Nikon N75/F75 vs. Minolta Dynax 5/Maxxum 5

[Ronix18]

As much as I liked the N/F75, I can't recommend it in a world where film is becoming a boutique product.

The issue is DX encoding. If the F75 can't read the encoding, it sets the ISO to 100 and there's no way to override it except via exposure compensation. While Porter's used to sell "DX Coded Film Labels," I can't find anyone selling them now, so you'd have to print your own.

Thanks!
This is not an issue for me since I buy film rolls (Portra, Ektar, Agfa) which are already coded. I do not buy bulk film and I do not push it or pull it.
Did you have a good experience with this camera? Which lenses did you use?

 

[Paul Howell]

I was under the impression that only the 7 or a 9 that was converted would work with SSM lens. I need to look at the manual for the 5, I have basically the same body as the Konica Minolta D5 just need to dig out the manual. Would be nice if SSM work on the 5.

In terms of 50mm 1.7 missing AF, not sure why as the AF is in the body, as a gear driven lens dependent on the motor in the body not the lens. When shooting with my first generation 9000 there is some hunting, same lens on my 9, very little, even with a confusing background does as good as a job as my Sony 900.

The backstory, Minolta changed their mount when moving from manual focus to auto focus, the mount is called A mount. Minolta sold it's camera division to Sony in 2009, which continuers with the A mount line up as well as the new E mount for mirrorless cameras. There are 3 types of lens made in the A mount, the first generations were 5 pin, later were 8 pin then lens, 8 pin came manual zoom and a few lens with power zoom. These lens are driven by gears, the motor is in the camera. Later came lens use micro motors, the motors are in the lens. All Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony A mount still have gears and will work with any 5 and 8 pin lens. The newer SSM or micro motor lens will work with Minolta 7, converted 9s, and from folks have posted Minolta 5s and all new Sony digital bodies. My go to lens are the older 5 pin lens, I use them on both Minolta and Sony A mount bodies. I have a number of 8 pin lens and with the exception of power zooms they work on first generation Minolta bodies.

Question, are Minolta G lens micro motor or gear driven?

 

[neilt3]

As much as I liked the N/F75, I can't recommend it in a world where film is becoming a boutique product.

The issue is DX encoding. If the F75 can't read the encoding, it sets the ISO to 100 and there's no way to override it except via exposure compensation. While Porter's used to sell "DX Coded Film Labels," I can't find anyone selling them now, so you'd have to print your own.

They are still readily available in a selection of ISO's .
http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/firstcall-dx-recoder-labels-iso-125/p744

 

[benveniste]

Thanks!
This is not an issue for me since I buy film rolls (Portra, Ektar, Agfa) which are already coded. I do not buy bulk film and I do not push it or pull it.
Did you have a good experience with this camera? Which lenses did you use?

Your call, but personally I wouldn't want to rely on any Kodak brand. I rented an N75 while my F100 was being repaired. I used a 24-120mm f/3.5~5.6 VR, 50mm f/1.8D, 85mm f/1.8D, and 80-200mm f/2.8D. The camera functioned just fine, but with non-CPU AI and AI-s lenses it only operates in unmetered manual mode.

 

[benveniste]

They are still readily available in a selection of ISO's .
http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/firstcall-dx-recoder-labels-iso-125/p744

Good to know. Now I need some way to get them from the UK.

 

[lantau]

I was under the impression that only the 7 or a 9 that was converted would work with SSM lens. I need to look at the manual for the 5, I have basically the same body as the Konica Minolta D5 just need to dig out the manual. Would be nice if SSM work on the 5.

In terms of 50mm 1.7 missing AF, not sure why as the AF is in the body, as a gear driven lens dependent on the motor in the body not the lens. When shooting with my first generation 9000 there is some hunting, same lens on my 9, very little, even with a confusing background does as good as a job as my Sony 900.

Question, are Minolta G lens micro motor or gear driven?

If you are refering to my mention of the 50mm 1.7 and its focus ring: I only noticed that seizure when using the focus ring on the lens, with the lens either detached or in manual focus. My feeling was that there is some mechanical problem when using this ring, but not when the camera is driving the focus with the rotating pin in the mount. I only speculated that that person with AF problems might have a lens, which has even bigger mechanical problems than mine.

Unfortunately I'm not into the A mount enough to remember if the Minolta G is SSM driven. My 75-300 G lens is the first Sony generation. Wasn't that supposedly just a reissue under Sony brand and design? I bought this lens for a specific use case. But who knows what else it will be good for. Too bad my Alpha-7 is broken. I'm wondering if I should get another or try to have it repaired. The usual Aperture problem...

