Thoughts on upgrading my film body from Maxxum 7000 to a Maxxum 7?

[cny3123]

I shoot with Sony equipment and picked up a Maxxum 7000 off of craigslist for cheap along with a 50mm. I was thinking though, the body is really not that great in my opinion in terms of ergonomics and also autofocus capability.
What do you guys think about upgrading from the 7000 to a 7?

It looks like ergonomics would be very similar to what the Sony A850 I have offers, and I have seen them for fairly cheap on ebay, KEH and other online sites.

Worth the upgrade?

 

[dehk]

If you want to go to town, find a Maxxum 9.

 

[cny3123]

From what I've seen the 9 seems to go for almost 3-4 times the price of the 7 though. I'm a college student and do need to watch my budget as much as I can.
Is the 9 significantly better than the 7?

 

[Chan Tran]

I think it makes a lot of sense as many of the 7000 can't stand up with the test of time. Most of the 7000's I have seen have something wrong with it. The Maxxum 7 is a very nice camera and nowaday can be had for quite low price. The same is not true of the Maxxum 9 which generally carries a much higher price tag.

 

[zk-cessnaguy]

Upgrading to a 7 is a very wise idea. The 7 is the 5th generation Minolta AF film body and is an excellent piece of kit with lots of advanced features and a great user interface. Most importantly, it offers compatibility with the current Sony (full-frame) SSM and SAM lenses and with Sony flashes.
You will find it very intuitive to use coming from the a850.

The 9 is a nice camera too, but unless it has had the modification for SSM/ADI it will not autofocus with non-screw-drive lenses.

 

[cny3123]

Thanks, I figured as much, though didn't know about the 9's need for an update/mod to use SSM/ADI.
Not that it would actually be a problem for me as of right now. The lenses I have are a KM 17-35 2.8-4, Minolta 50mm f1.7 and ZA 135 f/1.8, all screwdriven.
Thanks for the info everyone, I'll probably be upgrading very soon!

 

[j-dogg]

Any of the single-digit Maxxum cameras are tits. I have a Maxxum 4 and it's probably one of my favorite AF 35mm's I've ever shot. It weighs nothing and the shutter makes this nice uniform click sound and when the film advances, it's loud enough that everyone around you suddenly learns you're shooting 35mm. But it's not a piercing piezo-buzzer sound (think, Canon EOS 650) it's a nice industrious metallic sound that gives you the feeling that you're behind the wheel of something very nice. Anyway I digress.

If value for money matters, get the 7, if you wipe your ass with 100-dollar bills, get the Maxxum 9. The 9 is the crescendo of the Alpha-mount 35mm AF and will never be duplicated ever again. I hold the 9 up there with the Canon EOS 1V and the Nikon F6, it is part of the pinnacle of AF 35mm performance. If I were a struggling college student (wait, that sounds just like me!) get the Maxxum 7.

Couple things you need to add to your bag, a Minolta "beercan", search that in eBay and see what comes up, then buy one. Early 35-70mm f3.5-4.5, with the plastic mount and metal body, 20 dollars at a pawn shop and tack sharp. Its f4 cousin is equally as sharp. And a membership at dyxum.com, big Alpha-mount website a lot of the Maxxum / Sony nutswingers hangout over there, very knowledgeable group.

 

[cny3123]

Thanks for the input j-dogg. Yeah, definitely not rich enough to go and buy a 9 right now, will most likely be buying a 7.
As far as lenses go, I am pretty set with my current lens line up of 17-35, 50, and 135. The only reason I would change any lenses out would be for a constant 2.8 or faster wide angle which as of right now isn't going to happen, or something like the 70-400 G which also isn't going to happen.

I actually already am a member at dyxum, but don't post there a whole lot, just occasionally. I am all over the place when it comes to online forums haha, fredmiranda, dyxum, here, rangefinderforum, photo.net, digitalgrin, and more than i really want to list right now

 

[David Brown]

I would consider the Maxxum 7 the "sweet spot" of the Maxxum line. But, if you're really on a budget, look at a 600si.

Dead Link Removed

 

[cny3123]

Thanks for throwing that out there, I'll look into that, but chances are I'll spring for the Maxxum 7 as that seems like a decent way to go.
Shopping on a budget often times results in wanting to upgrade later, and in this case for an extra $50 or maybe just a little extra I can get what I want instead.

 

[naaldvoerder]

Both are very nice camera's, but the 9 is arguably the best film SLR ever made and ever to be made. It's rocksolid, very fast and ergonomicly sound. It's overkill for most of us, but very, very nice to own. Unfortunately I don't...

 

[j-dogg]

You do have some pretty nice glass for that Sony, for sure. But there are a lot of vintage gems out there made in the 90's that the Sony crowd doesn't know about and the 35-70 3.5-4.5 and the Beercan are two of them.

I shoot a lot of AF Canon stuff and it's the same over on our side of the fence. We have a 70-210 f4 that eventually evolved into the venerable 70-200 f4 and f2.8, but the 70-210 is a definite gem. The 28-70 Macro, I'm repairing one as we speak. The original metal-mount nifty-fifty 1.8, and speaking of, you're gonna love the background rendering on that Minolta 50 1.7, that is one of the best 50mm lenses ever produced.

 

[cny3123]

You do have some pretty nice glass for that Sony, for sure. But there are a lot of vintage gems out there made in the 90's that the Sony crowd doesn't know about and the 35-70 3.5-4.5 and the Beercan are two of them.

I shoot a lot of AF Canon stuff and it's the same over on our side of the fence. We have a 70-210 f4 that eventually evolved into the venerable 70-200 f4 and f2.8, but the 70-210 is a definite gem. The 28-70 Macro, I'm repairing one as we speak. The original metal-mount nifty-fifty 1.8, and speaking of, you're gonna love the background rendering on that Minolta 50 1.7, that is one of the best 50mm lenses ever produced.

Yeah, the 50mm is honestly my most used lens and honestly while I would love to have a 50mm 1.4 I'm not sure it is worth the upgrade, the main reason I would upgrade and it is pretty minor is that the bokeh highlights are hexagonal instead of circles, but honestly that is just minor for the price it cost.