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- Minolta Maxxum 9
- Nick Carroll.'s review
Have a picture of Minolta Maxxum 9 35mm SLR camera?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Marley Dosovic.
| Photograph Quality | 10/10  |
|---|---|
| Features | 9.7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 10/10 |
| Value for Money | 10/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 9.5/10 |
| Overall Rating | 9.6/10 |
By Nick Carroll. on 19th Jan 2002
| Features | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Value for money | 10/10 |
| Overall value | 10/10 |
 Nick Carroll.'s recommendation | |
The second you get your hands on the Maxxum 9 you know that you are holding something very special. The body is heavy but balanced; chunky but comfortable; feature-packed but user-friendly. It is the finest handling SLR I have ever operated, and fitted with a good lens is capable of producing work on a par with all the other Pro cams.
As has been the case for many years now, Minolta users will invariably be sneered at by the Canon/Nikon crowd. This results in dealers promoting less Minolta accessories, and this snobbery is something, as a Minolta user, that you will have to learn to deal with. I have heard stories of rubber seal failures on dust-protected components, but personally have not experienced this.
As a working pro, the choice to go Minolta was not an easy one. The F5 and EOS1NRS had me tempted for a long while, and it took me to actually road-test a Maxxum 9 to make up my mind. I use the 9 every day, and I can honestly say that it has never failed me.
I will say though that to get the best out of this camera you will need to use Minolta 'G' lenses. If you simply can't afford to go 'G', try one of the new 'EX' pro range from Sigma. If you only buy one camera in your life, make it this one.
One last thing: I'll tell you about an experiment that some very rich people performed when the 9 was released. They dropped an F5, an EOS 1N, and a Maxxum 9 from a height of one meter onto a concrete floor. While the Canon went to cam heaven, and the F5 to the prism repair store, the 9 suffered only cosmetic damage and continued to function.
My loyalty to Minolta is set to continue and I have just ordered the Maxxum 7. I will review it as soon as it's been on a few jobs with me.
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Respect: +13
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