Cheap prime recomendation

[Nightshade]

sheesh, why didn't I bother to look this up in the first place.

The 7 has a .8X viewfinder magnification with built-in diopter adjustment & 92% X 94% coverage. Not bad.

 

[nhyone]

Originally posted by Nightshade
The 7 has a .8X viewfinder magnification with built-in diopter adjustment & 92% X 94% coverage. Not bad.

Not bad only? You'll be hard pressed to find another AF camera like it.

Change the focusing screen to 'M' or the 'ML' and the Dynax 7 becomes a capable MF camera! (The lens matters too, of course.)

And for the lens, the 50/1.7 is the cheapest lens, zoom or otherwise. If you try it and like it, instead of buying another lens to complement it, I have an alternative advice: sell it and get the 35/2 lens (S$500).

(The question is, why not get the 35/2 directly? If you are not confident prime lenses are good, S$175 is a smaller risk.)

 

[TME]

Originally posted by Nightshade
sheesh, why didn't I bother to look this up in the first place.

The 7 has a .8X viewfinder magnification with built-in diopter adjustment & 92% X 94% coverage. Not bad.

Yupe those are the numbers......... Dynax 7 supposed to have one of the best and brightest viewfinders around... according to most of the reviews around......... but I guess it is also highly dependent on the lens....... my Tamron 24-135 SP f/3.5-5.6 is much darker than the Sigma 17-35 EX f/2.4-3.5....... the difference very obvious......... but my 505si is of course worse lar....... much darker and the view is much smaller......... but I haven't had a chance to try other non-Minolta brands before so that the viewfinder of the Dynax 7 is one of the best is what i read lar........ one of the push fators in choosing it also lar...... my eyesight quite teruk lar.....

 

[Nightshade]

regarding my "not bad" comment:

hehehehe, I am a very avid fan of the Maxxum/Dynax 7. It's my primary body. I don't find myself shooting 50mm often, but when I do macro work I put about 65mm of extension tubes on my 50 1.4 and get excellent results. (well, quality wise. sometimes my pictures suck.)

I'm so spoiled. I love that viewfinder. If I ever have to switch bodies, it is going to suck. : D

 

[TME]

Originally posted by Nightshade
regarding my "not bad" comment:

hehehehe, I am a very avid fan of the Maxxum/Dynax 7. It's my primary body. I don't find myself shooting 50mm often, but when I do macro work I put about 65mm of extension tubes on my 50 1.4 and get excellent results. (well, quality wise. sometimes my pictures suck.)

I'm so spoiled. I love that viewfinder. If I ever have to switch bodies, it is going to suck. : D

Urrm.. sorry but I am totally new to extension tubes. So u might care to explain what adding extension tubes does for your 50mm? Extend the focal length? Do u add them between the lens and body? What's the trade-off? Do u buy them? And do they come in fixed lengths, for fixed purposes or what? Thanks!

 

[Nightshade]

Look a lens. Focus it to infinity and watch the front element. See how it moves towards you? Then focus it as close as it possibly can -- see how it moves away? What if you wanted to focus very, very close? One would simply move the front element farther forward.

Macro lenses (True 1:1, not this 1:4 crap) are very long for 50mm.

Extension tubes are a poor man's solution, but they produce very good results. They're like a teleconverter, in that they snap in between the body and the lens, but there is no glass inside them -- they simply move the lens farther from the body, allowing me to acheive greater than 1:1 results (the image on the slide is actually larger than the subject in real life)

 

[Nightshade]

and to answer the rest of your questions, you can buy them. Most people charge too much, but I got a 12mm, 25mm, and a 32mm for $25 US as a package.

The trade off? Lets in tons less light, and they only work really well at f/22. They come in fixed lenghts. You put them in any combination you wish.

 

[TME]

Originally posted by Nightshade
and to answer the rest of your questions, you can buy them. Most people charge too much, but I got a 12mm, 25mm, and a 32mm for $25 US as a package.

The trade off? Lets in tons less light, and they only work really well at f/22. They come in fixed lenghts. You put them in any combination you wish.

Hey thanks! That was a great help. What u mean works only at f/22? Why?