Summary: Minolta's Best Resonably Priced 35MM EVER!!!

Comment: I got this camera new before Minolta bugged out of the camera business. Minolta was always a trends setter and the other big 2 scrambled to catch up. Minolta was terrible in the marketing department because all I remember was Canon commercials, I never saw a Minolta one = too bad. The Maxxum 7 is a super camera and out-of-this-world with the vertical control grip. It's plastic structure belies it's capabilities and it's what the Maxxum 9 (armored/combat camera) should have been. I'm still learning what this thing can do! So many intuitive switches make it like a semi-automatic camera for the enthusiast . One cannot go wrong if they get this camera if they have access to the old 1980s Maxxum lenses from a pawn shop and/or the new-in-the-box Sony ones also. Just baby the camera as Sony is hard to deal with when it comes to Maxxum repair work, along with other things they make new. When I was at a bridal show awhile back, someone thought it was a digital camera as it has a LCD screen on the back of the film door! ::Funny!:: I also have a 7D w/ the hard to find vertical control grip in my stewardship and the Maxxum 7 compliments it quite well and
Jesus has been good to me in this regard:Thanx Lord!
You can't go wrong with this film camera!
AWESOME! AWESOME!! AWESOME!!!
Get some black and white film and have fun...

Summary: One of the best cameras PERIOD

Comment: This is by far the best camera I have ever owned in my life, be it point and shoot, film or digital. I'm in the Marine Corps and took this camera with me in Iraq and countless other places and it went through some of the most extreme weather imaginable and kept on working. The camera is not labeled as splash-proof, but it should be -- I accidentally dropped this camera in a puddle of water and pulled it out and it was still working. I never had it fail on me one time. The LCD display on the back is huge and amazingly informative. The backlight on the LCD is very handy as well. The autofocus is also amazingly fast and accurate. It's a professional quality camera with beginner level accessibility.

Summary: Intuitive Controls so you can use all the Technology

Comment: This is an excellent contemporary high-tech camera. I tend to shoot in aperature controlled mode, and it is very easy to change aperatures, to bracket exposures so you get three to seven shots in rapid fire with slightly different settings, and to see differing depths of field. Depending on the lens, it can also be relatively easy to modify the auto focus (so, for example, you move the center of the focus in front of or behind your subject to get the right part of the scene in focus), but note that some lenses will clutch and not be able to be hand-manipulated, leading to a need to switch to manual focus with those lenses in some cases.

What really sells this camera, though, is the wireless flash. Do not underestimate how much this can improve your flash pictures. It is very easy to use -- I literally have shown my 3 year old, who was very curious, how to do, and got some good shots of him in the process. If you buy this camera, you should buy at least one of the Minolta "D" flashes.

As you take bracketed shots in continuous focus mode, the camera does a good job of remaining in focus. For those of us with glasses, there is a diopter adjustment in the viewfinder that adjusts the viewfinder to our own current prescription. On manual focus, this has a real impact on my photos, where my focus was previously a bit soft much of the time.

I end up with a couple of minor complaints -- the selector button that lets you choose which sensor to use in focusing is placed right where my nose can hit it, and I've had to learn to take care not to accidentally change the setting with my nose. Also, I'd like to see the new anti-shake technology that is being incorporated in Minolta's new digital 7 incorporated into the 7. I suspect it is just time until this happens.

All in all, an extraordinary camera.

Summary: the best

Comment: The best autofocus period. Out performs nikon & canon. Can focus in near darkness. It really performs better than expected. I like the information lcd on the back. I like it better than the F100. Judging from what I have experienced it should be very dependable.

Summary: Awesome camera

Comment: I recently upgraded from Dynax 5 to Dynax 7 (Or what you folks over sea call it - Maxxum:), and I really found all the features I missed in my Dynax 5. It's auto focus is very responsive and fast, metering really performs well in most situations, controls are intuitive and easy to use, big LCD provides a lot of things to tweak with, exposure memory for 7 rolls is really useful too.
I do not use Minolta lenses however, Sigma EX series are the ones to use if you want quality for affordable price.
Ah, and my favourite Sigma lens is the 24-70/2.8 EX DG, it really is awesome, and has 'D' mount for Minolta too :)
Theres only one thing about Maxxum 7 I do not enjoy...the weight...it really should have been heavier!