Minolta Maxxum 7 VS Nikon N80

[cblgirl2001]

I am looking for my first SLR. I am overwhelmed with all the options. I have narrowed it down to these 2. I am a student of photography and I am looking to take photos of people and outdoors. I have held them both and each feels good. I am concerned about the price of the lens because as I learn more I will add more hardware. Which is the better choice?

[paulnj]

I would choose the NIKON in a heartbeat over ANY Minolta

I would prefer not to give you the Minolta horror stories here, but you can EMAIL or PRIVATE MESSAGE me and I will gladly share ;)

[Lionheart]

I am looking for my first SLR. I am overwhelmed with all the options. I have narrowed it down to these 2. I am a student of photography and I am looking to take photos of people and outdoors. I have held them both and each feels good. I am concerned about the price of the lens because as I learn more I will add more hardware. Which is the better choice?

I agree with Paul on the choice of Nikon. There will be more support available and lenses available for the Nikon than the Minolta, now and in the future. Fifteen years ago I faced the same decision as my first choice initially was the Minolta Maxxum 7000i, but I held off long enough to play with the Canon EOS 630 and the Nikon 8008. Back then everyone was shooting Nikon, but I felt the 630 and Maxxum had much better AF by far than the Nikon. I eventually went with the 630 (despite its ugliness ;) ) because the AF technology was better (internally driven lens rather than mechanically driven through the camera body) and faster than the other two. Looking back now, I'm glad I chose Canon as they have taken over a significant portion of the market and have tremendous selection of lenses and accessories. Nikon continues to hold a significant share of the SLR market despite giving up ground to Canon, and has an equally large selection of lenses in their arsenal. Minolta over the years has been slipping in the SLR market, although they have a pretty nice selection of p/s digitals and film cameras. Seems like the selection of lenses available for the Minolta has been increasingly limited, which is really sad since they make some really sharp optics. Just my two cents.

[almo]

I would choose the NIKON in a heartbeat over ANY Minolta

I would prefer not to give you the Minolta horror stories here, but you can EMAIL or PRIVATE MESSAGE me and I will gladly share ;)

I have owned both cameras, well my GF owned the nikon, and I would take the Maxxum 7 hands down. The nikon obviously has some nice features, but the maxxum is a pro body at a consumer price. Besides that it is just built better and the has better controls. It also has tons of very nice costom funtions. The LCD is a life saver, espeicaly in macro situations. IMO the Maxxum 7 is your much better bet.

Here is a short excerpt from my website on this subject:


"I looked at all of my options in my price range: Canon EOS 3, Nikon F100, and Minolta Maxxum 7. I knew that I didn't want a Nikon, so, the choice between the EOS 3 And the Maxxum 7 was torturous. After a long and drawn out debate I ended up on the Maxxum 7 and I never looked back. This was my favorite AF film SLR camera. Bar none the best in its class. The Maxxum 7 showed me a side of photography I had only glimpsed before. Paired with a Sigma 28-135 aspirical zoom lens the Maxxum took clear, sharp, and simply wonderful pictures. Of all the cameras I have run through in the last 2 or so years, I miss this one the most. I still hold onto my lens in the hope that Minolta will release a digital version.. A camera I would sell my "I" teeth for."

[Lionheart]

I have owned both cameras, well my GF owned the nikon, and I would take the Maxxum 7 hands down. The nikon obviously has some nice features, but the maxxum is a pro body at a consumer price. Besides that it is just built better and the has better controls. It also has tons of very nice costom funtions. The LCD is a life saver, espeicaly in macro situations. IMO the Maxxum 7 is your much better bet.

Here is a short excerpt from my website on this subject:


"I looked at all of my options in my price range: Canon EOS 3, Nikon F100, and Minolta Maxxum 7. I knew that I didn't want a Nikon, so, the choice between the EOS 3 And the Maxxum 7 was torturous. After a long and drawn out debate I ended up on the Maxxum 7 and I never looked back. This was my favorite AF film SLR camera. Bar none the best in its class. The Maxxum 7 showed me a side of photography I had only glimpsed before. Paired with a Sigma 28-135 aspirical zoom lens the Maxxum took clear, sharp, and simply wonderful pictures. Of all the cameras I have run through in the last 2 or so years, I miss this one the most. I still hold onto my lens in the hope that Minolta will release a digital version.. A camera I would sell my "I" teeth for."

Hi Almo:
Minolta/Konica announced a digital maxxum. I don't know where it is as far as actually getting to market but in case you haven't read it here's a link

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0402/04...um7digital.asp

[almo]

Hi Almo:
You know, I could swear I thought I saw on a web page somewhere a news release that Minolta/kyocera has a Maxxum DSLR on the way to market, but I can't remember where. Maybe someone else on this site has seen it too?

OHYA BABY! It's coming alright! I have to admit that excerpt is about a year and a half old by now, but it still rings true.

Here is a link to the Konica/Minolta Maxxum 7d:

http://konicaminolta.com/products/co...slr/maxxum-7d/


almo

[Clemmie]

Being a Maxxum 7 owner, I definitely vote for the Maxxum 7. Excellent and sensible user interface, and has more capabilities than ANY other film camera on the market. You never have to worry about 'outgrowing' it.

Minolta Lenses, which are excellent, also tend to be cheaper.

And if you want to 'go digital' later on, Minolta has just rolled out their new DSLR based on the same design - and using the same lenses - so you don't have to 'start over from scratch' when making the conversion.
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Almo - the 'Maxxum 7D' is reality! It will be hitting the stores in the next few weeks, and the samples I have seen from it are looking mighty fine indeed. It will use every Maxxum lens ever made, with a 1.5x crop factor (thus a 50mm acts like a 75mm, an 80-200 like a 120-300, etc.) Also features in-camera Anti-Shake: working like Canon's pricey I.S., but effective on ALL of the lenses. And the whole layout is based very closely on the Maxxum 7 - which in itself could well start a revolution in the DSLR market.

[Lionheart]

I've always liked the feature richness of the maxxum lineup, even 15 years ago. Maybe the camera body IS could bring Minolta back into the game the way Canon's built in AF motors in the lenses did 15 years ago. Who knows, eh? ;)

[Clemmie]

I've always liked the feature richness of the maxxum lineup, even 15 years ago. Maybe the camera body IS could bring Minolta back into the game the way Canon's built in AF motors in the lenses did 15 years ago. Who knows, eh? ;)

There's certainly a lot of us keeping our fingers crossed and hoping so! With the formal introduction at Photokina freshly behind us, word has slipped out that the 7D is just the first of several models soon to come - and we're starting to see the first ads of a major promotional push tied to it.

So, it's an exciting time in Minolta land - and we're certainly due for some excitement, following a few lean years and a corporate merger. Minolta (aka 'Konica-Minolta') is BACK!!!