I think the so called D7 Upgrade should have been free

[Terry Waite]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade. Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for download.

 

[Robert L.]

I kind of agree. All firmwares I get from DELL, COMPAQ, HP and other computer manufacturers are always free. I run a computer network of 2000 computers and servers. Each firmware I got from the above companies did improve the speed, performance and functionality of their products. I don't see why Minolta makes an exception to the rule. I believe they make enough money with the D7i sales, but this could be a marketing strategy to push the D7i sales.

I also believe that the Dimage viewer upgrade should be free . This software program is quite buggy and when I compare it to PHOTOPAINT 9.0, I can't believe that it is even being sold. I only use it to convert the RAW files anyway. If it comes with the camera for free, any upgrade that fixes the bugs + enhancement to makeup for the damages caused, should be free of charge.

After all, I paid $1,400 for my D7 last year. The fact that the camera lost value so fast is another reason the upgrades should be free of charge. No a days you can get a D7 for $500 max.

If I were Minolta, I would give these upgrades for free, and thank all D7 users for the good promotion they posted in each forum and magazines. Many people bought the Dimage 7 and Dimage 7i just by reading these forum messages. I have read it so many times "thank you for your recommentations, I have made the plunge and bought the D7 or D7i!".

Who created "the want" for this camera. The first D7 users obviously, like Steve, Brian and many others. Do they deserve a free upgrade? You bet. They gave more to Minolta as far as marketing and sales is concerned than Minolta gave to them.

This is my view on this.

Robert

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

 

[Tony Rae45985]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.

Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money they can get?

 

[Bryan Biggers]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

--

You guys have to be kidding. NO manufacturer has ever offered a firmware upgrade like this one that adds features that were not present when you bought the camera. The firmware upgrades that you got for free from Nikon and Canon were all bug fixes, and Minolta has also had two free bug fix firmwares for the D7; you are free to download them today. Minolta didn't have to do this. They could have let the D7 owners buy a new camera, which is what EVERY other manufacture has done. Instead they chose to add new features to the old camera, even though it competes with the new model, and make it availible at a nominal price. If you go over in the Nikon and Sony forums, you will find people looking with considerable jealousy at this upgrade. If people don't support it, they can go back to the "old days" of buying a new camera instead when a new camera comes out. Bryan

 

[Larry Cunningham]

You are wrong, and the fact that the Minolta USA Web site can't keep up with the requests for the upgrade (and the fact they've already sold out once) proves you are wrong. Minolta is providing a relatively low-cost UPGRADE, not a bug fix UPDATE, and they have every right and every reason to charge for the product.

And if anyone posts the upgrade on the Web illegally, I hope you are fried by Minolta. And I don't care what your local laws might say, that is stealing and stealing is wrong.

Sorry for being a broken record. I had hoped this idiocy would have died down by now.

--Larry

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

 

[theswede #100093]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.

They're still working out the business model. This is completely unprecedented; consumer (and even prosumer) cameras have always been treated as throwaways by the manufacturers. If you want the new features - get the new model. noone has offered any form of upgrade path before.

Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera.

And engine upgrades should be free when you spend forty times as much on a car, I assume?

It has nothing to do with how much the original item cost. I challenge you to mention one - just one - other consumer/prosumer camera at the same (or lower, or about twice or so) cost that offers free upgrades to functionality, incorporated from next generation models.

Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

Hopefully not. This will only make Minolta regret their decision to create the upgrade in the first place, and we'll never see anything like it again.

Hopefully a lot of people pay the small amount of money to take advantage of this unprecedented upgarde path, and Minolta will make more of them available in the future. I would be very happy if I can pay $50 to get a big chunk of D9 (or whatever comes next) functionality into my D7i. If people put the upgrade on the net instead of buying it (what's $50 to get a next generation digicam? Very little compared to the $1k to buy a new one) Minolta are unlikely to do that.

Not to mention all other digicam manufacturers. If this move is received well, they will be forced to offer similar deals - and if they do, everyone will benefit. Then prices of upgrades will drop and probably become free.

This is a first. Noone else has done this. Ever. Please support it so we get more of it. It's in our interest.

--
Jesper

 

[Gabriel Mauron]

I fully agree with you. I am tired with all the people making always negativ comments. We are completely free to upgrade or not. I own a D7 for one year and happy with it. Gabriel

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

--

You guys have to be kidding. NO manufacturer has ever offered a
firmware upgrade like this one that adds features that were not
present when you bought the camera. The firmware upgrades that you
got for free from Nikon and Canon were all bug fixes, and Minolta
has also had two free bug fix firmwares for the D7; you are free to
download them today. Minolta didn't have to do this. They could
have let the D7 owners buy a new camera, which is what EVERY other
manufacture has done. Instead they chose to add new features to the
old camera, even though it competes with the new model, and make it
availible at a nominal price. If you go over in the Nikon and Sony
forums, you will find people looking with considerable jealousy at
this upgrade. If people don't support it, they can go back to the
"old days" of buying a new camera instead when a new camera comes
out. Bryan

 

[theswede #100093]

It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.

