minolta 7d-purchase or avoid?

[2tallpaul]

I am thinking of buying a 2nd body as a back up to my A700

I have seen an mint Minolta 7D with Sigma 28-80 for £229 (overpriced?)

Have not seen too much about this camera- is worth purchasing or avoiding

Any opinion would be appreciated


regards

Paul

[Dusty]

You want a 4 or 5 year old 6MP camera as a backup for your 12 MP body? Hmmmmmm........

Since the lenses are about the only thing that is interchangeable, why not go with a 230? A little bit more, a whole lot newer!

Dusty

[WaltKnapp]

You want a 4 or 5 year old 6MP camera as a backup for your 12 MP body? Hmmmmmm........

Since the lenses are about the only thing that is interchangeable, why not go with a 230? A little bit more, a whole lot newer!

Dusty

Just go with another a700. They can be had for low prices too. And then you have two cameras that behave exactly the same.

Walt

[agorabasta]

Get an a500!

You get the industry-best LV and best imaginable matrix metering while in LV.

You simply get whatsoever the a700 lacks. (That's if you don't consider video )

[David Kilpatrick]

I sold my 7D and bought another one and used that quite a bit, before selling it on again. It was good to be reminded that this was an exceptional camera. If you have never used a 7D, I suggest you buy it, use it for as long as you find it a novelty or like the results, then sell it again. You might break even, lose a few pounds, or even make a small profit.

You will learn a lot about how a camera could have been designed today - and was, when mechanical components were not prohibitively expensive to install. It was a very expensive camera and the best 6 megapixel model ever made. I think it is well worth a few weeks of your time.

David

[Mark K]

I keep my 7D and EOS 5D, another my favourite but...rarely use it now. A700 will be a better backup to an a850 imho3

[UrsaMajor]

I am thinking of buying a 2nd body as a back up to my A700

I have seen an mint Minolta 7D with Sigma 28-80 for £229 (overpriced?)

Have not seen too much about this camera- is worth purchasing or avoiding

Any opinion would be appreciated

I think that the answer to your question depends upon the purpose for which you are considering the KM 7D. If you are planning on using the camera as a back-up for family photos and vacation snapshots, the decision would be very different than if you earn serious money with your photography. Also a factor would be your personal financial circumstances, and what your budget would comfortably be for a camera that you say would be strictly for back-up.

Speaking strictly about the merits of the KM 7D - independent of whether or not it would be the right choice for you - it is an excellent camera. I have been using mine for almost 5 years, and have been very pleased with it. It became my back-up camera after I bought my A700 about 15 months ago, but I used both cameras at the same time as recently as last weekend.

On that occasion I was shooting outdoors for most of two days in circumstances where no single lens I own would cover the range of focal lengths I needed. Even though the environment was only mildly dusty, I had no desire to be frequently changing lenses over a two-day period. Accordingly. I put the lens I expected to use for 90-95% of my shots on my A700, and the other appropriate lens on my KM 7D. Both cameras produced excellent results, and any deficiencies encountered were due to the skill level of the photographer.

I have gone through the pictures from last weekend to select the "keepers", using a full-screen view of the images on a 24 inch monitor running at 1900 x 1200 display input to do the initial culling. With those display settings and that image size, the only way I could tell at a glance which camera had taken a given photo was to look at the file name displayed by Lightoom.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[dewarp]

Hi Paul

I still use a D7D for my photography. Every time I try handling another camera (A700, A900, etc.) I find myself disappointed and turn back to using the D7D. It seems to me that each new generation of camera feels “cheap” by comparison. But the main reason I like the D7d has much to do with the way I work. I am a “manual” sort of person. I take mainly landscapes and usually have time to compose the shot. My camera is normally on a tripod. I use the manual focus button, setting focus before I final compose the shot. I need reading glasses, so am not really interested in live-view. I’m OK as long as I can make out the histogram and flashing clipped areas. And mainly, for me to live without the exposure override knob found on the D7D is unthinkable.

