyal fan of the XD-11, I have to ask... why is there no topic section for the XD series in the manual section of this forum?
 
I started with a X700, a nice and good-looking camera at reasonable price. When the flash started to let me down I changed to the 7000i that I still have (15 years old now). In the meantime I have built up a large collection of lenses for my favorite shooting (bird photography). Most are exclusive and expensive (a 600 mm, a 400 mm and 80-200mm all APO) and a Minolta 9, with many accessories, such as a Macro lens, angle viewfinder IR remote control, ring-flash etc. This is why I stay with Minolta; too costly to change. I hate it, however, that they did not yet bring a good digital SLR onto the market, this would make my life in bird photography a lot more convenient and increase the hit rate, since one real time knows whether the shots succeeded or not. All in all I am very happy with the quality of Minolta, hardly ever had problems (only a 132 PX flash 15 years ago had reliability trouble).
 
I purchased an X-370N when I was in school to learn photography, it was a great, simple, easy to operate camera which gave me good results. As I became more experienced I really wanted DOF preview so I upgraded to an X-700 and I have never looked back, it is so light compared to other SLRs I've handled and like has been mentioned the lenses are ubiquitous and very reasonable.

I use mostly digital at this point (not a Minolta, sorry!) but if I line up a great shot I try to get a couple of frames of it on film as well to have something a little more permanent and capable of standing up to enlargement.

Regards,

Michael
 
Once the photography bug bit me good and hard, I pestered my father into letting me 'borrow' his "Big" camera - a Maxxum 7000 with a 500mm f1.7 lens. Well, this was great for a couple of years, but I needed some more features (spot metering mainly) so I bought an 800si before a trip to Australia. The 7 came out a year later (DOH!) and I'm still trying to get a home equity loan so I can git me one! I love certain Minolta features (flash, ergonomics etc) and I think they have many great lenses that are under-rated (24-105, 100mm macro, 400 mm f4.5). I have to admit that lately I've been considering switching to Canon (IS lenses and D-SLR's) but couldn't afford that anyways, so it's a moot point. I'm hoping Minolta will produce a quality D-SLR soon, and so that by the time I can afford one I won't be required to switch systems.

Another good point (sort of) - there are great deals for used Minolta gear available on the web as a lot of people are switching and dumping Minolta gear. The faithful will be rewarded!

Happy shooting all!

CB
 
Ooops, that would be a 50mm f1.7 lens in my previous post. Even Minolta isn't good enough to make a 500mm f1.7 lens!

CB
 
I started slr photography with a Pentax k1000 and then moved to ME-Super. Both were excellent camers. Then the ME-Super developed problems which could not be repaired in India. while I was looking for another camera I came across the Minolta 7000, with 2 lenses and flash which I bought from a friend of mine. In India we did not have access to good camers at that time and one had to bring it from abroad. This was in 1990. Ever since I have been part of the Minolta family and have nver regretted my decision to switch over to Minolta. Currently I have a 600si, 800si and the 7 and I am enjoying my photography.

Ramesh
 
I do lots of head shots on the run so the wire-less off camera flash capabilities using a Maxxum 9 and 4500HS flashes make it a breeze. I need some advice on their use so if anybody is using this or a Max7 4500HS combination let me know. The manuals are not as clear as thay could be.
Vince
 
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