Minolta 800si - What a beauty!
Written: Oct 22 '00 (Updated Jan 19 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful pictures!
Cons: Takes a while to learn what everything will do.
The Bottom Line: This is an excellent 35mm camera!
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Konica Minolta Maxxum 800si 35mm Film Camera |
Point and shoot that is all you have to do. Built-in Flash, built in motor drive and automatic film loading, advancing and rewinding. You can point and shoot and you can make every detail that you want manually.
The camera weighs less than two pounds, has a good feel to it and is very responsive when it comes to quick actions. This camera takes the perfect picture every time. There is a lot to learn and get use to if you are going to use the features the camera has, or just keep it in the Automatic mode and point and shoot, all focusing is done automatically.
The Built-in Flash
A lot of us are skeptical when it comes to a built-in flash, Minolta has done their homework on this one. There is a X-sync flash Terminal, which means if you need a bigger flash you could add one.
It is a high-power, high-speed zoom sync flash made to cover a focal length from 24-80mm. This is a very powerful flash with red-eye reduction to a fill flash.
Built-in Motor Drive
Just lay the film in and it will automatically thread it when you close the back and then advance to the first frame. You can have it automatically rewind the film when it is full or you can set it to do it manually.
You can click off a single shot at a time or up to three frames per second.
The Modes
There are four modes to choose from with the 800si.
1. A Mode - Aperture Priority Mode, you can select the aperture you want to control the depth of field for your subject.
2. S Mode - Shutter priority mode you can capture moving subjects in focus.
3. P Mode - Expert Program Selection is for you to set up so it will take the pictures you want automatically. It has the following mode selections, Portrait, Landscape, Sports-Action, Night-Portrait and a close-up mode.
4. M Mode - Manual Mode gives you full control of what you want to do with the camera.
LCD multifunction display
This display can be found on top of the camera and through the viewfinder. Here you can see how many pictures you have taken, shutter and aperture settings, flash indicator, program modes and much more.
Other Features
1. Self-timer with a 10 second delay.
2. Multiple exposure
3. Depth-of-field preview
4. Film speeds of ISO 6 to 6400.
5. Minolta AF/Maxxum lenses, A-Type Bayonet mount.
6. 1/8000sec High Speed Shutter and High Speed Sync flashes up to 1/8000sec.
My Last Thought
This is a nice camera with a list price of $699 for the body only no lens and it can run you another $100 plus depending on what lens you decide to get. I found one with a 28-80 wide-angle lens for $529.95.
Minolta is the first one to come out with the fully automatic auto-focus 35mm SLR camera back when they introduce the Maxxum 7000. In my book Minolta is ahead of everyone else in this field.
The camera is kind of complicated to learn and remember what every button can do, this camera is great for the amateur to the professional.
This is a 35mm camera and not your digital camera. I like owning both digital and 35mm, I can always scan my 35mm pictures and turn them into a digital looking photo. Overall I still prefer the 35mm over digital.
Here are some of my other camera reviews!
Canon PowerShot G1 Digital Camera
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Fuji FinePix 2800 Digital Camera
Kodak DC215 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC280 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DX4900 Digital Camera
Minolta Dimage E-201 Digital Camera
Minolta Maxxum HTsi 35mm SLR camera
Minolta Maxxum 7
Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-3020 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-4040 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-40 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-380 Digital Camera
Pentax Optio 430 Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 900-s Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 3500 Digital Camera
Sony MVC-FD87 Digital Camera
Sony Mavica MVC-FD95 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-F717 Cyber-shot Digital Camera
Sony DSC-P2 Digital Camera
Recommended:
Yes
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surferdude7
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