Former Dynax 600si looking for a 60 or 7 (Alpha 7) is the plan...

Hi,

I used to visit DPreview a lot back in the days mostly because of Olympus and their digicams. Nowadays I'm not that much into Olympus stuff anymore, I tend to look backwards to when photography was more of a challenge equipment wise.

Dynax 600si was my precious many moons ago and even if I was let down by it being a lemon in some ways it mostly served me well.

However, couldn't help noticing that there were others with much better AF but outside my price range at the time.

Recently re-visited a Vectis S1 but didn't make me too happy. However it woke my interest for film again and with that comes gear...

Now I have the opportunity to buy either a Dynax 60 with M AF 28-100 optics in very good condition or a Dynax 7 (Alpha 7) in ok condition with a less impressive optic M AF 35-80 (4-5.6) - I've read quite a lot and both of them and I lend towards the A7 due to its reputation and higher specs.

Also worth mentioning, neither of them are easily found in my region.

What should I do?

Regards,

Per

There are plenty of good A mount lenses that are easy enough to come by. The Alpha/Maxxum/Dynax 7 is a fantastic camera. If you learned on digital, or have gotten very used to DSLRs, it's one of the easiest ways to pick up film. The only down side is the CR123A batteries, which are not rechargeable, and not something that's commonly available in local stores.

I bought a bunch of CR123As from Amazon, to have a good stock on hand. There is a lithium ion 16340 cell which is the same size, but 3.7V instead of 3V. I'm not sure whether those are reasonable to use in an Alpha 7... they might be, though, since I'm using a pair of them in my Canon EOS A2e...

Anyway, great AF, exposure preview, EXIF (sort-of), great controls, a nice finder, lots of customization, even special features like STF exposure stacking... there's really nothing missing from the Alpha 7. If you are considering other brands, a Nikon F90, F100, or a Canon EOS 3 would be the comparable cameras, I think.

Lens-wise, the Minolta 24-105 is really nice on the Alpha 7. The newer 35-105 is also nice, and cheap. And the 24-85 is quite good and also usually pretty inexpensive. For a great, compact, tele, the 100-300 APO or APO D is hard to beat.

Hike Pics wrote:

Last year I bought 10 rechargeable CR123 batteries for less than $10US. They can fit in a CR2 charger I bought earlier. A good many of my later film cameras use CR123 batts.

Now, what I would like to have is a rechargable 2CR5 battery and charger. But those are very expensive IF you can find one.

I made one (a rechargeable 2CR5) with the 16340s. It works well enough, but you have to remove the cells from the housing to charge them.

Have you tried your rechargeable CR123As in a Maxxum 7? Googling this mostly  gives reports of people saying they do not work.

Apologies for bashing all 600sis, wasn't my intention but I truly believe my particular 600si was a bit of a lemon since the AF points didn't match where the actual focus took place and the dealer wouldn't help me and the response was quite nonchalant. At the time I could only compare the AF with my sister's F401x and those focus worked the way they were supposed to.

I loved the rest with the 600si

/Per

I've got all the Minolta A/F SLR's and most of the manual focus SLRs , The ones I use most are the Dynax 7's , followed either the Dynax 60 ( Maxxum 70 ) or Dynax 5 , then the X700 .

I tend to use the d7 with a few good zooms , and the 5/60 with small , light primes , typically the 28mm f/2.8 , 50mm f/1.4 and either the Sony 85mm f/2.8 or Minolta 135mm f/2.8 .

The Dynax 7 is a very good camera and is very intuitive to use , whatever you could need it to do , it will . The ergonomics are also very good .

The d5/60 I use when I want a fairly compact camera , which is why I tend to use it with small primes . Both still capable camera .

All the cameras released from the Dynax 7 onwards will also work fine with all Minolta and Sony A mount lenses , screwdriven , SSM and SAM lenses .

Earlier ones only focus screwdriven ones .

Both the 5 and 7 can use standard or rechargeable AA batteries with a VC grip/battery pack .

Alternatively get rechargeable batteries and a charger , use the correct 3V batteries rather than 3.7V as some people have reported that they have fried the circuits of the Dynax 7 .

Lithium CR123A Rechargeable

Cr2 Lithium Rechargeable Batteries

Hike Pics wrote:

I do not have a 7. I wish I did, though.

