On 2005-11-02, at 18:38, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote:
Hmm. Whenever I pick up a 7D, it feels like a battleship ...
bristling with a bazillion knobs, switches, sliders, dials and
buttons. Takes ages to figure out what they're all for. Compared to
the sleek and elegant feel of the Pentax *ist DS, which I knew the
basics of in 5 minutes yet contains plenty of interesting
subtleties that, as I discovered them, all work very well together.
The 7D is a Lancaster compared to the *ist DS Mosquito.
Learning 7D controls pays very quickly - to change ISO, WB you just
press button and turn wheel - you don't even have to remove eye from
the viewfinder as these operations are displayed there. In *istD you
have to run mode wheel, change the option and turn the wheel back to
A, S, M or P position - this means that this camera is not shot ready
all the time. Ds is a little better in this regads, but you have to
press function button and change options in menus. The same apply to
changing metering modes - direct on 7D, menu-driven on *istDs. Yes at
first Ds ergonomics seems easier, but after a while 7D allows for
quicker and more responsive change of important photo parameters.
That's why I'd gladly see next Pentax DSLR similar in operation to MZ-
S ;-) But as I said - it is all a matter of habbits and getting used
to - and taking it in consideration Ds is a fine photographic tool
too :-)
Not to say that the 7D is a bad camera. It is definitely an
excellent camera and still an interesting option if I were thinking
to acquire another brand of DSLR (I still have the Canon 10D and am
reluctant to part with the lenses I have left at least... and I
still have the Konica Minolta A2 that I don't want to part with). I
don't know much about the Konica Minolta AF lens line, however ...
It's been many years since I had the Minolta XD-11 kit. Both
Minolta and Konica have a good reputation in lenses, though.
Their lenses are suprisingly good and were very cheap second hand
(50/1.4 was about 150 USD, 20/2.8 - 200 USD) - at least until cheap
5D DSLR appeared ;-) And they have one unique lens among all makers -
135/2.8 STF which produces fully natural background blur - just like
you would squint your eyes - no other lens of any brand have such a
beautiful bokeh.
--
Best regards
Sylwek
