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#1
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
I'm as one might guess a Minolta user with lots of minolta lenses. I'm
at last considering going digital, but Minolta hasn't exactly been releasing tons of cameras to consider. I currently have a Minolta 700si which predates the Minolta 7 which the Minolta 7d is based on. And I really like the build of it compared to the cheaper 5-series. But the Minolta 7d is still 6 megapixles and goes for about US$750-up on the used marked (where i know to look at least) and the 10 mpx a100 do go for US$1000-up. So, Either the build quality and (in some way) better handling of the 7d, or do the a100 pack that much punch to be prefered at that price point. It IS the image quality that is important. I love doing landscapes, nature, mountainbike / skiing shots and urban nightlife. So it have to be the one of the two that gives me the best result in that under same conditions. Anyone help me choose? |
#2
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
Geir Eivind Mork wrote:
I'm as one might guess a Minolta user with lots of minolta lenses. I'm at last considering going digital, but Minolta hasn't exactly been releasing tons of cameras to consider. One camera is enough for me :-). But the choice is indeed rather limited. I currently have a Minolta 700si which predates the Minolta 7 which the Minolta 7d is based on. And I really like the build of it compared to the cheaper 5-series. Absolutely, I have the 500si super, which is certainly a nice camera, but has a very lightweight build. Luckily, the 5d I have now is of much better build quality than the 500si. So unless you need a vertical grip (which is only available for the 7d), you should actually be fine with the 5d. The main advantage of the 7d (apart from the vertical grip) is the high resolution display. Nice, but in my view not essential. The A100 is a nice upgrade for the pixel count, but it comes at slightly more noise and with the ugly SONY logo. I agree with you that the price is a bit high. There is some speculation that Sony is going to launch a better camera early next year, which would probably let the price of the A100 drop a bit. It IS the image quality that is important. I love doing landscapes, nature, mountainbike / skiing shots and urban nightlife. So it have to be the one of the two that gives me the best result in that under same conditions. If you to low light shots, the 5d and 7d might have a slight edge because of the lower noise. In just about any other aspect, the A100 should have the edge. But only you know whether that is worth the additional money. Thomas |
#3
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
Geir Eivind Mork wrote:
I'm as one might guess a Minolta user with lots of minolta lenses. I'm at last considering going digital, but Minolta hasn't exactly been releasing tons of cameras to consider. I currently have a Minolta 700si which predates the Minolta 7 which the Minolta 7d is based on. And I really like the build of it compared to the cheaper 5-series. But the Minolta 7d is still 6 megapixles and goes for about US$750-up on the used marked (where i know to look at least) and the 10 mpx a100 do go for US$1000-up. So, Either the build quality and (in some way) better handling of the 7d, or do the a100 pack that much punch to be prefered at that price point. It IS the image quality that is important. I love doing landscapes, nature, mountainbike / skiing shots and urban nightlife. So it have to be the one of the two that gives me the best result in that under same conditions. Anyone help me choose? I use both. If you shoot landscapes, there is no contest; the A100 wins. It has finer detail processing as well as more megapixels, and it retains far more of the 'grass and twigs' info than any other camera I have used or own. That includes the Canon 400D and the Nikon D80, which equal it in megapixels, but just are not as high in resolution for the sort of fine marginal detail which makes landscape stuff come to life. The 7D has rather nicer landscape colours and I far prefer its user interface and feel, but for detail - the A100. That covers landscapes and nature (the A100 also wins out for fur and feathers). For mountainbike and skiing shots, the A100 wins when the light is excellent - when you can shoot at 100 or 200 ISO. It has faster, more accurate focusing and although the shooting speed is about the same (2.8 frames per second or so, using either JPEG large fine or RAW+JPEG) with a good card the A100 will shoot 9 or 10 continuous RAW and - I have tested it.. - over 500 continous JPEGs in a burst! The 7D will lock you out after a burst of only 3 RAW images or half a dozen JPEGs. There's not much in the shutter lag between them; they are not as good as the film 7 or the 700si, maybe about 10 milliseconds lost between pressing the button and getting the capture. But the A100 will generally be ready to shoot every single frame you take even when the action is fast. Where the A100 would fall down would be mountainbike forest trail shots under tree shade in winter. I've done this, using the original Nikon D100, at ISO 6400 and even that was barely enough. At 1600, the 7D beats the A100 hands down; the A100 gets very grainy and noisy. The 7D is better even at 400 and 800. Low light, fast action, high ISO essential - you need to do lots of NR post processing on A100 files and lots of shadow detail is lost. Urban nightlife, not sure. If you use flash+slow speed synch, which is my preference for atmosphere and effect in club and carnival type shots, the A100 does it better out of the box. The flash exposure is more accurate. Setting the required different compensation factors for flash and ambient is tedious, through menus, where the 7D offers real dials you can just turn - and three user memories where you can save such presets, and get to them instantly. Urban nightlife pix are not wanted huge generally and ultra fine detail is not critical. I'd rate the 7D better if you have the skill to test and set up flash, and ideally get a thyristor-sensor auto flash instead of a 'mock TTL' job. But again the A100 is smaller, and this can help in clubs, crowds. Overall I would pick the A100. I just took mine to Barbados for two weeks, along with our 5D (the 7D stayed at home in the studio, light cameras preferred for travel). 5D - quite a lot of sensor spots! A100 - not a sensor spot in sight, dust free. Lots of lens changing, sand, jeep safari, rain, wind, sun, etc and as yet I've not found one frame out of a thousand and more from this trip with any sensor dust. David |
#4
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
Thomas skrev:
