Minolta autofocus cameras, thoughts needed

dsiglin · Dec 23, 2013

Hey guys, I have been shooting mostly medium format after getting into film half a year ago. I've been enjoying my time with manual cameras but sometimes I just want a easier to carry autofocus 35mm. This is just a hobby for me so I don't want to spend a lot of money on lenses. Because of that I've settled on Minolta cameras because I can get AF lenses for fairly cheap.

My question is what camera body would you recommend? I currently have a Maxxum 5 but I've heard the Maxxum 7 has better ergonomics and something about sensing when you grip it and eye control and better focus points. I will be using this to shoot portraits and paid events. So, is the Maxxum 7 a good buy or should I be looking at another Minolta camera or another brand entirely? Thanks!

mweintraub · Dec 23, 2013

Others may argue this, but since you will be getting paid for photos taken with this gear, I'd consider looking at gear more like a pro than just a hobbyist. You're paying customers rely on your gear and so should you.

On that note, I don't know a whole lot about the Minolta AF line except that the 7 and 9 bodies are very pro level and are fantastic. I don't know of any quirks, but the Maxxum 9 has a max shutter speed of 1/12,000s.

Arvee · Dec 23, 2013

Maxxum 7. Great features, handling!

dsiglin · Dec 23, 2013

This is true. I have manual focus 35mm but I don't trust my prowess especially with very fluid situations.

I see there is a 7Xi but I cannot find what the difference is between this and the normal 7.

Besides Minolta can you think of any other AF cameras that would have reasonably priced lenses? I love Konica lenses but they never went AF (got bought by Minolta IIRC).

Jeff Kubach · Dec 23, 2013

Minolta is great. I can't believe it has 1/12,000, that is super fast! BTW welcome to APUG.

Jeff

hoffy · Dec 23, 2013

Go the 7. It has support for HSM lenses, so you can use the latest and greatest Sony Zeiss lenses on it. The bodies are pretty rugged. Also try and find a grip for it, as it will take 4 AA batteries.

The other option is a 9, but they have to be modded to be able to use HSM lenses. If you are lucky enough to get one already done, excellent, but if not, the only place that mods them is in Europe. That being said, they are a mighty fine professional camera, with a really quick shutter, sync speed of 1/300, ect. They do, though, still command decent prices on the second hand market.

As for the 7xi, its few generations older and not quite as refined as the 7. It most certainly won't use HSM lenses and the AF won't have the same number of points.

This page is best for comparing all AF mount cameras:
http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/bodies.php

dxqcanada · Dec 23, 2013

Minolta A mount lenses can get pricey as Sony Alpha shooters want them to ... though that also goes with Nikon and Canon lenses also ... but there are more of them so I would suspect you can still get some OK pricing on Maxxum mount.

I have never handled the 7, but from what I have read it is the best of the Maxxum cameras (even over the 9).
Based on it's appearance it looks like a better shape than the 7xi. I never really liked the xi lineup, the cameras felt odd in the hand and they kind of look ugly.

arealitystudios · Dec 23, 2013

I would highly recommend the Minolta Maxxum 7. I own one and absolutely love it. It has great ergonomics and is very easy to use but also has plenty of "pro" features. I think it is still possible to find a lot of Minolta glass pretty cheap but I would agree, the fact that one can use Minolta lenses on modern Sony digital cameras does drive up the price at times. The same can be said of Nikon and Canon glass too though now that mirror-less digital cameras can be so easily adapted to older glass.

dsiglin · Dec 23, 2013

Yes the mirrorless cameras have driven the price of even Konica and olympus glass. I am part of the problem as I shoot with a Nex. I personally love the M42 Russian lenses, those very unique.

I'll look for a 7 then, thanks for your thoughts. I'm currently getting my 120 film developed and scanned via mail-in but for 35mm I might just buy a scanner like a Plustek or Minolta Dimage IV.

Btw - anyone want to sell me THEIR Maxxum 7? Looking on ebay there aren't many out there for sale right now.

