ivo_stankus

This is a sad day, but it's not the end. If Sony takes the DSLR market seriously, then I'm pretty sure they'll continue in the Minolta tradition of making some great cameras, and superior lenses - and hopefully they'll have a better marketing strategy than KM! :)

Sligthly off topic: A couple of days ago I've read a pretty extatic review of the brand new Fuji Pro 160S and 160C - anyone tried them yet? They look very promising. By the way, it seems that there's a quite a few new emulsions available on the market right now. From the top of my mind, I recall that this year there's been the new Fuji Pro Series (160C, 160S, 400H, 800Z), the new Velvia 100, Neopan Acros 100, Neopan 400C. I think Ilford introduced something too, not sure about Kodak (and too bad what happened to Agfa...). Some of these are the best film materials I've used and I'm more than willing to stick to using them, or at least experiment with them often. I think this wasn't a bad year for film considering the ongoing digital "revolution", at least product-wise...

 

And to answer the original question: as people above me stated, the Reala 100 is a good choice, and as Jed said, it's quite cheap for a film of such qualities.

If there is, then the results will be the same as using such lenses on Dynax bodies. It can be done, but the adapter will contain an optical element that severely degrades the optical quality of the lens.

I'm not sure. Those are not the Minolta APO (any version) converters right? Well, it's possible that they still retain similar compatibility - i.e. work properly on Dynax bodies only with long teles <200mm, plus the 135/2.8 and the 70-200/2.8.

I say keep the 200/2.8! You said it all -> "small, light, can travel with it, super super sharp, can hand-hold with AS..." Using it was a joy, the results were great, and I always hate parting with it. I'm sure the 300 is an excellent lens, and I would love to have one if the price was right, but I would never sell the 200 (that is, if I actually owned one ;).

If you're buying a Canon or Nikon DSLR why not get a film camera from them too that you can use as a backup? The Nikon F90X is quite cheap these days and is a very solid camera. On the other hand, why not get the 7D, which is a great DSLR and then upgrade your film body to either the 7 or the 800si (never really liked the 600si, but that's just my opinion)?

Andrew - I don't think there are any official numbers yet for the sale of the 5D. Certainly not in the annual reports - beside the 5D being quite new, Canon doesn't publish numbers for each camera type produced. It is however rumoured that the 5D, after the initial boom, isn't selling as fast as was hoped, but it may well create huge profits for Canon. I'm not however so sure about what you wrote about the sale of the 1Ds, and the profits it creates for Canon... I've heard the complete opposite before, but there's no saying it was thruthful or not (though it was from a reliable source).

 

BTW. That was a very interesting read Greg. Thanks for the insight.

Well, Canon isn't making much money either. The $8000 1Ds is a flagship that was never meant to be sold in large numbers, but apparently the 5D that was aimed to be more of a "full frame for the people" isn't selling as well as Canon had hoped. Maybe 35mm equivalent sensors are not the way to go. The main argument always was that you could use the already existant wide angle lenses to their full potential, but it looks like that this is not the case, as the sensors are more unforgiving in their demands on the lenses than film.

Yep, I'll believe any rumours when I see the final product. KMSEA's predictions are so vague that he may actually be right, but the simple fact that he's been predicting the same stuff for several months now without any of them materialising makes him a very unreliable source, and im my opinion he's just making stuff up. I would expect an updated 7D early next year (maybe earlier) due to the huge price falls of the original model. I don't expect a FF DSLR for another several years. Canon's 5D left me hugely unimpressed, so I think it would be a step back for KM.

There was one odd question in the survey that asked what type of a memory card I would like to use in a DSLR. Now that Sony is in the KM game, they are perhaps thinking about using those damn Memory Sticks in their future products, and were perhaps looking for user's opinion as to which way to go. That I think would be a first for Minolta... I hope you all answered Compact Flash :) All the other questions were pretty general, but this specific "What would you like..." question stood out.

Hmm... that's funny. Here (the Czech republic), much like the rest of Europe, the 7D was way overpriced, but it now costs less than what it costs in the US. A kit with the VC-7D grip, and the 17-35 lens is about $1400. And some stores already are selling out their last pieces as an outgoing model. I guess there's something around the corner...

