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Why Sony / Minolta at all?

Good News!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WILL THERE BE A MINOLTA MAXXUM DIGITAL SLR?
Absolutely, so hold onto your lenses, Maxxum aficionados. Scenario calls for a 90 percent operational s&le by PMA trade show (February 12-15) with delivery by Photokina (September-October 2004). One feature unnamed will be a big surprise. Look for new 35mm SLRs at PMA, plus at least four point-and-shoot upgrades.

http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?article_id=766&section_id=5&page_number=5
 
Well presumably Minolta were working on this before they merged with Konica. My understanding was that they were not doing anything until the merger was in place till January.

Fingers crossed that this is true.
 
Why ?

Twenty-seven years ago a sweet young lady gifted me with my first 35mm camera. A Minolta range-finder, the model number has since escaped me. The camera broke long ago and was unable to repair the shutter. I tossed the Minolta, but kept (married) the girl.

My next Minolta experience was the new AF Maxxum-7000. I was amazed by the people who would stop me on the street (Toronto) just to chat and admire it ! This sweet light-box quickly found it's limitations whereupon I soon traded-up to the now classic Maxxum-9000 c/w all the goodies; motor, flashes,flash grip and several lenses. A lot of cash for my salad days of the mid-80's! That was my baby for 18 plus years and still have it.

Alas, tired but true, it was time to move up and on. Presenting the just arrived Maxxum 7, also with many of the top add-ons. 5600-HS-D flash, several D-zoom lenses and battery grip etc. What a great camera this is, although still a little daunting for me at times.

Now the digital age has arrived and Minolta has not let me down. Recently I took ownership of a fantastic digital, the Dimage A1 of which I'm currently getting comfortable with. The AS works like a charm. Lots of potential fun for me here.

So, looks like I'm a Minolta lifer ! Why again ?

Many, many reasons. Mostly the reliability. Never had to repair a Minolta camera or accessories, with the exception of my first of course. Second, is the innovations Minolta brings to the table and life outside of the "box" i.e. Canon and Nikon arrogance. Easy to use, cost effective, a joy to own and sensuous hold.
 
Those that are in a hurry to get the digital product, will only find by the time they get it, there will be a better product. That is the digital world. I would find it very frustrating that there will be a better resolution out as soon as I made the decision and spent alot of money for it. And it wont take the same storage cards or use the same lenses, yada, yada, yada. Not to mention the printers, ink and so on. But my film camera from 20 years ago will being doing the same great job with the better films that are available.
 
Agree with you Steve. I went the 9000 then 7xi route. I then traded them in and now have a 9, 7, and A1. All GREAT cameras. Had started to lose my faith in Minolta re lack of d-SLR with interchangeable lens but now understand one is due out later this year. Only problem with that is that, as a retiree, I may not be able to afford one. I also question whether we need to continue chasing megapixels over a certain limit as increasing file size etc means larger memory cards, computers etc............maybe this is me trying to justify not going to the new d-SLR when it arrives.

> Posted by Steve Beland (Stv) on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 6:53 pm: > > Why ? > > Twenty-seven years ago a sweet young lady gifted me with my first 35mm > camera. A Minolta range-finder, the model number has since escaped me. > The camera broke long ago and was unable to repair the shutter. I > tossed the Minolta, but kept (married) the girl. > > My next Minolta experience was the new AF Maxxum-7000. I was amazed by > the people who would stop me on the street (Toronto) just to chat and > admire it ! This sweet light-box quickly found it's limitations > whereupon I soon traded-up to the now classic Maxxum-9000 c/w all the > goodies; motor, flashes,flash grip and several lenses. A lot of cash > for my salad days of the mid-80's! That was my baby for 18 plus years > and still have it. > > Alas, tired but true, it was time to move up and on. Presenting the > just arrived Maxxum 7, also with many of the top add-ons. 5600-HS-D > flash, several D-zoom lenses and battery grip etc. What a great camera > this is, although still a little daunting for me at times. > > Now the digital age has arrived and Minolta has not let me down. > Recently I took ownership of a fantastic digital, the Dimage A1 of > which I'm currently getting comfortable with. The AS works like a > charm. Lots of potential fun for me here. > > So, looks like I'm a Minolta lifer ! Why again ? > > Many, many reasons. Mostly the reliability. Never had to repair a > Minolta camera or accessories, with the exception of my first of > course. Second, is the innovations Minolta brings to the table and > life outside of the "box" i.e. Canon and Nikon arrogance. Easy to use, > cost effective, a joy to own and sensuous hold.
 
