Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D
Encyclopedia
The Maxxum 7D, labelled Dynax 7D in Europe
/Hong Kong
and α-7 Digital in Japan
and officially named "DG-7D", is a 6.1 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera
, or dSLR, produced by Konica Minolta
. It was the top model of their dSLR range, with the Maxxum/Dynax 5D
, a consumer-grade model, being the other.
The 7D was first announced on 2004-02-12 at the PMA show,
with full details released just before the 2004 Photokina
show on 2004-09-15.
The production camera was released in late 2004. Production ceased when Konica Minolta announced their exit from the camera business in January 2006. Regardless of its high specification (for the time) and innovative feature set, it came with a very high price tag. The 7D was available as body only, but also with a kit lens; a 17-35mm f2.8. Like the Nikon 18-70 kit lens found with many Nikon DSLRS, this lens was regarded as high enough quality to do justice to the sensor within the body; unlike the cheap zoom kit lenses found with many DSLRS. although remaining inventory continued to be sold, alongside the K-M based Sony α 100. The Sony A100 is often compared to the KM 5D with a higher specification, whereas Sony A700 could prove to be the spiritual successor to the 7D. In terms of market position, it is expected to retail for around £1000 GBP; somewhere between the Nikon D300 and Canon 40D.
body, plastic
in the rear, and primarily external controls. The body includes external controls for exposure compensation, flash compensation, focus mode, shooting mode, exposure mode, drive mode, metering mode, white balance, focal area, ISO, and two dials that are used to control shutter speed and F-stop. Presence of the external controls for most functions encourage experimentation without having to traverse through menus.
The 7D's 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) LCD also doubles as the control LCD. Rather than having a second, status LCD located elsewhere like some Canon and Nikon
DSLRs, it displays information such as exposure
settings, aperture
, shutter speed
, battery
life, and other miscellaneous recording information. The LCD, when acting as the control LCD, also rotates 90° based on the rotation of the camera to keep all of the information shown upright.
Maxxum/Dynax 5D and 7D both come with Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake Technology. A major difference between Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake and Canon's Image stabilization
is that the operation is done in the camera itself rather than inside the lens, thus making the effects usable regardless of the lens attached. In Canon's IS the lens has a floating element that is used to redirect the frame based on outside movement. In Konica Minolta's AS, however, the CCD
is on a floating plane controlled by two actuators that work based on detected outside movement and create an inverse, thereby keeping the incoming image in line with the CCD as much as possible.
Sony's line of Alpha DSLR cameras have built upon the digital Maxxum line, keeping many of the features that made the Maxxum 7D and 5D popular, most notably the built-in Anti-Shake technology. All Sony DSLR cameras now support the Minolta α
mount lens system which makes new Sony-built lenses compatible with Maxxum bodies and Maxxum lenses compatible with newer Sony bodies.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
/Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and α-7 Digital in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and officially named "DG-7D", is a 6.1 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera
Digital single-lens reflex camera
Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....
, or dSLR, produced by Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese manufacturer of office equipment, medical imaging, graphic imaging, optical devices, and measuring instruments. It is headquartered in the Marunouchi Center Building in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with a Kansai office in Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture...
. It was the top model of their dSLR range, with the Maxxum/Dynax 5D
Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D
The Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D was a digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Konica Minolta in 2005.The camera has a sensor-shifting image stabilization feature inherited from the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D....
, a consumer-grade model, being the other.
The 7D was first announced on 2004-02-12 at the PMA show,
with full details released just before the 2004 Photokina
Photokina
The photokina is the world's largest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. The first photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and it is now held biannually in September at the koelnmesse Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre...
show on 2004-09-15.
The production camera was released in late 2004. Production ceased when Konica Minolta announced their exit from the camera business in January 2006. Regardless of its high specification (for the time) and innovative feature set, it came with a very high price tag. The 7D was available as body only, but also with a kit lens; a 17-35mm f2.8. Like the Nikon 18-70 kit lens found with many Nikon DSLRS, this lens was regarded as high enough quality to do justice to the sensor within the body; unlike the cheap zoom kit lenses found with many DSLRS. although remaining inventory continued to be sold, alongside the K-M based Sony α 100. The Sony A100 is often compared to the KM 5D with a higher specification, whereas Sony A700 could prove to be the spiritual successor to the 7D. In terms of market position, it is expected to retail for around £1000 GBP; somewhere between the Nikon D300 and Canon 40D.
Physical features
The 7D features a Magnesium alloyMagnesium alloy
Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium with other metals , often aluminium, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium is the lightest structural metal. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structure, which affects the fundamental properties of these alloys...
body, plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
in the rear, and primarily external controls. The body includes external controls for exposure compensation, flash compensation, focus mode, shooting mode, exposure mode, drive mode, metering mode, white balance, focal area, ISO, and two dials that are used to control shutter speed and F-stop. Presence of the external controls for most functions encourage experimentation without having to traverse through menus.
The 7D's 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) LCD also doubles as the control LCD. Rather than having a second, status LCD located elsewhere like some Canon and Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
DSLRs, it displays information such as exposure
Exposure (photography)
In photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
settings, aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
, shutter speed
Shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed is a common term used to discuss exposure time, the effective length of time a camera's shutter is open....
, battery
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
life, and other miscellaneous recording information. The LCD, when acting as the control LCD, also rotates 90° based on the rotation of the camera to keep all of the information shown upright.
Anti-shake technology
The Konica MinoltaKonica Minolta
is a Japanese manufacturer of office equipment, medical imaging, graphic imaging, optical devices, and measuring instruments. It is headquartered in the Marunouchi Center Building in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with a Kansai office in Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture...
Maxxum/Dynax 5D and 7D both come with Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake Technology. A major difference between Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake and Canon's Image stabilization
Image stabilization
Image stabilization is a family of techniques used to reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera during exposure. Specifically, it compensates for pan and tilt of a camera or other imaging device. It is used in image-stabilized binoculars, still and video cameras, and astronomical...
is that the operation is done in the camera itself rather than inside the lens, thus making the effects usable regardless of the lens attached. In Canon's IS the lens has a floating element that is used to redirect the frame based on outside movement. In Konica Minolta's AS, however, the CCD
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
is on a floating plane controlled by two actuators that work based on detected outside movement and create an inverse, thereby keeping the incoming image in line with the CCD as much as possible.
Firmware issues
The factory firmware that the 7Ds initially shipped with (version 1.0) included a few issues that affected the performance of the camera enough to affect initial reviews. The next build of firmware (version 1.10) gave such a great improvement in camera performance that DPReviews revised their initial review of the 7D to retract a couple of the main negative points, citing true USB 2.0 speeds up to 25Mbit/s (up from 7.5Mbit/s), blinking highlights in the camera's built-in playback mode, the addition of a remote storage function in the transfer modes, and faster times when writing to the CF memory cards.Konica Minolta & Sony
In July 2005 Konica Minolta announced a partnership with Sony to research and develop camera technologies, the following March Konica Minolta announced its withdrawal from the camera business altogether and transferred all of its camera assets to Sony as of March 2006.Sony's line of Alpha DSLR cameras have built upon the digital Maxxum line, keeping many of the features that made the Maxxum 7D and 5D popular, most notably the built-in Anti-Shake technology. All Sony DSLR cameras now support the Minolta α
Minolta AF
The Minolta Alpha camera system was a collection of photographic equipment from Minolta. The system used a lens mount called A-mount, with a flange focal distance 44.50 mm. The new mount was larger than the older SR-mount making old manual lenses incompatible with the new system...
mount lens system which makes new Sony-built lenses compatible with Maxxum bodies and Maxxum lenses compatible with newer Sony bodies.