A friend of mine just uses a larger rubber eyecup that's fit to use with the left eye. It seems to work, but I guess it also depends on your nose size :)

Hmm that's a tough one, as I'm in a similar situation. I have an MF kit that I love using, and a Maxxum camera with a few lenses as well that I enjoy shooting with too - but if I wanted to upgrade my AF kit or go the DSLR way I would probably have to sell some of my beloved Rokkors, and cameras. The more logical side of me says that I have a really good photographic tool, that gives me great possibilities and I don't need a new camera, or new lenses. The other, perhaps more irrational side of me gets very envious whenever I visit a good friend of mine that has the 7,7D and some excellent lenses to go with. And everytime we part, I'm thinking of selling all my stuff right away :) But in the end, I think I'll hold onto these old "relics" because they make photography fun - and to me that is the most important thing.

Still no luck, but I just went to two three shops that didn't even have the Dynax. Tommorow I'll be checking out two of the bigger stores, and I'll let you know then.

I've had this happen once or twice, and I just decided to turn off the automatic rewind function (from Custom function 2 - 1 Auto start to 2 Manual start).

I just saw a Sigma 500/4.5 in excellent condition for sale at KEH.com for around $1,300... i think that's another lens to consider as it has quite a reputation.

Ahoj! I'll post this in English as this is an internationl forum :)

 

I'll try and have a look after the weekend. Don't have the Dynax 60 myself, but I'll ask in some of the shops around Prague.

I meant all those exhibitions like CeBit, E3 - originally perhaps aimed at IT, but later diversifying to include mobile telecomunications, digital imaging, etc, and even Photokina, or PMA (cameras are afterall consumer electronics). I know that from time to time even huge corporations don't appear at such shows mainly because the benefits don't outweigh the costs. I've worked, and been to highly specific exhibitions dealing in medical equipment where there's a large percentage of proffesionals often deciding about the purchase of new equipment costing millions, and in such circumstances I think it's worth for a company to invest tens of thousands of dollars (and those were just tiny expos compared to giants like CeBit) into this specific form of advertisement. In other situations it may be just a waste of time. If KM has nothing new to show, why bother? I'm sure that if the rummours about the 9D, or the upgraded 7D are true, they'll certainly be very well seen at the upcoming events.

Michael - I always thought that it's Canon that is the least diversified (maybe along with Pentax) of the major camera manufacturers, and that perhaps being the reason why they tend to pay more atention to the camera market and inovate more than KM, or Nikon. But other than that I agree with you - consumer electronic shows are a dying breed, and that KM don't appear on one isn't much of a problem.

Chris - by that equation in the end, I assume you mean that the new 35mm lens will be a fast standard lens for some new DSLR with a crop factor. I thought that too - until I checked what the the price of the 35mm G lens is... It would be incredibly expensive for a standard lens. We'll see what the future brings.

Yeah, for info of any value I would wait until one of next years big photographic expositions - PMA in February, Photokina in September, maybe CeBit, or the Japanese Photo Imaging Expo in May. Ofcourse, you can have a look at the endless discussions on some forums dealing with the hypothetical features of non-existant cameras... ;)

I don't know if we can expect KM to make such a lens, but I quite suspect that it won't be anytime soon. The 17-35/3.5 is a fairly new design, and it's a very good lens by all standards so I'm not sure why KM should completely redesign it. I would go ahead and buy it.

The two companies cooperate, they did not merge. They have their own respective bussiness strategies, and once the Sony DSLR is out, it's going to compete directly with the KM cameras in the very lucrative DSLR market - the main reason why Sony wants to enter it. Nowhere in the announcement does it even hint at the possibility that they'll make just one line of cameras. Sony will make Sony cameras, and KM will not abandon it's Dynax line. If they shared their best technologies, what advantage (especially from the consumer point of view) would KM have over Sony? If we're talking strictly about AS, which is the topic of this thread, then I don't think that's one of the technologies being shared, and I don't think it's even that important. For one, Sony is more likely to be in need of a good quality AF system that is a lot more complicated than the ones used in compact cameras. Ofcourse, I may be wrong.

Why should I Clinton? I didn't disagree with you, but I just pointed out that this new Sony chip is smaller than those used in DSLR's, and with a crop factor of around 1.7 I think it's more likely to be used in a new generation of EVF cameras. I agree that the term APS-C is used quite promiscue and that there is no fixed standard.

Nonsense. This forum deals with a much wider spectrum of topics than just rumours and speculations, therefore I doubt anyone would leave if you stopped posting Clinton - as you imply in your post.