I still own a complete Minolta system that includes two 24x36 reflex cases (a Srt-100b circa 1975 and a X-500 with motor likely of late 80's or so) and a pretty nice set of lenses from 21 to 400 mm. When I was in Japan in the early 90's, I did not bring along from Europe this system that that too heavy for travelling. There, I bought instead two funny cameras: a waterproof 35 mm Fuji made of plastic and a Nikon "Nikonos V" for diving. The Fuji camera was my "notebook" and I was extremely statisfied of the pictures quality.
In the 70's, I did a lot of B&W pictures, developped and printed them by my own. It was so pleasent but required a photo lab that I could not maintained latter on. I did also color slides and finally color negative films.
Since I was very happy with the Minolta system, I was seduced by this Dimage 7i, fitted with a 5 MegaPixels Sony CCD. It's a so-called "bridge" camera, with a LCD collimator through the lens plus a screen.
I found this "machine" absolutely extraordinary. You can have all the light corrections you imagine, a B&W mode, solarization, a 28-200 mm zoom, macro, video mode, timer...For an amateur photographer, it was a paradise. The only problem is energy...with a set a 4 AA NiH battery, you operate no more than 2 hours....What is more it heats a lot on the right side . The embedded RISK processor (a digital camera is an efficent computer first) is quite active!!
Two weeks ago, on a sunday morming....Oops!? what that strange colors? white are violin, everything distorded!!!
On/of, reset, no way! I was quite disapointed!. I known that I use a lot this camera but it still has less than 3 years. The up-to-date action is nowadays to have a look to the internet to see if someone has the same problem somewhere. 10 min latter, I was aware that the Minolta series between 2002 and 2004 has a known quality problem with the mounted CCD. Minolta (or better Konica-Minolta and now Sony!) could replace it for free. I have even the address of the repair service for France and the phone number. On the next Wednesday, after a phone call, my beloved Dimage was shipped to Paris for repair. They acknowledged the receipt and it should, hopefuly, fixed by the end of March.
With this trouble, I did sooner than expected a new purchase of a new system, closer to a real camera : a digital reflex with interchangeables lens. With the undergoing evolution of Konica-Minolta sold to Sony, the vendor was happy to sell out his last model appeared by the end 2005 : the Dynax 5D.
I already thought to a specialized macro lens capable to give the 1:1 ratio without accessories. Sigma has a very nice model both as 50mm or 100mm. 50mm is equivalent in 24x36 to 75mm. It's perfect for my use. I've got also 2 regular zooms to for general purposes. I can even re-use some accessories like an expensive Minolta 90° angle viewer.
It's a 6 MP ccd with a length:height ratio different from the 24x36 or the Dimage 7i. It is bit bit wider. I should become more familiar with.
Here are some macrophotos tests:
The setting logics are very closed to the Dimage, so I had no difficulties to find the similar ones. No more video and sound recording (more for fun than else). No more estimate of the color correction before taking the picture. It's a real and regular optical viewer, not a through-lens LCD screen of course. I am bit disorientated at first, but soon I think I will like it very much!!!
Here the nice case back of a shripwrecked YEMA watch with a n automatic ETA 2472 Swiss movement, recently restored at an excercice (see this wus post)
Here with other YEMA specimen including the 2005 re-edition of their Rallygraf, issued in the 70's. Rallygraf and Yatchingraf contributed to the international reputation of French Yema watches and had some commercial sucessness in the USA.
Here with a SOG Twitch II pocket knife and mounted on a military "James Bond", NATO stripped band.
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