Konica Minolta Maxxum 800si 35mm Film Camera
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- Battery Type: Lithium Battery
- Film Type: 35mm
- Lens Mount: Minolta AF
- Camera Type: SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
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A great workhorse
Pros
Top spec, robust built, powerful flash, great handling, good price
Cons
The advanced features aren't dumbed down at all; you have to know exactly what you want and how to get it
Recommended it?
Yes
I got my 800si in 1998 when my 7xi fell apart. I was immediately impressed with the solid feel of the body (it weighs in at over 600g or 21oz) and the chunky grip. The feel of this camera is great -- not too heavy, not too light; very well balanced. The build quality of the camera is good; although encased in plastic, this camera has a very rugged chassis inside that will keep it from falling apart. Remember the ad campaign about the 700si falling from 10,000 feet off a parachutist and only needing the prism and some bodywork replacing? Well the 800si is tougher than the 700si. 'Nuff said.
Switching between P/A/S/M modes is a matter of simultaneously holding down the mode button and turning a dial, which isn't exactly super-quick; however, if all you want to do is dial in a different aperture or shutter speed from the one selected by the program mode, you just have to turn the appropriate dial. This is really useful, as it means the camera will basically switch into A or S priority modes without being told to explicitly. Activating exposure compensation is actually simpler than switching modes, as the button on the front of the body is more accessible, and keyed to distinguish it tangibly from the flash-comp button.
Which brings me to the flash system. While the flash metering on all Dynax/Maxxum bodies isn't up to the latest levels of sophistication offered by N**** or C**** cameras, with only one flash metering zone, it is very easy to dial in flash compensation quickly to get the exact fill-in ratio you need. Coupled with the GN of 14 (I think) of the built-in flash, and you have a very capable fill-in system, which also doubles fairly well as a backup flash when you can't be bothered to lug your hammerhead with you....
Focusing is fast and accurate, although Minolta has yet to incorporate the advantages of lens-mounted motors, notably quietness and power matched to the weight of the lens. The four focus sensors can be left to determine the subject or selected manually, and a big focus-lock button (next to the AE lock button) falls neatly under the thumb. Another point to note is that the body seems to work equally well with independent lenses (my Sigma and Cosina lenses focus pretty much as well as the Minolta ones). Eye-start activation keeps the subject in focus while you're composing the image. Predictive focusing is also accurate, which is handy when you need to use the 4fps motor drive (which I have done only twice).
The camera is supremely customisable, down to whether you want the film to be rewound totally, or to leave the leader out, or whether you want fast, loud rewind or slower but silent rewind. Or whether you want the eye-start switch to act as an on-off for eye-start, or as a switch that prevents settings from being altered (knocked) when you're not touching the grip sensor.
Bracketing is offered, in increments of 0.5 or 0.3 stops, and from 3 frames to 7. A great feature for studio shots is flash bracketing, available with the same options.
All in all, if you can handle the slight fiddliness of some of the settings, the Dynax/Maxxum 800si is a beautiful camera to hold, and will do whatever the intelligent photographer wants it to do (apart, sadly, from mirror lock-up, which no Minolta AF does at the moment). Once you know how to get the best out of this camera, using its advanced features almost becomes transparent to the process of taking great photos.
Switching between P/A/S/M modes is a matter of simultaneously holding down the mode button and turning a dial, which isn't exactly super-quick; however, if all you want to do is dial in a different aperture or shutter speed from the one selected by the program mode, you just have to turn the appropriate dial. This is really useful, as it means the camera will basically switch into A or S priority modes without being told to explicitly. Activating exposure compensation is actually simpler than switching modes, as the button on the front of the body is more accessible, and keyed to distinguish it tangibly from the flash-comp button.
Which brings me to the flash system. While the flash metering on all Dynax/Maxxum bodies isn't up to the latest levels of sophistication offered by N**** or C**** cameras, with only one flash metering zone, it is very easy to dial in flash compensation quickly to get the exact fill-in ratio you need. Coupled with the GN of 14 (I think) of the built-in flash, and you have a very capable fill-in system, which also doubles fairly well as a backup flash when you can't be bothered to lug your hammerhead with you....
Focusing is fast and accurate, although Minolta has yet to incorporate the advantages of lens-mounted motors, notably quietness and power matched to the weight of the lens. The four focus sensors can be left to determine the subject or selected manually, and a big focus-lock button (next to the AE lock button) falls neatly under the thumb. Another point to note is that the body seems to work equally well with independent lenses (my Sigma and Cosina lenses focus pretty much as well as the Minolta ones). Eye-start activation keeps the subject in focus while you're composing the image. Predictive focusing is also accurate, which is handy when you need to use the 4fps motor drive (which I have done only twice).
The camera is supremely customisable, down to whether you want the film to be rewound totally, or to leave the leader out, or whether you want fast, loud rewind or slower but silent rewind. Or whether you want the eye-start switch to act as an on-off for eye-start, or as a switch that prevents settings from being altered (knocked) when you're not touching the grip sensor.
Bracketing is offered, in increments of 0.5 or 0.3 stops, and from 3 frames to 7. A great feature for studio shots is flash bracketing, available with the same options.
All in all, if you can handle the slight fiddliness of some of the settings, the Dynax/Maxxum 800si is a beautiful camera to hold, and will do whatever the intelligent photographer wants it to do (apart, sadly, from mirror lock-up, which no Minolta AF does at the moment). Once you know how to get the best out of this camera, using its advanced features almost becomes transparent to the process of taking great photos.
