The issue for Konica Minolta was therefore to try and accomplish two goals. ( Contax came and went, and hasn’t returned, and Leica is, of course, not Japanese). Konica Minolta is the last of the major Japanese camera makers to bring forth a digital SLR. I was therefore quite keen to test the Maxxum 7D, as I was very curious to see how that contemporary digital camera design skill would translate into the 35mm format. While most of the others felt as if they were designed exclusively by engineers, the A2 had definitely been designed by people who were also photographers. The area where I found that it stood apart from most of its competitors was with regard to handling. I found it to be the overall best of the 8 Megapixel digicams, which were all released at around the same time. I have not used a Minolta camera (sorry – Konica / Minolta) since then, until the A2, which I tested and then purchased earlier in 2004. I also found that Minolta’s lenses were very good, and offered great value compared to those from Nikon – thepro camera at the time. These camera were, at the time, state-of-the-art (at least for the money), and I still remember them fondly. When I began my career as a photojournalist in the late sixties and early seventies I couldn’t afford a Leica or a Nikon, and so a couple of Minolta SRT101s were may mainstay.
Minolta, or KM as some people now call them, has a soft spot reserved in my photographic heart. For this reason minor glitches have been either overlooked or reduced in emphasis. I was told by Konica Minolta that while the body itself It was written in mid-OctoberĪnd was based on a week of field testing a pre-production camera. No 1/15 and B shutter.This is a preliminary hands-on review of the brand-new Maxxum 7D.
#Minolta camera review manual#
No manual aperture (without battery lens stays wide open f2.7) Very good, sharp lens with versatile focal length of 38mm Minolta AL-F is a Very well built small rangefinder camera with great lens. Corner softness by f2.7 is visible only in the very corners, instead of making 1/3 of image soft. Lens is well corrected, very sharp and contrasty. It's simple.Ĭamera is equipped with great, very versatile Rokkor 38mm f2.7 lens. It's just very responsive and if You have lot of white sky in the frame, try to read light from the ground, palm of Your hand etc and lock the aperture. But with other, less-contrasty scenes everything is OK, so light meter is very accurate. After seeing pictures from the first roll I know I have to be carefull with light or read from the ground/pavement and lock the (automatic) aperture. Shutter is quiet and the shutter release is wonderful, no more motion blur from the shutter release button!
Viewfinder quality is great (all-glass!).įilm winding lever got nice short action, much better that long action levers in Hi-Matic 7s or 9. Everything is contrasty and easy to read in this just-cleaned viewfinder. On the right side are aperture values together with lightmeter needle. Viewfinder have horizontal parallax correction and nice rangefinder patch. Focus ring is loose, I would prefer more damping. Shutter speed ring on the lens barrel is well damped and snappy. Light, mad of metal and glass, with very good viewfinder/rangefinder and well designed/well positioned controls. Minolta AL-F is a Very well made small rangefinder, introduced in 1967. When it arrived I figured out that it's broken (no power from the batteries).Īfter few hours I repaired the electric cable, cleaned and adjusted rangefinder and added some grease/WD40 on mechanical parts. I heard about AL-F many times and if it appeared for sale on *bay I decided to buy it for it's VG+ condition. Of great pictures from childhood from that SRT.ĩ5% of my photography is a Street Photography so I can't live without shutter priority mode. I also love Voigtlanders and Yashica rangefinders but from my early days I remember my Mom's Minolta SRT 101b. I'd like to share my first impressions after seeing first roll from this beautiful little rangefinder,Īs You probably know I have sweet spot for Minolta cameras.