Konica Minolta Dynax 7D in 2020 as a digital companion for the film Dynax 7

Nice start with your new camera .

With regard to your focussing issues , on the sample shown she is wearing what's effectively a camouflage jacket .

Wide AF on cameras with just a handful of fairly large focus points can also be known as "do you feel lucky AF mode "!

The camera has locked focus on the nearest clearly defined object , the tree .

With modern cameras that have a couple of dozen to a few hundred selectable AF points , you can select what's important to focus on .

On all my older cameras I have them set to centre spot AF , lock focus and recompose , in this case the eyes .

Or if the target is quite away from the centre I might select another focus point .

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WRT the AntiShake .

It's a fairly common fault with with IBIS where the rods that move the sensor around can break , especially if the camera is dropped .

FFB and a broken AS unit are the two main issues with these cameras .

The easy way to tell is first off looking in the viewfinder .

On the right hand side are 5 vertical dashes that light up to indicate the amount of correction being applied .

These are activated ( with AS on ) when you press the shutter button . Initially all 5 will light up and depending on how steady you hold the camera and the focal length of the lens used they will go out leaving just one or two on .

So a 50mm lens , in good light , with a large aperture , only 1 bar will be lit up .

A 200mm lens on a dull day , with a small aperture selected , most of the lights will be lit up .

The steadier you hold it , the less lights lit up , if you have the shakes , more lights will light up .

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If the AF unit is faulty , all 5 light are lit and don't go out .

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The other way to check is to set the camera to manual exposure and take a shot lasting more than a few seconds .

Fire the shutter and hold the rear LCD to your ear , if on , you'll hear a constant buzzing noise .

All that means its working just fine .

Turn AS off it's on a tripod or you'll have a blurred picture . Early cameras couldn't work out they were on a tripod and still try to correct for the natural movement in a human body .

So if the cameras on a firm tripod , and the sensors moving , it does the opposite .

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With regards to lenses , as Joseph suggests , you definitely want to look at getting the 70-210mm f/4 beercan .

Another one to look out for is either the Minolta 24-85mm or 24-105mm , between one of them and the beercan your pretty much sorted .

For 50mm lenses I also have the Sony 50mm f/1.4 , sure it's sharper stopped down a little , the f/2.8 macro is sharper wide open than the f/1.4 at f/2.8 .

However the 50mm f/2.8 macro lens is terrible at taking shots at f/1.4 but the f/1.4 can always be stopped down the f/2.8 !

For portraits f/1.4 is useful .

If your looking for a 50mm macro , also take a look at the f/3.5 version . Only goes to 1:2 ratio rather than 1:1 of the f/2.8 , but it's my most used macro .

Very sharp and lovely bokeh . Cheaper than the f/2.8 too .

Broom . Minolta 50mm f/3.5 Macro

Orchid , Minolta 50mm f/3.5 Macro

neilt3 wrote:

Nice start with your new camera

Thank you for your help, inspiration and support.

WRT the AntiShake .

It's a fairly common fault with with IBIS where the rods that move the sensor around can break , especially if the camera is dropped .

FFB and a broken AS unit are the two main issues with these cameras .

The easy way to tell is first off looking in the viewfinder .

On the right hand side are 5 vertical dashes that light up to indicate the amount of correction being applied .

These are activated ( with AS on ) when you press the shutter button . Initially all 5 will light up and depending on how steady you hold the camera and the focal length of the lens used they will go out leaving just one or two on .

I don't see camera shake on this photo, 135mm at 1/50s.

I can see some, but not brutal, shake on this, 135mm at 1/40s

If the AF unit is faulty , all 5 light are lit and don't go out

The lights on my camera are always out.

The other way to check is to set the camera to manual exposure and take a shot lasting more than a few seconds .

Fire the shutter and hold the rear LCD to your ear , if on , you'll hear a constant buzzing noise

BRILLIANT! It worked, I set a 5 second exposure and definitely the buzzing noise was clearly audible. When I did the same experiment with AS off, there was no buzzing sound.

With regards to lenses , as Joseph suggests , you definitely want to look at getting the 70-210mm f/4 beercan

When I bought my LA-EA4 adapter, I bought that lens, too.

A photo taken at 210mm with 70-210mm f4, handheld on a Dynax 7D anti-shake on.

Another one to look out for is either the Minolta 24-85mm or 24-105mm , between one of them and the beercan your pretty much sorted .

I have the 28-135mm f4-4.5. The 24-105 is on my list, but I love this 28135 so far.

For 50mm lenses I also have the Sony 50mm f/1.4 , sure it's sharper stopped down a little , the f/2.8 macro is sharper wide open than the f/1.4 at f/2.8

The 50mm macro is on my short list, definitely.

However the 50mm f/2.8 macro lens is terrible at taking shots at f/1.4 but the f/1.4 can always be stopped down the f/2.8 !

This one is with the plastic-mount DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6, it's small brutally versatile, and as far as I can see not bad at all for the photography I am after with this 6M camera from 2004.

Thank you so much, again, for your help, I highly appreciate.

havanna60 wrote:

neilt3 wrote:

Nice start with your new camera

Thank you for your help, inspiration and support.

