Minolta versus the world

by J Greely

User comments

• Thom Hogan discusses his switch away from the Maxxum system in his Nikon N90 review.
• Gary Walts is a pro who is unabashedly enthusiastic about using the Minolta system , with particular emphasis on wireless flash.

Things Minolta does better

ambient metering

The 14-segment matrix metering system used in most current bodies has consistently out-performed competing systems in tests. The gap has narrowed in the latest models, but even the highly-touted color matrix metering system of the Nikon F5 hasn't turned out to be a revolution in automated exposure. Focus distance is incorporated into the metering solution with all AF lenses.

affordable manual bodies

If you want a good, affordable, brand-new manual-focus SLR that allows you to use a wide range of affordable new and used lenses, there are really only two options: Minolta (X-700 & X-370) and Pentax (ZX-M). The Pentax has a more modern feature set, but the Minolta lenses and accessories seem to be in greater supply on the used market.

user interface

Most modern cameras are hard to use, and there are two competing lines of books that try to explain how to use them. It doesn't help that most of the manuals are poorly organized and awkwardly translated. It was a breath of fresh air when Minolta introduced the 600si, which packs a full set of advanced-amateur functions into an easy-to-use interface of clearly labeled buttons, dials, and switches. Most people familiar with any other 35mm SLR can figure out almost every function without ever opening the manual (which is fortunate, because Minolta's manuals are just as bad as everyone else's). The new model 9 camera uses that same design philosophy to pack in a full set of pro functions, competitive with the best the competition has to offer.

wireless TTL flash sync

Minolta was the first to integrate wireless TTL flash (at up to 1/60) into their line, long enough ago that you can buy compatible bodies and flashes quite cheaply on the used market. The brand-new wireless systems from Nikon and Canon all require buying expensive new flashes, bodies, and/or adapters. Minolta is still the only one that allows triggering the wireless system from a built-in flash, even from the low-end 300si.

viewfinder quality

This might be jumping the gun a bit, but it's rare to see so many reviewers agree on something, and that's that with the model 9, Minolta has the brightest, crispest viewfinder of any 35mm SLR, as well as true 100% coverage of the film area. They also have a replacement focusing screen available that provides additional dispersion for crisper manual focus with fast lenses (f2.8 or better). The lower-end bodies aren't necessarily number one, but most of them include excellent eye relief for use with glasses, and several have built-in adjustable diopter controls to allow use without glasses.

decent vertical grips

When I examined the Nikon F5, I was surprised at how uncomfortable and apparently useless the built-in vertical grip is. I've been spoiled by the ergonomic design of the Minolta accessory grips, which also include a duplicate set of controls that allows full control of the camera without rotating it back to a horizontal position. With the new model 9, the grip has been repositioned and reshaped for even better balance and comfort.

redesigned hot shoe

Depending on your viewpoint, this could be as much of a negative as a positive. The Minolta "iISO" hot shoe offers fast and painless flash lockup, at the cost of being nothing like everyone else's hot shoe. This means that third-party flash manufacturers have to make a completely different foot in order to support Minolta (and I've seen more than one bad implementation of it; some cheap flashes will lock up the camera body, and could lead to eventual damage). It also means that useful gadgets like hot-shoe-to-pc converters simply won't work on a Minolta. I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, especially when you factor in the wireless flash control features, where being able to quickly move the flash in and out of the shoe gives you a lot of creative options.

eye-start autofocus

Not to be confused with Canon's eye-control, this is simply a way that most of the bodies in Minolta's line-up activate the viewfinder displays and autofocus. Activating a combination of two sensors (one at the eyepiece, one in the handgrip) turns on the camera, something that ordinarily doesn't happen until you partially depress the shutter release. Not only is this useful for those of us with itchy trigger fingers, but it can often save time by effectively pre-focusing the lens for you. With slow, hunt-prone consumer zooms, it can also just waste battery power as the camera immediately starts searching for a subject, but particularly on the high-end bodies, it's a useful time-saver. It's also optional, and on the new model 9, the eye-control switch can be converted into a lock-all-settings switch, to prevent an accidental adjustment from ruining a carefully planned picture.

Things other brands do better

ultrasonic ring motors in lenses

Canon, and more recently Nikon, have moved their better lenses over to a system of fast and silent in-lens motors that replace the in-body "screwdriver blade" motor. There are serious theoretical advantages, but some tests suggest that the full potential of this technology has been held back by the limitations of the in-camera systems that do the driving. If they're not always faster, they're still quieter and less prone to overshooting the target, and they have two other real advantages: the all-electrical coupling allows the designers to easily provide "full-time manual", where the AF system can be overridden at any time with a twist of the focus ring should the sensors lock onto the wrong target or fail to lock on at all, and it also allows the construction of electrically-coupled teleconverters, which do not affect focusing performance the way a manual linkage will (that is, increased mechanical slop and friction, not reduced accuracy).