Now's the time to buy .

You know you want too ! 

neilt3 wrote:

I've got all the Minolta A/F SLR's and most of the manual focus SLRs , The ones I use most are the Dynax 7's , followed either the Dynax 60 ( Maxxum 70 ) or Dynax 5 , then the X700 .

I tend to use the d7 with a few good zooms , and the 5/60 with small , light primes , typically the 28mm f/2.8 , 50mm f/1.4 and either the Sony 85mm f/2.8 or Minolta 135mm f/2.8 .

The Dynax 7 is a very good camera and is very intuitive to use , whatever you could need it to do , it will . The ergonomics are also very good .

The d5/60 I use when I want a fairly compact camera , which is why I tend to use it with small primes . Both still capable camera .

All the cameras released from the Dynax 7 onwards will also work fine with all Minolta and Sony A mount lenses , screwdriven , SSM and SAM lenses .

Earlier ones only focus screwdriven ones .

Both the 5 and 7 can use standard or rechargeable AA batteries with a VC grip/battery pack .

Alternatively get rechargeable batteries and a charger , use the correct 3V batteries rather than 3.7V as some people have reported that they have fried the circuits of the Dynax 7 .

Lithium CR123A Rechargeable

Cr2 Lithium Rechargeable Batteries

I have the 7 and (2)9's with battery packs and I use them interchangeably.  CR123 batteries are plentiful around here. Both are great cameras.

Perus wrote:

Hi,

I used to visit DPreview a lot back in the days mostly because of Olympus and their digicams. Nowadays I'm not that much into Olympus stuff anymore, I tend to look backwards to when photography was more of a challenge equipment wise.

Dynax 600si was my precious many moons ago and even if I was let down by it being a lemon in some ways it mostly served me well.

However, couldn't help noticing that there were others with much better AF but outside my price range at the time.

Recently re-visited a Vectis S1 but didn't make me too happy. However it woke my interest for film again and with that comes gear...

Now I have the opportunity to buy either a Dynax 60 with M AF 28-100 optics in very good condition or a Dynax 7 (Alpha 7) in ok condition with a less impressive optic M AF 35-80 (4-5.6) - I've read quite a lot and both of them and I lend towards the A7 due to its reputation and higher specs.

Also worth mentioning, neither of them are easily found in my region.

What should I do?

Regards,

Per

Greetings,

This review might be helpful in making your decision.

https://www.35mmc.com/10/07/2020/minolta-dynax-7-review/

In my region, there are plenty of these old cameras gathering dust in camera stores. And very cheap.👍

One caveat among a few others is : “The one sticky issue from a handling point of view, would not have become apparent immediately – the rubberized covering for the bits of the body where leather or leatherette would once have been used felt fine at first, but over time it would degrade, becoming tacky – which makes it unpleasant to handle and turns the camera into a dust magnet. This was a fault shared by other cameras of the period and can be solved by the careful removal of said rubberized covering with alcohol and a soft scraper’’.. I reckon you can get it reskinned if you can still find the kit.

Also the issue with shutters in this series of cameras? 🤔

Good luck.
--
I see life through monocular vision.

I own a Maxxum 9, Maxxum 7 and Maxxum 70 (Same as Dynax 60 I believe). The Maxxum 70 is a good camera but the Maxxum 7 is the do all super 35mm camera. I would choose the Maxxum 7 over the Dynax 60 even though the 60 is a newer camera. The 7 is a true camera geek's camera!

I can't see how anyone would regret choosing a 7 over a 70?

I don't have a 600si but back in the day I had a 500si. It lasted about 6 months before the latch on the film door broke and I went back to using my 1985 Maxxum 7000. My current 800si is better built than the 500si but I don't know where the 600si falls between the two?

Thanks all for your insights in this matter.

It turned out that I wasn't the only one interested in the 7 so lost the bidding..maybe next time.

However, the 60 is still available and was also the last camera released. Might end up with that!

/Per

Perus wrote:

Thanks all for your insights in this matter.

It turned out that I wasn't the only one interested in the 7 so lost the bidding..maybe next time.

However, the 60 is still available and was also the last camera released. Might end up with that!

/Per

That is an excellent choice.   👍

Good luck with your search.