Konica Minolta Maxxum 7d Review

This is a preliminary hands-on review of the brand-new Maxxum 7D. It was written in mid-Octoberand was based on a week of field testing a pre-production camera. I was told by Konica Minolta that while the body itselfwas in final form, the firmware was not. For this reason minor glitches have been either overlooked or reduced in emphasis.

Minolta, or KM as some people now call them, has a soft spot reserved in my photographic heart. When I began my career as a photojournalist in the late sixties and early seventies I couldn't afford a Leica or a Nikon, and so a couple of Minolta SRT101s were may mainstay. These camera were, at the time, state-of-the-art (at least for the money), and I still remember them fondly. I also found that Minolta's lenses were very good, and offered great value compared to those from Nikon –thepro camera at the time.
I have not used a Minolta camera (sorry – Konica / Minolta) since then, until theA2, which I tested and then purchased earlier in 200...