Konica-Minolta Dimage A2 still worth a look in?

Is this still worth a look in almost 3 years on, and can this still be had on the 2nd hand market?

How does it companre to Panasonics modern day non-SLR offerings?

--
Performance related pay? Nah, pay related performance!

All from the last month. Hope this helps:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=22796389
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=22738711
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=22731666
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=22689756
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=22479869
--
Gideon



PAW - Week 26

--
GiorgioPM

The A2, even three years down the road, is still unique and quite competitive. When the A2 was originally made- it was designed to sell for $1400 and be a professional tool. The Canon Rebel killed that dream, and forced it to sell for $800-$900. This is what happens when you let the engineers run the company, instead of the accountants.

From an IQ perspective- it's 8Mp sensor and terrific lens (even wide open) is a match for anything out today. although- it is a bit noisier than the current crop of ccds. The JPEG engine isn't the best- but with the new firmware 1.14 and a fast card, you can shoot RAW and get resolution and detail that rivals almost anything on the market. RawShooter essentials is free as well.

The high Res EVF is the only truly usable EVF on the market IMHO. The fact that it articulates makes it even better. The number of features and controls on this camera make it truly second to none.

The only downsides are that it's not great at high ISO. Anything over ISO200 is pretty noisy. Also, it's not a 'point and shoot' camera. Program mode doesn't handle situations all that well, and the JPEG images generally require post processing to get the best look. It's a camera for photography and gadget enthusiasts. Oh- it could use a better continuous mode of more than 3 shots as well- so it's not the best sports tool.

--

I am still waiting for someone to make a camera to replace it - seriously!

Its not perfect for all photographic needs. But I have just been [pricing up about £3,500 ($7000) worth of basic DSLR kit to replace it - and even then that DSLR setup won't cover all the things the A2 does so well that we take them for granted.

If you have a single specific use like soccer sport photography, I would say buy something else, as the autofocus isnt in my opinion fast enough to track the action. Having said that I haven't checked to see if it has predictive continuous tracking - Well thats because I do need that facility.

But I phoyograph lots of motorcycle sport and car racing and its 'perfect'. I also find it perfect for about 95% of wildlife photography.

Why only 95% - max zoom is limited even with teleconverters - if you're trying to photograph small birds a long way away. (for this I use a Fuji F11 pocket camera and telescope - awesome results.)

As a general all round great camera - for someone who wants to learn about photography - and not just take snapshots, I would say it is very hard to beat.

I like anti shake, tilting viewfinder, electronic hi-resolution viewfinder EVF, handling and image quality.

--
http://www.t1000.co.uk
http://www.ashgemsoftware.co.uk