Maxxum 7D production photos? (UPDATED)
By
Mike Tomkins
(Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - 18:27 EDT)
We've just posted a gallery of photos shot with Konica Minolta's upcoming Maxxum 7D digital SLR, courtesy of IR site contributor Peter K. Burian.
Images in the gallery were shot by Peter, using what he has been told by Konica Minolta Canada is a production-level Maxxum 7D. The EXIF data for the photos seems to bear this out, since the camera is identified as a "MAXXUM 7D v1.00".
Given that these are apparently the first production-level 7D images we've seen, we're sure they'll be of great interest to readers. The images look *very* nice, overall. Do note that some were shot with a polarizer though, so sky color, etc may be more vivid than would otherwise be the case. Noise levels seem low, and the images show good detail. On first glance they might appear slightly soft, but we'd see that as a good thing - the result of cautious use of in-camera sharpening (which will allow better results when post-processing your photos).
All in all, the photos look very impressive, and we can't wait to get our hands on our own production sample!
Peter K. Burian is a Canadian stock photographer and a regular contributor to three print magazines: eDIGITAL PHOTO, Shutterbug, and PHOTO LIFE. He is the author of Mastering Digital Photography and Imaging. He is currently working on his next book, Magic Lantern Guide to the Maxxum 7 D (Lark Books).
UPDATED 2004-10-21 08:33ET: We've just received an update from Peter Burian on this item. Peter was apparently advised yesterday by Konica Minolta Canada that additional specifics received from Japan about the Maxxum 7D used to make these images indicate that it is in fact a late pre-production model, not a full production version as was originally believed. (Readers will recall the question mark after our Oct. 12 headline: "Maxxum 7D production photos?")
In any event, the fact remains that image quality is impressive as indicated by these gallery examples, which were shot as JPEG's (and are available for download here exactly as delivered out of the camera). The firmware level of the camera used is the most recent of any Maxxum 7D samples available, to the best of our knowledge. If production models of the 7D will be even better, Konica Minolta certainly looks set to have a strong contender in the DSLR market.
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