The 14-segment matrix metering is excellent, and gives particularly good results with slide film. I have had no problems with situations ranging from the harsh light of Australian summer to the murky December delights of cloud-covered Britain. The excellence with slides logically entails an adjustment for black and white negative film: downrating B&W by one stop seems to be about right. Spot metering is also to be had for the more unusual lighting situations. Exposure compensation is easily accomplished when desired, and full manual operation (both exposure and focussing) is also available .

The built-in flash is convenient for outdoor fill, and can control an off-camera 5400HS remotely. A sync speed of 1/8000 sec is available with the latter under certain conditions.

Those who favour vertical compositions will be pleased with the Vertical Grip accessory, which greatly enhances operation in this orientation. I must plead a newly-found addiction to the aesthetics of the vertical, and can no longer imagine a camera without such a grip.

The 700si is relatively light and easy to operate, and the viewfinder is clear and informative.

The TTL metering, excellent though it is, does not fully compensate for orange or red filters: an extra half stop for the first and full stop for the second seem to work well (on negative film: I have not yet tried adjustments with Agfa Scala). There appears to be no problem with the standard yellow.

The depth of field preview is awkwardly placed and rather noisy.

Slow sync and fill flash cannot be locked or activated remotely: one must be holding the camera to engage these facilities.

Despite its quirks and my quibbles, this is an excellent camera: very easy to use, reliable (so far – I’ve been using it regularly for 5 years), with superb metering and a good range of lenses. It has been worth every cent I paid for it, and is a pleasure to work with.

Customer Service

I had it cleaned after several months in a dusty and polluted agro-industrial town in Punjab. Although it came back from Minolta in perfect condition, it took almost three months to get the job done. Of course, this might have been at least partly the fault of the camera store that dealt with delivery for me, so perhaps judgement should be reserved until a recognizable pattern emerges. Nevertheless, it was not an encouraging experience.

Similar Products Used:

None

spot metering and metering in general, wireless flash, mid roll rewind, shutter speed

DOF button is loud. You have to use cards to change some functions like leave the film leader out :(

Great camera for all ppl in photography. AF works verry good in low light situations (dark room at 1 AM). It works great with 5400HS flash.
If you can find old one in good condition get it and don't look back!

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F70

I have been using my 700si for the past fives years, as our fire dept. photographer, and have taking 1000's of photo's in all types of conditions, w/o a singal failure. I love the size w/ the v-grip, easy to handle.

I have no respones

Good value, evey happy with it and all my minolta lenes.

Customer Service

I have had no need for service, knock wood

Similar Products Used:

srt-101
xd-7
xg-9
5000i
x700
canon elan lle

Pretty small and light, with good ergonomics improved further by the VC-700 vertical grip. *Very* useful instant spot metering button.

Construction a bit weedy for pro use. AF not exactly outstanding. Frame rate only manages 3fps.

A lovely camera to use, now discontinued. Better, IMHO, than the ugly 800si.

Similar Products Used:

This was my first AF camera; previous bodies were Minolta X-700, so I was used to tough construction.

Superb All In One Package. Pro features for a Semi-Pro price. Excellent feel with the Addded Vert Grip.

Works best with Minolta lenses, therefore needs a more deverse lens selection from Minolta.

For the money one of the best Semi-Pro cameras in the used marketplace.

Customer Service

Have never needed to contact

Similar Products Used:

N-90s N-100 Oly E-10

Lightweight, low price, accurate exposure in almost any circumstance, enough manual overrides to control the process adequately

Mechanically vulnerable, difficult to clean

A good camera for beginners IF (and that's a big if) you're not going to expose it to shocks, temperature extremes, high humidity etc.

Customer Service

Not too good.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Dynax 7000, Canon Eos 5000, Nikon F50

Combination with VC-700
Metering modes
Handle

Slow AF (which misses a lot)
extremely loud(both AF and filmtransport)

It's a nice camera to handle especially with VC-700. But due to slow AF and loud transport I've switched to Canon.

Customer Service

Once Shutterrelease-button didn't work(could only expose with VC-700 button).
When back after 1.5 month it was fully checked up repaired and clean!

Similar Products Used:

Canon Eos 600
X 300
9000 AF
Praktica's

Good ergonomics and handling, especially coupled with VC-700
(vertical grip).
Great metering system
(hardly to fool), instant availability of precise Spot metering,
reliability.
Instant flash wireless control provides additional flexability with flash creative techique. Reliable AF,
but sometimes slow a bit.

DOF functionality is quite loud, several useful functions demand separate expansion cards.
Flash metering tecnology lags behind some more advanced examples (only center-weighted average flash metering available which can be fooled in many situations).
Slightly slow AF in certain situations.
Doesn't allow 1/3 EV
aperture/shutter adjustment in all modes.

Great value per money. Offers similar features like "pro" oriented F90x and certain Canons for much more affordable price.
Excells in metering system reliability using famous 14-segment Honeycomb pattern and fuzzy logic. Instant Spot metering makes life easier shooting complex patterns in difficult lighting conditions.
Great built-in flash wireless system helps greatly for shadows control.
Would recommend this body for semi-pro performance
or as backup for "real life" pro experience.

Customer Service

Not bad (local)

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Dynax 500si Super, Maxxum 800si

Well, where do I start ? .... 1/8000th shutter speed, flash sync up to 1/8000th with 3600HS,5400HS or 5600HS, wireless flash, the body is easy to use with excellent ergonomics and handling but you can even improve this by using the VC-700 ($50), great metering system with 3 different metering methods, very light ca 550g, tons of accessories available, great Minolta lenses as well as 3rd party lenses

Hmm, autofocus is a bit slow and somtimes not very precise (can be quite a pain especially if you take portraits with short DOF).
No 1/3 EV correction, most of the functions are hidden in the "door", card system, "plastic" body

The Bottom Line : Great camera - even after 8 years on the market. I bought it used for $300 in 1998 and shot about 150-200 rolls. No problems - so far. The body is extremly easy to use and with the Panic buttom ("P" buttom for Program Mode)not far away, you can 100% rely on the CPU to do the job for you. I love the VC-700 which I bought with the body. It improves the handling even further.
I believe - in this price range - there is no better body which gives you this huge range of standard functionality and the possibility to "grow" with it as well. Go and get it !!! (and if you are interested in portaits, like me, you will love the 700si with VC-700, 2.8/28-70 and 3600HS/5600HS as well......which you can get second hand for "small" money...)

Customer Service

never had any problems

Similar Products Used:

300si, 500 si super, 800si, Minolta 7,Canon 50E,

I Bought this camera used with the VC-700 grip from Henry's Camera. It has great balance especially with VC-700 grip.
Light Weight.
Can take both a neck strap (left side) and a hand strap (right side) at the same time making it easy to work with during a shoot.
TERRIFIC (was that strong enough) 85mm f1.4 lens which is my favorite and the reason I keep with Minolta!!

Can't manually select continuous focus (although eye start does help it's too slow).

While I yearn for the more traditional layout of the new Maxxum 9, which is probably what I'll trade up to instead of the Maxxum 7, I still love my 700si and it will finally replace my 7000i as my back up camera. Terrific light metering

Customer Service

Never needed it.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F-801 (N8008)
Nikon F4
Then I switched over to Minolta ...
used 9000
used 7000i (with used 5000i backup)
new 7xi (with 7000i as backup)
used 700si (still keeping the 7000i as back up)
Have played with Maxxum 9 and will upgrade when I can get my hands on a good used deal.