better-than-basic TTL/OTF flash metering

Until the debut of the new model 9, Minolta has had a very basic flash metering system. No array of flash sensors to deal with off-center subjects, no tie-in to the AF sensors to use distance calculations to adjust the exposure, no pre-flash to use the sophisticated ambient matrix meter as a guide, no rear-curtain sync. Despite this, flash exposures are pretty darn good, but with the 9 Minolta has addressed all of these issues at once (well, actually rear-curtain sync showed up on the 800si first, but it looks like the 9 might actually get decent marketing, so it's the place most people will see it first).

support pros

One of the most justifiable criticisms leveled against Minolta is that they don't have real support for professional photographers. The primary effect of this is that you can't go into a pro shop in a major city and rent Minolta gear, particularly expensive high-end lenses such as the 600mm/f4. For pros who have a well-defined niche, or for amateurs, this isn't particularly important (after all, renting a $7,000 lens usually requires having room for a $7,000 security deposit on your credit card), but it's symptomatic of Minolta's lack of interest in gaining a foothold in that market.

The Name Game

Minolta may make two or three variations on each of their amateur bodies, and sell them through chain stores under different model numbers. This complicates things for the potential customer, since a beginner has to rely on the frequently-clueless store clerk to explain why the 430si is a better deal than the 450si, and why all the mail-order shops only sell the 400si; the fact that this allows them all to safely offer a meaningless price-matching guarantee is icing on the cake. For more fun, Minolta in Europe and Japan use different naming schemes for models, or use the same model number for a different camera. The Maxxum XTsi in the US is the Dynax 505si in Europe, and the Alpha-Sweet in Japan, or it would be if Minolta USA hadn't chosen to eliminate wireless flash support from the XTsi for unguessable reasons.

eye-controlled AF

This is a feature that Canon makes a big fuss about, but to be honest I can't really think of a practical use for it, especially since it doesn't seem to work at all for many people. I'd rather have a brighter viewfinder with a higher-eyepoint design and an adjustable diopter control for people with impaired vision.

compatibility with old manual-focus lenses

Old manual-focus Minolta lenses cannot be used on AF bodies. This is sometimes used as an argument against buying into the Minolta line, although it doesn't make much sense. Except for some relatively exotic items (see below), there's really not much demand for it, and modern lenses are, if not always better, at least more consistent from sample to sample. Nikon is usually proclaimed as the company who "did it right", although the alphabet soup of subtle incompatibilities in the Nikkor lineup doesn't look like a shining example to me. Basically, unless you owned $10,000 worth of manual-focus Minolta lenses, you really have no reason to care about this.

more exotica in their lens lineups

Minolta doesn't make a tilt/shift lens, a 6mm fisheye, a 400mm/f2.8, an 800mm/f5.6, or a number of other rarely-encountered items. Personally, I'd have to say that unless you need one of these items every day, you're going to rent it, and the cost of renting a body to go with it is pretty trivial. If you do need it every day, then you're either a rich hobbyist or a working pro who makes enough from using it to cover the cost; most of us are neither.

impress people who see your camera

If you own a Leica or a nice big Nikon, you can expect positive reactions from people when they see your camera, including other photographers. Carrying around a Minolta is more likely to lead to casual contempt, even from a camera-store clerk who's selling you an expensive lens. I often wonder if these people start out a blind date by checking the labels on each other's underwear.

computer connectivity

The geek in me thinks it's really cool that you can plug an N90S or F5 into your computer and tinker with settings, download exposure data, and even control the camera remotely. The practical side of me (which, admittedly, often loses these arguments) can't really think of a good use for most of this. I don't even carry a Palm Pilot while I'm out taking pictures, much less a laptop, and detailed exposure data is usually more of a novelty than a need. Several Minolta cameras allow you to record exposure data and review it on the body, and the new model 9 has an optional back that will store up to 400 rolls of data on a 2MB SmartMedia card and imprint a roll ID on the leader and selected data between frames, but I can't convince myself that it's anything but a cool toy.

mirror lock-up

With the exception of the brand-new model 9, Minolta hasn't supported mirror lock-up in any form for quite a few years; even most of their manual-focus bodies didn't have it. On the 9, it's implemented as a custom setting for the self-timer; change the timer delay from the default ten seconds to two, and the mirror will lock up when you press the shutter, leaving time for any residual vibrations to die down. Is this good enough, or do you really need to be able to lock the mirror up and shoot without delay? I don't, but then, I'm not making a living at this; some people who are say yes.

make their 80-200mm/f2.8 focus down to five feet

This one confused some people in an earlier version of this article, so I'll try to be a little clearer. Most Minolta lenses that don't have a "macro" label stop at around 10% of life size, with the distance for zooms usually being based on the long end. The 80mm to 200mm range is terrific for photographing people, but six feet is an awkward distance in many situations. If you're outdoors with room to move, you won't notice, but indoors I find myself frequently hitting the minimum focus distance, and backing up means tripping over furniture or jabbing someone with an elbow.

Text and pictures Copyright © 1999 J Greely

The pictures are from various places around the Bay Area. In order, Uvas Canyon Park, The San Francisco Zoo, the under-construction Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus, and back to the Zoo.