Your welcome .

Some nice shots here , it looks a nice area .

What part of the EU are you in ?

If the AF unit is faulty , all 5 light are lit and don't go out

The lights on my camera are always out.

Sorry , I made a typo there .

I meant that if the AS ( anti shake ) unit , not the AF , has all it's lights lit up permanently it indicates a fault .

The AF points only light up when focus is locked , unless that function is off ( in the CF menu ) or "continuous AF" is selected .

I have the 28-135mm f4-4.5. The 24-105 is on my list, but I love this 28135 so far.

Funnily enough I've got the 28-135mm on my Dynax 9 at the moment catching some autumn colour .

Lovely lens , though I've not used it for a while so it's overdue some action !

This one is with the plastic-mount DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6, it's small brutally versatile, and as far as I can see not bad at all for the photography I am after with this 6M camera from 2004.

Thank you so much, again, for your help, I highly appreciate.

The 18-70mm was quite capable on 6 megapixel , I got one with my Sony a100 but it wasn't long before the gears broke in it .

If you need to replace it ( cheaply ) pick up a Sony 18-55mm version 2 , that does quite a good job and gives you back the wide end for if you need more than 24mm or 28mm .

I would love to have a working 7D to go with my Maxxum 7, Maxxum 9, Maxxum 800si etc.

I own 2 of them with the first frame black problem. I recieved full refunds for both. I sent back a 3rd one that would never capture an image at all to get the refund.

Be aware that the 7D uses a CF (compact flash) card instead of an SSD card. I don't "THINK" they have usb ports either... I just checked they do have a usb port but it is a combo usb/video out port that takes a special cable.

The ergonomics are probably the best of any camera I have ever owned (except maybe the film Maxxum 7)

MikeInOr wrote:

I own 2 of them with the first frame black problem

I've bought mine recently in 2020 at a great price, and it works almosy flawlessly, I had blackout only once.

Be aware that the 7D uses a CF (compact flash) card

Interestingly, the CF card interface of the camera doesn't support WIFI CF cards, unlike for example the D700, which works great with WIFI CF.

The ergonomics are probably the best of any camera I have ever owned (except maybe the film Maxxum 7)

I fully agree, but, eventually I found these cameras, brutally gigantic, and I simply went back to my lovely A7 (sometimes with the LA-EA4 adapter) just because of the brilliantly small size and gorgeous digital image quality.

As a collector and a fan of Minolta cameras, of course, I'll keep my quite nice collection, I am using these cameras occasionally when I want some nostalgia, but for everyday high quality digital photography and video, I use A5100 and A7.

That seems a bit of hyperbole. In the context of this thread, the main thing is that the size and layout is very similar to the Maxxum 7. Compared to an A7, it's bigger, in some dimensions, but hardly gigantic.

These two lenses (28/2.8 and 50/1.7) are basically identical in size. The EOS 1D, which is more deserving of being called gigantic, is an APS-H camera.

havanna60 wrote:

I love so much my recently acquired Dynax 7 that I am thinking of buying a decent condition 6.1 megapixel, CCD, APS-C, no-live-view, 7D as a companion. The 7D has more or less the same button layout as the 7, which has changed on later models even on the 5D.

Are you, 7D owners, still happy with your camera?

My current DSLR listed on dpreview I no longer have Canon1d NikonD2h OlympusE1 SigmaSD9 .

The only DSLR I still have is 7D.

My photogrpahy was from over a decade earlier.

7D is the best designed DSLR realised. Thoughtfullness to put white balance switch on top plate as it's the most used after pasm. ISO button, Focus point selection with lock. Shake reduction slider on body, the little lock buttons on top of pasm dial and exp comp dial.

(Only Nikon df retro was close in its design but it wasnt as practical as 7D design).

I like 7D Analog looking photographs. I just this moment took ISO1600 ISO3200 with F1.7 50mm . Fuji S2 CCD I had similar Analog look although 7D far more pleasing for me in handling

I like CCD Analog look so much I'm contemplating getting a Medium Format CCD from a decade earlier.

I have a fully working KM 7D with grip...One of the first to receive this camera when New. Its a great camera for output.. Its lacking some of the Newer features found in todays cameras.. the only problem with getting a 7D Now is its life expectancy.. A good working 7D can be good one day and be trash the next day with no recourse to fix.

Bill

Got mine 7D few years ago when I realize I have some good condition fast A-ring lenses(tamron 20-40/2.7-3.5, minolta 50/2.8 macro, tamron 35-105/2.8) from purchasing untested items from yahoo.co.jp.

This is my favorite camera to use alongside with my pentax k3(with sigma 10-20/3.5, tamron 28-75/2.8, pentax-f 70-210/4-5.6). It just feel right to work with, the exposure is easy to set (way more stable than my S5pro) and give a really nice natural, vivid coloring with a retro touch of jpeg straight out of the camera which I really love a lot. AF works fine and the auto ISO is really amazing, always gives smooth results.

Recording daily life with 7D is just pure pleasure, it's a pity that minolta couldn't make a FF version of 7D.