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Reviews (2)
25 July 2021
It's Not a Point and Shoot
1 of 1 found this helpful Olympus XA is an aperture priority rangefinder. It's ultra compact optical design easily matches sharpness of my Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII, 40mm/f1.7 Rokkor, from the same era. It's easily pocketable like a Canon Powershot S110. Amazing little camera.
06 September 2011
Maxxum 7, The Last Heavy Hitter in a Defunct Line of Film Bodies
1 of 1 found this helpful I'm not going to say I'm strictly a "Minolta guy", (though my collection might suggest otherwise), I did not think it was justified to pay Canon and Nikon prices to get a high quality, sub professional body in the Maxxum 7.
There are some questions about durability. I believe most to be superficial. It all comes down to what you need it for. If you are venturing through the jungles and mountains of Chile or riding through the streets of Baghdad with US Marine riflemen, by all means, get a Nikon F100. It has an aluminum alloy internal frame. If going there, you probably have the means to buy one anyway. If you were using it for moderate hikes, tours of cities, fast spectator action (auto racing, football games etc.), portraiture and studio work, the Maxxum 7 would perform great. This is not the camera to get if you intend to torture it, but it is sturdy enough and does offer a vast array of features that match and even rival other high-end Japanese makers.
Maybe the Nikon will lock AF in .007 seconds in a lab, but the real world is much different. The Maxxum 7 has lightning fast auto focus in the field as tested. The built-in AF assist pattern light beam is very useful in low light situations and projects up to an astounding 40 feet away! I have confirmed with my Maxxum 7 copy.
Now, let's talk about ergonomics. The Maxxum 600si/650si was obviously a test bed for what they were about to release with the Maxxum 7. I think the knob and switch control layout is great. Something the camera industry did away with in the late 80’s, re-introduced in the mid 90’s and yet again is doing away with now (in the early 2010’s). If you know your body well, you can find your settings easily, rather than flipping through menus with push button controls, thereby illuminating LCD panels when you would rather not. All controls are easy to find and use for people with short or long fingers. It is all right there!
You have the advantage of 25 years worth of Minolta and Sony glass to use also. Some of the oldest of Minolta lenses have come down in price a great deal in recent months and are of remarkable imaging quality.
The custom functions are a bit quirky and complicated. I try to set mine to a fit "universal" shooting situations. If I need to change custom functiontions in unique shooting situations, I would have to refer back to the manual. I could see where this could be a real annoyance, but have not encountered this situation yet. Not sure how Nikon, Canon and others compare in this regard.
To sum up, it is a feature packed camera body that has a ton of things that I'll never use. The Maxxum 7 could probably match its closest Nikon rival, the F100. Fact is, Minolta is cheaper. If used, as a camera should, with the basic concept of distance, exposure and composition in mind, it is an awesome and easy camera to use under many, many circumstances. Keep this in mind. My review is given without the benefit of ever using Canon or Nikon cameras. It is given with the knowledge of a camera's intended purpose...TO CAPTURE REFLECTED LIGHT, in a coherent and desirable way. The Maxxum 7, along with Minolta and Sony's system of lenses does this very well.
Buy only if you are not going to beat it to death, but it is still a pretty sturdy camera.