Remember a while back I was thinking of buying an older but decent EFV digital camera? Well, I talked my better half into letting me buy a new one. I had decided on a 5mp Minolta A1, but now the 8mp A2 has come out. SHould be a no brainer, except Minolta has jacked the price on the A2 up another $300.

Feature wise, they both have the same goodies that I care about (the A2 has a pimp 900k pixel EVF though), the extra 3mp are the only things pushing me towards the A2. I can get an A1 for about $700us, but the A2 will clock up $1000. So $300us ($400cdn for me), what would you guys do in my situation?

I'm not a pro photographer and don't make a living at it, and may never print anything bigger than an 8x10. On the other hand, maybe I will take that one great picture that I wish I would have been able to blow up bigger, and regret not having the extra resolution.

Thoughts anyone?



Oh, in case anyone is wondering, I chose the A1/A2 because of its image stabilization capabilities. No other camera in that class has an IS except for the Panasonic Lumix, which I don't like the form/feel of in my hands. Yes I know I can get a Digital Rebel for the same price, but not with a 28-200mm IS lens. Plus the A1/A2's are smaller and I'll take it with me more often.

That new higher-end Canon sure is nice.

I doubt you can get much for a used lower pixel'd camera. They're a dime a dozen in pawn shops. Sorry.

With a good film camera, the value is there, with electronics, it's another matter.

See if you can talk a friend into buying it for web stuff. Or give it away as a present to a family member.

$200 at most, more likely $100. However, you may always get lucky.

Frank, you'd be surprised at how well some digital cameras keep their value. I sure was. If I could get a real bargain on a used one, I would. In the internet marketplace, there is such a demand for used cameras that it drives the price higher than it should be. Not many pawn shops near me, so I don't get to check them out. If you see any used Minolta A1's, let me know!

Not sure what you mean about selling any of my cameras though. I'm looking to buy, not sell.

I think your subject (what is a megapixel worth?) threw him a curve. Besides, it's still pretty early for Frank.

I'm okay. :-))

Hmmm. My buddy can't even get $600 for his Coolpix and lenses. He paid around $3000. He's now asking $400. The cam's only a year old. :-((

Maybe I should go to sales college.... :-))Not sure what you mean about selling any of my cameras though. I'm looking to buy, not sell.I guess it would have helped my cause if I would have read your original post word for word, and then one more time for good measure, before I hammered the keyboard. Sorry Dylan. I hope I didn't give you a heart-attack. :-))

Dylan,

5MP is fine for up to A4 (8x11.5) size. I've printed shots from my 4MP Canon S45 and they look great. If you were wanting to print for commercial purporses then the A2 would be better but for your own use I would just go with the A1.

Hmm... Decisions decisions... I'll have to give it some more though.


Frank, which Coolpix does he have? $3000 sounds like D-SLR price range.

I can't recall---the one that came out about 8 months ago. That price also includes 3 or more Nikkor lenses. He bought that new high-end Canon a few months ago (with lenses). I can't recall that model either off hand. As you know, I prefer manual film cameras and small miniDV cams.

You da man, Frank. I can still get $180 for my OM2.

Dylan, I got an A1 last month primarily for scouting and pre-visualizing on film sets, due to its fully mechanical zoom. I have it marked with cine focal lengths, and am quite pleased with its performance for that purpose--the stabilizer is great for this use, as I can take longer lens shots in low light without them going blurry on me. I'm able to make little movies on the spot as well, so we can rough in camera moves. I was hoping to find a camera that did all this AND took really great pictures, but after researching this camera and waiting six months for the Sony 828 to come out (to great disappointment image-wise, from all I gathered) I gave up and bought the A1 for work, plus a Canon D10 and a couple lenses to make pretty pictures with for play. (the D10 is too big and doesn't have a movie mode or an active display while shooting, which makes it less desirable for the pre-viz stuff). I've yet to see proof that the new generation of 8 mp cameras with smaller sensors can make images that compete with the 6 mp larger sensors like the D10, image-wise.

(p.s. I managed to get a factory refurbished D10 for the price of the Rebel, which made this all possible).

Here's an example (http://homepage.mac.com/chupap/PhotoAlbum5.html) of a scout I did today with the A1...there's a couple of soft shots as I was in a bit of a rush, still learning the peculiarities of autofocus on that camera!, but they are just reference pics for me and my gaffer. How about that house, BTW--it's a former celebrity abode in Bel Air, we are shooting some walkthroughs for a documentary this weekend. Nice looking place,eh?

Thanks for the feedback on it Charles. My final decision of a A1/A2 over a Digital Rebel or 10d was based on the theory that if I had a D-SLR body plus two lenses, it would stay at home alot more, and I wouldn't take nearly as many pictures with it. Plus by the time I added the IS lenses, it would double the cost of an A2, which maxes out my budget.

Exactly so. I haven't ventured out with my D10 yet (shame! shame!) which makes me wonder if did the right thing...NO! I shall take pictures for fun, I shall!

I take at least a couple of pictures a day, well almost. There's always something interesting to snap, er, click. May film never die! Just keep in mind that a picture can steal someone's soul, if you do it right. :-))

I posted about my buddy's digi cams before. In fact, the pic of me on this board was done with his Nikon.

I covered a Concours d' Elegance on Saturday and shot over 600 images. Sometimes it helps to give yourself an assignment to get things started. The A1 and A2 are great cameras, Dylan. I think you'll be happy with either. Charles is right about these new 8 MP cameras. None are really living up to their expectations because of high noise levels and chromatic aberrations in some lighting conditions.

I have shot faux 6MP on my Fuji S602 (more realistically 3MP) and using Photoshop for cleaning and interpolating, I have SOLD (Yes, paid job) posters of A0 size! That's 5000 x 7500 pixels at 150dpi. The client noted that the image is not exactly sharp, but good enough for their use. Moral of the story: MP is not everything!

I BOUGHT A MINOLTA A2!!!
WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Its sitting right beside me, all black and menacing....

Now I have to read the manual. Will take some test pics and post them for quality review by tomorrow.

Holy megapixels

The Minolta is a very cool camera.

I'm going to get some bad a** stickers for it too, and maybe a huge matte box so it looks more pro. It's already black! I'm going to be a great photographer. ;)


ANyway, I had been leaning more towards the Fuji S7000 or the A1, but then I lucked in on a deal on the A2. (at least a deal for us Canadians. It still cost more than in the US).

Don't cry when the replacement comes out any second, Dylan--I'm trying not to think about it either!

Charles, what do you mean? THe guy that sold it to me said it would always be top of the line?!? ;)

Actually Charles, I was going to ask you if you could post some comparison examples from your A1. The ISO 200 and up settings are pretty noisy in dark areas, would you be able to post a full-res .jpg from yours so I can see if it's natural for these cameras? I know they are a little noisy, just wondering if mine is over the top.

Also (for Charles, or Jeff or anyone)

Is there any good tests I can do to tell if my image stabilizer works? Sometimes it seems to, sometimes it doesn't. I need a test that will really make it stand out.

Much appreciated.

This page (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/minoltadimagea1/) has a nice movie how the stabilizer works.
Funny!

Charles: nice house indeed!

Charles--slight hi-jack here but on your site you show pics of your editing system. That wooden table looks fantastic--who makes it and where did you get it---and how much?

David: see the last pages on this thread (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13127) for some more info on his setup

thx Rob