A1 vs. 7HI

[John Glenn]

Any side-by-side comparisons between D7HI and A1? They appear to be almost twins except for DC power. Why would I prefer one over other? Currently own Canon F-1 (brass!) with sport finder (which is one reason I'm drawn to the Minolta's 90-degree finder.)

[NHL]

There's a side by side comparison here, although some details are incorrect: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/minoltadimagea1/

... The major difference being an innovative Image Stabilization on a moving CCD, 1/25s @ 200mm (accurate 90% of the time)? and the additional handgrip over the D7Hi!

[sjms]

did you also notice the 2 vertical lines on the grip ala maxxum auto on feature too.

grab the grip and the camera powers up

[NHL]

Yes, Auto-On combined with Eye-Start for Autofocus it promise to be some quick camera!

... May be an A1Hi or A2 with the new Sony CCD hey?

[Robert Johnston]

The A1 is going to sell like chocolate! The Dimage lessons learned have been enhanced, creating a very practical photographers tool. In real estate, where a convenient Exposure Lock and 28-200 lens combine for fast mastering of lighting and easy capture of almost any scene with the correct width of lens, this is a BEAUTY!

Let me tell you how amazingly simple it was for Olympus to sell their image-stabalized 2100 a few years back. If you held it up quickly at full arms length with one arm, and had it set at maximum zoom and took a photo quickly, the image was razor/laser sharp 99% of the time. This was in effect like tripling the pixel count, since the pixels were being fed that much more sharp of an image any time you are not using a tripod or are dealing with ideal intensity of light. Minolta A1's are going to leap off the shelf into customers hands.

In real estate, we seek the wide angle for both the exteriors and obviously the interiors. I have met a great number of Realtors who tried taking their own interior tour photos with average-lens cameras' starting at 35 or 38mm, and it just does not reveal enough of most rooms, regardless of their composition skills. On exteriors, the 35's and 38's often cannot deal properly with wide properties or the ranch/bungalow's if they are at a typical distance from the street. If they are set back, then not so much of a problem.

Taking the color depth up to 14 bits is another serious consideration. 12 bits in the 7i produced a considerable improvement in the camera's (relative to other cameras) ability to see the brighter and darker areas with natural detail and color without flashing into white or blacking out. 14 bit will make the images that much more properly saturated through the full range of exposure levels in one frame. Wonderful!

Our company has a great deal of experience with the 7i at this point and it has been adopted by a great number of our photographers with a great deal of experience, and they love it.

The only complaint we had with the 7i was with it's power drain, but we consistently take over 400 images daily, so we just buy more batteries and move on. Some photographers shooting over 500 images a day have adopted battery packs instead of using the AA's, but the advances in AA technology are considerable over the last few years. Essentially, we have no complaints, it's just that we push the camera beyond what most people do and we've discovered some things we've had to adjust to.

The camera also has 5 or 15 second wav file audio attached to the stills, and this is also not all that common. For our work it's essential, and now that I am familiar with that feature, I'd demand it in any camera I would buy for myself. There are just too many interesting things to remember about the photos you can take.

Gimme gimme gimme! :P