One camera is enough for me :-). But the choice is indeed rather limited. When the 7d was relased I was a bit turned down by the though of investing the price in a 6 mpixel camera. So I waited for a potential 9d with 8 for a while but realized it was going to be a longshot. Started searching for used RD-175 just to have something digital but the price people were asking for that piece of slow, first gen dslr put me off. I hope it was collectors that actually bought them. But I'm getting a bit tired of waiting for a new 7d now. Absolutely, I have the 500si super, which is certainly a nice camera, but has a very lightweight build. Luckily, the 5d I have now is of much better build quality than the 500si. So unless you need a vertical grip (which is only available for the 7d), you should actually be fine with the 5d. I love the vertical grip of my 700si. not sure if I need it that bad but it was a charm to be able to use AA batteries and have the controls on the flipside. The A100 is a nice upgrade for the pixel count, but it comes at slightly more noise and with the ugly SONY logo. I agree with you that the price is a bit high. There is some speculation that Sony is going to launch a better camera early next year, which would probably let the price of the A100 drop a bit. They possibly saved the Minolta heritage. That alone should be worth living with that Logo But if Sony is planning on a 7d -replacement next year it's not going to make me buying a camera now any easier. But I do have a slightly used a100 on hand for US$815. But I'm afraid the noise will annoy me. My greatest Minolta Moments was with ISO 50 Agfa Ultra and ISO 25 Kodak Royal Gold (You are truly truly missed!) - So I'm a bit picky. If you to low light shots, the 5d and 7d might have a slight edge because of the lower noise. In just about any other aspect, the A100 should have the edge. But only you know whether that is worth the additional money. The worst thing is that if sony is planning on releasing a new camera, they better tell me if they're going to use the same sensor but with better build (as the 5d is vs the 7d) or use another sensor with possibly less noise. I wouldn't mind paying the inital price of the 7d for a 7d replacement. But I do also have high hopes for the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80 F3.5-4.5 - But that is not out for another 3 months either. I really need something to replace my trusty old Minolta 24-50mm f4 lense as standard zoom (because that'll be 36-75mm, which isn't exactly as wide as I like it. But few lenses I've tried have come close to beeing as linear and as sharp on the wide end as that one) - or is it anyone really good i've missed? |
#5
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
David Kilpatrick wrote:
accurate focusing and although the shooting speed is about the same (2.8 frames per second or so, using either JPEG large fine or RAW+JPEG) with a good card the A100 will shoot 9 or 10 continuous RAW and - I have tested it.. - over 500 continous JPEGs in a burst! The 7D will lock you out after a burst of only 3 RAW images or half a dozen JPEGs. There's Do you have the 1.1 firmware on the 7D? I'm getting significantly better burst rates than that - at least double on RAW, more on JPEG. This is with 1GB 80x Lexar WA CF cards, or a Sandisk Ultra 2 CF card of the same size. I can do a couple of frames per second up to about 8 frames, and it writes them out pretty quickly and I can start shooting again. If I remember correctly, the image processing and the CF writes were both improved in the updated firmware. |
#6
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
Geir Eivind Mork wrote:
I'm as one might guess a Minolta user with lots of minolta lenses. I'm at last considering going digital, but Minolta hasn't exactly been releasing tons of cameras to consider. I currently have a Minolta 700si which predates the Minolta 7 which the Minolta 7d is based on. And I really like the build of it compared to the cheaper 5-series. But the Minolta 7d is still 6 megapixles and goes for about US$750-up on the used marked (where i know to look at least) and the 10 mpx a100 do go for US$1000-up. So, Either the build quality and (in some way) better handling of the 7d, or do the a100 pack that much punch to be prefered at that price point. Or wait and see what Sony do next. I'm really not impressed with the A100 as I see it as an upgrade from the 5D to 10 Mpix. I want to see what they do as an upgrade from the 7D to 10 or more Mpix before I commit. The A100 goes for US$900 here. Order it from B&H in New York. I'm not sure how Norwegian customs are, however... Cheers, Alan -- -- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch. |
#7
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Used Minolta 7d or Sony A100?
Paul Coen wrote:
David Kilpatrick wrote: accurate focusing and although the shooting speed is about the same (2.8 frames per second or so, using either JPEG large fine or RAW+JPEG) with a good card the A100 will shoot 9 or 10 continuous RAW and - I have tested it.. - over 500 continous JPEGs in a burst! The 7D will lock you out after a burst of only 3 RAW images or half a dozen JPEGs. There's Do you have the 1.1 firmware on the 7D? I'm getting significantly better burst rates than that - at least double on RAW, more on JPEG. This is with 1GB 80x Lexar WA CF cards, or a Sandisk Ultra 2 CF card of the same size. I can do a couple of frames per second up to about 8 frames, and it writes them out pretty quickly and I can start shooting again. If I remember correctly, the image processing and the CF writes were both improved in the updated firmware. Yes, if you don't use continuous you can benefit from the fast buffer write. I have the latest firmware and the 80X Lexar WA remains one of the faster cards to use - it's what lives in my 7D. I have SanDisk Extreme III and Ultra II cards but they don't offer any advantage. I should have said continuous RAW+JPEG (though there does not seem to be any penalty compared to RAW only) and that you don't necessarily get locked out - just a delay - with a suitably fast card. While the Sony A100 will shoot its recommended 6 RAW+JPEGs using the MemoryStick Duo Pro adaptor and a Sony Pro card, put this adaptor in the 7D and the write speed is so slow it does lock you out. You can take a couple of pix and then have to wait, almost like with the Dimage 7/A models. One point about the Sony is that burst duration depends on the subject. It uses raw file compression, and a simple subject (skier against sky for example) can give you twice the number of continuous raw shots, compared to a complex highly detailed one. You also get more shots and faster shooting at ISO 100 (less noise) presumably because noisy images are larger to compress. The 7D doesn't use RAW compression and is unaffected by ISO choice or the type of subject. David |
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