Konica Minolta 5D

pmconaway · December 10, 2005

Are there any reviews for this camera? I haven't been able to find one. I've been looking at DSLRs and a friend has a 5D. I have had film SLRs from Minolta in the past and I like Minolta.

A couple of years ago, I got my wife an Canon S40 and I've found that it is a great camera for what I expected out of the Point-and-shoot. It has exceeded our expectations. Now I'm ready to get a DSLR. Right now the Digital Rebel XT is my chose.

DanielB · December 10, 2005

pmconaway wrote:

Are there any reviews for this camera? I haven't been able to find one. I've been looking at DSLRs and a friend has a 5D. I have had film SLRs from Minolta in the past and I like Minolta.

A couple of years ago, I got my wife an Canon S40 and I've found that it is a great camera for what I expected out of the Point-and-shoot. It has exceeded our expectations. Now I'm ready to get a DSLR. Right now the Digital Rebel XT is my chose.

the XT is a fine choice, so is the KM 5D. but if i went with KM i would go with the 7D personally, it is larger and has more fuctions than the 5D. as for the XT, if you like the "plastic" feel and the thought that you could crush it in your hand. go for it. Personally, i would go to your local Camera shop and feel both, whatever feels best in your hand is the one you should go with.

true, KM does have the built in IS, but canon is very reputible and will NEVER let you down. their customer service is superb. but don't cancel out Nikon just yet, the D70 is also a fantastic camera. my friend has one and we trade gear often when we go out shooting.

again, my advice. just go to your local camera store. try them out. whatever feels best to you, go for it. as GraphyFotoz always says, "its the person behind the box that makes a photo. not the camera"

good luck!

pmconaway · December 10, 2005

DanielB wrote:

the XT is a fine choice, so is the KM 5D. but if i went with KM i would go with the 7D personally, it is larger and has more fuctions than the 5D. as for the XT, if you like the "plastic" feel and the thought that you could crush it in your hand. go for it. Personally, i would go to your local Camera shop and feel both, whatever feels best in your hand is the one you should go with.

true, KM does have the built in IS, but canon is very reputible and will NEVER let you down. their customer service is superb. but don't cancel out Nikon just yet, the D70 is also a fantastic camera. my friend has one and we trade gear often when we go out shooting.

again, my advice. just go to your local camera store. try them out. whatever feels best to you, go for it. as GraphyFotoz always says, "its the person behind the box that makes a photo. not the camera"

good luck!

Daniel, thanks for the response. I've already been to the Camera store and looked at a XT. It felt good in my hands. I haven't has any hands on with the D70 or the 5m and I will do that before I make my purchase. I'm a little tight for money and since I've had a great experience with the S40, I thought that I would go with the XT because of the combination of price and features. I don't have any lenses and I know the one that comes with the kit is ok. I would love to be able to get a more expensive camera.

I was kind of looking for a review so that I could compare it's review to the others I've read. Kind of like a movie review.

DanielB · December 10, 2005

pmconaway wrote:

Daniel, thanks for the response. I've already been to the Camera store and looked at a XT. It felt good in my hands. I haven't has any hands on with the D70 or the 5m and I will do that before I make my purchase. I'm a little tight for money and since I've had a great experience with the S40, I thought that I would go with the XT because of the combination of price and features. I don't have any lenses and I know the one that comes with the kit is ok. I would love to be able to get a more expensive camera.

I was kind of looking for a review so that I could compare it's review to the others I've read. Kind of like a movie review.

www.fredmiranda.com has many reviews on all sorts of equipment. check it out

kkart · December 11, 2005

Yes there is! Dp Review has one up, as does Let's Go Digital

docwalker · December 11, 2005

While not quite a review, you can see the quality of the photos from a 5d on my smugmug account. Docwalker.smugmug.com All of the photos there are KM 5d except for the underwater ones.

As for features, the anti-shake is very cool. The auto flipping display on the back is also a nice feature. But, the downside is the lack of vertical grip accessory to make that feature worthwhile. That has to be my biggest disappointment with the camera.

I would be happy to field any specific questions if you have any.

DJ-S1 · December 11, 2005

A friend bought the 7D and brought it in to work. Man, I couldn't believe all the knobs and dials! Seems like every setting has it's own dedicated machanical thingamabob. I'm so used to Canon's setup that it was a big surprise to me.

I would like the IS in camera though. Upgrades all your lenses to IS instantly, pretty sweet!

Blurmore · December 11, 2005

5D and Minolta Build Quality
Minolta makes 3 real deal pro cameras, the film Maxxum 9, and Maxxum 7, and to some extent the 7D. The build quality of the Maxxum 9 can compete with all pro builds, the 7D build can compete with the 20D and d70. The 5D feels like it was made by the 'OTHER' team at KM, the team that designed the z1 and the point and shoots. It feel cheap, it looks cheap, it IS relatively cheap. It lacks even the quality build feel of the A1/A2 line. The plastic it is built from feels more like hard plastic than the 'composite' used for the XT and D50. The focusing screen and viewfinder are as high-tech as my 90 dollar KM Maxxum 5 film camera. I LOVE Minolta, I'm not bashing them, I think my Maxxum 5 is a more than capable film camera, and small and light, but if I was going to purchase a KM digital I'd shell out more for the 7D. One other note of interest to potential KM buyers. KM has given up on being considered a 'PRO' camera in North America, and fast constant aperture zoom lenses are in short supply. Most prime lenses are cheap though, and nice if not as sharp as their competitors. Minolta's long fast telephotos are awesome, as is the variable bokeh'ed STF. If money was no object (and it is) I'd own a 7D just to use the STF lens.

Konica Minolta 5D

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