Minolta makes me mad.
I purchased the dImage 7 not too long ago, as I am sure many of you recall. Recently, they released the dImage 7i. I’m okay with that. They are allowed to make better products. That’s called competition, and improvement. Everything that I gripe about on the dImage 7 has been corrected in the 7i. The AF is 1.5 times faster. The maximum FPS has gone from 1.1 to around 7. I’ve held this camera. The grip feels incredible. Supposedly battery life has been extended. They’ve added focusing grids to help those of us who are bent on Manually focusing everything (perhaps in part due to the SLOW AF on the dImage 7). They’ve added a IR light to the front of it to assist focusing in low light. They’ve added a real time histogram. They’ve added more color modes. They’ve made it easier to switch through the color modes. They’ve added a filter feature (which simulates various lens filters) and supposedly improved the dImage software which I don’t use anyway. They’ve also made to so you can do MF after AF with a half-shutter press. I try to do that ALL the time, before I realize, once again, that I can’t. They’ve also added a “SPOT” button (in place of the AE/AL button) that allows you to spot meter very quickly, lock in that exposure, then auto-focus and take the image. Very very cool. I’ve played with this camera, and it is a HUGE improvement on the dImage 7.
Again, I can live with ALL of these things. Except this: The dImage 7i is CHEAPER than the dImage 7?!?
The MSRP for the dImage 7i is US$1299, while the dImage 7 is still at US$1899. I saw them side by side yesterday at a retail computer store. The 7i was going for US$999 while the 7 was going for US$1299. That’s outrageous.
Now I got a good deal on my dImage 7. I went back to the place I got mine and found that the dImage 7i is selling there for $999. The dImage 7 is currently selling for around $800 on ebay. That means I’d have to eat $200, unless I could find the 7i for cheaper than $999.
There is also rumor that Minolta will be offering a firmware upgrade for the dImage 7 for around US$50 that will improve the AF, increase the maximum shutter speed to 1/4000s, increase the maximum FPS to around 5, add the real time histogram, and add the focusing grids. That would be a better deal. As much as I like the new grip, it isn’t worth $150 and the trouble I would have to go through to sell mine and buy a new one. However, as far as I know, this upgrade is only available in Japan currently.