Minolta Dynax / Maxxum 404si
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| Pro | sounds stupid but i have just been given this camera to use at uni.
no instruction manual. when i put the battery in and turn on it automatically keeps taking pictures. where is the switch to stop this it is wasting so much of my film!?!?!?!??!?!!?? | ||
| Contra | cant tell you ,, cant use it | ||
| Thoughts | dont know yet, cant get it to work!!! | ||
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| Pro | its auto digi | ||
| Contra | its auto digi | ||
| Thoughts | does anyone know where i can get an english manual for the minolta 404si? | ||
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| Pro | light body, easy to use, aperture and shutter priority, manual mode, very good light measurement | ||
| Contra | slow AF with my 35-80 and 70-210 lenses, no flash compensation with built in flash, loud shutter/mirror, mirror beats big
When you use the manual filmrewind button you can not set the body to left the film tongue | ||
| Thoughts | I have been using this camera for half a year. The previous one was a zenit 12xp and I like my new Minolta. I always pick up and take me because of the lightweight. For the first SLR, I recommend it! I havent grown up with its possibilty yet. | ||
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| Pro | Great SLR to begin with. Not expensive, lightweight, easy operation, Autofocus and Manual, Program modes, Aperture and Shutter priority, Wireless Flash option. This camera is very easy to start with, and it will soack you into photo-crazyness. Latter you may need more advanced camera body. | ||
| Contra | Noisy shutter, little slow Autofocus, doesn't have Depth of Field Preview option, dosn't have mirror lock, very dark view finder (difficult to work at night), pour light sensors for night photography. | ||
| Thoughts | I was 100% happy during first year. I'was 50% happy during second year of use. No, after 2 years I wish to get much better system. Maxxum 7, or switch to Nikon, and get N80? | ||
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| Pro | I have had my (usa) stsi maxxum 2 years now. I was told it would be a great start into the slr market with ease to use and lots of features to grow into. This camera has proven to be a fine piece of equipment. I have now advanced into using all the creative features it has and dont see a need for even a new camera. Alot of reviews are saying it is a good begginer slr but this camera will also take you into serious amatuer mode if you get that far. Lots of manual features if you choose.I have traded in my minolta lenses for top of the line tokina and have had good luck with this pairing. | ||
| Contra | The only thing I see being a problem is that the lens mount ring is plastic and Is going to need replaced at some time especially if you use metal mount lenses. I have had no problem with the battery life sometimes I cant believe how long they last and I shoot about 5 rolls of film a month. The auto focus might could be a little faster and sometimes it searches but this is minor when you consider all the pluses. | ||
| Thoughts | Great beginner slr to take you through your hobby into advanced.
Quality product from minolta. | ||
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| Pro | the 404si takes great sceanic shots, bulb shots nightime long exposures, the close up mode is great for flowers and just about anything else you may want to take close up, but i do have a problem with taking people shots ie, face and shoulders from aprox 6-10 feet away from subject as i have tried all the f/stop numbers in trying to take a clearer photograph, when the view is in focus ( manual or auto ) you would think that is how the picure would turn out, but thats not the case there is some detail lost on the final result even when using portrait mode, my old pentax p30t took better shots than this camera with a similar lens 35-80 they where sharp around the edges of anything you took, graet little camera of which i sold to get the minolta which at the time i did a lot of research to find the best buy for what i could afford, next step is to buy a tamron or sigma lens, friends say that i`m expecting too much of the piccies i take?but i believe the camera of this quality should be of equal quality of the pentax, | ||
| Contra | lens possibly not of the best quality?? | ||
| Thoughts | if it took good head and shoulders shots it would be perfect.if anyone has had a similar problem or suggest anything that i could be doing wrong been an amature of 6 yrs | ||
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| Pro | Easy to use, light body, nice looking ! | ||
| Contra | Slow AF, bzzzzzzz... | ||
| Thoughts | Problems with LCD (after first switching camera on there is nothing to see on LCD but after second switching on LCD is right). In P-mode problems with exposure (usualy pictures are overexposed). | ||
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| Pro | -very light body -you can hold it well in the hand -very easy to use (selfexplained, manual not needed) -You can switch the flash at all (for all programms) -Spotmeasurement -I think, it is easier to get chaep some good lenses for minolta than for other cameras. -I think there are no compability problems with third part supplier lenses (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina...) If you buy a Canon you may have some problems -All Minolta lenses doesnt have a build in motor (less parts, that can goes broken) but slow AF!!! -worth its money | ||
| Contra | -each time you switch on and off the camera the foccusing ring of the lens moves (AF) -> BATTERY(expensive 40DM/20euro), time(you have to wait), loud(you and others hear this!!! -AF is slow (Minolta: bzzzzzzzzzz bzzzzzzz bzzz bzz zz z / Canon: bzzzzzzzz) and works not always well -I always had to 0.5 overexposure by using a M42 lenses -lens mounting by plastic (if you often change the lenses, especialy with metal body, it may be a problem with the time) -Remote switch is very expensive (80DM/40euro). You can not build them byself, because of Minolta very special plug. If it goes broken you can not repear it byself (look at canon remote switch, it costs only the half and have a standard 3.5mm stereo plug. It is cheap and I decided to buy one......for my new camera) | ||
| Thoughts | I bought this camera 2 years ago. My old Practica was broken and I needed a new one. I decided for a Minolta 404si because there was a special offer (about 450DM (220euro) incl. Tamron 28-80 lens). On the way to the sun eclipse!! I found out that the camera was broken (the film transport didnt worked) and after one week i became a new one. I was in holiday and I wanted to use a M42 lenses with a Hama adapter. But it was not possible to release the shutter. At home I called the Minolta service and I became a instruction how to remove this block (you have to press some buttons, but there is no advice in the manual!).After this I have made many great pictures (hollidays, wedding, macro, nature, landscapes). If the pictures was sometimes not sharp enough I think it was because of my AF Tamron 28-80 lens. Now (=after 2 years) sometimes I have some problems with the LCD (I switch the camera on, the lens moves and there is nothing to see in the LCD. After second switching on there is all right). In the last time I wanted a new Sigma 28-135 lens because of 1:2 macro feature. By the way I decided to buy Canon (EOS 50e) only because a exact and fast AF. I very like my new camera, but you could have for this money three Minoltas. So, you have to think about for what do you need a camera. If you are a beginner or somebody who makes photos for fun, or if you make many trips to the mountains (light weight) I can recommend you the Minolta 404si, and dont forget to buy a good lens, not the cheappest one. A friend of my have a Minolta system (505) with some really good Minolta lenses and he makes a very proffesional pictures. BUT, if you need fast AF you should buy a Canon. Go to the shop and try it out! AND...if you want to use M42 lenses dont buy a Nikon. All Nikon M42 adapters have a additional lens build in. Peter S., Germany, www.biopage.de, 2001-10-17 | ||
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| Pro | Good pictures generally - I found it easy to use. If you are used to another system previously some find the Minolta a bit non-conventional. Nothing has broken or dropped off. | ||
| Contra | AF tends to hunt too much for my liking . | ||
| Thoughts | The P button (puts it in total auto) is popular with others with no technical knowledge and I have to admit the results are not at all bad. | ||
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| Pro | manual function | ||
| Contra | I have 303si before. It make great picture . sharp, brillant. Now I have 404si with Tamron 28-200mm lens. Everything vork OK BUT: pictures seems darker, some are out of focus, colors are "strange", flash make vigneting even on 35 -40mm focus...I use 4 different film,result are a same. I think that idiot camera take better pictures!!! I cry for my old 303si. | ||
| Thoughts | Have anybody else similar problem? Where can be problem? | ||
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| Thoughts | I have had the Minolta Dynax 404i camera for about 6 months and have shot over 30 rolls of film and have yet to change the batteries. I am getting some great shots, mainly landscape using both manual and auto features. I use a top of the range Nikon for work and it is really heavy and eats batteries, while the Minolta is the one I use while i am travelling and hiking. It is perfect - it is light and dependable and it has yet to fail me. | ||
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| Thoughts | This is a light-weight camera; however, my little monster consumes batteries very quickly. I took 5 rolls of film and then needed to purchase new batteries. At $37.00 CDN for a replacement set, I cannot afford to replace the batteries. There is no battery pack available for this model. One could easily spend up to $200.00 per year CDN on batteries - not to mention the additional film and processing charges. I would not buy a Minolta camera again. Only the high end ones (very expensive) can be used with battery packs. I hardly ever use the flash but even the autofocus functions use battery power. | ||
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| Thoughts | I have used this camera for 1 year and i can recomend it to all beginers and only...I think that all feature that this camera has are everything what is usefull for someone who start with SLRs. | ||
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| Thoughts | Just shot my first rolls of film through my new US model (Maxxum STsi, this is a fine piece of work. I shot with an OM-4 system back in the eighties, and while the construction isn't as good it's amazing what they can put into a camera now. This camera provides all the functions most of us need, slow sync flash, off camera TTL flash, full aperture or shutter priority mode as well as full manual, program modes, etc. | ||
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