Canon vs. Minolta SLR Dig

[Hydro]

I love my Canon 20D, and shot some pictures of my niece's college softball game. As a result, my sister became interested in upgrading from the compact point and shoot digital, but already has a Minolta AF zoom lens from her film camera, so a salesman pointed her toward the Minolta Maxxum 7 SLR. It only has 6 megapixles, but lists for more than the 20D----like around $1600! Seems to have a lot of nice features, but I didn't know enough about it to comment much.

Does anyone here have any info on a comparison of the Canon's with this expensive Minolta? Seems kind of a high price to pay for something that seems about the equal of the Drebel. I mentioned the Canon Drebel to her, but the salesman pushed the Minolta's "anti-shake" feature

Thanks for any input.

[kawter2]

? Seems kind of a high price to pay for something that seems about the equal of the Drebel. I mentioned the Canon Drebel to her, but the salesman pushed the Minolta's "anti-shake" feature

Thanks for any input.




You summed it up... also the sales guy doesnt get any kickbacks from Canon. to quote a Ritz salesman "Prety much everyone except Canon gives incentives to sell their stuff"

[CyberDyneSystems]

I think that Minolta is a dman fine camera,.

Trouble is ,. it is the first and only DSLR from Minolta.... (well since there old antique RD& or whatever it was called way back when) ..and at this stage,. she has only a single, not very expensive Minolta lens,. so I would not see sticking with the Minolta system as any incentive at all. (now if she had a nice kit of Minolta lenses I might say otherwise.)

20D is a better camera for less.

[DocFrankenstein]

If it's a "consumer zoom" which costs less than half of decent filter...

Then the question is a no-brainer. :)

Cheers

[xuxu1]

you might want to take a look at some of the camera previews on the net. The Min**ta 7D did have quite some issues from the start that meanwhile should have been fixed with the firmware 1.10 update.

If you ask me........ I´d take the canon and forget the Min**ta. But that is just my opinion :)

ED

[mdr]

Irrespective of all these arguments, you can buy a 20D with a 17-85mm IS lens kit for less than the Minolta body, sell the Minolta SLR and lens on eBay and if you want buy a second hand EOS 30 film camera.

You save a lot of money :).
You have IS on both film and digital SLR :D.
You have a better digital SLR, better film SLR and better lens :lol:.

...and you can start saving for your first L lens. The world is your oyster :cool:.

With the minolta, you'll be waisting your money and you'll always be dreaming of a Canon system ;).

I didn't even think twice about selling my N***n AF SLR and lenses to invest in a Canon system.

It's a no brainer.

[fatrat]

Well the thing is if you buy a Canon Antishake lens it will cost you more then the Mintossa.. dont think the 6 Vs 8 Mega pixels is a issue, i tried to tease my friend (kidding around) that his D70 has only 6 mega pixels so he challenged me to a shot out on auto and creative feilds , we took pics of the same subjects at the same time, and for some reason his always looked better , especially the colurs, i dont know what he does, but it really annoyed me that most of his turned out better, i did however have some winners. so i think if you chose a D70, minolta or 20d, i dont think you can lose,(all have there own + and-) with special big ups to the D70 (i know its a sin to say) but that is extreme value if you ask me, but im happy with my choice of the 20D!!
just got my flash 580 EX, now we are going to have another shoot out (he has a sb800 flash) hopefully i can win this time and fly the Canon flag

[mdr]

Don't agree. The 20D with 17-85 IS lens kit is cheaper than the Minolta body only.

[Southswede]

I have a Nikon N70 and a couple of lenses. When I decided to go DSLR, I was looking hard at the D70 V. the DRebel. Decisions, decisions....I went with the Canon! I have NEVER looked back. The DRebel is gone, now. Sold it and bought a 20D!
There is a reason Canon doesn't offer sales people an incentive to push their product: they don't have to! The products sell themselves!

[Jon]

Irrespective of all these arguments, you can buy a 20D with a 17-85mm IS lens kit for less than the Minolta body, sell the Minolta SLR and lens on eBay and if you want buy a second hand EOS 30 film camera.

You save a lot of money :).
You have IS on both film and digital SLR :D.
You have a better digital SLR, better film SLR and better lens :lol:.


Correction - you can't use the 17-85 on anything but the 20D, DR, or DRXT. It's an EF-S mount. She could, however, wait a couple of weeks for the DRXT to become available at $899 body only and have $400+ more for some serious glass over the 20D body price and a good $700 over what the Minolta would cost.

[Adam Hicks]

Some of you guys talking smack about Minolta's lenses obviously haven't used them . Minolta has some very high quality glass, and the on-camera 'anti-shake' is a nice feature indeed. I wouldn't buy one, and they hosed themselves by taking too long to release a product, but I think Minolta is underrated by Canon and Nikon users. I'm Canon to the core, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings (or my image quality) to use Minolta if I had to.

[Jon]

Some of you guys talking smack about Minolta's lenses obviously haven't used them . Minolta has some very high quality glass, and the on-camera 'anti-shake' is a nice feature indeed.

Maybe they do, but is their "stock" or "kit" zoom one of those? From the original post, she only has oneMinolta lens at present. That, to me, screams their 28-80, not some of the high-end glass.