On the con side – there is the First Black Frame problem that plagued the D7D’s (and D5D’s). Next – is 6 Mpx really enough? I have always said that my ultimate desire would be about 18 Mpx, this so that I could crop maybe 25% of a frame and still get acceptable results. But in reality it doesn’t often happen that I really need more than 6 Mpx. (I often zoom in on objects that I may want to enlarge (e.g. a barn) and take another shot).

So I remain very happy with the D7D. However, if you are used to working with the A700 it may seem like a step backwards to change to the D7D. It is unlikely that the latter would become your “normal” camera. Personally, I would not like to have a backup camera that handled differently to my “normal” camera – getting to instinctively know the idiosyncrasies of one instrument is enough! So I would say your best bet is to get another A700 if you really need a backup. Or alternatively, wait until the “A700 replacement” arrives and get one of those.

Regards - Peter

[R B Janes]

I think I'd be strongly tempted at a price of around £200 in good condition - maybe check to see if it has had the FBF fix?

The only real 'anti' reasons for me would be the rear display (the a700 one both inspires and spoils me and the speed of the focus motor... Now if you had SSM/HSM lenses that would not be such an issue anyhow.

[Pirate]

Ahoy!

My decision is whether to sell my 7D or keep it. Reminds me of the A100 as a lot of the control sets are dial adjusted, but it makes for a decent backup body, though the argument for an A200 or similar seems sound. I don't know what 7D's go for these days, but it feels well built and solid, though the AF isn't going to blow your socks off.

[Sploosher]

I have the 7d as a second body to my A700.

ffordes have 2 for sale.
body only for 199pounds.
http://www.ffordes.com/product/10113018521681

and with a grip for 249 pounds
http://www.ffordes.com/product/10122312370581

[bfitzgerald]

Guess it comes down to what you want I think the 6mp CCD is still decent it's beaten by newer CMOS ones but it's good enough for many.

Handling wise yes the 7d is a legend of a camera, and colours they never got near the 5/7d on that front.

[stevecim]

Hi Paul

On the con side – there is the First Black Frame problem that plagued the D7D’s (and D5D’s).

Regards - Peter

That's OK, Sony returned the "First Black Frame" feature with the A550 happens quite a bit on mine

[Viewfinder [ + ]USA1]

Hi 2tallpaul,
Just came across this post. If you decided to get the KM7D, Good Choice!
Ever since I first held my KM7D up to my eye, I knew I made the right decision. My first SLR Cameras were all Konicas (T4,FS-1,FT-1) with Hexanon Lenses, along with a 200mm F2.8 Soligor C/D Lens.
My first Minolta SLR was the 7000AF, and way back then I thought, that if these two camera makers ever got together the result would be- WOW! Only from the mind of Konica Minolta could come the KM7D.

It's sad that we'll never get to see what a KM9D might have been like.

After all, where else can you get a "Four of a Kind"? ( 7000AF, 7000i, Maxxum 7, & KM 7D ) or a "Full House"? ( 7000AF, 9000AF, Maxxum 7, Maxxum 9, & KM 7D ):D

[artington]

I love the Dynax 7D for its analogue capabilities including its top mounted EV adjustment wheel in 1/2 or 1/3 steps and its eyepiece dioptre adjustment dial. It is just a beautifully ergonomic machine as was it's predecessor the Dynax 7. My 7D is a keeper for sure. Colours are great and it's noise levels low. Of course, it only has a 6mp sensor and ISO range is limited but it's a wonderful photographic tool.

Carl Gerrard of alphamountworld has just published a paeon to the D7D - bit OTT but all true.

http://www.alphamountworld.com/forums/k ... 011-6/7498

Also by CG:

http://www.alphamountworld.com/reviews/ ... analog-kid

Get one while you still can, preferably in collectable condition with box, etc because I suspect this one will be a collector's item