Today I received an email to my USA based client and this is excerpt from his email.

Do you ever shoot film? I have an almost brand new Minolta 7xi with a telephoto lens & all the bells & whistles. I don't shoot film anymore & it can be yours if you can use it. My wife is landing in Manila at 10:00PM on 5/03. It will probably take her an hour or so to clear customs. She can hand carry it to you. Or, you could get it when she returns to Manila on the 19th. Let me know if you have any need for it.It was a blessing in disguise and once again the Lord proved his greatness by using people for people.

I'm so excited to hold my new camera and to make me ease I look for a picture of what in my mind and here's what I've got.

http://www.jamirdesign.com/images/dpp/40683379.Max7xi.jpg

Hope to hear an advice and tips how this monster toy works...

Thanks in advanced.

Jason

It's a mid-level maxxum series, pretty straight forward, I had the 3xi-7xi but couldn't afford the high end 9xi in college.

The lens in picture is a bit slow but quite sharp... Never quite liked motorized zooms coz they're slow but at least it's not the 80-200 that I had...

The buttons are a bit tiny and not as easy to use as Nikon/Canon/Olympus counterparts but nice nonetheless...

I dropped by 3xi + Sigma 28-70 and 80-200 almost 7 years ago and didn't bother getting it repaired, wish I did coz I really just threw those three away.

I still have a 2000xi flash unit with me hehe.

I have quite a few nice shots with those Maxxums... very lightweight too.

Having eye-start (and grip sensor) AF really speeds up AF by quite a bit, by the time you get to look into your viewfinder, the AF is already very close to your chosen AF point.

It's a mid-level maxxum series, pretty straight forward, I had the 3xi-7xi but couldn't afford the high end 9xi in college.

The lens in picture is a bit slow but quite sharp... Never quite liked motorized zooms coz they're slow but at least it's not the 80-200 that I had...

The buttons are a bit tiny and not as easy to use as Nikon/Canon/Olympus counterparts but nice nonetheless...

I dropped by 3xi + Sigma 28-70 and 80-200 almost 7 years ago and didn't bother getting it repaired, wish I did coz I really just threw those three away.

I still have a 2000xi flash unit with me hehe.

I have quite a few nice shots with those Maxxums... very lightweight too.

Having eye-start (and grip sensor) AF really speeds up AF by quite a bit, by the time you get to look into your viewfinder, the AF is already very close to your chosen AF point.

Thanks for the input David. :Grin:

Do you have any pictures taken by this camera? You think I need a flash for this camera? I am planning to use this for my Black & White Portraits Experimentation since telephoto lens is included in the camera.

Thanks in adavance. :Grin:

Oh, they're long gone, the prints are still with be but they're all in Manila hehe...

The pop-up flash is adequate naman but just like any frontal flash, it's not idea.

I used TMAX400 and Ilford HP quite often with my 2 Minoltas before, they're more than adequate indoors even at f/3.5...

The main gripe is that the hotshoe design of Minoltas are different than everyone elses, so you'll probably have a hard time finding flashes, but if you do (eBay) they'll be cheap coz they're not universally compatible to other hotshoes (adapter required).

This Maxxum is recent enough in design that the Sony DSLRs would share niceties like the flash and lenses...you might find them in your suking Sony showroom.:Grin:

I used TMAX400 and Ilford HP quite often with my 2 Minoltas before, they're more than adequate indoors even at f/3.5...

Are you referring this for film? If not, what film should I use to this camera?

Sorry for bugging you sir but this is my first time using film and like many others I just jump to digital before film.

:D

This Maxxum is recent enough in design that the Sony DSLRs would share niceties like the flash and lenses...you might find them in your suking Sony showroom.:Grin:

Thanks sir Bong... Hope to see your Minolta too soon...

Can I ask for a question, what film should I use for this?

Thanks...

That should use any 35mm film you can find in 7-11...:)

Jason: my answer was directly pointed to your question:

I am planning to use this for my Black & White Portraits Experimentation since telephoto lens is included in the camera.I only use those two films in the past due to ease of availability near my school before. You can use any film you wish... If you're using it indoors, 400-800 ASA is more than adequate.

As Bong has mentioned, any 35mm (135) film will work, those you see off-the-shelves in 7-11/Mercury hehe.

It's a modern cam, if you just want to take shots, just use it like a DSLR, leave it in P mode and EV compensate... Leave the metering and AF to the cam. I think the 7xi came out BEFORE the lower model 3xi...

The 9xi flagship was an awesome (but as usual, poorly marketed) cam, I think it was the only cam that had vertical and diagonal continuous AF before (most only track horizontal)... The AF of the 9xi trumps even the EOS 3! 1/12000 fastest shutter was virtually unheard of as well hehe.

Try not to spend much on "xi" lenses where the zoom is powered, not only is it wicked slow, it's also not stepless and it drains battery juice.

Thanks Sir Bong and Sir David.

:Grin::Grin::Grin:

Hi guys... Would like to ask if you know where I can find this but "Rechargeable"?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/items/19161.jpg

I received my Camera and would like to find a "Rechargeable" Battery for my new cam. Thanks

:Grin::Grin::Grin: