Digital killed the photo star!

“Dammit!” Konica Minolta has announced the withdrawal plan for its camera business and photo business. Today’s revelation marks the end of over one hundred years in the photo business for this once great company. I’m a Minolta guy, proud and loyal. In regards to a quality for the cost ratio, Minolta SLR cameras can’t be beat. The Maxxum 5 and 7 are perfect examples of ‘more bang for the buck’, but digital imaging is picking off film related divisions one by one. Kodak recently announced it’s out of the black and white photo paper business, and Polaroid is discontinuing several films, but I believe this is the first big photo company to completely throw in the towel. I can’t think of a film SLR that has more features than the Maxxum 7, for the price. Of course opinions vary, but budget-minded shooters love Minolta. Because the Maxxum 7D has the Anti-shake technology built into the camera, all current Maxxum lens can be used to take advantage of stabilization. Not so with Canon, who built the technology into the lens, making lens prices two to three times that of Maxxum-mount lenses. We can argue the finer points of Canon DSLRs vs. Minolta DSLRs, with the main issue being Minolta only has two; the 5D and 7D. I’m the first to admit Canon has the bigger arsenal when it comes to camera bodies and lenses, both in film and digital, but I always find myself rooting for the underdog, which may be another reason I like Minolta products. This is a photo company that has made many historical innovations within the camera world, the Maxxum and XD series being fine examples, but they never quite reached the level of Nikon and Canon.

Although I’m sure the suggested Sony product will be good, (the new Sony Cyber-Shot R1 10.3mp is getting excellent reviews) I’ll miss the Minolta logo on the front. I haven’t made the leap to a DSLR yet, mainly because the 7D was only 6mp and I’m too cheap to drop a thousand bucks on a camera. Hey, I love photography and have earned some nice money for my services, but my slightly-used Maxxum 7 (that I picked up for a song) keeps the overhead fairly low. Depending on what the Sony/Maxxum DSLR (that they claim is coming) offers I will probably have to make the plunge soon. If it’s not a Sony/Minolta product I’d lean toward Canon for the sheer vastness of their product lines. With heavy heart and bowed head, I say ‘Minolta we will miss you.’