Yes, but Minolta has been clarifying their line lately. I think the Maxxum 9, Maxxum 7, and Maxxum 5 made a lot of sense as a trio of film cameras to remain for a while: one super-pro spec, the other a high feature for the money midrange camera, and the third a very inexpensive (though well specified) beginner. Most of the others are older hold-overs that don't quite fit in. Adding the Maxxum 4 didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, though - it's so close to the 5. Canon I think is going to do something similar. The Rebel Ti is going to cover a lot of the lower-end ground. Then they will probably end up with three more bodies. Pentax has way too many too similar lower/mid-lower film bodies. They should end up with an MZ-6 as the beginner, the MZ-S as the midrange, a retro LXAF/MZ-1 as a high-margin niche product, and then the film flagship which could be something very highly specified.Even Minolta offers a few low-end models in addition to their Maxxum 5, 7 and 9. Chris Brogden
I agree with Mustardamus that the new flagship logically might resemble certain aspects of the PZ-1p, though it probably won't "look" like it or have the degree of features/dollar (-nothing does!). I can't imagine it would be quite as monstrous as an EOS-1v (this isn't Pentax's style), though I wouldn't mind something almost that big to pair with large FA* glass. Something in between the Maxxum 7 and 9 in size, in feature content, and in retro vs. high tech might fit the bill.
Paal's prediction of a cross between the F100 and Maxxum 7 is perhaps the most likely in the end (not just because it is coming from Paal).
Rob
_________________________________________________________________
Get a speedy connection with MSN Broadband.� Join now! http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp

