Good specs allround. Well build(for plastic body) easy to get to know...

Loud DOFprev! AF tends to "pan" around , but improves when you set the AF MODE to fullscreen instead of centre....

A very good camera for the money. Not a metal body , but still robustly built. Picked mine up with a vertical grip , wich improves stabillity/handling/ and cool/pro like looking :-)

Similar Products Used:

Canon AE1 Ricoh KR5 Pentax Z1

* Ease of use, reminds me of my older-all manual- Minoltas. * Customized AE lock to a toggle switch, allows you to lock exposure and then recompose without holding the AE lock botton. * Depth-of-field preview, although it sounds like you are taking a picture when depressed. * Very well balanced with VC600 grip.

* Lightly constructed for my taste, I prefer tanks. * Noisy DOF preview. * Slow AF with older Minolta lenses.

I own the Alpha 507si, the Japanese version of the 600si. This camera is the the most user friendly AF camera I have ever tried including other Minoltas. It is also very reliable. I dunked it in the river while fly-fishing 2 months ago. After letting it dry out, everything works as it did before. I use this camera for landscapes as well as weddings. For weddings I use with a 3500xi strobe. Pictures turn out just as I had planned everytime.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta XG7, XD7, STSI, Nikkormat EL, Olympus RF.

#1 Value, for the price, this came packs a truck load full of features. #2 Ease of use, the controles are clearly seen and esaly reached. #3 Smart, the exposer system can deal with difficult and unbalanced lighting conditions, #4 No Progam cards to fumble with. #5 Very profesional apperance

#1 The grip could be a little fater. #2 High speed shutter sink only goes up to 4000 ( but I seldom go over 250 anyway)

this review compares my recently aquired Minolta maxxum to my other Auto focus cameras.

Customer Service

Helpful websight,Hope i do not need service.

Similar Products Used:

Ae-1 700si 9000 DX-10

Ease of Use, Controls are easaly accesed, the retro design make finding and adjusting exposure easy. The camera is SMART! supports HHS hi speed sink, the point and shoot frogram always renders a well ballaced picture. Has interchangable screens! Has continuous predictive autofocus! for action or sports. Don't have to use program cards. 14 segment honeycomb metering. FULL manual operation if desired. suports wireless flash setup can use thre flashes without wires, just awesome! DOF preview. Flash Brackcketing Muliple exposure.

focusing screens options not inside the camera like the n80 but overall still a better camera. body could have more metal in it like a titanium 9

WOW I LOVE this CAMERA!!

Customer Service

not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

minolta 550si nikon n80

Cost efective, easy button location,light compared to my 9000 with MD90 and BP90. No adapter needed to do Panorama!

it's not a 9 ,Some mentiond loud shutter, however compared to my 9000 its quiet.

Well actually I have the 650 wich is the version with Panaroma and Date back. I love this camera easy to use while offering advanced controls and full manual options. I also have the vertical grip VC600 on it. Of course bear in mind I am a novice compared to profesional Photographers

Customer Service

not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 9000 w MD90 & BP90, XG-M w MD1, 550si.

price features ease of use picture quality exposure accuracy flash features great lenses for less money than the competition

For those who have camera envy, it doesn't say Nikon or Canon on the front

I took photography in high school and dabbled in it in college. In other words, I am a casual user. I know the basics of photography but a camera in my hands is not like an extension of my body. That said...this is one fantastic camera. I like to use full manual along with the autofocus to create the portraits or scenes that I want. With my very inexpensive Minolta 50mm 1.7 I can take wonderful candids and landscapes, capturing the moment very well. With my 100mm f2.8 macro Maxxum lens I shoot portraits well enough to eliminate family members from getting studio settings for special occations. The camera is easy to use and takes fantastic pics when used with the better Minolta branded lenses. My wife likes to point and shoot pics of our kids. For her, a Sigma 28-200 macro zoom goes on the 600si. Although the lens is not as sharp as my primes, she loves the zoom capabilities and the full auto mode of the combo. The pictures she takes are always perfectly exposed...better than most pics we see from friends, etc. I picked up the body new in 1997, but they are on ebay now for about $200. The 3 lenses cost me a total of $450 on ebay. The camera, its autofocus, its exposure, and its features are all outstanding. I highly recommend this camera, and yes...I have used Canon, Nikon, and Contax. For value and performance, no other camera beats the 600si (in my opinion).