 

[Ronix18]

Your call, but personally I wouldn't want to rely on any Kodak brand.

Well, I really doubt Kodak, Ilford, Fuji, AgfaPhoto & co. will stop producing films, or at least that they would do it all at the same time. And if they did, probably they stopped producing films for reloading too. So that is why I'm not worried about DX coding, since I get films which are already coded. If I pushed/pulled, I wouldn't have any choice though.

Thanks again.

 

[lantau]

The Minolta can override ISO if it is needed.

 

[neilt3]

I was under the impression that only the 7 or a 9 that was converted would work with SSM lens. I need to look at the manual for the 5, I have basically the same body as the Konica Minolta D5 just need to dig out the manual. Would be nice if SSM work on the 5.

In terms of 50mm 1.7 missing AF, not sure why as the AF is in the body, as a gear driven lens dependent on the motor in the body not the lens. When shooting with my first generation 9000 there is some hunting, same lens on my 9, very little, even with a confusing background does as good as a job as my Sony 900.

The backstory, Minolta changed their mount when moving from manual focus to auto focus, the mount is called A mount. Minolta sold it's camera division to Sony in 2009, which continuers with the A mount line up as well as the new E mount for mirrorless cameras. There are 3 types of lens made in the A mount, the first generations were 5 pin, later were 8 pin then lens, 8 pin came manual zoom and a few lens with power zoom. These lens are driven by gears, the motor is in the camera. Later came lens use micro motors, the motors are in the lens. All Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony A mount still have gears and will work with any 5 and 8 pin lens. The newer SSM or micro motor lens will work with Minolta 7, converted 9s, and from folks have posted Minolta 5s and all new Sony digital bodies. My go to lens are the older 5 pin lens, I use them on both Minolta and Sony A mount bodies. I have a number of 8 pin lens and with the exception of power zooms they work on first generation Minolta bodies.

Question, are Minolta G lens micro motor or gear driven?

All cameras after the Dynax 9 ( and only upgraded Dynax 9's) are compatible with SSM lenses .
So the Dynax 7 , 5 , 4 , 40 , 60 ( AKA Maxxum 50 & 70 ) and 3 series models are fine with both the Sony / Minolta SSM lenses and Sony SAM lenses .

Sony bought the Minolta camera division well before 2009 .
In 2006 they entered the DSLR market with the Sony a100 ; https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onebody/a100 .
This was my first DSLR that I bought in 2007 to continue using my Minolta lenses on digital and was essentially a Minolta Dynax 5d with a new sensor and more streamlined body .

There are a few generations of lenses .
1 ; 5 pin models . compatible with all A mount cameras from the Minolta 7000AF of 1985 to present day .

2 ; 8 pin Xi Zoom and Power zoom models . Introduces with the Dynax 7Xi of 1991 . compatible with all cameras after this date to present day . Not a lot of use with cameras before then as the extra pins in later bodies added a power supply to the lens .

3 ; 8 pin "D" lenses . When Minolta came up with ADI flash control ( rather than TTL flash ) they added a distance encoding chip to the lens to report back subject distance to improve flash . Good for direct flash but useless for bounce flash where TTL OTF flash is reverted to .
These lenses are fully compatible with all cameras from 1985 to present day as long as they are gear driven and not SSM , regardless of how many pins are on the camera body .

4 ; 8 pin SSM lenses . Sony and Minolta . These are the lenses that have a motor in the lens for AF and will only auto focus on compatible bodies from the Dynax 7 onwards plus upgraded Dynax 9's .
With all earlier bodies you have manual focus only .

5 ; 8 pin SAM lenses , Sony brought out a cheaper option to SSM lenses here . compatibility is the same as SSM lenses .
I've used the Sony 85mm f/2.8 SAM on my Dynax 5 and 7's and it works well .

Be aware "DT" lenses are for APSC crop sensor only , but some cover the full frame ( film ) at some focal length's O.K .
Some of the later APSC crop lenses from Sony have dropped the "DT" marking , something to be aware of .

Regarding Minolta "G" lenses and drive , only the last version of the 300mm f/2.8 G and 70-200mm f/2.8 had a SSM drive , all other Minolta "G" lenses had a gear drive .
https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onelens/af300f28gssm
https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onelens/af70-200f28gssm

Sony carried these on , and other Sony G telephoto lenses are also SSM .
Such as the 35mm f/1.4 G are still gear driven by the camera body .

 

[neilt3]

Good to know. Now I need some way to get them from the UK.

