Farewell, Konica Minolta -- hello, Sony!

Well, we knew this day was coming, but it still makes us a little melancholy when a gadget-maker closes its doors (unless it's Tiger Telematics, that is). Today's the day that, somewhere in Japan, Malaysia, China or wherever else the company does its manufacturing, Konica Minolta produced its last camera. And while the company was never more than an also-ran in the digicam market, it did manage to come up with some good products, including the first DSLRs with an integrated anti-shake system, the Maxxum/Dynax 5D and 7D.  The company was also handicapped by being late to digital in the first place, not to mention having to hand over $172 million to Honeywell after a jury found that Minolta had stolen autofocus tech from that company (economic woes following the verdict were among the reasons for Minolta's merger with Konica). The good news for fans of the 5D and 7D (as well as film shooters with a lot of Minolta glass)  is that Sony plans to introduce its own line of DSLRs that will be compatible with Minolta's lenses, and may also include the anti-shake system. And given Sony's long-standing partnership with Carl Zeiss, there could be an upside to this after all.

[citykids @ Mar 31st 2006 2:43PM]

dang, I'm gonna miss you Minolta! *hugs his X-700*

[Real Felix,Ma @ Jun 28th 2007 3:51PM]

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[sasoon @ Mar 31st 2006 2:50PM]

that tiger telematics joke is old guys, i smiled the first, second time, but now its getting ridiculous with links attached to their name each time...we know u guys dont like tiger telematics...we get it...

[rex @ Mar 31st 2006 2:52PM]

oh man and i just bought a dimage x1. the best camera that i've ever owned and cheaper than the sony one that's comparable to it. i hope sony's high price doesn't figure into the stuff that konica made =...

[Mark @ Mar 31st 2006 2:53PM]

Wow, I didn't know about the honeywell situation...

But I have a soft spot for Minolta. They were the first commercially successful SLR with an auto focus system, and after cutting my photographic teeth with a K1000 Pentax (like everyone should, at the time), my first serious, wallet busting SLR was the Minolta Maxxum 7000i that I lusted for six months, and spent almost as much time saving up for. Used to come with these optional "cards" that you would insert and they would enable additional functions in the camera. Sweet autofocus system at the time (Nikon, Canon, Oly et all were playing serious catchup), and it seemed that the sky was the limit for Minolta. Sad....

[Optimus Mind @ Mar 31st 2006 3:08PM]

How is it that anything made by Sony is a good thing? Memory sticks? no thanks. Higher price tags for fragile products? No thanks.

[Lee @ Mar 31st 2006 3:23PM]

Optimus Mind, yeah, you don't like Sony. Yeah, you don't like memory sticks. We get it.

Why is it that people think they're offering something to discussions by adding Sony bashing, even if it's really unrelated? You're not bringing anything new to the table, your opinion has been heard, out of the mouths of hundreds of other posters that make themselves feel better by bashing a popular company. Doesn't matter if it's unfounded or completely true, it's getting tired and most of the time irrelevent.
I can imagine many people don't even read the articles, they just see "Sony" in the headline and post abuse. You're getting as bad as the fanboys (worse actually, I've seen more of that than fanboy chatter recently).

Endless, repetitive, uninsightful posts about how you dislike Sony? No thanks.

[John Commenter @ Mar 31st 2006 3:25PM]

Patents. "Stole" has nothing to do with it.

It's true that Honeywell had shopped their nascent system around and no-one wanted it. Don't think the jury didn't take that and run with it to slap some incomprehensible foreigners with a big fee. It may be that there was a lot of Chewbacca (Of)fense action at trial, and Minolta just didn't know what hit them.

But Honeywell could not have done the Maxxum in the early 80's, and didn't. My guess is that Minolta stole nothing, because there was nothing to steal.

[Graham @ Mar 31st 2006 3:32PM]

So long Minolta--we'll miss you.

