"New" acquisition

[olroy2044]

Picked up this mint condition Minolta Maxxum 5000i for virtually nothing (just the price of a new battery!) the other day. It had a Tokina 28-70 autofocus zoom on it.



I ran a roll of 400 Superia through it, and the results were pretty good:





While I can't argue with the results, I really don't care for the camera. No focus or exposure lock, very s-l-o-w autofocus (I've got point and shoots that focus quicker!), and manual controls that are clumsy at best. I found myself turning the autofocus off to be able to get the focus point where I wanted it. Build quality is superb, as is the feel of the camera in one's hand.

Does anyone else have and use this camera? If so, are these issues common with this camera or did I just get a poor example? Regardless, it looks good on my shelf. ;D

[daveh]

Roy, I can't answer your question about focus speed with this other than to compare the Pentax SFX with the Canon 7D:

The SFX takes a noticeable time to autofocus, even into seconds, sometimes heading off the wrong way first. It does, however, when it finally gets there, focus accurately. Often it is significantly slower than can be managed manually. The 7D, particularly with the L series lens, is lightning fast and does everything considerably faster than can be done manually.

Just a further note on autofocus speed: The SFX is slower with the original lenses than it is with more modern lenses. Those original lenses had something like 270^o of rotation to go from the nearest to furthest focussing points. The latest lenses are often less than 90^o - some as little as 45^o - so, by simple mathematics, will take up to six times longer to focus, all other things being equal.

If you want to see autofocus at its best have a try of a modern Canon with an L series lens. These lenses have full time manual override too, so you can combine the best of both worlds.

Dave.

[Randy]

I have several Minolta XA cameras, but I passed on that one because of the reviews.

[grenouille]

My latest addition, a Yashica Minister - D & a 110 Afga Optima 5000, given to me by my cousin, the last time he used these 2 cameras he cannot even remember, they were in his cupboard for years.
quite please with them though,

Hye