I'd be amazed if they wouldn't just pop them in an envelope and send them to where ever you are .
If their website won't allow you to order , just phone them up . I'm sure they'll get you fixed up .

 

[ic-racer]

The exposure compensation works fine (both N55 and N75), no different than re-setting the ISO. (except in manual mode).
Drugstores never carried B&W 120 film even in the 1970s. Film is more available now than ever before, due to the internet. DX coding only works if you EI matches the ISO.

If you get the Minolta, let us know how it works for you. I don't have any Minolta 35mm cameras, but I have Rokkor Enlarging lenses, Minolta Enlarger, and a bunch of Minolta 16mm cameras.

 

[neilt3]

No, I don’t.
Which lenses do you fancy more? At least 50mm and 35mm. Minolta or Nikon?

Cheers!

I've been shooting Minolta since I got a well used Minolta 7000AF in the mid to late 90's .
I got it along with a 50mm f/1.7 , 35-70mm f/4 and 70-210mm f/4 .
It took a few months pay to get them , not so much that they were very expensive , a gardeners wage was poor then , we were paid peanut's !
Lenses ( and camera ) I still have today . Never had any problems with any of them .

The main Minolta A/F bodies I'm using now are a couple of Dynax 7's , a Dynax 9 , Dynax 5 and Maxxum 70 .
Different film in each .
Lens wise if it's prime lenses I'm using I tend to use mainly the Minolta 24mm f/2.8 , Sony 35mm f/1.4 G , Sony 50mm f/1.4 , Minolta 50mm f/3.5 Macro , either the Minolta 85mm f/1.4 G RS or Sony 85mm f/2.8 SAM , and the Minolta 135mm f/2.8 .

Tele primes either the Minolta 200mm f/2.8 G or Minolta 300mm f/4 HS G and matched teleconverters .

If your on a budget , the 35mm G isn't your lens . There are Minolta 28mm and 35mm f/2 lenses that are especially good and about half the price of the 35mm f/1.4 .
If that's still too much then get the Minolta 28mm f/2.8 .
Satisfactory I.Q , nothing special , but not a bad lens . Sells for about the same as the 50mm f/1.7 .

If I'm using zoom lenses , on cameras like the Dynax 5 I like to use the Minolta 24-50mm f/4 , and larger cameras like the Dynax 7 it's usually such as the Minolta 24-85mm RS or 28-105mm RS .
And for tele I take out either the Minolta 80-200mm f/2.8 APO HS G or the Sony 70-300mm G .

We would need to know what sort of focal length's you tend to use and what your budget is to advise which lenses might be best to go for .
A lot of the Minolta zooms are very good , so unless you want a compact / light prime lens with a larger aperture , don't rule out zoom lenses .


Edit , just to add ;
If you go for a Nikon , look for the AF "D" lenses rather than the G ones .
They have an aperture ring so can be used on earlier bodies .
I have a few bit's of Nikon gear , mainly for using Tamron adaptall lenses on or borrowing my other half's 500mm lens .
An F80 which is fine for most lenses but the F301, F501 and F4 need an aperture ring to shoot in aperture priorty or manual .

Any reason you don't ask about Canon EOS bodies and lenses ?
There's a nice range of bodies and lenses to be had there for not a lot of money .
And lens to body compatibility is the best .

 

[Ronix18]

The exposure compensation works fine (both N55 and N75), no different than re-setting the ISO. (except in manual mode).
Drugstores never carried B&W 120 film even in the 1970s. Film is more available now than ever before, due to the internet. DX coding only works if you EI matches the ISO.

If you get the Minolta, let us know how it works for you. I don't have any Minolta 35mm cameras, but I have Rokkor Enlarging lenses, Minolta Enlarger, and a bunch of Minolta 16mm cameras.

I'm not even concerned about this, since I don't push/pull film.
Is the viewfinder good enough?

I think I'm definitely taking the Nikon.

 

[Ronix18]

I've been shooting Minolta since I got a well used Minolta 7000AF in the mid to late 90's .
I got it along with a 50mm f/1.7 , 35-70mm f/4 and 70-210mm f/4 .
It took a few months pay to get them , not so much that they were very expensive , a gardeners wage was poor then , we were paid peanut's !
Lenses ( and camera ) I still have today . Never had any problems with any of them .