Graham

[Graham @ Mar 31st 2006 3:34PM]

So long Minolta--it's been a nice ride.

http://losangelesweddingphotographer.blogspot.com

[John Commenter @ Mar 31st 2006 3:35PM]

Two other things. No handicap - what makes you think Canon, etc., didn't pay just as much?

The timing on Konica-Minolta, 2003, had little to do with that verdict, 1998, and much more to do with betting on the wrong horses at the beginning of the digital era, as you said. They were not fast enough out of the gate, that's all.

This posting seems a bit confused.

[js @ Mar 31st 2006 3:38PM]

Lee, you obviously don't know how Sony handles business.

This will be the end of superb Konica Minolta cameras and on to the new, more expensive, proprietary Sony line of dSLR's. Sony cameras are well known to produce rather soft images, not to mention how they try to jam different types of memory sticks down our throats.

I don't care if they are going to make cameras that is compatible with lenses made by konica minolta.

[Lee @ Mar 31st 2006 4:09PM]

js, what I said was completely irrelevent to how Sony handles business. In fact it was quite off-topic and I apologise. I never said anything about criticisms of Sony being incorrect, just throwing out personal dislikes of their proprietary formats/products which could just as easily be copied and pasted from thousands of identical posts across the internet does nothing to further any discussion. Ever.

On topic from the rate KM was going it was going to be the end of their "superb" cameras soon enough anyway.

And memory sticks won't kill you, despite my original misgivings on the format, given the decrease in price and other factors it's become a far more useful flash memory to me than any of the other formats.

But sure, whatever, what do I know, eh? You've managed to judge my knowledge of the topic on a single post I made, so I'll let you carry on mourning your KM cameras and fearing the inevitable evil MS pro port in future DSLRs...

[Kay @ Mar 31st 2006 4:10PM]

Who's next? Pentax?

[Optimus Mind @ Mar 31st 2006 4:15PM]

I feel sorry for people who have Sony products shoved so far up their bunghole that they can't see anything else.

Sony makes crappy products, Why is having them move into the void of a respected camera manufacturer a good thing?

Sony knows that people who have a lot of lenses will eventually need a new camera. They don't have to make a good product, they only need make something that will work with the lens.

This is bad news all around, unless you make money off of Memory Sticks.

[Bobby @ Mar 31st 2006 4:20PM]

So long Konica Minolta. I actually wanted them to do well. Minolta's film cameras were quite highly respected and rated back in the 80's and 90's. My first camera was a Minolta 35 mm back in '85. I still remember the superb clarity, autofocus, and picture quality that average priced camera took. Very good product.

But they were slow and lethargic in the digital camera market and it showed in their products.

What I don't understand is why they didn't scale back with 1 or 2 factories (instead of close shop altogether) and just produce ultra-high to high-end film and digital SLR's for photo professionals and photo-files.

[30D @ Mar 31st 2006 4:31PM]

The memory stick comments are plain stupid. All Sony higher end camera's use compact flash. People also seem to forget that SD is also a heavily proprietry format made be Matsushita/Toshiba/Sandisk that requires royalties and licencing fees to the big dog Matsushita.

If any of you knew anything about high end photography, you would know its a highly proprietary buisness, from lenses, batteries, accessories, etc. That's why there is Canon people, Minolta people, Mamiya people, Nikon people, etc.

Personally would love to have Sony keep the Minolta name, something like Sony Minolta for their DSLRs.

[js @ Mar 31st 2006 5:26PM]

Thank you for missing the point, Lee (and 30D). The fact that Sony "takes over" where Konica Minolta left off is doing more damage than good. Even though it is like any other company, a highly lucrative proprietary business, You forgot that Sony tends to overcharge their products compared to the competition.

[Jeff @ Mar 31st 2006 6:08PM]

"You forgot that Sony tends to overcharge their products compared to the competition."

Then they will get trounced out of this business.

