neilt3
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Veteran Member
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Posts: 3,008
My "new" α9 has arrived !
6 months ago
5
No not the Sony ( alpha) α9 , the Minolta α9 film camera !
Also posted in the film forum , but belongs here too really .
A.K.A Minolta Dynax 9 or Minolta Maxxum 9 depending on the market it was sold in .
The α ( alpha ) branding was used in the Asian market , Dynax in Europe and other places , and Maxxum in the USA .
When Sony bought the imaging division off Minolta in 2006 they used the "α" branding for all DSLR's then the later SLT's and new E-mount cameras .
The camera was Minolta's last professional camera released in 1999 .
At this time all Minolta A mount lenses were mechanically driven by a screwdriver from the camera body .
In 2000 Minolta brought out the Dynax 7 and along with it a range of SSM lenses whose AF drive was inside the lens ( similar to how Canon drive the EF lenses ) .
Only cameras from the Dynax 7 were compatible with these new lenses , including the SSM and SAM lenses that Sony were to bring out later .
Minolta offered an upgrade to change the circuit board to enable these lenses to function along with the new ADI flash control , when Sony took over this upgrade was dropped . End off .
Then someone managed to all the tooling and parts over at Runtime in Bremen , and the upgrades were available again .
Not a cheap upgrade but I considered sending mine in despite not having SSM lenses ( I did have some SAM lenses ) but before I did anything about it Runtime got bought out , and that was an end to that ....
These cameras that have had the upgrade when they come on the market are often silly money , a look on ebay and only Japanese sellers are offering them at £1000+ plus VAT !
I've been keeping an eye open for one of these upgraded cameras for years .
I've finally got one !
A seller in in the U.K put one up on offer and I picked it up for half the going rate !
Still the most I've ever paid for a film camera , even the medium format and large format cameras I own !
So now it's paired up nicely with my Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 24-70mm ZA f/2.8 and Tamron SP USD 70-300mm f/4-5.6 , along with my Sony SAM lenses .
Cameras loaded with kodak Ultra Max 400 , so hopefully it'll get me some nice results .
Minolta α9 , A.K.A Minolta Dynax 9 , Complete with it's SSM / SAM & ADI upgrade .