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Post by belgiumreporter on Feb 1, 2015 12:02:06 GMT -5
When the Minolta 7000 was introduced in 1985 i ran to the store to get my hands on one just to see how good it was. Nikon had the F3AF but that was out of my reach and it had very limited lens options. So the Minolta 7000 was the first affordable true AF reflex camera on the market. I was quite inpressed by the camera, but as all my gear was and still is nikon i knew i had to wait for nikon's awnser. I did had to wait for three years until nikon came up with the 801, wich became my first AF reflex, it was somewhat more affordable than the F4 and more pro than the 501. Still there was this very brief moment minolta made me yearn for one of their camera's, who would have thought then, that i would pick one up 30 years after it's introduction in the local recycle store for just 2 euro's complete with the lens and in working condition !Imagine if the same thing would happen with prices on classic cars :-)
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truls
Lifetime Member
Posts: 568
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Post by truls on Feb 2, 2015 4:04:27 GMT -5
I also have this camera, a Maxxum 7000. Minolta had a head start compared to other makers at the time. Even today the Maxxum 7000 focus fast enough to be usable. It is faster than manual focus a lens. I have used the camera photographing our cats and dogs, with great result.
Some Minolta glass can be had fairly cheap, I often use the AF 100-200/4.5 - a sharp lens with good colors. Also I must express how good the viewfinder is, big and bright - almost better than most consumer digital SLR of today. Too bad Minolta did not make it later.
As Minolta is gone, I feel the cameras and lenses will in some years be highly collectible. Starting today makes sense, as prices later will increase, and amount of cameras decrease.
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Post by Randy on Feb 11, 2015 20:16:55 GMT -5
This was my first auto focus Minolta, I now own 10 of them.
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Post by philbirch on Feb 12, 2015 18:57:39 GMT -5
This was my first auto focus Minolta, I now own 10 of them. 10x AF cameras or 10x 7000's?
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Post by Randy on May 17, 2015 1:18:38 GMT -5
10 Minolta models of differing numbers. I use the lenses on my Sony Alpha 100 (Minolta designed).
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