I have used a Mamiya 35, all manual, for many years. Became very difficult to find lenses and accessories so I bought the Minolta 800si, which was only made for a minute and then replaced by the Maxxum 7. I really like the 800si, I like it's metering functions, but use it in manual mode for the most part. I then wanted a second body as I do primarily B&W but there are times when color would be best and didn't want to change film, so lost the shot. I decided on the Maxxum 9 after using a friends and really liked the way it felt in my hands. The speed was lovely and like the bracketing feature. I had a difficult time trying to decide whether to go with Nikon or Canon or Minolta. But I have a considerable investment in Minolta lenses and have not had a moments problem with the 800 so I made the decision to get the 9 and am very happy with it. I understand they are also going to be coming out with a new 35mm but the 9 meets all of my needs. Lenses are what are the next important item. I also use a Mamiya 645 for medium format and love it.
I think one has to really look at what about photography provides the attraction in the first place. I am constantly fascinated by the development process in the darkroom. I work with computers all day and certainly do not want to sit at a computer for hours with the digital process. I think too many people are going to digital because that is where the industry is going. I was never a follower so not much concern for me. And I can't afford to upgrade, upgrade, upgrade.
 
Tugwilson: Your located in Ontario ? Henry's has a 12 month 1/2 price return policy on upgrading any digital camera purchases from them. Unfortunately, I purchased from Merkel, mostly due to the A1 camera was in-stock and slightly cheaper. I'm sure any new Minolta DSLR will be compatible with the (D) lenses, but I just couldn't wait. I'm content with the justification and so should you, IMHO. Relax and enjoy the A1
happy.gif


Spence: I agree with all that you have to say, especially since my recent 7 purchase. I luv the BS digital line "Never pay for film processing again". From the high cost of mega-pixel cameras, photo-quality printers, not to mention the robbery cost of ink cartridge replacements and photo quality paper, etc.......well, lets not go there !
However, I am attempting to embrace digital format simply because of the immediate image gratification results I get with a prosumer digital and the flexibility I have to control and manipulate these images at my own discretion and whim, repeatedly I might add.

P.S. I can empathize with your frustration, sadly your next new computer, VCR, DVD, TV, camera was outa date the day you purchased it. The next-newer-better-biggy-thingy is already on the truck and in transit.
 
Its not an issue as to what is around the digital corner at all. You buy a digicam to do a job,if it does the job it does not need replacing Its rather like buying a hammer that knocks in nails the same way year after year. You may replace with a better hammer but will you need it for more than your original hammer? I bought the 7 the 7i and then the 7Hi,selling the previous model whilst still under guarantee but stopped at the A1. Its a fine camera but still the same sensor and the flawed lens,don't misunderstand me ,the 7 series have been great value for money but the distortion at wide angle is just too much for any shots with straight lines in . I know software solutions are available but why does not Minolta provide one as part of the package ?. If I remember correctly the Digital SLR, when it comes will have a similar size sensor to the Dimage of around 5 mb which is really inadequate when cameras like the Kodak 14n already use a 14mb sensor. I will happily be corrected on the future digicam Michael ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted by janis spencer (Spence) on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 8:23 pm:

Those that are in a hurry to get the digital product, will only find by the time they get it, there will be a better product. That is the digital world. I would find it very frustrating that there will be a better resolution out as soon as I made the decision and spent alot of money for it. And it wont take the same storage cards or use the same lenses, yada, yada, yada. Not to mention the printers, ink and so on. But my film camera from 20 years ago will being doing the same great job with the better films that are available.
 
Uksnapper: The A1 has a unique feature that you should have a look at called the "AS" as in Anti-Shake. It works very well which is the reason Dimage A1 was given the new name, rather than the nomenclature 7, up-alpha rename.

However, the point I take issue with is your comparison of apples to Cadillacs, it just don't hold. The A1 is in a completely different market segment than the Kodak14n.
How different you ask. The base A1 cost before upgrades, accessories and taxes is approximately $1,200.00 CDN. The estimated base price for the Kodak 14n is around $5,600.00 plus CDN. If the new Minolta is gonna be in that price range before I can own a respectable digital SLR camera well then, I guess I'm just going to have to get outa this game.
 
I have seen a lot of digital camera bashing in this forum and I guess I understand. Since I was in 9th grade ( I am 42 this Saturday) and got hooked on photography, I was very skeptical of the digital revolution. My father-in-law bought a very early digital and I couldn't believe how bad the photos were for what he spent. Two years ago a buddy brought a photo in and I couldn't tell it was from a digital camera at first. Digital has come a long way in a short time. We have to remember that film was awfully slow in the infancy of photography. The changes in film have slowed because it is a more mature media. I dare say in another ten years I think that digital very well may take over. I think many of us hate change because of our fond memories. I can remember taking that class and developing my first roll of film. Now days I don't have the time to do that as much. My kids take up much of the time and my digital camera allows me to take tons of photos and save them to a disk in moments. I can also rest assured that they will not degrade like some of my negatives have. I still agree that film looks better, but digital has closed the gap at a very fast rate. I think that any technology whether it be a faster or finer grained film or a higher resolution digital camera is good for photography
 
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