The main Minolta A/F bodies I'm using now are a couple of Dynax 7's , a Dynax 9 , Dynax 5 and Maxxum 70 .
Different film in each .
Lens wise if it's prime lenses I'm using I tend to use mainly the Minolta 24mm f/2.8 , Sony 35mm f/1.4 G , Sony 50mm f/1.4 , Minolta 50mm f/3.5 Macro , either the Minolta 85mm f/1.4 G RS or Sony 85mm f/2.8 SAM , and the Minolta 135mm f/2.8 .

Tele primes either the Minolta 200mm f/2.8 G or Minolta 300mm f/4 HS G and matched teleconverters .

If your on a budget , the 35mm G isn't your lens . There are Minolta 28mm and 35mm f/2 lenses that are especially good and about half the price of the 35mm f/1.4 .
If that's still too much then get the Minolta 28mm f/2.8 .
Satisfactory I.Q , nothing special , but not a bad lens . Sells for about the same as the 50mm f/1.7 .

If I'm using zoom lenses , on cameras like the Dynax 5 I like to use the Minolta 24-50mm f/4 , and larger cameras like the Dynax 7 it's usually such as the Minolta 24-85mm RS or 28-105mm RS .
And for tele I take out either the Minolta 80-200mm f/2.8 APO HS G or the Sony 70-300mm G .

We would need to know what sort of focal length's you tend to use and what your budget is to advise which lenses might be best to go for .
A lot of the Minolta zooms are very good , so unless you want a compact / light prime lens with a larger aperture , don't rule out zoom lenses .

Well, that was an incredible well explained parcours. Thanks a lot.

I usually shoot 50mm for almost everything, I really love the 50mm focal length. It suits me for almost everything and I feel very comfortable. For landscapes I shoot 35mm sometimes.
I'm planning to buy he body and then just one 50mm lens . My budget for the lens is about 80€.

 

[neilt3]

Well, that was an incredible well explained parcours. Thanks a lot.

I usually shoot 50mm for almost everything, I really love the 50mm focal length. It suits me for almost everything and I feel very comfortable. For landscapes I shoot 35mm sometimes.
I'm planning to buy he body and then just one 50mm lens . My budget for the lens is about 80€.

I've just edited my above post to include a bit on Nikon , take into account about getting AF "D" lenses rather than "G" lens .
In most cases the lens design is the same but the "G" lens does not have an aperture ring and cripples is on some bodies due to Nikons penny pinching .
The 50mm f/1.8 AF D is a nice lens , focusses well and is good to focus manually and is well dampened .

 

[Ronix18]

Any reason you don't ask about Canon EOS bodies and lenses ?

I've never used Canon before, contrary to Minolta (X-7000) and Nikon (D3100 when I used to shoot digital, many years ago).
Any advice on a small light Canon body (less than 400g) with a good small and light 50mm lens?

 

[neilt3]

I've never used Canon before, contrary to Minolta (X-7000) and Nikon (D3100 when I used to shoot digital, many years ago).
Any advice on a small light Canon body (less than 400g) with a good small and light 50mm lens?

The EOS 500n with the 50mm f/1.8 would do the job .
Small light weight , Good ergonomics ( too me ) , the grip fit's well in the hand offering better purchase than the Dynax 5 .
You can set the ISO to what ever you fancy should the need arise .
It also has an AA battery pack which will improve handling for larger lenses and allow you to use cheap and rechargeable AA bateries .
All lenses from when Canon brought ot A/F EOS cameras ( about 1988 ? ) work fine on it .
Also there is a good selection of small prime lenses available for not a lot of money .
Lenses with image stabilisation are also fully backward compatible , unlike Nikon . And not at all for Minolta , apart from one or two Sigma lenses

Bodies that you might later upgrade too could be an EOS 50e or an Elan 7Ne , a very nice camera , but if the Dynax 7 is bigger than you like then these would be too .
These smaller EOS bodies seem to go for about £10- £15 .
.

 

[Paul Howell]

the only Canon EOS I have is a rebel 2000, got it at a garage sale a year ago, came with a 28 to 105 Sigma lens. From the beginning of the EOS system all Canon lens are micro motor driven, just about any EOS lens will work on all film and digital bodies. I have the same Sigma lens in Sigma SA mount, nice kit lens. The rebel line up are entry level, nice range of features for the money. I've seen lots of sharp photos taken with the Canon 50mm. My grandson is in the Marines and wants a film camera, he lives off base now and has room for a darkroom, so I'm sending him the Canon and a Pentax ZX 50 to try out. There are many very good Canon film bodies. Just do a little research.

Other option for a very inexpensive camera is the Pentax SF1, first generation semi pro level AF camera, not light, somewhat odd design, but a solid user, will work with most Pentax KAF, and in MF K and even M42 screw mount with an adaptor.

