julioamendoza

With the A200 just announced I don't think an A300 would come out soon.

Those pictures look like a Pre-A200 or A200 prototype to me because of the shape of the grip, (which I understand is no better than that of the A200), the blueish-finish-top around the shutter, missing model name front mark (as in a200 or a700 besides the lens).

In any case, if that were to be a new Alpha model, I would place it as an Alpha 110.

I would expect the price of the A700 lowered, not dropped, at least 6 to 8 months after introduction. Hard to know how much less though; my guesstimate would be at most $200 off the first decrease.

I remember the price of the A100 around $1,000 when it came out; then I saw it decline little by little aprox $100 less every 3-4 moths. Now after the new A200 model was introduced for $700, the A100 price will actually drop. I do not see similar scenario happening soon with the A700, because the next model (A900 or whatever) will be a different model and I don't think it would replace the A700.

If you are patient, not only will you not pay a premium but also will skip the common "early model problems" if any. If you wait at least 6 months you will get a better (or corrected, if any hardware or software issues are found) product at a better price. (Remember a DSLR is an electronic equipment and they may have defects however small).

I've read the A700 reviews and it seems really good to me. You won't believe I'm still shooting with my Maxxum 7 because I prefer full frame and cannot afford the DSLR's price (too much money to fool around with the master pieces in my portfolio). I am expecting the next Sony DSLR model to be full frame, and if so, it will be very tempting/unreachable to me because full frame comes with a full price tag.

For the Rangers you can very well use your Minolta 7D, you will do just great with it.

Thanks for the time spent on this one.

I have bought a Minolta AF 28-85mm (in 8+ condition for $89, used of course). Let's see what I can do with it. As for the 28-80(D), it may well serve as a guinea pig to experiment self-repairmanship.

Good luck!

Here is a good place to start understanding... Hope it helps.

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

The Japanese web site could be one place to look for specifications or news about the cameras.

Unfortunately I do not understand Japanese language. If you Yi understand Japanese, look there and post your findings (if any) here.

Thanks.

Do plan. We all seem to do that a lot these days; and it's good because we cannot move forward without planning.

After reading all yours comments and watching (pictures and video links), here is my take about the professional model....

1) It would not make any sense having that piece of pentaprism in the camera without having a full frame sensor. Sooo, FF it is.

2) Having its own new sensor adds up to being FF.

3) High-price is expected... FF??--Full Price!; there you go. That's fine; for those who can shell it out, it will be well spent. Others, me for one, may want to go by making easy instalments. FF is good (I like film cameras because of the film itself but also because of the FF). It would not be rare getting something around 12MP FF in the professional model. How about 10MP (just to keep price on the lower side) FF and SSS? I buy it.

4) "In Progress, stay tuned" What's this??? Someone more serious in the marketing of SONY DSLRS would be giving estimated/expected release dates of the product. Specially when SONY is a new player in this market and wants to knock-out its competitors.

Hope these thoughts help... if at all.

"I'm considering an upgrade from Maxxum 5"

Me too. I own Maxxum 5, Maxxum 7, an am glad I got them. Alpha 100 is excellent, yet, did not convince me as well.

Want a robust working digital horse?

Check these out....

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9695954-1.html

Patience seems to play an important role here.

Hope you find the link useful.

Julio Mendoza-Medina.

My Minolta Maxxum 5 (film) started making a weird noise while turning it on/off

or when switching from manual focus to auto focus and it will not switch to auto

focus mode.

I can not get the camera focusing mode to switch from manual to auto focus. I

was just trying to take a picture in my living room, and while zooming I pressed

the shutter partway down to focus, when suddenly the lens (Minolta 28-80mm

3.5-5.6(D)) started making some noise and shaking for 3 or 4 seconds and then

noise/shake would stop; something like wheels or gear not engaging or gear

slipping off.

Tested the camera with my other lens (Tamron 75-300) and it would work fine, no

noise and focus mode would switch fine. When I put the 28-80mm lens back it

would still make the noise, even to the point where the focus mode switch

stopped switching at all (the switch works well down/up but camera would not

take the change from manual to auto). Auto focus just doesn't engage in the

camera after switching it to auto focus. However, lens seems to be in auto focus

mode because lens will not allow me to do manual focus (it's stuck as though

it's in auto focus), but camera will not focus by pressing the shutter partway

down. The LCD stays with the MF indicator.