It's earning them lots of friends.

Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage.

No, you didn't. Noone else offers this kind of functionality upgrade; all you get is bugfixes. Minolta offers bugfixes for free as well.

Noone - not Nikon, not Canon, not anyone else - offers this kind of functionality upgrade on a consumer or prosumer camera. It's unheard of. They all want you to buy the next generation of camera instead.

This initiative needs support - our support - or it will not happen again - and which is better? No upgrade possibility at all, or $50 for an upgrade bringing your camera almost all the benefits of the next generation model?

Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

Of course they need money. Who doesn't? And making this upgrade is not free - we're talking about a new camera here, not just a couple of bugfixes.

--
Jesper

 

[Pete Vickers]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

--This subject has been raised many times in this forum and the views are divided. Remember that this is a lot more than a firmware change, we have had 2 free ones of those. This enhances the camera far beyond the original spec. The Canon and Nikon changes "tweaked" or corrected elements of the cameras spec. MInolta have given us that with 121 and 122 both free.

If Intel bring out a new processor you don't expect a free upgrade or do you.

This subejct will go on for every but we have a choice if you think the enhancements are worth having---pay up. If not stay as you are.

My bug is that in the UK we will have to send the camera in to Minolta for the change whilst the rest of the world buys the CD.
Pete Vickers

http://www.pbase.com/petevickers

 

[Robert L.]

I am not wrong, you are making me wrong and that is YOU saying it. It is my opinion that the ugprade should be free. The AF speed handling is a bug fix to me, not an upgrade. And goes for many of these "upgrades". Pleople pay for it because they have no choice. Had they be given the choice, they would ALL have opted for the free option. Survey it and come back again.

If you have all the money in the world, it is fine that YOU purchase it. Nobody stop you to spend it. I personally think that it is unfair to the buyers.

Regards

And if anyone posts the upgrade on the Web illegally, I hope you
are fried by Minolta. And I don't care what your local laws might
say, that is stealing and stealing is wrong.

Sorry for being a broken record. I had hoped this idiocy would have
died down by now.

--Larry

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

 

[theswede #100093]

I am not wrong, you are making me wrong and that is YOU saying it.

You are wrong.

It is my opinion that the ugprade should be free.

And it's my opinion that I should get a BMW for free.

The AF speed handling is a bug fix to me, not an upgrade.

It exceeds original specification. That, by definition, makes it an upgrade.

And goes for many of
these "upgrades". Pleople pay for it because they have no choice.

People buy it because they want it. It's called freedom of choice. Your camera will work just fine without the upgrade; if you want the extra features the D7 doesn't have, you buy the D7u.

Had they be given the choice, they would ALL have opted for the
free option. Survey it and come back again.

Survey Minolta for if they would have even made it if they weren't going to charge for it. I could bet you a dollar they wouldn't have. Noone else does; why should they?

If you have all the money in the world, it is fine that YOU
purchase it. Nobody stop you to spend it. I personally think that
it is unfair to the buyers.

It's perfectly fair. The D7u is a new camera. It has features the D7 never had.

--
Jesper

 

[Robert L.]

I see your point. Nobody else does it, really?

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.

They're still working out the business model. This is completely
unprecedented; consumer (and even prosumer) cameras have always
been treated as throwaways by the manufacturers. If you want the
new features - get the new model. noone has offered any form of
upgrade path before.

Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera.

And engine upgrades should be free when you spend forty times as
much on a car, I assume?

It has nothing to do with how much the original item cost. I
challenge you to mention one - just one - other consumer/prosumer
camera at the same (or lower, or about twice or so) cost that
offers free upgrades to functionality, incorporated from next
generation models.

Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

Hopefully not. This will only make Minolta regret their decision to
create the upgrade in the first place, and we'll never see anything
like it again.

Hopefully a lot of people pay the small amount of money to take
advantage of this unprecedented upgarde path, and Minolta will make
more of them available in the future. I would be very happy if I
can pay $50 to get a big chunk of D9 (or whatever comes next)
functionality into my D7i. If people put the upgrade on the net
instead of buying it (what's $50 to get a next generation digicam?
Very little compared to the $1k to buy a new one) Minolta are
unlikely to do that.

Not to mention all other digicam manufacturers. If this move is
received well, they will be forced to offer similar deals - and if
they do, everyone will benefit. Then prices of upgrades will drop
and probably become free.

This is a first. Noone else has done this. Ever. Please support it
so we get more of it. It's in our interest.

--
Jesper

 

[Bryan Biggers]

I see your point. Nobody else does it, really?