 

[Paul Howell]

All cameras after the Dynax 9 ( and only upgraded Dynax 9's) are compatible with SSM lenses .
So the Dynax 7 , 5 , 4 , 40 , 60 ( AKA Maxxum 50 & 70 ) and 3 series models are fine with both the Sony / Minolta SSM lenses and Sony SAM lenses .

Sony bought the Minolta camera division well before 2009 .
In 2006 they entered the DSLR market with the Sony a100 ; https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onebody/a100 .
This was my first DSLR that I bought in 2007 to continue using my Minolta lenses on digital and was essentially a Minolta Dynax 5d with a new sensor and more streamlined body .

There are a few generations of lenses .
1 ; 5 pin models . compatible with all A mount cameras from the Minolta 7000AF of 1985 to present day .

2 ; 8 pin Xi Zoom and Power zoom models . Introduces with the Dynax 7Xi of 1991 . compatible with all cameras after this date to present day . Not a lot of use with cameras before then as the extra pins in later bodies added a power supply to the lens .

3 ; 8 pin "D" lenses . When Minolta came up with ADI flash control ( rather than TTL flash ) they added a distance encoding chip to the lens to report back subject distance to improve flash . Good for direct flash but useless for bounce flash where TTL OTF flash is reverted to .
These lenses are fully compatible with all cameras from 1985 to present day as long as they are gear driven and not SSM , regardless of how many pins are on the camera body .

4 ; 8 pin SSM lenses . Sony and Minolta . These are the lenses that have a motor in the lens for AF and will only auto focus on compatible bodies from the Dynax 7 onwards plus upgraded Dynax 9's .
With all earlier bodies you have manual focus only .

5 ; 8 pin SAM lenses , Sony brought out a cheaper option to SSM lenses here . compatibility is the same as SSM lenses .
I've used the Sony 85mm f/2.8 SAM on my Dynax 5 and 7's and it works well .

Be aware "DT" lenses are for APSC crop sensor only , but some cover the full frame ( film ) at some focal length's O.K .
Some of the later APSC crop lenses from Sony have dropped the "DT" marking , something to be aware of .

Regarding Minolta "G" lenses and drive , only the last version of the 300mm f/2.8 G and 70-200mm f/2.8 had a SSM drive , all other Minolta "G" lenses had a gear drive .
https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onelens/af300f28gssm
https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onelens/af70-200f28gssm

Sony carried these on , and other Sony G telephoto lenses are also SSM .
Such as the 35mm f/1.4 G are still gear driven by the camera body .

Thanks for the information, my mistake for the Sony buyout, typo on my part. I've looking into a fast G tele, but as my main cameras are the Minolta 9, 9000, and 800 need to look for an early G.

 

[Ronix18]

The EOS 500n with the 50mm f/1.8 would do the job .

I just found some of these and they are even cheaper than the Nikon or Dynax.
I'll have to read more about it, some reviews indeed.

 

[neilt3]

A good source of information and specification for Canon EOS bodies can be found here ; http://global.canon/en/c-museum/series_search.html?t=camera&s=film&s2=eos&a=E
And a good source of information on Minolta AF film bodies , look here ; https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/bodies.php?#film
Reviews on Minolta A-mount lenses can be found here ; http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/results.asp?chbLensType=1
The only information on Nikon I tend to look at is from Ken Rockwell ; http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

 

[neilt3]

Thanks for the information, my mistake for the Sony buyout, typo on my part. I've looking into a fast G tele, but as my main cameras are the Minolta 9, 9000, and 800 need to look for an early G.

Have a look on Michael Hohners website for what's available .
There are only three SSM G tele lenses , all others are gear driven .
https://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/len...=1000&flmin=100&flmax=200&flmine=24&flmaxe=70

And have a look at the Dyxum lens reviews to narrow it down further .
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/results.asp
That said , there isn't a bad Minolta G !

 

[Sirius Glass]

I had Minolta SLRs for decades and I was always happy with them and their reliability. I have a N75 that I am happy with.

 

[OlyMan]

Minolta Dynax 5. My wife had an F65, it wasn't a patch on my Dynax 5 in terms of build quality or features. Nikon is such a default brand. Think outside the box.

 

[Ronix18]

I now came across a Canon EOs 300V and a EOS 300X.
They are apparently way better than the Nikon F75 and the Dynax 5. And the prices are the same (body only 25€).
They seem to have the same weight and dimensions and I could buy a Canon 40mm 2.8 pancake.

Do you know this gear?