Comments on Maxxum D7 spec

Alan Browne wrote in
:

The 100 low limit means it's not the same sensor (most probably a
variant of it though). All cameras using the same architecture of the
sensor has a low limit of 200; the spec of the *ist DS is unknown WRT
that however. It may be a slightly revised Sony chip.

It may be a revised v., may be the same (may be something else
entirely)... the ISO limits is a system integration issue ...

As I understand it it's more of a register issue and thus directly related
to the sensor hardware. 3200 as max (the *ist D has it, the Nikons not) is
likely a design decision though; 3200 is too bad so they are not giving it
even as an option.

That, and the lack of a focus assist beam, clearly are cost-cutting
measures. The shutter disturbs me more than the focus assist beam,
but with HSS it's no biggie for me really.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/ko...lta/km7d02.jpg
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/ko...lta/km7d01.jpg

Seems to show a focus assist beam xmiter below the blue logo.
(This may also be a pre-prod that is too close to the 7 and not
rep of the final).

No, that is the final camera, and no, that's a self-timer led or maybe some
sort of IR remote release window. The D7D has AF illumination from the
built-in flash, or from an accessory flash.

Rumours have been flying about a 15-17 sept announcement for weeks
now. It's no reaction.

Given the overall poor announcement quality and the poor state of
the website dedicated to the camera (lot's of place holder stuff,
very little meaningful detail) it seems reactionary.

Maybe they don't know themselves. The camera is finalized (some people have
review samples) but software might not be finalized -- sources (Minolta
officials!) says delivery by November. I certainly hope that's a
misunderstanding.

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: Alan Browne
Date: 9/15/2004 11:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

You left out the 100 increment adjustment for white balance. This enables a
huge amount of creative image control.

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: Alan Browne
Date: 9/15/2004 11:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

You left out the 100 increment adjustment for white balance. This enables a
huge amount of creative image control.

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: (Crecybattl)
Date: 9/15/2004 7:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: Alan Browne
Date: 9/15/2004 11:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

You left out the 100 increment adjustment for white balance. This enables a
huge amount of creative image control.

Sorry, make that "100-degree Kelvin increment"

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: (Crecybattl)
Date: 9/15/2004 7:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: Alan Browne
Date: 9/15/2004 11:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

You left out the 100 increment adjustment for white balance. This enables a
huge amount of creative image control.

Sorry, make that "100-degree Kelvin increment"

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: (Crecybattl)
Date: 9/15/2004 7:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Subject: Comments on Maxxum D7 spec
From: Alan Browne
Date: 9/15/2004 11:26 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

You left out the 100 increment adjustment for white balance. This enables a
huge amount of creative image control.

Sorry, make that "100-degree Kelvin increment"

We have UK pricing and availability in a news story at:

http://dpnow.com/1069.html

We're also interested in what people think of the new 7D.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
www.dpnow.com

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .


Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D now
leads this segment of the market and it will probably take Minolta a while
to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging note here is that the A1
went from 5 to 8 MP within months ... but a different sensor size of
course). The highs and lows a

The D7 (whether Maxxum or Dynax depending on where you live) has a very
strong spec. Using (we assume) the same Sony CCD sensor as the Nikon
D100/D70 and getting the same resolution and pixel numbers with a 12 bit
ADC. A fixed low pass filter is employed.

The high point wrt the sensor integration is that it will have a slow
sensitivity of ISO 100 and reach up to 3200.

The real bonus here is of course that the sensor is mounted on the
Anti-shake technology first deployed by Minolta on the A1 and A2 SLR-like
predecessors. This will give anti-shake margin of at least 2 stops, 3
stops is claimed by K-M. So all my lenses will benefit.

The system employs about all of the over achieving specifications of the
film Maxxum 7 with a few minor sacrifices (below).

Flash sync is a bit slow, with 1/160 (A-S off) and 1/125 with AS on. This
is a 1/3 stop margin between A-S on and off, so it would seem in the
studio that 1/125 with A-S on will result in cleaner handheld studio shots
than at 1/160 ...not accounting for subject motion of course.

I'm disappointed, K-M should have had a quicker sync speed, at least 1/200
and 1/300 from the Maxxum 9 would have been preferred.

The max shutter speed is 1/4000 which again is odd, as the Max 7 has a
1/8,000 shutter speed. In practical terms this is no real problem.

The link above says "DOF" unknown. But previous releases indicate that
DOF preview is included. Let's hope that K-M have not dropped this ball
(the photos provided hide the position where the DOF button is located).

Viewfinder: The spec says 95% and this has me perplexed. If this is the
Max 7 frame then with a 1.5X crop the viewfinder should be something well
in excess of 100%. I hope that K-M have not crippled the VF as the spec
here seems to indicate. (Could be they just copied over the Max 7 spec
without adjustment for the sensor ... I hope so).

Flash covers all the bases from the built-in flash, wireless flash and a
PC sync terminal.