[S230]

Well the thing is if you buy a Canon Antishake lens it will cost you more then the Mintossa.. dont think the 6 Vs 8 Mega pixels is a issue, i tried to tease my friend (kidding around) that his D70 has only 6 mega pixels so he challenged me to a shot out on auto and creative feilds , we took pics of the same subjects at the same time, and for some reason his always looked better , especially the colurs, i dont know what he does, but it really annoyed me that most of his turned out better, i did however have some winners. so i think if you chose a D70, minolta or 20d, i dont think you can lose,(all have there own + and-) with special big ups to the D70 (i know its a sin to say) but that is extreme value if you ask me, but im happy with my choice of the 20D!!
just got my flash 580 EX, now we are going to have another shoot out (he has a sb800 flash) hopefully i can win this time and fly the Canon flag
This was the same question I had some time ago about why the D70's photos looked better. Not too sure what settings am I doing wrong on the Rebel.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50304

To this very date, I am still trying to figure out what settings do I need to do. If comparing with the Rebel 300D, the D70 is better. I don't have much experience with the 20D but tried one and still the D70 seems better in colour. I still went with the Rebel because it's hackable and parts and lens can be used for future upgrades within the Canon Line. Also most important part was the interface and processing. Canon is years ahead of Nikon in digital and speed and noise is better than Nikon.

[DocFrankenstein]

D70 does more post processing.

My S1 IS colors look "better" than that of the rebel. Booo hooo

[CyberDyneSystems]

Somehow I missed where anyone "dissed" Minolta's glass,.
They have an excellent Stable of lenses,. second only to Canon and Nikon in the 35mm SLR world.. (third)

[mbze430]

What do you expect from asking a question about the 7D in a Canon forum. Time wasted.

The Maxxum 7D is a fine camera, and to compare it with a drebel is just bias. Its targetted for the same audience as the 20D. If you were to shop around you will find it cheaper.

Oh and yes, I have played around with the 7D at my local photo place.

Oh and there is one thing about the Minoltas...that goes for modern ones. They have a reversed hot-shoe.

[Andy_T]

The Maxxum 7D is a fine camera, and to compare it with a drebel is just bias. Its targetted for the same audience as the 20D.

That'S why it was compared to the DRebel XT.

I guess it really comes down to what kind of lens she has ... if it's a constant f/2.8 24-70 or 70-200, than that might be an issue.

Otherwise, it just might not perform great on a DSLR.

CDS ... so Minolta is 3rd as far as it comes to 35 mm lenses ... just after Canon & Nikon?
What about Olympus and Pentax ?

Best regards,
Andy

[mbze430]

Even with the XT. The minolta has a magnesium alloy body, rebel feels like cheap plastic made from Tawian or worse, China. The 7D is solid in weight, feels more of a "pro-sumer" camera.

I guess that's another reason I don't like my 20D.

[Hellashot]

Canon has 62% of the dSLR market. That's why they can be so much less than everyone else - volume. It's funny how so many people on here rate camera and lenses on how it looks, feels, or its weight instead of how it actually performs. Usually these comments are from users of 1-series or the X-D series instead of the Rebel series. :)

If you were hiring say a cleaning service would you go for a service that dressed very nice and were very articulate and did well cleaning, or a service that cost less, didn't have fancy uniforms, but gave the same cleaning results? Some might but many would go with what the finished product was - a clean place. :)

[DocFrankenstein]

rebel feels like cheap plastic made from Tawian or worse, China. The 7D is solid in weight, feels more of a "pro-sumer" camera.

I guess that's another reason I don't like my 20D.
LOL

Maybe that's because the rebel is made in taiwan? ;)

Canon knows what he's doing. The targeted consumer is not going to use rebel enough to kill it.

Cheers

[cc10d]

OK for me , before Canon was Minolta. I used the Minolta system for years and was very happy with it. Times changed and my requirements changed, I needed a new camera. Lots and lots of research and trying different cameras and looking at their system. N**on and Canon became the only contestents for best quality. It did cost more but I was ready to pay for quality. Ultimately CANON won my choice and I have since re-evaluated each time I changed cameras and Canon still wins. They are nearly always first with inovatiion and have some of the best glass around. The system is what I look to. I now have quite a bit of Canon glass and it would take a bit to change my system now. But if I did choose to, Canon resale is good.

Minoltas, body shake correction, rather than in the lens is interesting but not as good a system as the lens based systems, there are times that the body based system, at least for now, is inferior.

[mbze430]

If you were hiring say a cleaning service would you go for a service that dressed very nice and were very articulate and did well cleaning, or a service that cost less, didn't have fancy uniforms, but gave the same cleaning results? Some might but many would go with what the finished product was - a clean place. :)

that is a lousy comparison, it has no merits. Camera is a tool, it needs to be somewhat at least duriable. Next time use something like Snap On tools vs Craftman Tools. They both have life time warranty, but yet Snap On is 2x-3x as much. They both get the job done.

My point is simple. The 7D is marketted and built at 20D quality. Not a Drebel.

[mbze430]

LOL

Maybe that's because the rebel is made in taiwan? ;)

Cheers

I didn't know that...thanks for info.

[Jon]

Even with the XT. The minolta has a magnesium alloy body, rebel feels like cheap plastic made from Tawian or worse, China. The 7D is solid in weight, feels more of a "pro-sumer" camera.

I guess that's another reason I don't like my 20D.

So wrap it in lead foil, or get the grip and shove a slug into the second battery slot. If weight's how you rate cameras, well . . .

[Hellashot]

that is a lousy comparison, it has no merits. Camera is a tool, it needs to be somewhat at least duriable. Next time use something like Snap On tools vs Craftman Tools. They both have life time warranty, but yet Snap On is 2x-3x as much. They both get the job done.

lol