New D7 Owner Comments.

After following this forum and others for months and evaluating all the pluses and minuses I finally decided on the D7 and ordered it and the items below from one of the major reputable suppliers, Norman Camera, on Tuesday.

Minolta Dimage 7
Minolta 5600 HS(D) Flash
Minolta RC 1000-L Remote Cable
Hoya 49mm Pro S-HMC UV(0)
49-53mm step-up ring
Hoya 55mm S-HMC UV
Hoya 55mm Linear Polarizer
Hoya 55mm IR (72) Filter
Lexar RW 11001 1384/firewire CF I/II Reader
Lowepro Nova Mini Camera Bag

I was very impressed with the level of service I got from Norman Camera, thanks to Kelly. I received the camera in two days on Thursday.

I had also previously ordered the memory and power options I wanted, again based on recommendations from this site:

IBM 1 gb MicroDrive (Googlegear)
Delkin 256 mb CF (Aaxes)
12-GP1800mah NiMH (Green)
Rayovac PS4 1 hr Quick Charger 4 independent circuits (WalMart)

I had already downloaded the instruction books and read them and was fairly well prepared to start using the camera when it arrived. The batteries were already charged and all I needed to do was wait for the camera to reach room temperature. Finally I was really going to be able to use the D7.

My initial impressions which I am sure will change as I really get accustomed to the camera were as follows:

I found the D7 controls to be very user friendly. There is a lot to learn but the menus are not very deep and most of the commonly used settings are at your fingertips. The topography of the camera makes it easy to find the right controls without having to look at them. I really like the function dial/control dial setup. The flex focus point really is nice to use and seems to work very accurately. The quality of the pictures is very high and my biggest challenge is to find the right settings for each situation with flash in a lighted room providing some interesting challenges.

The Dynax CF and the IBM MD both performed very well and the Lexar firewire reader is very fast. I can't imagine loading pictures directly from the

camera after using this device. After I have a week to really learn about the camera and flash I am sure I will have a much better understanding of how to use these tools to take some nice pictures. So far so good!

I have learned a great deal from this forum. Thanks to all who take the time to share their expertise and a special thanks to Bryan for his help, insight, and excellent website.

Tom Brock said:

I have learned a great deal from this forum. Thanks to all who take
the time to share their expertise and a special thanks to Bryan for
his help, insight, and excellent website.

Click to expand...

I second that !!
--Steven

I received mine 2 days ago, All the basics on it work just like my minolta 35mm, works great in the studio where it will be used for 95% of portrait work.
I love it, I just wish it was a little larger, I have big hands.
Tim

Steven said:

Member said:

I have learned a great deal from this forum. Thanks to all who take
the time to share their expertise and a special thanks to Bryan for
his help, insight, and excellent website.

Click to expand...

I second that !!

--
Steven

Click to expand...

Well:

I wish the hand grip was a little deeper, the rubber covers would stay in place better, the strap ring was not so close to the CF Card door, the tripod mount was centered on the lens, and I am sure I will find a few other minor things as I use the camera.

BUT:

I do not have any EVF ficker, or excessive heating or eating batteries, all of which I was a little concerned about before ordering the camera and the unbelievable zoom lens, accurate color and quality of the pictures plus ease of use and the fact that everything I need for 95% of my photographs, including the camera and flash fits, in a Lowepro Nova Mini Bag so far outweigh the minor things I have listed above that I would say this is already a great camera.

If Minolta listens to its users, with a little work on the next generation camera to correct the minor annoyances and pay particular attention to decreasing the time to auto focus, they could have a real world class take on all comers digital camera. I also may be in the minority but I like the ability to get better color output using DIVU which only seems to be necessary some of the time. So maybe Minolta should give users the option of normal or expanded colorspace on the menu.

Minolta_man said:

I received mine 2 days ago, All the basics on it work just like my
minolta 35mm, works great in the studio where it will be used for
95% of portrait work.
I love it, I just wish it was a little larger, I have big hands.
Tim

Click to expand...