Customer Service

over 6 years old and only replaced the battery a few times, even though we have taken thousands of pics.

Similar Products Used:

Contax (very nice, but pricy) Nikon (great lens availability, expensive for what you get) Canon (again, great lens selection, cutting edge features, didn't like the way it handled or felt)

EXPOSURE HANDLING SIMPLICITY RELIABILITY

NOISY SHUTTER MINOLTA LENSES DONT SUIT IT VERTICAL GRIP FEELS NICE YET SLOWS PERFORMANCE SETTING CAN BE EASILY KNOCKED OUT OF EXISTING SETTING CHOICE

I COVER WEDDINGS AND OFTEN PARTICIPATE IN PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINES COMPETITIONS. THE MINOLTA 600SI HAS BEEN EXELLENT. I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH EXPOSURE,ALTHOUGH I ALWAYS USE SPOT METERING 95% OF THE TIME, WHICH IS VITAL WHEN WORKING WITH LIGHTING CONDITIONS. I HAVENT USED THE HONEYCOMB DUE TO THE FACT THAT I FREFER SPOT. SIMPLE CAMERA WITH ALL THE QUALITY OF EXPERT METERING.THE SELECTION BUTTON CAN BE EASILY KNOCKED TO ANOTHER SETTING, I HAVE SOMETIMES FOUND MYSELF SHOOTING IN APERTURE WITHOUT KNOWING UNLESS I REGULAR CHECK. MINOLTA LENSES CAN BE SLOW AND HUNT WITH UNSURE AT WHAT TO FOCUS, SIGMA WORKS WELL. THE VERTICAL GRIP ATTACHED CAN SLOW THE PERFORMANCE ALSO. QUICKER WITHOUT. OVERALL I LIKE IT ONCE YOU GET USED TO IT AND AFTER A TIME WILL TRUST ITS CONSISTANT RETURN ON EXELLENT PRINTS,IDEALL FOR WEDDINGS,PEOPLE. NOT FOR FAST SPORTS,UNLESS THE LIGHT IS GOOD.

Customer Service

NEVER NEEDED

Similar Products Used:

EOS 300 MINOLTA 700SI EOS 3 DYNAX 9 EOS 30

Light exposure system is perfect. Ael memorisation. Well balanced. Synch flash at 1/200e, 1/4000e... Perfect with grip..

Af is a bit slow... And a bit noisy

4 years ago i decide to change my old 500 si. I've seen the 600si. One button do one thing. All are well placed.. Well balanced... Cheaper and easier to use. More than 800 si. When i start working for the newspaper i decide to buy an Eos3 for L lenses series. But i'll never sell my 600 si. Never....

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Dynax 3xi, 500 si, 600 si...

Holds up well, other people I know have abused their 600si, without it failing on them. Mine has shot alot of film, and never misses a beat. Battery life is superb, metering is easy, built in multiple exposure with choice of number of shots is a great function. wireless flash capable with HSS ( high speed shutter sync ) with minolta HSS and other HSS flashes. slow shutter sync, and a little more size than the maxxum 5, it "looks" and feels more like a pro camera, than others in its class.Price, can be had for around $200 for fine used ones.

Not many really. AF isnt as fast as the next generation, but, it ISNT the next generation.

A camera they will hopefully follow up with a Maxxum 6 in the new incarnation. though a few less features than the 700si, almost universally more popular due to the easy layout, user friendly interface ( knobs instead of menus and buttons), and a superb reliability, build, function for the price.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Maxxum 7xi, Maxxum 700si, Maxxum 5, Maxxum 7

Excellent metering under various conditions, positive AF, reliable operation from subzero to mediterranean temperatures. Best viewfinder info lay-out I''ve seen so far. If bulk is no problem, be sure to get the optional VC-600 grip. It gives you the chance to use rechargeable AA-batteries, has a vertical shutter release button, and improves the camera''s overall balance.

Flash contact only available with optional grip. The built-in flash is a joke, but that''s common in this class of cameras. No second-curtain sync.

This is the one camera that genuinely made good on its back-to-basic approach, whilst retaining lots of sophisticated features. Because it lacks the all-singing, all-dancing program modes of many of its contemporaries, it may not be he camera of choice for those who either value such automation, or who lack basic photo technique skills.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Canon F1, T90, Olympus OM-series, Nikon F90, 801s