Minolta Maxxum 9 Review

Overall Rating

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.

Members' Comments onNick Carroll.'s Review

• Neil Brosnahan. on 14th Nov 2002

  Review helpful. Looking for more information on ease of focusing.

• Nick Carroll. on 17th Nov 2002

  Hi Neil. The 9 performs well in all but the dimmest conditions, but even these can be tackled with a decent f/2.8 lens. The focus motor is strong and fast, and the assist lamp has saved me several times. I once had to shoot a corporate conference in almost total darkness, and the 9 managed to nail every frame. When shooting sports I select one of the three focus areas, rather then using them all at once. These areas are marked very clearly in the bright viewfinder. Occasionally when there is a burst of action the focus will hunt, but I put this down to my hands shaking from the adrenalin rush, and not a camera failure! I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you need any more info.

• Maui boy on 11th May 2006

  The Maxxum 9 has a true 100% veiw finder that very few other pro cameras have. Even though they claim to, only the Maxxum 9 has tested to be a 100%. It also has very good materials in its construction. Things like a stainless steel shell, and carbon-fiber shutter blades which gives it one of the fastest shutter at 1/10,000 of a second!!! Minolta after all was the first to develope and pioneer the auto-focus camera. It needs to be looked at when buying a camera.

• djaferisp on 17th Sep 2006

  wonderful and colid camera; mine did drop a couple of times from at least a meter height and no damage was apparent; now after 20 years, the shutter is acting up and some frames are blank; is this repairable? I love my 9000 and want to keep using it.