Tom Brock said:

If Minolta listens to its users, with a little work on the next
generation camera to correct the minor annoyances and pay
particular attention to decreasing the time to auto focus, they
could have a real world class take on all comers digital camera. I
also may be in the minority but I like the ability to get better
color output using DIVU which only seems to be necessary some of
the time. So maybe Minolta should give users the option of normal
or expanded colorspace on the menu.

Click to expand...

Tom

Thats a great idea. I hope Minolta does listen and put the option in the Menu.--Steven

Tom Brock said:

After following this forum and others for months and evaluating all
the pluses and minuses I finally decided on the D7 and ordered it
and the items below from one of the major reputable suppliers,
Norman Camera, on Tuesday.

Minolta Dimage 7
Minolta 5600 HS(D) Flash
Minolta RC 1000-L Remote Cable
Hoya 49mm Pro S-HMC UV(0)

Click to expand...

Does Norman have the Hoya slim UV in stock? I put an order in with 2filters about a week ago and they are waiting on shipment from Hoya. Guess I'll give them a few more days and maybe give Norman a call.

Tom Brock said:

49-53mm step-up ring
Hoya 55mm S-HMC UV
Hoya 55mm Linear Polarizer
Hoya 55mm IR (72) Filter
Lexar RW 11001 1384/firewire CF I/II Reader
Lowepro Nova Mini Camera Bag

Click to expand...

Very nice list, by the way. All I have for my D7 so far are CF cards (which I had purchased for my E100), Hoya 49mm IR filter (which I had purchased for my Oly 2020), B300 (purchased for 2020) and 49-55 step up (puchased for E100). Also had 2 Oly chargers and several sets of rechargeable batteries. It's nice that most of these can be interchanged among the cameras. I do want to get an external flash and am considering the 5600. I was hoping my 2800 from my Maxxum would work with the D7 but found out that it's not compatible.

Enjoy your D7.

B

Norman has the three following filters on backorder:

Hoya 49mm Pro S-HMC UV(0)
Hoya 55mm S-HMC UV
Hoya 55mm IR (72) Filter

I actually added the Hoya 49mm Pro S-HMC UV(0) after I had placed the original order because I plan to take just the camera, IBM MD and batteries on long hikes and don't want any extra stuff. If you use only this filter it is supposed to give you crystal clear images. The really great thing about this camera is that this is all you really need for that type of outdoor shooting most of the time.

bnewman said:

Tom Brock said:

After following this forum and others for months and evaluating all
the pluses and minuses I finally decided on the D7 and ordered it
and the items below from one of the major reputable suppliers,
Norman Camera, on Tuesday.

Minolta Dimage 7
Minolta 5600 HS(D) Flash
Minolta RC 1000-L Remote Cable
Hoya 49mm Pro S-HMC UV(0)

Click to expand...

Does Norman have the Hoya slim UV in stock? I put an order in with
2filters about a week ago and they are waiting on shipment from
Hoya. Guess I'll give them a few more days and maybe give Norman a
call.

bnewman said:

49-53mm step-up ring
Hoya 55mm S-HMC UV
Hoya 55mm Linear Polarizer
Hoya 55mm IR (72) Filter
Lexar RW 11001 1384/firewire CF I/II Reader
Lowepro Nova Mini Camera Bag

Click to expand...

Very nice list, by the way. All I have for my D7 so far are CF
cards (which I had purchased for my E100), Hoya 49mm IR filter
(which I had purchased for my Oly 2020), B300 (purchased for 2020)
and 49-55 step up (puchased for E100). Also had 2 Oly chargers and
several sets of rechargeable batteries. It's nice that most of
these can be interchanged among the cameras. I do want to get an
external flash and am considering the 5600. I was hoping my 2800
from my Maxxum would work with the D7 but found out that it's not
compatible.

Enjoy your D7.

Click to expand...