AstroZon · Dec 23, 2013

A friend gave me a complete Maxxum 7000 outfit a few years ago (and I foolishly gave it to my nephew who in turn sold it.) But I've seen the 7000s around local thrifts for $50 or so with a 35-70 AF lens. Just inspect the body for cracking around the grip / battery holder. My only gripe about the 7000 is that it operates a bit slowly (not unlike myself.)

elekm · Dec 23, 2013

My own feeling is that the lower-priced "kit" zooms that were so typical in the 1990s were no better or worse than kit zooms from other makers.

The better lenses should be the fixed focal lengths. I'm sure there are some high quality zooms, and you'll find generally that most kit zooms are decent performers.

dsiglin · Dec 23, 2013

So is the 7000 similar enough to the 7 to be a good buy as well? Sorry I don't know much about the AF side of Minolta cameras. I've been using manual focus.

dxqcanada · Dec 23, 2013

7000 is first AF camera Minolta produced. I would skip that model

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/minolta-history-seven-decades/5/

donkee · Dec 23, 2013

The 7000 is a very nice camera. The problems though are the aperture magnet can fail, the LCDs bleed, the AF is a bit slow. The AF you could live with, but if the others happen you are out of luck. I do believe if the magnet issues was repaired already than it will rarely fail again, but parts are no longer available so it would have needed to be done years ago, mine was.

I am also lucky that the LCD has not started bleeding yet, but it will happen eventually.

I have a 3xi and 2 5xi. They are decent enough cameras. I'll run transparency film through them on auto and get very good results. The 5xi models have LCD bleed issues too in the viewfinder LCDs. Good luck finding replacements. The exterior LCDs seem to hold up though and with the 5xi and higher you can get the neat program cards for bracketing and other stuff.

The better zooms are the 35-70 f4, the 70-200 f4, and the 24-50 f4. They can be flare prone so watch out. They are constant maximum aperture lenses and are still reasonably priced. I also use them on the Maxxum 5 and Sony A300 digitals that I have for pics that I need to have available now and can't wait for developing and printing/scanning. The xi lenses and variable max aperture kit lenses aren't worth anything as far as I am concerned. I tried them and didn't keep them long. The worst were the xi lenses.

dsiglin · Dec 23, 2013

Ahh, ok I see about the 7000. Funny thing is I have one at my house right now, my friend gave me it, it was her dad's who gave it to her but she doesn't use it. Thing is in pristine condition, even the case. But I'll probably just find a 7 for sale and buy it, if I can actually find one for sale. What would be a reasonable price to pay for a working 7 just the body? maybe 100?

donkee · Dec 23, 2013

If you already have a 7000, use it for fun. I really like mine and hope it has a long life before I have to retire it. I do use it seldom since I have a plethora of other Minolta gear and want to make it last for as long as possible.

grommi · Dec 25, 2013

This is a listing of all Minolta AF cameras with specs:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060413211332/http://www.photozone.de/2Equipment/minoltacamera.htm

You can see, that the 7 and 9 are the best equipped camera, f.e. mirror lock-up only with these two models. The 5 that you already have is imho the best of the small and light models. So 5 and 7 would be my choice. If you do a lot of vertical/portrait orientated pics, the 600si, 700si or 800si with accessory battery grip have a vertical format shutter button and additional setting wheels and buttons, that is simply unbeatable ergonomics. The same goes of course for the 7 with battery grip. A 700si with battery grip goes for less than 100 bucks, a 7 without for (much?) more than 100.

To buy a camera is no problem, but lenses are. Fast lenses are rare and expensive, prime lenses are rare and expensive, the 1.7/50 AF for 100 bucks is nice but not a killer. Zoom lenses without wide-angle distortion are more or less not available, a problem with all affordable zooms. Stay away from all XI-lenses, their motor driven zoom is the worst thing on earth. Look for older and fast Sigma lenses, they are not so expensive because many of these have problems with the digital Alphas, many are not compatible, so they have bad reputation for the use with digital cams.

