alan_greene

I don't know the 9 as I have a 7. With that said slow shutter synch will offer both ambient exposure and flash fill. Both can be controlled with both ambient and flash exposure compensation. If the light is really bright then I use high speed synch with flash exposure compensation as required. Good luck

 

Alan

The Maxxum 7 is made in Maylasia. In todays world it is less where it is made than the level of quality control. Just look at BMW, MB, Honda,Toyota, Sony all made in USA. Low cost gets the job.

Minolta has some say the best flash system in the world, ADI, wireless,wireless ratio, multiple remote wireless, high speed synch and wireless high speed synch with the max 7 and either a 3600d or a 5600d. Very inexpensive used flash such as the 3500xi will give you alot, dedicated TTL, wireless and ratio wireless. Can be had for ball park $50. Or the latest greatest 5600HS can go for $300+. If you have Minolta D lens then only Minolta flash will give you ADI. I would stick with Minolta flash. Oh yes only the new D flash work with digital. Good luck.

The problem with photozone is that their results are not based on testing but rather users filling out a quetionaire. Most users have never used a competing product nor do they have a standard test protocal. The results are then edited by photozone. The editing is to eliminate way out results. The problen is way out results are some time true. I have a minolta 100-300 apo. Hard to believe but it performs well at 300 and 5.6. For many that is where it will be used most. This result is supported by photodo.com testing which has test of the sigma as well. The sigma is good below 300 5.6 but at that point not as good as the minolta. Up to 200 I use a 70-210 f/4 minolta for the extra f/ stop. As my sigma would not work with my max 7 without rechipping, which sigma offered to do for free, it is gone.

Hello Jedidiah,

 

Interesting advice from folks who know more than I. Your camera has a 200th synch speed. The flash duration is short enough that it may well freeze the main subject. How about the background though? How about light distribution on the field of view? Flash can be harsh. Is that what you want? Minolta offers flash that will synch at speeds up to 1/8000th on your camera including wirelessly with nothing other than the flash itself. How about fill flash in bright sun with the apature at f/2 calling for a 1/4000? That is worth doing and very hard to do. I have and use such a flash (5600HS, 5400HS, 3600HS) but would not always use it when ever possiable.

 

Alan

Don't forget to take advantage of ratio coverage. You can have the builtin flash provide 1/3 and the wireless provide 2/3 of the light. You can even use multiple remote wireless flash without the controller. Have fun.

 

Alan

This is a repeat about the display on the back. I believe the Minolta max 7 is the only film camera going that will let you see how the exposure value compares to each meter segment. You can spot meter and then see if you have blown out or blacked out a portion of the picture. At that point compensate. Not only useful for landscapes but great indoors shooting sports. Also the wireless flash and high speed sync, up to 1/8000 is unbeatable. Try to fill flash on a real bright day and get the background out of focus with anything else. You can do things with this flash others only dream about. Minolta is due to have a new dslr announced next month. If you are shopping dslr who knows. If film capability is where you are now, most folks love there max 7s. I love my max 7.

There is a factory software upgrade for the max 7. It involes serial numbers that begin 97xx, 98xx and 99xx. I don't know if it address flash exposure but it may be worth checking out.

Hello,

Just a thought. I have found, especially with lens in which the front element is very far forward, that a multicoated filter produces a better image in terms of flair and ghosting. They cost a little more but seem worth it. Hoya green are not coated and seem to have a green color cast, blue are single coated on each surface and often called double coated, and multi coated have three or more layers on each surface. Multicoats do tend to be a bear to clean though.

Alan

A great Minolta picture taker is the 28-135 f/4-4.5. It will rival a prime through most of its range. With that said, it is very heavy, 72mm front, and will only focus to 5 feet. It is sharp wide open. A great bargin is the 28-85 f/3.5-4.5. Much less distortion than the 24-85. Like mine alot. For more reach, the 70-210 f/4 is a nice lens. I have not used the 24-50, but those who have them seem to love them. Good luck.

I just put my 1.7 on my xtsi and will show something other than full open in flash mode. God luck.

Michael, as you have both I am sure you know. I was thinking of getting the 300 f/4 and thought it would autofocus with the 1.4x minolta teleconverter. My thinking was at max a 420 f/5.6. Similar to the situation with the 200 f/4. Ae you saying your 200 f/4 will not autofocus with the 1.4x? What body do you have? Do you know if this would be the same with an xtsi or maxxum 7? Thank you in advance for the help.

Just a word of caution. There are two versions of most Minolta adapters. While both will work with the same lens, the high speed version gives faster autofocus with the high speed lens but slower autofucas than the standard converter with a non high speed lens. More can be found on the lens portion of the minolta web site.

There may be two issue at work. The first is to be sure that your monitor is adjusted. Photoshop gives you Adobe gamma to do this. Next, Photoshop allows you to use and save images in different color spaces. Be sure you are taking the camera image and using the monitor color space when viewing it. Also, be sure you are not embedding some color profile that is other than what you want to use to save, print on your printer , or print on a commercial printer. Good Luck.