Minolta bodies

Marc

Marc

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I've got the Pentax ME Super which is great as a hark back to my youth but I would like to get a Minolta film body so I can use my Sony lenses (This came from spending the day with Yv who was able to use her nice Nikon lenses on her F80. :D)

Anyway, I know nothing about the various Minolta bodies but I have been looking on the Ffordes site and they have various ones for sale but I'm not sure what is what. I'm pretty much looking for something that will give me manual or aperture priority. As I know there are a few Minolta users here, I'm hoping I can get a run down on the pros and cons of the various bodies.

Ta.
 
Some info on the AF side of things here (Dynax 7 and good value lenses). Not an expert on older MD stuff, though.
 
Spotted that thread just after I submitted this one! :bang:

The 7 is a little more than I can pay at the moment. Was more looking at the 5000, 7000 and 8000 models (around 50 quid). Do you know anything about those?
 
MINOLTA DYNAX 5000i, pretty rough cosmetically (looks ok from a distance). Powers up and fires but not tested with film and a lens. Yours for the cost of the postage if you can make use of it. I'm picking it up later this week with any luck as part of a job lot so that description is his not mine. And if you feel you should always pay for something (some people do) make a donation to the air ambulance.
 
I know I've owned a few Maxxum 7000s and although it is lovely to hold a piece of history, they are pretty rough to use. Seriously noisy, slow AF that doesn't function well in low light, horrible button configuration, but they are dirt cheap (I am Ebaying a pair of 7000 bodies, a pair of 2800 flashes, lens and film and the auction's just sat at £9.99...)

I would try to get hold of a 3 digit model if I were you, they're still pretty good value.
 
There's a Dynax 5 kit in the classifieds for sale section - being sold by some dashing, smooth-talking, handsome member... can't quite remember who he is though... :D
 
Dynax 7 is good. I bought one from ffordes for £250 a few years ago. Hardly used it but it is a great camera. I've got a 404si I don't use even more with standard minolta kit lens (28-80 I think). It takes reasonable pictures. Would offload it for postage costs as it is just sitting there gathering dust (might want a good clean inside too :) )
 
I can remember the original Minolta 7000 & 9000 coming out in the mid-80s, but a couple of years or so later, I can remember the Minolta sales rep demonstrating to us a new model which allowed 'expansion cards' (I think they were called) which allowed the user to alter certain functions on the camera. I don't remember the model number as I was virtually at the point of finishing retailing, but the camera did seem a bit fiddly for my liking. However, the later Dynax's have a very good reputation quality-wise.
 
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The 7000 was the original AF SLR, before the more mature Canon and Nikon systems had AF. The 7000i introduced the expansion cards. Canikonistas will say that all the expansion card functionality should have been built in to the body in the first place ;).

I gave away my 7000 a few months back, but you should be able to pick one up for next to nothing on ebay, same for the 7000i.

I believe any Minolta AF SLR will support aperture and shutter priority and manual mode.

All the manuals for the AF Minolta film SLRs can be found here so you can check: http://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/manuals/film-cameras/film_af_slr/index.html
 
Fabs, Take a look at the Minolta 800si. They are ridiculously cheap, and I don't know why.Came out about 1998 and were £700.00 body only. I bought a brand new one, and only 2 months ago bought a used one from ebay for £50.00. It works flawlessly. I still have my original 800. The 600si is also a good one. The Dynax 7 is a big step forward, but is a brilliant camera. A friend bought a 7000i 3 months back with 2-3 lenses, flash, filters, etc., etc. for less than £100-00, and he is over the moon with it.
 
You might as well get a Dynax 5, they usually go with the kit lens for about £40 or about £10 - £15 without. I've just brought one to complement my 505si Super which is also pretty good.

The advantage of the dynax 5 is that it supports most of the newer Minolta/ Sony functions as well, like SSM lenses and ADI flash metering so you can use nearly any accessory made for your Sony as well.
 
Thanks for all the replies, given me lots to think about.

Thanks also for the very generous offers.

onomatopoeia said:
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I believe any Minolta AF SLR will support aperture and shutter priority and manual mode.

All the manuals for the AF Minolta film SLRs can be found here so you can check: http://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/manuals/film-cameras/film_af_slr/index.html
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I actually have a Dynax 303si which somebody gave me a couple of years ago but it only has auto modes.
 
One thing that you must be careful of, like I said above, is whether yours lenses are compatible with older minolta's or not. Models before their final 9, 7, 5 etc cameras don't support SSM lenses and if you should ever have the money for a 9 (one of the ultimate cameras, 1/12000 shutter speed!) then check its SSM and ADI compatible as it was released just before minolta started doing SSM lenses and requires a circuit board update to support them so check its been updated. The 7 and 5 do it from new though.
 
s162216 said:
One thing that you must be careful of, like I said above, is whether yours lenses are compatible with older minolta's or not. Models before their final 9, 7, 5 etc cameras don't support SSM lenses and if you should ever have the money for a 9 (one of the ultimate cameras, 1/12000 shutter speed!) then check its SSM and ADI compatible as it was released just before minolta started doing SSM lenses and requires a circuit board update to support them so check its been updated. The 7 and 5 do it from new though.
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Thanks Samuel. I would probably want to use the 70-200 on it at some point so will definitely check.
 
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