800si, 9xi...

[FujiSigmaNolta]

Hi all,

I met this german guy who is a photographer. He had in his hand a Minolta with a tall prism. It was an 800si. I had a look at the 800si and fell in love with it. He also had a 9xi in his bag and also fell in love with it despite being a bit unsure about the design. I am a collector-user as all of the cameras I have bought are becoming part of a collection being the prominent ones the Minolta/Sony and Fujifilm/Fujica ones and I always end up using them.

I almost forgot what I was posting for . As I can at the moment only spare cash for one camera at a time, which one do you guys reckon I should go for first? By the way the 800si had what I found on Ebay to be a VC-700 grip (drool) and I have seen one on Ebay for not a bad price.

[RonM]

Luis,

If it were me I'd be going for the 800Si, as I always aspired to one when I first started with the Minolta marque, I still have it's lesser specked brother the 600Si with 507 grip
I missed getting a 800 as I jumped to a Dynax7 and grip.

[FujiSigmaNolta]

Hi Ron,

The 800Si I had on my watch list is gone,but there are a couple, one from the US and the other from Switzerland, both in nice condition. I'm attracted by the relatively high flash synch and max shutter speeds. There are a few things I have never tried with film that I would like to try which they are nice features for. The 9xi though is higher specced in those areas. The 800si has better handling though me thinks.

[RonM]

Remember Luis, the 800 with certain flashguns can do more than the 9xi can, such as high speed synch (upto 1/8000th) wirelessly also the 800 has a greater range of data cards available to give you greater creativity with the camera

[FujiSigmaNolta]

Thanks Ron, I'll keep that in mind. I am bidding on an 800si now . But this looks cool. It looks like something Darth Vader would use to take shots of his baby project, the Death Star as it is being built . From what I have seen from the specs, this is also some serious piece of kit.

[RonM]

the 9000 is indeed a serious bit of kit, the then top of the Minolta range, but would reckon that the 800si would in almost every area outperform it, also the seller seems to want to hold onto it as it is priced a tad or three high

[FujiSigmaNolta]

I just noticed you said your 600si has a 507 grip. Was it modified? I looked and I couldn't find any info on the grip for the 600si.

I am doing a bit more research and I keep find bits of info, the 9xi has weatherproofing apparently. But the worst thing is the more I go into it, the more Minoltas I want to buy

But one thing keeps popping in my mind, I was wondering if you know how is the AF speed between the two? I can't find any comparisons.

[FujiSigmaNolta]

...you know what, I just found a "Buy it now" 800si and got it. I will get the 9xi too soon enough anywy

[RonM]

Luis,

for some reason known only to Minolta the grip for the 600si was numbered as VC600/507 it would only fit/work with the 600si or the Alpha 507 (same camera, different markets) whereas the 700 grip was for both 700 & 800 Si models. There is a Minolta BP-9xi battery pack for the 9xi for your info

I'm not to sure about AF speeds between 800 and 9xi, I do know that the 800 has faster/better AF than the 600, I would presume that they won't be that much different as they have the same AF sensor set up, according to Michael Hohners' Minolta/Sony AF body site I find his site very useful for Minolta/Sony AF camera/lens/flash etc. info

[FujiSigmaNolta]

I ended up buying a 700si as well as it comes with a lens and the power grip which will work on the 800si. The thing is I don't think I will keep the 700si body and will be selling it. The separate grips were literally going for the same price of the whole set I found, in fact most about £5-£10 more.

But it seems I will be getting the 700si first in my post. The 800si is coming from Switzerland.

[FujiSigmaNolta]

Received sans grip, which was paid for. I'm contacting the seller, I'm both disappointed and fuming!...it did make me wonder if the seller is not a forum lurker or dweller here though...

[SqueamishOssifrage]

Received sans grip, which was paid for. I'm contacting the seller, I'm both disappointed and fuming!...it did make me wonder if the seller is not a forum lurker or dweller here though...

'Twasn't me, honest guv! Having read your review, I presume the grip finally turned up - or did you have to get another one?