-nice ergonomics
-lightweight
-easy to use
_

- broke down on the first night.

The bottom line,it is a good camera and it has good features in it, but it just blew out on me on the first night, all I did was turned it on and placed it on the couch and left it there to go an grab me a roll of film and then it just flashed by itself, (with the built-in flash closed)and then made a few focus, by "itself" and then....dead! (I'm giving it a 3 stars overall just because I never had a chance to use it, maybe there's some glitch in the system) Not to scare everybody away though, this camera has some neat features and I recommend to every beginner to try it.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

N/A

Light Weight
Lots of Feature
14 Segment Metering

AF/MF Switch doesn't function well
No DOF Preview

Lowest priced Minolta Camera with 14 Segment Honeycomb Metering. Great Camera for those just getting into Photography (Much cheap than Nikon and Canon canera with comparable features). I find Minolta Camera bodies handles much better than Nikon and Canon. IMHO Canon has the worst ergonomics despite having all that technology. The biggest problem with this camera is the lack of DOF Preview and the flaky AF/MF button.

Customer Service

N.A

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS 33

-Lightweight
-Easy to handle

-Switching from M to AF
-Sports pics turn out bad

It is a good camera, expecially for me being a beginer. The standard lens isn't enough if you want to do outdoor photography, you may want to get a better one.

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Cannon

Value
fast shutter
remote cord terminal
wireless flash
minolta system has many lens options
easy switchover to full manual
good ergonomics

no dof preview
a/mf button sometimes doesn't work on first try
plastic lens mount

A good beginners camera, i can see myself not needing anything else for the next few years. if deciding between this and canon rebel 2000, decide based on ergonomics or system because cameras are extremely similar.

Customer Service

lost my manual, was able to write in for new one

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pentax me-super (old)
something pentax at school
something at summer camp
various point-and-shoots

- cheap
- very good light measure
- descent AF
- very light
- bright viewer
- definitly best in this class

version 505si doesn't have any wire to take photo any pilot

Perfect camera for guys who don't have enough money to buy better. Better than Canon EOS 300

Customer Service

not need it

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Zenit 12 xp
Canon a-1

Many many many features for such a cheap camera. It's my first SLR and I don't think i'll get tired of it very quickly.

Being an outdoorsporter/rockclimber I would have liked the body to be sturdier. Now it's plastic and though i didn't test it, it seems quite vulnerable. Metal is no option for me because of the weight. Also the autofocus could be quicker. I use the SLR with a Tamron 28-200 Macro Super II, which is a no-motor zoom lens, but the camera takes a lot of time to focus. I compared it to a Nikon F90, which was -apart from much more expensive- a lot quicker.

As long as i'm trying to be a photographer, this one will do fine I guess.

Customer Service

didn't need them so far

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Minolta X300S, Nikon (don't remember the type, at least 20 years old).

Light
Accurate Light metering
Controlled AF
All need features for beginner/amateur
Easy to use user interface / dials
Built-in Flash good for average portrait
28-80 3.5/5.6 Kit lens seems OK
Has HSS and Remote cable.

Has plastic lense mount and Tripod mount and NO DOF preview (These have been fixed in new Dynax/Maxumm 5, released 2001)
No support from eFilm for converting to a Mega pixel Digital camera (yet!)

After an agonising search and comparison both here and on photo.net my wife and I deceided on the Minolta Dynax 5 (Maxxum HTsi Plus) due to excellent price/performance for beginner/amateur photography. We will probably end up accerorising with more lenses and a 3600HS/5400HS flash.

Customer Service

Excellent, phoned to order, and collected and paid by Credit Card, no problems (3 year Minolta Guarentee)

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Minolta Dynax 5000i (loaned)
Olympus AF-300

Controls are very easy to find and operate.

Wish it had a metal lens mount. Autofocus/Manual focus button could work better.

Great camera for the price. The features are perfect for a beginner/intermediate photographer who does not need the highest shutter speed, fastest focusing camera. Body is extremely light weight which is a positve in my book. Built in custom functions are a plus.

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None

The controls are arranged very intuitively, and I am very comfortable working with it. Also, the custom settings allow a lot of flexability in how you work with the camera.

The auto/manual focus button is not very responsive when in manual focus mode. You have to really concentrate on pressing it in all the way to get back to auto focus mode.

Excellent value for the price. AF button is not too much of a problem, as I usually use manual focus anyway. I only wish it had a metal lens mount instead of a plastic one.

Customer Service

none needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Maxxum 3000i

Small, compact package. Wireless flash compatibility. Custom functions.

No problems yet. I've had it about 3 months.

Good pictures, fast shutter speed. I hope to take many pictures with this fine camera.

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Minolta Maxxum 450si