FUJICHROME Velvia 50

[tb_a]

Taken with Minolta X-500 with 100mm macro lens and scanned with Minolta Dimage Scan 5400. No post processing.

[cooltouch]

Outstanding sharpness. Is that little spot of burn-through on the flower petal also on the slide?

Velvia's almost total lack of grain makes it the ideal pushback against the digital onslaught. Your image looks like it was done with a medium format (or larger) camera, and not a 35mm. Very impressive. And so is that macro lens. That Dimage 5400 is no slouch, either.

[tb_a]

Michael, this is a reflection of the flash used. Handheld without flash would have been impossible. It's also on the original.
You are absolutely right. There is nothing better than the Velvia 50 and the Dimage Scan 5400 is not bad either. This is a nearly perfect combination. I like it very much. By the way, Minolta was always my favorite manufacturer of camera equipment. I never used anything else for 35mm film during my analog times and I still have it all.

[cooltouch]

I've not used Minolta gear much, but what I have used I've liked. Back in a former life, when I was a camera dealer, I had the 16mm full-frame fisheye. I took some test shots with it, but sold it shortly after. What can I say? It was inventory. Recently I bought an XD-11 (XD-7 in Europe, XD in Japan) because I've always thought it to be the ultimate Minolta camera. After buying it, I found a Winder D for it on eBay for cheap, so it has a winder fitted to it now. I tell you what, I really like that camera. The film wind crank strokes like butter -- so smooth. I don't own much in the way of Minolta lenses, however. I have a couple of 50s -- an MC 50/1.7 and a MD 50/1.7 Rokkor X, plus a late model 135mm f/3.5. I've found that, even though MF Minolta is pretty much an orphaned system, like Canon FD, there are still a lot of faithful users of it, keeping the prices of the premium MC and MD lenses high on eBay and elsewhere. It's difficult finding good deals on old Minolta glass. So I bought a Tamron Adaptall-2 adapter for it, so I can use my XD-11 with my relatively large Tamron lens collection. Still keeping my eye open for good deals on Minolta lenses, though.

I also have the Joseph Cooper two volume set on Minolta. It was printed back in the 70s, though, so all the lenses and cameras discussed are from that era and earlier.

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Well, since my 1st Minolta SLR which was a XG-M back in 1981 I stick to this system.
In the meantime I own a SR-7, several SR-T models, the XD-7 you have and an another XD-model and some X-models. My top favorite is the X-500 (X-570 in the US) although it's not as smooth as the XD-7 but the XD-7 lacks of TTL flash function and the prisma is not as bright. The X-500 is actually better than the X-700 but lacks of the program automatic (who needs that?). Some additional X-500 and X-700 spare copies complete the MF collection. Up until the Introduction of the D7i which was my first digital Minolta I refused AF. However, since the Dynax 7D and the Sony A-850 (which is more or less a Minolta) I also aquired some analog Minolta AF bodies like the Dynax 9xi, Dynax 7 and the last ever produced analog Minolta Dynax 60. In addition I have a (unfortunately still not complete) collection of lenses of both MF and AF series and a lot of additional accessories. I am more or less a Minolta freak.
For sentimental reasons I also have reaquired my first Minolta pocket camera and some Hi-Matics.
There is no doubt about that Minolta has built a lot of state of the art lenses and they have been always very innovative for the whole industry. Quite often they have been the first in the introduction of new developments. It was a very sad story when they ceased to exist but luckily their spirit lives on in the Sony system.
Very good sites for Minolta MF informations: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/index.html
and for AF equipment (incl. Sony): http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/lenses.php