I'm a dummy

[jimmy]

I have read and read and a few days ago ordered a 5D, flash, and kit and 55mm lens, plus the extras needed. Wow great timing. next time I won't study so much. the camera is due today, Jan 19 the day Minolta went out of bez, question, send it back, or just enjoy. will sony surport me? or should I just bit the bullit and go canon?, thanks for your advice:eek:

[coldrain]

Well, Sony is and was one of the biggest players in the digital camera market. Now with the booming DSLR market, they wanted to get into that market, and KM is their ticket towards that goal. Sony also has a stake in Tamron. If Sony can pull this off, Canon and Nikon have a big competitor in Sony/KM.

To be totally on the safe side, you could choose a Canon. But it does not look so bleak for KM owners, it all depends on Sony/KM making the right decisions in the coming year, Sony has to come up with some killer DSLR's. If the sensor of the Nikon D2X is anything to go by (and the Sony R1 with live preview), this step may be the best step KM could have made.

If you had good reasons to choose the KM 5D over the competition, your choice is still valid. Sony takes over service for it.

[Fred]

I agree with coldrain. I'm a long-time Minolta user who just added to his film camera stable by getting a 7D. Am I upset that Minolta is pulling out of the camera market? Absolutely. Does it make me think I should have bought something other than the 7D? Nope. I think it's a great camera, and I already have a complement of lenses for it. I'll wait and see how things develop, but there are too many KM users and equipment out there for Sony to ignore supporting same.

[jimmy]

well it nuts the box just came I'm a guy who got his new 5D they day minolta pulled the plug jaja, but the more I think the more this might just be good news, sony has a lot more clout, and they would be nut to give up all the minolta people, so what the hell I'm keeping it, thanks again for you input.:D

[Clyde]

I have read and read and a few days ago ordered a 5D, flash, and kit and 55mm lens, plus the extras needed. Wow great timing. next time I won't study so much. the camera is due today, Jan 19 the day Minolta went out of bez, question, send it back, or just enjoy. will sony surport me? or should I just bit the bullit and go canon?, thanks for your advice:eek:

Frankly I think the time to buy a KM camera is in a couple of months. The bottom should fall out of the market, and the cameras will still be as good as they were before KM gave up the fight. There will be lenses available for a good while, and if Sony continues to build cameras with the KM mount, your future lens purchases will not be orphaned. However, folks who bought KM cameras in the last month or so just saw the resale value of their cameras plummet.

So, if you can return the thing, do it. Wait a while before you buy a DSLR. If you want to be sure that your future lens purchases will still serve you in 10 years, buy a canon. If you are willing to gamble on sony's commitment to the KM mount, buy a soon-to-be-cheap 5 or 7D.

Just thinking out loud,

Clyde

[jimmy]

:D Coldrain your a class guy, I'm new to this forums thing and to SLR's and have read a lot of people that rip camera's other than what they own, I have read you and know your a canon guy, but you still gave me you true advice, and were positive. thanks you , your thought's helped me. P.S. buddy now I have a SLR, how the heck do I take a photo??, haha, I will also keep my canon sd500 , just in case.

[Rambler358]

Well, I just got a 7D a couple weeks ago and I'm very happy with it. However, it's unlikely we'll be seeing any 5D or 7D firmware updates now. :(

[Peter Gregg]

After carefully reading the KM press release, I think they have said things other than the way they were intended. It states that KM will continue to make DSLR cameras and lenses to be badged, sold, warrantied, and tech supported by Sony.

When you walk into an electronics store, a camera that has the name SONY on it will sell 10 or 20 cameras by the time they sell one with the name Konica-Minolta on it.

The same productions lines that make the 5D, 7D and any newer version of that camera are probably still sitting there making the cameras as we speak. After March 31, Sony will be the name on the cameras, and KM will be making them for them.

This way KM still gets to participate in the lucrative DSLR market and also have a more appealing name on it. Updates to firmware are still likely as KM is still designing and making these cameras. Those of us that were wanting and waiting for a really high end camera like a 9D are probably not going to see that happen because those don't get sold in the big electronic stores.

Your 5D will be fine, and more lenses will be coming out as Sony will also be making cameras it seems that will take the Minolta mount. I read this to mean that Sony will run their high end prosumer market up into the interchangeable lens market area while seamlessly adding the KM made cameras to their line-up.

Things are not as bad as the internet brains seem to make them out to be.

Peter

[TWD]

I HOPE you are right. I am finding it easy to be pessimistic over this news. I don't quite see how you come to your conclusion when I read - "In this relation, we have decided to withdraw from camera business*2, such as film cameras and digital cameras, within Konica Minolta Group as of March 31, 2006."

I just LUV my Minolta and want to have the privilege of a camera to dream about after my 7D. I hope they don't leave us all hang. They have a winning body with excellent ergonomics and AS. Let's hope this means they catch up in the megapixel and lens race a bit. And while you're at it, Sony/KM, whatever, increase the dynamic range just a bit more. Then you'd just rock. Don't care about full sensor and all that. Just more megapixels than 6 and the highest of DSLR dynamic range.

