While it’s always cool to have nice gear, you won’t find anything too fancy here. It’s a hobby so acquisitions are driven by budget. Equipment is all Minolta based with the SLR gear all alpha mount. Sony acquired KM so don’t be confused by the mix of Sony and Minolta, it’s all the same thing really. There is more stuff but this is what I use routinely.
Camera Bodies
The Minolta DiMAGE 7i was a significant camera in its day and was acquired in 2002. I love it to bits and use it probably the most of all my cameras. 5 megapixel sensor, GT lens, good handling and superb image quality. What’s not to like?
The Konica Minolta 5D was the second DSLR body released by the then merged Konica and Minolta. It was quite rightly famous for superb image quality and handling as well as featuring sensor stabilisation, “Anti Shake”, quite unique at the time. This allowed it to be used hand held in situations where previously a blurred shot would have resulted.
Following the A100, Sony released the A200 as their new entry level DSLR. It is in my view the 5D replacement, with improved processing speed and a bigger 10 megapixel sensor. While it lack some of the features of the 5D, image quality is very good.
Lenses
The Minolta 100-300 APO is a mid range consumer grade lens from days gone by. It is small, light and hangs off the front of the 5D where it is mostly used for telephoto shots. At the very limits this lens and camera combination shows some distress, but other than extreme situations performs very well indeed for a budget combo.
Sony’s 16-105 DT lens lives on the front of the A200 and is a very good combination for many situations. Some say this lens is not quite as good as the Zeiss 16-80, but I figure the extra range at the long end makes it infinitely more useful. I like it a lot.
This is the well regarded Minolta 100/2.8 macro, some might even say a legendary lens. It is a fairly technical apparatus to use properly but can produce spectacular results. It is used mostly on the 5D where it seems to work just fine.
