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Minolta ushered in the AF 35mm SLR era when it introduced the Maxxum 7000 back
in 1985. Now known as Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, the company has just introduced
its first mainstream AF digital SLR, the Maxxum 7D, an excellent 6.1-megapixel
model with several unique features.
The main attraction is the Anti-Shake system incorporated in the camera body.
While other SLR manufacturers offer image-stabilization/vibration-reduction
systems on some of their lenses, the 7D’s body-integral Anti-Shake feature
(which shifts the CCD image sensor rather than lens elements) provides stabilized
hand-held shooting with every Maxxum lens but the AF Macro Zoom 3X–1X
(and that’s no big deal, since few photographers hand-hold a camera when
working at larger-than-life-size magnifications). An Anti-Shake scale in the
viewfinder indicates the degree of stabilization, and confirms that the system
is operating. You can turn Anti-Shake on and off as desired via a switch on
the back of the camera body.
Another great feature is the huge 207,000-pixel 2.5-inch color LCD monitor.
I can read the monitor-menu items without my reading glasses, something I cannot
do with my own digital SLR and its much smaller monitor. During shooting, the
monitor displays relevant data very clearly; right after, it displays the image
just shot. You can recall that image at the touch of a button, and scroll through
all images on the memory card in the camera using left and right arrow buttons.
There’s plenty of room to display a histogram with the image, or a 16-image
thumbnail index array. The camera even comes with a handy (though too-easily
detached) LCD monitor protector.
Oddly, Minolta’s press releases do not cite the 7D’s quick start-up
and wake-up times—as quick as any digital SLR I’ve used thus far.
This means the user can be ready for decisive moments without constantly holding
the shutter button partway down to keep the system from entering “sleep”
mode.
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With
its every-lens Anti-Shake, huge LCD monitor and quick start-up/wake-up,
the new Maxxum 7D is an excellent digital SLR for just about any
subject matter.
All photos by Mike Stensvold unless otherwise indicated.
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Of course, within its sturdy magnesium-alloy body, the 7D also provides a
full range of shooting and digital features to suit users from novice through
pro. Here’s a rundown:
Focusing
The AF system features nine AF points: a central cross-type, and eight outer
line sensors. You can select any of the sensors yourself (via an easily accessed
four-way control on the camera back), or let the camera select the most appropriate
one. The system functions in light levels down to EV –1, and both the
built-in flash and dedicated Maxxum flash units provide an AF illuminator to
aid autofocusing in dim light.
AF modes include single-shot, continuous predictive, and auto switching between
single-shot and continuous. You can quickly select any of these focus modes,
plus manual, via a switch on the front of the camera. Manual focusing with some
lenses requires a special procedure—more on this in the In Use section.
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A
PC connector and flash white-balance setting make the Maxxum 7D
a good studio camera.
Photo by Lynne Eodice
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Exposure
Three metering options pretty well cover any shooting task. Fourteen-segment
honeycomb handles most exposure situations very well, and I rarely used the
other systems. Those comprise center-weighted metering, which measures the entire
image area but places most of its emphasis on the central portion, and spot
metering, which utilizes only the central honeycomb segment, handy when you
want to base exposure on a specific part of a subject or scene.
Exposure modes include shiftable program AE, shutter- and aperture-priority
AE, and metered manual. To shift the program, just rotate the front or rear
control dial until the desired shutter speed or aperture is selected.
A convenient thumb-operated exposure-lock button locks the exposure when desired.
You can set ±2 EV of exposure compensation in 1¼3-stop increments,
or ±3 stops in 1¼2-stop increments, via a handy dial atop the
camera. A dial at the base of the mode dial sets single-frame or continuous-advance
exposure-compensation mode.
You can set ISO equivalents from 100 to 3200, with best image quality at 100.
There’s also an Auto ISO setting, in which the camera will choose ISOs
from 100–400 to suit the situation.
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The
Maxxum 7D’s 1.5X “crop factor” gives you frame-filling
“macro” capability with non-macro telephoto lenses.
This shot was made at 200mm (300mm equivalent), focused at about
5 feet.
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More Features
Shutter speeds, courtesy of an electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane
shutter, range from 30 seconds to 1¼4000, settable in 1¼3-EV increments.
In bulb mode, the shutter will remain open as long as the shutter button remains
fully depressed (the camera applies noise reduction to long exposures, so the
camera may remain “busy” for up to 30 seconds after a bulb exposure).
Drive modes include single-shot, 3-fps continuous, 2-second and 10-second self-timers,
and the aforementioned single-shot and continuous automatic exposure bracketing.
A 128MB buffer allows you to shoot a maximum of 9 RAW, 12 highest-quality JPEG
or 43 1504x1000-pixel Standard images in a single burst.
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Handy
dials and buttons make it easy to adjust most-often-used camera
settings, including white balance and exposure compensation.
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Flash
The Maxxum 7D has a built-in red-eye-reducing pop-up (by hand) flash unit that
covers the angle of view of a 24mm lens and has an ISO 100 guide number of 39
in feet (12 in meters), and functions as an AF illuminator in dim light. A hot-shoe
atop the viewfinder accepts optional dedicated Maxxum flash units, and a PC
terminal lets you connect the camera to studio flash systems.
With built-in and dedicated flash units, you can adjust the balance between
flash and ambient light via the flash exposure-compensation dial below the main
(ambient-light) exposure-compensation dial. You can use the built-in flash to
fire one or more off-camera accessory flash units wirelessly, a very handy feature
for serious flash buffs. Both front and rear sync are available.
Through the Flash Control monitor menu, you can choose between ADI flash, in
which the system utilizes distance information from the AF system (when D-series
lenses are used) plus a pre-flash to determine the exposure; Pre-flash TTL,
in which only the pre-flash is used (required when filters are used on the camera
lens or flash unit); or Manual flash control, in which the flash can be fired
at full, 1¼2, 1¼4, 1¼8 or 1¼16 power.
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