Not so far. There may have been a few very minor additions. For example, Nikon added an Auto ISO feature to the CP950. The differnce is though that it was a currently sold model, and they started selling the 950 with the upgrade, so it should be free to other owners of the 950. The D7 is a discontinued product. Nobody, not even one manufacturer has ever released an upgrade for an out of production camera. Go buy a new one they say. Bryan

 

[Terry Waite]

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

--

You guys have to be kidding. NO manufacturer has ever offered a
firmware upgrade like this one that adds features that were not
present when you bought the camera. The firmware upgrades that you
got for free from Nikon and Canon were all bug fixes, and Minolta
has also had two free bug fix firmwares for the D7; you are free to
download them today. Minolta didn't have to do this. They could
have let the D7 owners buy a new camera, which is what EVERY other
manufacture has done. Instead they chose to add new features to the
old camera, even though it competes with the new model, and make it
availible at a nominal price. If you go over in the Nikon and Sony
forums, you will find people looking with considerable jealousy at
this upgrade. If people don't support it, they can go back to the
"old days" of buying a new camera instead when a new camera comes
out. Bryan

No one would buy a new camera for the few upgrades that are available in this package so I disagree.

 

[theswede #100093]

I see your point. Nobody else does it, really?

Really. Noone. Some pro cameras in the $4,000 or so range get upgrades (I have heard of one so far), but no consumer level cameras. None. Not a single one.

If this initiative makes Minolta get treated as the scum of the earth for offering alternative upgrade paths, who else will offer them? Will even Minolta try it again?

--
Jesper

 

[theswede #100093]

No one would buy a new camera for the few upgrades that are
available in this package so I disagree.

I would.

--
Jesper

 

[Terry Waite]

And if anyone posts the upgrade on the Web illegally, I hope you
are fried by Minolta. And I don't care what your local laws might
say, that is stealing and stealing is wrong.

Sorry for being a broken record. I had hoped this idiocy would have
died down by now.

--Larry

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

But arn't these upgrades the same technology that the D7i has? so it was no extra skin off Minoltas back as far as development costs go. Its just a simple flash upgrade.

Long live file sharing ! (I bet I made some enemies here, but what the heck)

 

[Bryan Biggers]

I am not wrong, you are making me wrong and that is YOU saying it.
It is my opinion that the ugprade should be free. The AF speed
handling is a bug fix to me, not an upgrade. And goes for many of
these "upgrades". Pleople pay for it because they have no choice.
Had they be given the choice, they would ALL have opted for the
free option. Survey it and come back again.

The focus worked the way that they said that it worked, and you could read about exactly how fast it was on their web site and on this very web site before you bought the camera.

By the same logic, Windows 98 should have been free, right? It fixed thousands of bugs in Windows 95. Plus it has FAT32! The hard drive can go faster, hard drive access in Win 95 with FAT 16 was slow, that was a bug right? And all they did to fix it was some software. And 98 SE should be free too, right? Sure, they added some features, but they also fixed thousands of bugs. It is just software, right? This is a whole new OS for the camera that goes beyond the original specs.
Bryan

 

[Brice Glende]

So don't buy it! I think the features of the upgrade make it a bargain at $50.

I still can't believe that Minolta is charging for this D7 upgrade.
Firmware upgrades should be free when you spend that much on a
camera. Hopefully someone will put the upgrade out on the net for
download.

I agree. It's not something that effects me since I just bought the
D7i but if I had bought the D7 earlier I'd not be very happy about
this.
It's not going to earn Minolta too many friends.
Others such as Canon and Nikon offer them for free. I upgraded the
firmware on my old Canon S10 and it was freely available at Canon's
homepage. Maybe they are not selling many and need all the money
they can get?

--

You guys have to be kidding. NO manufacturer has ever offered a
firmware upgrade like this one that adds features that were not
present when you bought the camera. The firmware upgrades that you
got for free from Nikon and Canon were all bug fixes, and Minolta
has also had two free bug fix firmwares for the D7; you are free to
download them today. Minolta didn't have to do this. They could
have let the D7 owners buy a new camera, which is what EVERY other
manufacture has done. Instead they chose to add new features to the
old camera, even though it competes with the new model, and make it
availible at a nominal price. If you go over in the Nikon and Sony
forums, you will find people looking with considerable jealousy at
this upgrade. If people don't support it, they can go back to the
"old days" of buying a new camera instead when a new camera comes
out. Bryan

No one would buy a new camera for the few upgrades that are
available in this package so I disagree.

--
Brice

 

[Robert L.]

I see what you mean, and that is why you are defending paying for this upgrade. I get your viewpoint. I am used to a lot of free firmware upgrades on my computer network. Some of them are quite changing/improving the state of the hardware, so in came a bit chocking to me that Minolta would bill you for ar firmware upgrade. In the computer industry no one sales firmware upgrades.

Do you see where I am coming from?

So if "we" support Minolta like you said, or someone else, could this mean that they will ofer other upgrade for the D7 in the future?

Regards

I see your point. Nobody else does it, really?

Not so far. There may have been a few very minor additions. For
example, Nikon added an Auto ISO feature to the CP950. The
differnce is though that it was a currently sold model, and they
started selling the 950 with the upgrade, so it should be free to
other owners of the 950. The D7 is a discontinued product. Nobody,
not even one manufacturer has ever released an upgrade for an out
of production camera. Go buy a new one they say. Bryan