I have a 5, a 700si with battery grip and a Alpha100, all are nice, but the dark (all AF-slr) and small (A100) screens are nothing compared with a big bright MF screen and fast prime lenses, and all the latter you get dirt cheap.

patrickth · Dec 25, 2013

A super nice Minolta 7 or 9 should run you in the neighborhood of $250- $350 and Minolta 9TI is running about $900-$1100, all easily worth those prices compared to anything else in those price ranges in my opinion. keh is a good place to look too. I had a 7, sold it to a friend and regretted it, then bought a 9. Nice camera but I think the 7 is a better deal.

patrickth · Dec 25, 2013

A super nice Minolta 7 or 9 should run you in the neighborhood of $250- $350 and Minolta 9TI is running about $900-$1100, all easily worth those prices compared to anything else in those price ranges in my opinion. keh is a good place to look too. I had a 7, sold it to a friend and regretted it, then bought a 9. Nice camera but I think the 7 is a better deal.
keh has 3 Minolta 9's listed right now, the highest being about $250.

2bits · Dec 25, 2013

I have a 7000 and several good lenses for it. It is fun to use for an AF camera, no problems of any kind. I even have a backup 7000 with no problems mentioned above. Guess I got lucky.

donkee · Dec 25, 2013

When I got my 7000 it came with a copy of the original repair order for the magnet issue so I know that was addressed and will hopefully last a long time.

While looking for another (I have spares of everything, nuts I know!) most I found said they had LCD bleed. Such a same too, I love those cameras. They have the AF and electronic stuff but feel more like an older manual camera. Everything is laid out nicely and logically.

I need to research ways to keep the LCDs from bleeding, if there is a way, and then I'll see about another one.

The 5xi cameras I got were fine at first but after a couple months the viewfinder LCDs started bleeding like crazy.

hoffy · Dec 25, 2013

The 7000 I was given is fine as well. While its a good camera to have in my collection, I hardly ever use it. Even the 7000i is leaps ahead in operation and feel.

Sirius Glass · Dec 25, 2013

dsiglin welcome to APUG

polyglot · Dec 25, 2013

A 7000 is in no way a substitute for a 7. Have a read of Michael Hohner's reference (click Knowledge Base) and the Dyxum lens database .

While Minolta cameras and lenses are the equal of any other brand and have a few unique offerings (135STF and Zeiss AF lenses), the lenses are not cheap. Minolta didn't sell nearly as many as Nikon or Canon and now that Sony is churning out compatible digital bodies, the Minolta AF lenses are quite expensive.

While this is an unpopular opinion here, I would be very wary of shooting 35mm film professionally unless your customer has specifically asked for it. Use your medium format or a good DSLR.

Edit: While the 7 and 9 are leaps ahead of the 5 in terms of ruggedness and speed (shutter velocity and therefore max x-sync, focus-motor power, control accessibility, etc), the 5 is actually a very modern and functional camera; just make sure you have the manual because there's no way you'll remember what all the custom function numbers do. You can use the most modern SSM lenses and do wireless TTL HSS flash with the 5, which means that there are very few photos you cannot take with it. Unless you want to shoot at 5fps, focus on birds in flight, change settings like a madman or beat people over the head with your camera, the 5 is quite capable.

dsiglin · Dec 26, 2013

I think I'm going to give my friends 7000 back because it's in mint condition and was their dads. They should hold onto it.

I will be doing a lot of portraits with this camera so 700si with battery grip sounds like a good deal, thank you guys very much for the input. That said, polyglot, you make a good case for just sticking with the 5.

If I could ask - what 35mm films do you recommend for portraits? I've read Fuji Superia 200 is not bad and cheap.

I advertise as shooting with film so at least they realize it isn't digital. For some people they prefer film. The newer 35mm films have some very fine grain. Is it due to the grain you say don't use 35mm? Is it true that the tonal range in 35mm lower ISO films is better than your say Nikon 7100? Or even 5DMKIII? My reasoning is I know I can get great tonal range and colors with 35mm. I can't afford a full frame digital camera but I can a "full frame" film camera. The pro level cameras of the past are now quite cheap. I actually picked up a Canon EOS 3 over the holiday for a good price. I'm going to try it out compared to a few Minolta AF cameras.

I do have MF camera but I keep it mostly for landscapes and personal projects. 120 film is not cheap.

Minolta autofocus cameras, thoughts needed

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency