Konica Minolta Maxxum 7 / Dynax 7 35mm Film Camera

The Maxxum 7 is as 'state of the art' as has ever been achieved in a 35mm Film SLR. Since the world has moved on to Digital, it will likely remain the Ultimate 'state of the art'.

I bought mine in 2004, while they were still available New, and shot many superb rolls of film with it. In early 2007, in a financial pinch and having clearly moved on to Digital myself, I reluctantly sold it. That was made a bit easier by the fact the Digital I had moved on to, is the Sony Alpha 100 - a reasonably direct descendant of the Maxxum 7, which carries forward many features developed for the 7, and will take all of the Maxxum lenses I have accumulated.

My experience with the Maxxum 7 was Excellent. It would do everything I could set it up to do, and was always capable of much more. I never had any problems with it. The most notable features are the Autofocus system - always very quick and dependable - and the Matrix Metering system, very accurate.

There is a running joke among Maxxum 7 owners in the Minolta users groups, that the 'Program' exposure mode is actually 'P for Professional' mode. I can attest that the metering really IS that good.

Maxxum 7's have proven themselves as quite durable cameras, having been engineered and built when Minolta was still on top of their game - well before the long slide that led to their departure from the camera business in 2006. I know of many 7's that are still going strong with over 100,000 exposures on them. That's more than a lifetime of shooting, for all but a few of us - and fewer still can ever put that much shooting in on just one camera. So if you get a Maxxum 7 that has been reasonably cared for, and continue that reasonable care, it truly should last you a lifetime.

And with over 16 Million Maxxum-mount lenses made by Minolta, from 1985-2006 - plus the millions of Maxxum-mount lenses made by Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, and others - and the Maxxum-mount now being continued by Sony - there should never be a problem finding Lenses.