Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D review -

Also known as the Dynax 7D outside of North America.

(This review is a work in progress)

FLASH-FLASH-FLASH: Konica-Mintolta hand over Maxxum-Dynax-Alpha line to SONY!

An open letter to Sony

Alan Browne, QC, Canada (Original 2005.03.07, Updated 2006.02.19 [typos])

First off, a very good, complete and detailed review is available at dpreview by Phil Askey who evaluates dozens of digital cameras. He does a great job and the detailed image test information is available on line from the dpreview site.

I won't cover what he has covered, but here I'll get at the good the bad and the ugly of this camera. (The link to his review is at the bottom of this webpage).

If Phil has done such a good job, then why do this? Well, cause I'm a Minolta shooter and I believe there are some Minoltaesque issues that Phil just didn't address.

Firmware: 1.10

Positives:

• Build. Feels solid and substantial. Almost Maxxum 9 in heft and feel.
  • Magnesium shell (except for back)
• Color LCD Display is big and high detail.
• Almost all photographic settings have a dedicated button, knob or dial on the body. Seldom does one need to go to the menus. This makes reacting to changing conditions fast.
• Fidelity to the Maxxum 9 / 7 layout of controls and dials (a few nits are below).
• Menus are well structured and thought out. Most often used items are at the top "left" of trees, and least often used are bottom "right" of trees.
• AF: Fast, crisp, accurate. I usually shoot manual focus, but trying it AF with a black subject in low light, it focused error free, quickly and accurately. (28-70 f/2.8).
• Bright, clear viewfinder.
• Images (hey, that's what it's about!) are clean, clear, crisp. An ISO 100 (flash) shot of a detailed subject (warning: 2.5 MB, view at 100% zoom).
• Even ISO 1600 ambient light shots are surprisingly good. (Here's another very large file (2.5 MB) to prove it, again, view at 100% zoom).
• A wee bit quieter than the Maxxum 9 and at a higher pitch. Less obtrusive, but I won't make anymore classical quintet errors... I'll borrow an M6 or Elan 7 for that.
• Captive covers for the PC sync and the AC power adaptor.
• Batteries last long on one charge and recharge in less than 2.5 hours. This was a big concern for me and has turned out to be a non event. (For the studio I use the AC adaptor).
• Anti-shake. A quick test.

Negative impressions:

These are sorted, most serious at the top to less serious at the bottom.

• The locks on the exp-compensation and the mode dials are not needed and they get in the way. I know what I want. If I can get rid of the locks (post warranty), I will. I realize this comes from the Maxxum 7, but it is a negative for both the Maxxum 7 and 7D. (On the Maxxum 9, there is an Exp-comp lock, but it can be left unlocked as well as locked to a specific exp comp. There is no lock on the exposure mode dial at all).

• Another exp-comp nit is that when a compensation is set, it is not obvious while looking in the viewfinder. Because of this one is more likely to forget to return exp comp to 0. (In the Maxxum 9, there is one 'needle' for the exp comp and a second needle for the current meter reading. This would be very easy to implement on the 7D). Ironically, the flash comp display on the rear panel is perfect and unambiguous.

• 1/160 sync speed. Hello? 1/250 minimum for this class of machine.
  • Note that when using PC sync it works fine to 1/200s

• +/- 2 stops of flash comp is not enough as I discovered in one test situation. I had to set the flash manually to a lower power.

• Preflash - using the 5600HS. The preflash to flash interval is precisely that of people reacting to the preflash. Expect a lot of photos with that dumb closed eye look.

• Shutter delay is far longer than on the Maxxum 9. I've measured machine+human delay as being a little over 200 ms doing a 'turntable' test. This makes sports shooting very difficult.

• The in-viewfinder EV display gives no indication that exposure compensation is set. (on the Max 9, you see two 'needles', one for the exp comp offset, one for the current exposure).

• Viewfinder. This really bothers me. Why not 100%, or even 110%? With the same mirror box as the Maxxum 7 and the 7's mirror (or even slightly smaller) a larger view could have been provided.

• AF Assist using the strobe? What's that all about? So much for the candid shot, I suppose. I MF most of the time, so no big deal, but this is a cheapskate shortcut.

• The in-viewfinder EV display only covers +/- 2 EV. +/- 3 would be better.

• DOF button position sucks. Maxxum 9 position is perfect.

• Flash mode (rear-sync, wireless, normal) should have been a physical switch, not a menu item.

• The information display, which automatically orients itself to landscape and either portrait side, does not orient to upside down. Sounds silly? Well consider shooting macro hanging from the bottom of a tripod and it doesn't sound so silly anymore.

Other stuff

• IMO Minolta should have adopted the sensor cleaning system from the Olympus E-1. (The "Supersonic Wave Filter")

• The "Honeycomb" meter view of the Maxxum 7 would have been nice in my opinion.

• When the angle finder is attached, the "eye detector" shuts off the monitor. Awkward to adjust settings, so the monitor has to be put in manual mode.

• Flash
  • First off, the reputation for flash underexposure is well warranted. In controlled tests, I got about 1.5 to 2 stops of underexposed images using the 5600HS and the Maxxum 7D. Fortunately, Minolta do correct this problem. The short term fix is to flash comp until you have time to return the unit for service. In Canada, this is two weeks or less, and most US posts I've seen state less than one week.
  • See comment above about pre-flash and people having their eyes closed for the actual flash shot.

What I'd like to see either in a firmware upgrade or next camera:

• Larger histogram and 'blown highlights' display. Don't need all that data.
• Faster shutter release
• Upload via USB without powering on the camera (use USB power)
• Shutter release via USB
• CameraBASIC: let me program the camera at high level.
• Don't focus the lens to infinity on startup if the A/S is off
  • Do that if A/S is selected
  • or at least return the lens to where it was. (I sometimes focus before turning on the camera, so it's a PITA if that gets un-set).
• Put both exp and exp-comp offset in viewfinder and LCD meter.
• 1/500 electronic flash sync (a la Nikon D70)
• Get rid of the P (P) and 123 dial positions
• Get rid of the locks on the exp-comp and exp-mode dials
• Put a backlit discrete LCD display on the system (and shutoff monitor backlightfor night photography when discrete LCD is backlit)
• PocketWizard Transceiver built in. Wireless TTL has too many shortcomings
• Total frames shot display

The Phil Askey dpreview: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/konicaminolta7d/

the 7D is an award winner too...

7D wins the 2005 Camera Grand Prix

DIWA Gold Award for the Maxxum 7D

If you have comments, please e-meil me.