Any ideas on what probably happened or what's the problem?

Is there a reset function in the camera? I tried removing the batteries but

still will not work.

It seems camera did not like my pressing the shutter while zooming the lens...

Did I do something wrong here?

I have had this camera since Oct 2003 and did not have any problems with it before.

I will appreciate any help/suggestions.

Thanks!

Great!!

"..., the focal length is not changing."

That was a very simple and straight one. Now I better understand what's happening... cropping the image.

Yes, that's what I am trying to do, to stick with film SLR, yet striving to get good photos on film (I would probably get better images with a DSLR, but that would be because of the camera itself not because of me).

Thank you all for the help.

P.S. Won't ever think on that belt again.

The Maxxum 7 has three selectable metering methods: 14-Segment Honeycomb-Pattern, Spot, and Center-Weighted Average.

Spot metering uses only the center honeycomb segment to meter the

image. I don't know the coverage area of the segment.

Don't know about the Maxxum 9, but may be similar.

Hope this helps.

Why do you want the belt sticker?

If you know the corresponding numbers, just memorize them man.

Salud!

could I afix a thin sticker around the lens (like a belt) and mark the

equivalent focal lenghts for use in a DSLR?

For instance, I have the Minolta AF 28-80mm 3.5-5.6(D) which is a lens for 35mm

SLRs. It's got numbers for 28 35 50 70 80mm focal lengths.

The belt would be marked accordingly 42 52.5 75 105 120mm, assuming the crop

factor of the DSLR (say the the 7D or Sony Alpha 100), is 1.5.

Am I pretty much right or just plainly wrong?

Appreciate your time; responses are very helpful.

Ok, now let me do it and see if I got it.

Thank you all.

of 3 people, one white, one brown, and one black, and I want to get a well

exposed photograph using color negative film, then I have to take the exposure

reading off the face of the brown guy; right?

Assume it is outdoors, daylight, under clear sky.

Would like to know how much I have understood about exposure. Probably this rule

may apply for other situations like B&W film, indoors with or without flash, etc.

Please help.

"... can you also recommend ways of justifying the purchase to my wife...".

Come on Toby!

Don't get me wrong and I don't mean to disrespect the wife, but tell you what...; it is better to say I'm sorry afterwards than asking for something. Buy the bag man. You are not buying a house or gambling the household money as to consult with your wife.

I wonder.... Is your wife the working woman and you the baby sitter?

Get a job if you don't have one yet.

And if just in case you still need to justify, then gently and simply tell you need a new bag because the current one has turned out too small for the matter.

Good luck man.

Thank you all very much for stopping by and share some of your expertise and knowledge. Very helpful. It will save a bunch of reading and film wasting.

I knew I was doing something wrong.... Like not removing the UV filter, or pointing my shoulder to the sun.

So, our short version would be:

Using a Circular Polarizer (by Freeman, Arbying, De Merchant, Mendoza )

Point your shoulder to the sun so you are shooting at 90 degrees to the light and then rotate the polarizer (right or left it dosen't matter) until you like what you see best. If you have a UV filter on your lens, remove it before mounting the polarizer.

Brilliant!!

Thanks to all.

I do not wish to know how the polarizer works, but how to make use of it.

Specially in a film camera.

I have the film Minolta Maxxum 5, and film Maxxum 7. My 28-80 (D) lens has

already the UV filter attached to it. My circular polarizer is CRYSTAL-OPTICS

55mm JAPAN.

I understand the polarizer is for outdoors/landscape in a bright sunny day, and

one of its purposes is to saturate the colors in the photograph.

1 Screw the polarizer on the front of the lens.

2 Frame and focus your subject.

3 Rotate the polarizer (right or left it dosen't matter) until you see the sky

turns blue (through the viewfinder).

4 Fire away.

Is that right?

Please help; I want to make sure I am using it in the right/proper way, and

whether I should remove the UV filter or not when using the polarizer.

Thanks.

Hey Jimmy, that was really funny.... sit, wait and ponder. Also, it is really surprising how people (me included) go deep into what's not important here.... talking about your plan.

