The 7D is a great 1st try, great control layout, IS with all lenses, I like the camera and the limited system. BUT at the moment, my Canon is still the primary system and looking forward to further developments from Minolta. AF is not even up to the 350D's standard, just not fast enough even with the SSM lenses.
The 7D should not be compared to the 20D, it should be compared with the 10D as it is a closer match. The 7D is still inferior in many ways to the 10D when it comes to image quality, high-iso noise characteristics etc. At $1400 the 7D is over-priced by about $700 given that you can purchase 10D's all day long at $700. Lastly, the Canon's hold their resale value, Minolta's don't. Take it from an ex Minolta employee and a champion of the Minolta cameras/lenses. I hated to sell all of my Minolta gear but it had to be done. The best thing I can say about Minolta is that you can purchase some primo quality glass at a steal. This partially helps to offset the over-priced body.
In the wonderfully cliquey world of LA, you either shoot Canon or Nikon. I've lost jobs because (no joke) "you shoot Minolta (which I did at the time), you mean you don't shoot Canon or Nikon?" Last I heard from that client. I think Minolta makes wonderful products, I contemplated the 7d heavily, but by the steady advice of every pro photographer I spoke to, I ended up with Canon. Haven't lost one job due to equipment yet since then, just from my own downfalls. Also, the Minolta resale value is pathetic. I spent $1200 on my 7hi, sold it for $300 8 months later. Also didn't help when Minolta brought out the next generation DiMage for $500 less than the 7hi .
Looking at the specs, the 20D looks like a better camera; it has 8 instead of 6 megapixels, it has a faster startup time and is faster with continuous shooting. The advantages of the 7D would be its in-body anti-shake system and maybe its bigger LCD screen.
IMO, Konica Minolta lags behind at least one generation of DSLRs behind the competition. Minolta lenses are more expensive than Canon lenses (at least where I live) and the choice is not as diverse.
I still don't regret selling my Minolta stuff a few years back and switching to Canon.
There really is no Minolta professional market left so I would doubt you would see a 9D for a couple of years if ever. Minolta has discountinued their MPA program and the person responsible for the professional support has not been with the company for well over a year now. Knowing what I do about the company, I would be extremely suprised to see the DSLR division around in three years. I would expect more offerings in the point and shoot markets and even then I think that the photographic divisions at KM are in a world of hurt.
gunblue wrote:
It doesn't matter which part is shaking. The stabilizing system checks the image/optical movement and not the physical movement for that matter. The main question is if the movement latitude of the sensor for correcting shakes can match the in-lens system. That's still needs to be tested.
The other downside of built in OS is, the image doesn't appear to stabalize like it does on the Canon's and Nikon's.
Being the stabilization only takes place AFTER the light has hit the sensor, the image through the viewfinder is still bouncing around on the KM. On the Canons and Nikons, the light is stabalized *before* it gets to your viewfinder, so you actually SEE the image stabalize.
I also wonder if focusing benefits from OS on the KM (being it stabalizes after passing through the viewfinder) , unlike the Nikon and Canon.
Not sure about this, but I would have to think this is correct (if you can even follow what I'm saying! )
I wonder how well Optical Stabilizer(OS)from Sigma(eg. Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX APO OS lens) works on 7D. I know they don't have one for Minolta yet. Just curious. OS + AS = blur
I shot with Minolta long before Konica came into the picture
The reason I shot Minolta was the 9 series bodies. I loved the 9000. The 9xi was great. I had a 800si as my backup to my 9xi. Then they anounced no more pro bodies and I started looking at the speed of Nikon and Canon, and I was given my first Canon body because it was too much camera for someone. 6 months after I sold my Minolta gear and made the jump, the 7 came out. Nice camera, but still no pro body....then the 9 came out. I was not happy that I jumped because "there will be no more 9 series" but I was so happy with Canon that I had no desire to jump back. Now that I am shooting a 20D, which is 4th gen of the Digital Elan series (well the D30 was similar to the Elan 7) and the 7D is the 1st generation, although not their 1st DSLR (remember the RD-175 and the RD-3000 APS lens DSLR), it is way too late and not a good sports camera. X-Sync is too low, and FPS is not their.
There is zero chance of that. KM doesn't have the R&D and engineering resources any longer to maintain existing market share.
It really is sad because the Maxxum 9 was the equal to any Canon Pro or Nikon Fx body on the market. There simply was no better metering system than the Maxxum 9. The majority of Minolta's non USM style lenses focused faster than Canon's USM lenses with a few exeptions.
Just goes to show that the best product doesn't always win.
I'm quite sure that they will release a 9D. A usual trend for Minolta after releasing a 7 series Camera except for 00si series. 9 is way much better than EOS1 or F5 that time. But that's the way it is. The market is still dominated by Canon and Nikon.
Mr645 wrote:
I think another valid question is WHY the 7D. Nothing wrong with it but it seems that Canon and Nikon own a majority of the DSLR market and have a much wider array of products. More bodies, lenses, faster upgrades, much easier to find used gear,
I really like the look of that camera. If I didn't already own canon stuff I'd be pretty seriously considering it. Dedicated buttons for everything - the thing handles like a real manual camera, no features buried away in menus...
I agree. Minolta got a vast collection of lenses. Their high-end lenses, the G series are comparable to L lenses of Canon. G Telephoto primes are white like Canon Ls.
Zoom Macro (This is the world's first Macro zoom lens with a magnification ratio capability from 1:1 to 3:1. It provides handy motorized operation and a double-floating element design that eliminates aberrations, even with its 3X f/1.7 setting.):
.
)
blur 