[laurenz]

wish, I had a crystal ball! I just purchased a Sigma 15-30 (F3.5-4.5 DG) lens to be used with my Dynax 9 and a digital body I wanted to buy in the near future.

I have been considering the 7d, but was still waiting either for an updated version of that camera or an 8d or 9d.

Now, with what I have in camera bodies and lenses, switching to a different manufacturer is not really an option - and I am quite happy with my Minolta hardware.

The 7d is quite affordable now, but I suppose I'd not be too happy if a new (Sony) model with an even better sensor was to come out soon after a purchase, especially since 6 Megapixels is good enough for most purposes, but slightly more would provide more room for cropping when needed.

I wonder whether Sony will further develop the Konica Minolta System the same way you may have expected from KM itself?

[Peter Gregg]

I HOPE you are right. I am finding it easy to be pessimistic over this news. I don't quite see how you come to your conclusion when I read - "In this relation, we have decided to withdraw from camera business*2, such as film cameras and digital cameras, within Konica Minolta Group as of March 31, 2006."



Read everything they released. They also say the following:

"On the basis of its ongoing “selection and concentration”, Konica Minolta Group will concentrate on its core “business technologies” field and its strategic “optics and display devices” field and withdraw from camera business*** as of March 31, 2006."

You see the three astricks? This is what they are there for:

*** Excludes production of digital SLR cameras and interchangeable lenses for Sony.

Here is the press release link, read it for yourself:
http://konicaminolta.com/releases/2006/0119_02_01.html

KM is basically getting out of the point & shoot business, and just like they did with Canada they are going to shut down everything that involves selling cameras. They will however, according to what they have written continue to build DSLR cameras like the 5D, 7D and future cameras. They will not be labeled as KM cameras but as Sony cameras. Sony will buy them from KM and market them as their own but they will still be KM cameras. KM will also build lenses for Sony too with Sony's name on them. KM will be turning patents over to Sony on the Minolta lens mount and maybe this (my opinion here) will satisfy Sony that KM can no longer build cameras with the Minolta lens mount except under license form Sony. This means KM can't turn around and compete with Sony at some time in the future - at least not without Sony's permission.

So what KM had on the fire will probably continue and come out as Sony cameras. A really BIG question is what will happen to a 7D-2 if it is indeed ready to be released. Will KM release it now or hold it and release it later with a Sony label on it? I wish it was now, but I don't know the details of their deal. I think if KM releases a KM 7D-2 now it will not go for very long until it becomes a Sony camera.

The fact that Sony will be building cameras with the Minolta mount (probably higher end consumer cameras, and KM will be supplying cameras with the Sony label on them, it means there will be more lenses available quite quickly. The lens area is where the details get more cloudy, it seems they both might be doing this jointly, but maybe not - I just can't tell right now.

I know from a financial point of view this will be a huge boost to KM. They will cut the costs of selling the cameras and basically wholesale them to Sony. It is cheaper to build more cameras than to build less cameras. They won't make as much per camera, but will most likely sell 30 times more cameras than they are selling now.

Peter

[insertnamehere]

Everything that I've read suggests that buying/owning a KM dSLR is not going to be a problem.

Firstly, KM said that Sony would continue to build cameras and support them, using the KM mount system.

Secondly, unless Sony folds, it would make sense for them to continue supporting the system. This is on the basis that they are trying to break into the dSLR market. By supporting existing KM users, they already have an instant customer base who will buy a Sony camera when it comes to upgrade. Why chuck away existing users who have already bought into a system?

[beachluvr]

I agree with Peter. I had already decided to buy a 5D and KM's press release made me move faster and do it immediately. Within 24 hours stores and websites all over the U.S. were showing the 5D and 7D as "sold out". KM's marketing decision takes nothing away from the fact that both models are outstanding values in their category. The camera of my dreams is the new Nikon D200 but we're talking almost $2500 when equipped with the 18 -200 VR lens. I couldn't see putting a $700+ VR lens on a D70s or D50 body and paying over $1500, even though they're nice cameras. The 7D would have been my first choice but it's a little dated in some areas and the 5D, as DCRP points out, offers almost identical features and performance. So I am ending up with a superb camera, with KM 18-200 lens and built-in VR for about $900, you can't beat that deal with a stick. I have absolutely no concern that KM won't be selling them as Konica/Minolta cameras. As Peter points out, KM will still be making the technology and Sony will likely rebadge them (and likely charge for the Sony name). Sony's first real SLR will probably be awesome and I may lust for it, but the good news is it will still use my 18-200 lens and for the price I paid for the 5D body I'll have a spare. Bottom line, if you like the 5D or 7D, get one now ... dealers are going to try to get a premium for the few remaining ones in the channel.