How successful was Minolta in edging into the pro market of DSLR's?
I assume you mean 35mm film SLRs? I'm no pro, but I think Minolta was running 3rd behind Canon and Nikon at that time. I don't know if Minolta ever had a pro support network or such.
I think the film 9 was considered a great camera (some say best 35mm SLR made) and the film 7 was (still is for me) great too. The 9 was released in what - '98 or '99? Probably the beginning of the end of 35mm film SLRs.
The thing I like(d) about Minolta was the innovation and feature richness they provided (lots of industry firsts). I guess they had to, not being the market leader. Hopefully Sony can continue that tradition and make the whole DSLR landscape richer for it.
I can't wait for these to be released. Both look great and with autofocus zeiss lenses you can't complain.
While I'm super happy with Canon, I'd be even happier if there were some CZ Canon-Mount AF glass available - that would rock. I do think Sony was smart in "partnering" up with them for their lenses, even long ago when they were on fixed lens cameras. I've recently wondered if they were indeed smart enough to have an exclusivity contract with Zeiss, considering the lack of Canon and Nikon Mount CZ glass.
Amy Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. The Dang Gallery on DangRabbit - Follow me on Twitter or on Facebook Leica M8: Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon and 50mm f/2 Planar; Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5, 50mm f/1.5 Nokton and 75mm f/2.5 Heliar
Olympus E-P1: Zuiko 14-42 and 25mm f/2.8 Pancake; Panasonic 45-200mm and 20mm f/1.7; and M-to-m4/3 adaptor
Olympus e620: Zuiko 14-54 f/2.8-3.5
I own an A100 and I'm plenty happy with it. Could be even happier if there was as many lenses for A mount as there are for cannon for example.
I chose the sony because I had a few lenses for my old minolta. On a recent incident at my house, I lost most of my old lenses, so if I had to buy my equipment today, I'd choose differently.
The one thing I want to see with upcoming alphas is a full frame sensor... then maybe I'll buy it, or maybe I'll just sell my equipment and buy a 5D?
Is it worth scrapping over that small a market? Does the prestige boost sales, buff the brand, create goodwill? Or is it corporate ego?
:nono
It's about the far higher profit margins and longer term brand loyalty/lock-in of customers in the dSLR segment, compared with the point and shoot segment where dozens of vendors are engaged in a dog-eat-dog struggle for little profit.
Comments
I assume you mean 35mm film SLRs? I'm no pro, but I think Minolta was running 3rd behind Canon and Nikon at that time. I don't know if Minolta ever had a pro support network or such.
I think the film 9 was considered a great camera (some say best 35mm SLR made) and the film 7 was (still is for me) great too. The 9 was released in what - '98 or '99? Probably the beginning of the end of 35mm film SLRs.
The thing I like(d) about Minolta was the innovation and feature richness they provided (lots of industry firsts). I guess they had to, not being the market leader. Hopefully Sony can continue that tradition and make the whole DSLR landscape richer for it.
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
The Dang Gallery on DangRabbit - Follow me on Twitter or on Facebook
Leica M8: Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon and 50mm f/2 Planar; Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5, 50mm f/1.5 Nokton and 75mm f/2.5 Heliar
Olympus E-P1: Zuiko 14-42 and 25mm f/2.8 Pancake; Panasonic 45-200mm and 20mm f/1.7; and M-to-m4/3 adaptor
Olympus e620: Zuiko 14-54 f/2.8-3.5
I chose the sony because I had a few lenses for my old minolta. On a recent incident at my house, I lost most of my old lenses, so if I had to buy my equipment today, I'd choose differently.
The one thing I want to see with upcoming alphas is a full frame sensor... then maybe I'll buy it, or maybe I'll just sell my equipment and buy a 5D?
Who knows?
http://padu.smugmug.com
www.merlotti.com
Sony dslr A100, Minolta Maxxum 7000, Voighlander Bessa R and Calumet 4x5 View Camera
It's about the far higher profit margins and longer term brand loyalty/lock-in of customers in the dSLR segment, compared with the point and shoot segment where dozens of vendors are engaged in a dog-eat-dog struggle for little profit.