Fuji S7000 or Minolta Dimage A1 ?????

[ZeusGod]

Hi there , for the past 2 months i've been looking for "my" digital camera, in order to buy it. And since it's a kind of thing that u only buy once, i would love to make the right choise, so i'm asking your expert opinion on the digital cameras world, what camera should i buy? I've already read tons and tons of expert reviews and users reviews, and concluded that maybe the A1 is a bit better than s7000 even having only a 5M Vs the 6M of the fuji, but the things that keeps me thinking and postponing my buy of the A1 is the extra 150€ , the limited internal flash range (3 m) and lately a review of a user that bought 2 diferent A1's and on the 2 cameras after +- 3000 pictures taken, the Electronic Viewfinder stops working (and by his words the minolta don't have a very nice assistance in solving his problem) , also the fact that A1 don't have any kind of AF help (like fuji s7000 with their "hibrid" autofocus system) in dim light the camera seems to have some problems. Both A1 and s7000 have a noise issue with the picture quality, but A1 seems to generate less noise, and it has a 100 ISO mode Vs the 200 ISO of s7000, also the A1 has a Manual Zoom and "manual" focus ring Vs the "manual" not sensitive enought Zoom/Focus ring of s7000, the A1 LCD and EVF work in the dark with the gain increase and B&W mode Vs normal LCD/EVF of the s7000 (not very usable in the dark), the A1 don't freeze LCD/EVF image after u half press the shutter button Vs the 1/2 sec. of the s7000. With ALL this doubts which one to choose ??? I really can't make up my mind when i start thinking in all the things that the "perfect" camera should have, a few things from the S7000 and some other from the A1 (it also has a anti shake system, great for telefoto pictures without having to use a tripod like with the s7000), tell me of your justice, PLEASE !!!

[Jake Conner]

The 7000 would be my choice out of the box, for its better macro and low-light focus. However, if you can afford an external flash w/AF assist and a good accessory macro lens (like Canon's 250D), the A1 is the better camera. Resolution might be slightly higher on the 7000, but not enough to make a huge difference. Anti shake is very cool, as is the real zoom ring.

Jake

[johneevo]

Originally Posted by Jake Conner

...However, if you can afford an external flash w/AF assist and a good accessory macro lens (like Canon's 250D), the A1 is the better camera. Resolution might be slightly higher on the 7000, but not enough to make a huge difference. Anti shake is very cool, as is the real zoom ring.

Jake

Hi Jake,

Are you certain that the A1 will use the AF assit on an external flash? Not many digicam that I have looked at will do this.

Thanks.

[Jake Conner]

No, I'm not, but i haven't heard any word that it won't... I thought only N~k~n played that game. Go to a store and try it out, would be my suggestion.

Jake