In a nutshell, a great first DSLR from K-M (Yeah I know it isn't really
the first one, but few people bought their expensive kludge of a few years
ago... the RD-175).

So, the two big questions remain:

WHEN? Maybe Photokina will reveal this...

HOW MUCH? as above...

The spec appears to have been rushed out to me and is possibly a reaction
to the release of the Pentax *ist DS announcemnt of a couple days ago.
K-M seem to continuously be in reaction mode.

Cheers,
Alan








--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

We have UK pricing and availability in a news story at:

http://dpnow.com/1069.html

We're also interested in what people think of the new 7D.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
www.dpnow.com

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .


Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D now
leads this segment of the market and it will probably take Minolta a while
to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging note here is that the A1
went from 5 to 8 MP within months ... but a different sensor size of
course). The highs and lows a

The D7 (whether Maxxum or Dynax depending on where you live) has a very
strong spec. Using (we assume) the same Sony CCD sensor as the Nikon
D100/D70 and getting the same resolution and pixel numbers with a 12 bit
ADC. A fixed low pass filter is employed.

The high point wrt the sensor integration is that it will have a slow
sensitivity of ISO 100 and reach up to 3200.

The real bonus here is of course that the sensor is mounted on the
Anti-shake technology first deployed by Minolta on the A1 and A2 SLR-like
predecessors. This will give anti-shake margin of at least 2 stops, 3
stops is claimed by K-M. So all my lenses will benefit.

The system employs about all of the over achieving specifications of the
film Maxxum 7 with a few minor sacrifices (below).

Flash sync is a bit slow, with 1/160 (A-S off) and 1/125 with AS on. This
is a 1/3 stop margin between A-S on and off, so it would seem in the
studio that 1/125 with A-S on will result in cleaner handheld studio shots
than at 1/160 ...not accounting for subject motion of course.

I'm disappointed, K-M should have had a quicker sync speed, at least 1/200
and 1/300 from the Maxxum 9 would have been preferred.

The max shutter speed is 1/4000 which again is odd, as the Max 7 has a
1/8,000 shutter speed. In practical terms this is no real problem.

The link above says "DOF" unknown. But previous releases indicate that
DOF preview is included. Let's hope that K-M have not dropped this ball
(the photos provided hide the position where the DOF button is located).

Viewfinder: The spec says 95% and this has me perplexed. If this is the
Max 7 frame then with a 1.5X crop the viewfinder should be something well
in excess of 100%. I hope that K-M have not crippled the VF as the spec
here seems to indicate. (Could be they just copied over the Max 7 spec
without adjustment for the sensor ... I hope so).

Flash covers all the bases from the built-in flash, wireless flash and a
PC sync terminal.

In a nutshell, a great first DSLR from K-M (Yeah I know it isn't really
the first one, but few people bought their expensive kludge of a few years
ago... the RD-175).

So, the two big questions remain:

WHEN? Maybe Photokina will reveal this...

HOW MUCH? as above...

The spec appears to have been rushed out to me and is possibly a reaction
to the release of the Pentax *ist DS announcemnt of a couple days ago.
K-M seem to continuously be in reaction mode.

Cheers,
Alan








--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Some major benefits Minolta pioneered at the start of autofocus SLRs have
carried over to this model. I bought one of the first 7000 Minolta's and it
gave me excelent service for many years.

So the major benefits? The first is the body mounted autofocus motor. Not
only does this make focus speed the same over the whole lens range but it
reduces the weight and cost of lenses. I currently own a 70~200 f2.8 Canon
lens. I have no doubt it's high cost is because both the focus motor and the
image stabiliser are in the lens.

I will definitely give this new camera plenty of consideration when it's
released. Not the least reason being it's high ISO rating. Canon's big
downfall is the way it's sensors lose detail at high ISOs when the subject
is under exposed. Any gains in this area are sure to get attention.

There are lots of old Pros still in business who would move back the Minolta
if they can still deliver the goods.

Ryadia
---------------

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .


Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a

Some major benefits Minolta pioneered at the start of autofocus SLRs have
carried over to this model. I bought one of the first 7000 Minolta's and it
gave me excelent service for many years.

So the major benefits? The first is the body mounted autofocus motor. Not
only does this make focus speed the same over the whole lens range but it
reduces the weight and cost of lenses. I currently own a 70~200 f2.8 Canon
lens. I have no doubt it's high cost is because both the focus motor and the
image stabiliser are in the lens.

I will definitely give this new camera plenty of consideration when it's
released. Not the least reason being it's high ISO rating. Canon's big
downfall is the way it's sensors lose detail at high ISOs when the subject
is under exposed. Any gains in this area are sure to get attention.

There are lots of old Pros still in business who would move back the Minolta
if they can still deliver the goods.

Ryadia
---------------

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .


Well the spec is out and we are pleased. Of course the Canon 20D
now leads this segment of the market and it will probably take
Minolta a while to catch up ... if at all ... (the encouraging
note here is that the A1 went from 5 to 8 MP within months ...
but a different sensor size of course). The highs and lows a