Come on Jim!! Go out and get your Sony a100 off the shelves. You are going to like it. Otherwise you will have to wait a year or more. Sony is not going to launch another one until they see how a100 impacts the market. And when they launch a new one, the camera is going to be targeted for the professionals (not me), which means $$$$$ very high price; which at least me could not afford.

Have you taken a look to the page below?

http://www.dyxum.com/columns/other/sony/alpha100/Sony_Alpha_100_on_the_web.asp

I am still shooting film with my Maxxum 7 (sorry about that, just got it last October). However I will jump into digital very soon. The Maxxum 7D is really great, but I wanted to wait for the new comer as Minolta stopped operations in January (as you may know), and common sense told something better was going to come. Indeed, (it is here) the a100 is 10MP, design is better, it is lighter, CCD size bigger, etc., etc., etc., and for only US$900 a body!!! It is a bargain.

Please take a look to the comparison 5D, 7D, a100 below:

http://www.dyxum.com/columns/other/sony/alpha100/Sony_alpha_comparision.asp

Come on Jim, don't wait. Read, go out and check it out!!

By the time you get aquainted with it you can go for the higher model, if any, whenever it comes out.

For now I will just sit and wait...., and see what happens. Hahahahahahaha!!! Just kidin man.

Hey TW, I've seen your collection..., really huge! And your photos excellent.

I believe is not, but wanted to double-check with you; I also have both film Maxxum 5 and 7.

Is your Sigma 28-80 Macro lens the one included in this kit?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00012BWAE/sr=1-1/qid=1140304543/ref=sr_1_1/002-0210547-1536026?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I would appreciate your clarification.

I learnt of these two posts until after I posted mine. Sorry for the duplication.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Eybs&tag=

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EvDi&tag=

Try this book if you have not yet done so...

http://friedmanarchivespress.easystorecreator.net/

I've got the "on the budget" version of it, and I found it really helpful even though I have the Maxxum 7 film body.

Good luck!

<p> </p>

<p>Do not panic, but.... What should we do?</p>

<p>It is not such a worry for my as I only have the Maxxum 5, the

Maxxum 7, the

Minolta kit lens 28-80 3.5-5.6D, the 5600HS accessory flash, and the

Tamnron 75-300mm. Whatever happens, I plan to

continue using my stuff as long as they work.</p>

<p>Some some professional and objective advice/recomendation will come

in handy

though. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.minoltainfo.com/">Check it out</a></p>

<p>The Maxxum 7 film is a very good option to consider, since you have been using Minolta and could still use your current lenses. I got the Maxxum 5 Feb-2003 and it has enabled me to take great photos ever since. I've also learnt/grown a lot using it and then decided to get the Maxxum 7 (yes film) a couple of months ago. It is a full featured camera for amateurs as well as for professionals, and I believe it will enable you to grow a lot as a photographer.<br>

</p>

<p>You may find my post about Minolta cameras helpful:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Dk9L">Minolta 35mm SLR cameras are as better as those of Canon and Nikon</a></p>

<p>Check the site of Maxxum 7 photographer<a href="http://www.mhohner.de/index.php?lang=e">

Michael Honner</a>, which I found here in Photo.Net</p>

<p>Eventually you could also get the Maxxum 7D in case you decide to go digital. Good luck Phil.</p>

<p> </p>

"I'm pleased with all of this gear, but I think I'm about ready to make a move to digital to ADD to my film gear".

About ready?

If you are pleased, why add digital to your gear, specially when you don't do photography for a living.

If digital SLRs were not there, you would not be about ready! You would be fine!!!

I only have the Maxum 5, and have just placed my order for the 35mm SLR Minolta Maxxum 7. Great camera I think, without even trying it yet.

Maxxum 5 user and one more that does not do it for a living.

Nikon F80?

I've heard of N80 but, whatever it is...., double check in your camera manual whether your camera supports wireless remote control. If not, why botter looking for a wireless remote.

I know my Minolta Maxxum 5 supports remote cord or wireless remote control (up to 5m/16.4ft) to release the shutter. Haven't had the need for them yet.

If you insist on your interest for those shots or really need to take them, you might want to consider getting or borrowing the Maxxum 5 instead (It is discuontinued but it is around $200 dollars).

The manual also mentions that the remote control may not work under fluorescent lighting or in backlit situations. Just FYI.

Is there any way you could get together with your camera above the boxing ring?

Good luck Rachelle!