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Going back to Minolta.

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DavidVogt

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I owned a KM7D for about a year and absolutely loved it. Then the Nikon D200 came out and I sold my 7D to upgrade. More megapixels, faster, weather seals, etc. Then after 2 years I couldn't take the Nikon control scheme any more. I could just never get comfortable with it.

So last February I took the plunge on a new Sony a900, hoping it could bring back those old Minolta feelings and bring more joy into my photography. And I love my a900 for professional work.

But yesterday I ordered a 7D with the 18-70mm lens for a stellar price. No camera has been able to replace what the 7D brought to me. Looking forward to joining you in this forum again.

--

 
Hi David - welcome back here!

Since the link to your photowork didn't work all this time, I'm looking forward to see what you've learned and made in the past 2 - 3 years!

Bart
 
Welcome back !

Could you tell us more: 7D VS A900? Colour rendering? IQ? 3D effect? Constrasts?

All the best,

--
Michel J
 
I had forgotten how friendly this place is. People in the Sony Alpha forum get a little too hung up on firmware updates and MLU sometimes.

Bart - Thank you! I just updated the website in my profile, feel free to have a look at some of my work. :)
DavidVogt said:
Michael - The Minolta heritage can definitely be found in the a900 - What I truly miss the most are all the dials and buttons. The a900 is a fantastic camera, a true photographers' camera, just like the 7D.
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DavidVogt said:
You asked about IQ, contrast, etc. I will touch on some points here but will perhaps to a side-by-side comparison between the two.
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DavidVogt said:
I always felt that the 7D files were much more flexible, as if there was just much more data behind every pixel. The a900 does, of course, have a huge resolution advantage which I greatly appreciate in my landscape work. Comparing JPEG per-pixel quality, the a900 doesn't hold a candle to the 7D. Shooting RAW and processing with LR3 beta works wonders, however. In terms of color, I would give a slight advantage to the 7D as well.
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DavidVogt said:
The a900 has one giant advantage: The full-frame sensor. This obviously has great impact on the 3D effect, with beautiful out-of-focus backgrounds or foregrounds. For my professional work (studio, weddings, portraits) the a900 is the better camera and a joy to work with. For personal shooting, the 7D is unmatched, somehow creating a unique intimacy to the photographer, as Carl mentioned in his (excellent) review.
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DavidVogt said:
DavidVogt said:
Carl - Some of the things I wrote to Michael above may also answer some of your questions. In terms of comparison with Nikon - the D200 was a fantastic, capable camera that I just never "clicked" with. The camera always felt a little clunky, especially with the "hold this button down, turn the dial to change settings" interface (ISO, for example). This just never seemed intuitive to me, even after 2 years. The metering dial on Nikons goes exactly the opposite way - whoops! The control dials (particularly by thumb and index finger) lack a certain "feel" - they feel spongy on all Nikons I have tried. This may seem like a tiny detail, but as you know, we photographers are a little bit strange about our cameras (kind of how you like your cameras to have a certain quirk. ;) ). It's just the little things that never allowed me to get comfortable with the camera.
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Deep down I've been waiting for a full-frame 7D ever since I sold my 7D back then - and with the a900 I thought I got it. I love the camera, but something just keeps me longing for the beautiful camera that the original 7D is.

Hope this gives you some insight and answers to your questions. Thanks again for the warm welcome and I look forward to participating with you here.
  • David
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Welcome back David!!! I am looking forward to owning a (used) A900 or A850 someday, but my KM 7D is working wonderfully for me until that time......I would be interested in your comparisons of the 7D and A900 too......throw up some pictures too!!!! :)

Rich
--
Alcohol and calculus don't mix; Never drink and derive.......
 
Welcome back!!! I also look forward to seeing some of your work. Don't feel like you can only post your 7D photos here though. Lets see some of those A900 shots. It's all relevant to us here. So bring it on. And again, welcome :-)
--
Rich

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never be pointing the wrong direction



http://richunland.zenfolio.com
 
DavidVogt said:
The camera always felt a little clunky, especially with the "hold this button down, turn the dial to change settings" interface (ISO, for example). This just never seemed intuitive to me, even after 2 years. >
  • David
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I chuckled when I read that bit. It instantly reminded me of my first expensive camera, the Nikon Coolpix 4500 that I bought 8 years ago. And while it's still useful to me today (especially on telescopes), I still get thrown as much now by the "hold the button down/rotate wheel" nature of changing menus, as I did back then. I think that stopped me warming to Nikon.

By way of contrast, I recently picked up old Minolta Dimage 7i and 7Hi cameras from the same era, which also do they same sort thing in terms of pressing and rotating, but they actually have more dials than on the KM7D, and their mode of operation hasn't bothered me at all.

Very interesting you views on the A900 and KM7D.
Renato
 
I am sure that people on DPR are tired of hearing me preach this but if Sony would just release a Full frame 7D "or even an APS-c version" they would have one of if not the best DSLR's ever made from an ergonomic standpoint. I just don't understand why they don't do it. I guess it is one of the reasons I hold a bit of contempt for sony I think they are too eager to please the digicam P&S userbase.
DavidVogt said:
I owned a KM7D for about a year and absolutely loved it. Then the Nikon D200 came out and I sold my 7D to upgrade. More megapixels, faster, weather seals, etc. Then after 2 years I couldn't take the Nikon control scheme any more. I could just never get comfortable with it.

So last February I took the plunge on a new Sony a900, hoping it could bring back those old Minolta feelings and bring more joy into my photography. And I love my a900 for professional work.

But yesterday I ordered a 7D with the 18-70mm lens for a stellar price. No camera has been able to replace what the 7D brought to me. Looking forward to joining you in this forum again.

--

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--
Thanks,
Chadd
http://www.pbase.com/chadd
 
Welcome Home, David.

7D is like coke classic, where on earth did you find it BTW

--
Shoot to capture, not kill !

Minolta 7D 7000i 50/1.4+1.7 28/2.8 35-70 70-300 28-80 70-210 Tam 28-200 5600 3600
Panny FZ7 : King of the Day
Fuji F31fd : Prince of Darkness
Fuji F40 : AllRounder
 
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