The company Elite Brands bought the Minolta trademark from Konica Minolta and they are selling cameras under the name Minolta. However, they only have digital cameras and no film camera.
Correction The JMM Properties just filed a claim for the Minolta trademark as it has not been used for so long. So the trademark was granted to JMM Properties which in turn license it to Elite Brands. So Konica Minolta has nothing to do with it at all.
I'll add that Sony bought Minolta's photographic division -- not the rights to the Minolta name -- and simply continued Minolta's line of Maxxum DSLR cameras & lenses under the Sony label. So the REAL Minolta photo gear is still being made.
Not really! Sony bought the Minolta A mount system which they no longer make. In fact Sony wasn't successful in making/selling these cameras. The E mount system is Sony.
Nevertheless, we still don't know what new "Minolta" AF zoom film camera sells for half the price of Pentax 17...
Yes, really. Sony made and sold Minolta Maxxum mount cameras and lenses for over a decade. The first DSLR was almost identical to the Maxxum 5D & 7D, and the early lenses & flash units were absolutely identical. That's an enormous number of cameras and lenses & other re-badged Minolta gear -- and they obviously made money doing it. Sure they eventually made a switch away to a new mount, just like Nikon & Canon did -- but it was Sony's great Minolta-based DSLR cameras that allowed them to break into the digital PRO market in the first place. I, for one, am glad that they bought Minolta. Without Sony's financial support, Minolta's cameras never would have survived in the digital camera world.
Sony DSLR based on the Maxxum didn't do well.
But $500....
Wow, Otis. You know where to find reasonable food. Right next door at the waterfront in Olympia, a dinner for two (seafood and one glass of beer) ends up being $80, 90, or 100.That was my reaction at first. But then…..got to thinking about my age, 75, and what everything else is priced at here in the US. If the missus and I go out for dinner (a rare event) to a local dive, the bill is still $45-50 with tip. The annual service/checkup on our gas furnace is $140. A hundred feet of Tri-X bulk is $160! I remember buying that and getting change back from a $10!
So, I think we just have to realize times have changed.
Wow, Otis. You know where to find reasonable food. Right next door at the waterfront in Olympia, a dinner for two (seafood and one glass of beer) ends up being $80, 90, or 100.
Back to the original topic of the new Pentax 17. It does not matter if an experienced old-time photographer can buy a XYZ on ePrey for $10, 20, 30, or whatever magical number. He is not the intended customer. Those comments are irrelevant. Here is a new camera with a full warranty, no fool-around issues pertaining to if the thing works or has fungus, a good to excellent lens, and it only costs $500. This is a new world. No one gives a cr*** if a XYZ cost $zzz in 1995.
and it only costs $500. This is a new world.
Wow, Otis. You know where to find reasonable food. Right next door at the waterfront in Olympia, a dinner for two (seafood and one glass of beer) ends up being $80, 90, or 100.
Back to the original topic of the new Pentax 17. It does not matter if an experienced old-time photographer can buy a XYZ on ePrey for $10, 20, 30, or whatever magical number. He is not the intended customer. Those comments are irrelevant. Here is a new camera with a full warranty, no fool-around issues pertaining to if the thing works or has fungus, a good to excellent lens, and it only costs $500. This is a new world. No one gives a cr*** if a XYZ cost $zzz in 1995.
Very nice! These are the sharpest samples I have seen From this new camera.
This really makes me want to dust off my Olympus half frames and get busy with some B&W that I still have.
These last few years has seen my film use decline to almost nil. About the only silver halide I have been shooting are paper negatives in various home made 4x5 cameras.
I had various Nikon SLRs for years. But when the last one finally failed it threw me out of film for a while. I couldn't mentally justify buying "cheap" used camera bodies that continuously fail causing lost film and/or repeated purchases. So I've been out of film for about 6 years now.
Seeing that Pentax released the 17 this summer I got interested and luckily enough I got one as a surprise birthday gift this week. Loaded a roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 and on 12 of 72 shots. So no developed film yet.
My only gripe with it is the zone focusing. How I wished it was marked on top in meters instead of pictorials.
Everything on the camera seems to work as advertised and for a newly developed film camera, appealing to the masses is important, so a point and shoot style camera makes sense for Pentax's first new camera in 20 years.
If Pentax released a 35mm SLR body I'd probably pick it up. I feel Pentax is barking up the right tree.
I had various Nikon SLRs for years. But when the last one finally failed it threw me out of film for a while. I couldn't mentally justify buying "cheap" used camera bodies that continuously fail causing lost film and/or repeated purchases. So I've been out of film for about 6 years now.
Seeing that Pentax released the 17 this summer I got interested and luckily enough I got one as a surprise birthday gift this week. Loaded a roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 and on 12 of 72 shots. So no developed film yet.
My only gripe with it is the zone focusing. How I wished it was marked on top in meters instead of pictorials.
Everything on the camera seems to work as advertised and for a newly developed film camera, appealing to the masses is important, so a point and shoot style camera makes sense for Pentax's first new camera in 20 years.
If Pentax released a 35mm SLR body I'd probably pick it up. I feel Pentax is barking up the right tree.
I had various Nikon SLRs for years. But when the last one finally failed it threw me out of film
My only gripe with it is the zone focusing. How I wished it was marked on top in meters instead of pictorials.
I never owned any Nikon camera, but I've only heard how great they are -- especially how durable and long-lasting they are. Your experience seems like a fluke.
Never said they are not great cameras. My FM2 was 30 years old when it was time to go.
But again they are decades old and it's now long past getting new factory spare parts. I'm not patient enough to deal with that runaround to keep them going.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?