Terrfic new Minolta on the way

Hi, all,
Look at this link:

http://www.dimage.minolta.com/

The new Dimage A1 sounds like a fantastic new digital camera, what with low
light focus, high speed focus, 5 MP, and it being an SLR. Well, SLR-Type.
Which means: the "optical" viewfinder is actually an electronic one like you
find in Camcorders, except it will be much higher resolution. A staff member
on the CompuServe photo Forum told me that the Minolta electronic viewfinder
is pretty good. (I'm not talking about the LCD screen which the A1 also
has).

Its not in any stores yet..but I can't help but think about selling my Canon
G3 and getting one of those!! I overall like the G3 a lot, but its low light
focus sucks, and I keep forgetting to set the focus point on the subject, so
some of my pics wind up off focus.
Roger

 

Looks impressive. Wonder what the street price will be?

GCW

 

A new anti-shake feature. This camera won't be under $2k.

 

Gimme a break. It'll probably have an MSRP of $1299.

--
________________________________
Todd Walker
http://twalker.d2g.com
Canon 10D:
http://twalker.d2g.com/canon10d
My Digital Photography Weblog:
http://twalker.d2g.com/dpblog.htm
_________________________________

 

If priced over 2k it will lose to the Canon 10D which has the advantage
of interchangeable lenses and a proper viewfinder for less. It does
however look quite good, if I can not get the money for a Canon 10D I
might get the Minolta A1 (I like a Canon 1D but can not justify that
expenditure)

 

There is a decent review of it in "What Digital Camera" magazine. The
reporter had it on test for a day and seemed very impressed and the
image stabilisation seemed to work well. They are quoting the beginning
of September for availability and a list price of £999.99. There is
also a great improvement on the length of time the batteries last. In
the test the guy stated "the A1 was still displaying a full charge even
after filling a 512MB card with a whole day`s enthusiastic shooting".


Maureen

 

That'll be 999 USD then......

 

Just the hard facts of marketshare and the game now... not having a DSLR
means you build more advanced point and shoots.

It all depends on where you put your R&D dollars and they'll sell thousands
more of these than they would sell dslrs since many of their folks sold out
and dumped Minolta for Canon or Nikon....

Financially speaking, Konica is very smart and is guiding Minolta to stay
fiscally alive with some solid ideas. Building on the 7 series which had
some success was one. Building for the amateur market is another. Niche
selling.

At this point they can't chase Nikon or Canon. To many converts went away
from them. Taking the dead Konica Camera name and calling them Minolta's
was another good point. Good business plan for them unless you got a roomful
of Minolta glass. I had three medium format systems, I waited too long to
dump, did Ok on two , the third is maybe a wallet breaker but thats the
market. Bet a dollar they join the 3/4 club and that means new lenses. Why?
Because they have nothing to lose. Look at whose in the 3/4 game. KODAK -
FUJI - ( not to mention OLY, soon to be joined by another BIG player like
SamXXX or SAMYYY. Why should Konica/Mitsubishi not be in digital film game
too?. They manufacture film and do well in the third world and discount
markets. But that puts them in a fresh new area, again the niche market.

Survival of assets and a good marketing plan. and oh, getting rid of some
dead wood and egos in the merger. Some smart thinking at KON-NOLTA

 

you just did ...