Sony's other digicams are priced competitively, so I don't see why their DSLR's would be any different. Thing is, Canon and Nikon are pretty entrenched in that market right now, and Pentax and Olympus are doing their best to undercut them. If Sony thinks they can waltz in and put out similar products for *higher* prices than Canon or Nikon, they will get slaughtered. This is not VCR's or DVD players they're selling here; they have no cachet whatsoever in the camera market. They are a newcomer in an industry that requires a lot of trust for consumers to buy into, given the size of investment over the years of owning a particular brand of SLR (because you don't buy a camera, you buy a system).

[30D @ Mar 31st 2006 6:30PM]

>>"You forgot that Sony tends to overcharge their products compared to the competition."

Are you kidding? JS you clearly know nothing about photography.

I just paid over $200 for a battery pack(BG-E2) for my new Canon 30D, don't think the likes of Canon and Nikon aren't overcharging.

Konica Minolta were pretty much dead when Sony took them over. On the high-end side Canon dominates, right now its even hard for Nikon to be competitive, Sony at least gives all the people who bought minolta lenses and accesories a life line to be able to use their investments in the future.

Sony's DSC-R1 got a favorable review from Dpreview, "Highly recommended".

Minolta makes great glass, if they can combine that with Sony's sensor and metering we might again see all the choices for DSLRs as the old film days when Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Pentax, Contax, Mamiya, Hasselblad, etc were all producing great products at every price category. Right now, we only have Canon and Nikon for any really good DSLRs.

[G man @ Mar 31st 2006 8:20PM]

Well, time for my 2p.

Firstly, I'm not a crazy photographer and I certainly dont own a DSLR. I do however have some experience in cameras:
I own a Konica Minolta Z2, a Dynax 5 and a Vectis S1 (APS SLR). They are all spectacular and havent let me down. At work, we have 2 sony Digicams (one DSC-P200 and one DSC-W15 (which has been replaced once because of a lens problem)) They both have regular problems with saving to MemoryStick and the W15 refuses to focus anywhere near its stated macro capability. I am disapointed in the cameras to say the least, but when they work - they work pretty well. I just hope Sony dont let KM's reputation get diluted by their own. Sony are starting to lose the reputation for reliability and are relying purely on people buying through the name instead of because the products are good. Lets not try and get into the PS2 problems, the PSP Problems, the numerous problems with various TV's they sell and all other things.

We can only hope, that KM are funded by Sony and continue to operate as a seperate unit. (Which wont happen, but it's nice to think it will)

Sad day, I love my Minolta's :(

G

PS: Lee, get off your high knowledge horse, you sound like a 10 year old who cant get his mum to buy him sweets. Grow up and learn that the whole point of having different opinions, is to discuss them. Not to be so narrow minded as to try and stop everyone from voicing their opinion.

[dan @ Mar 31st 2006 9:08PM]

I'll miss Minolta, but I doubt I'll ever miss my Maxxum 7000. Manufactured in '85, still in use today. I'm fairly sure that no one will want to use today's digital cameras twenty years from now. Heck, you'd even need to install legacy software.

Also, I hated Sony before it was cool ;)

[Jay @ Mar 31st 2006 9:28PM]

I'll miss you Minolta!
SONY = bad news! I own and operate a photo store (I've been in the business for over 30 years) and in my experience Sony digital cameras produce some of the worse pictures I've ever seen. Anything taken indoors may as well be deleted because they rarely produce reasonable photos. White balance Sony...figure it out!
And get rid of the Betamax cards, I mean Memory Stick once you start making Minoltas. Go with the standard for once! SD is the way to go (for now).

[Lee @ Mar 31st 2006 9:29PM]

G man: High knowledge horse? I don't claim to know any more than anyone else here, and grow up? Why don't you try stop being so arrogant as to judge someone based on a couple of paragraph's they post on a blog comment section.

The only "discussion" I had a problem with is the "no thank you sony, we don't want your crap" posts, which is just mindless and offers nothing to the table. If you'd read what I'd said, you'd realise I'm quite the opposite to what you suggest, I *want* to discuss other people's opinions, otherwise I wouldn't be posting here, this would all be a waste of time because I wouldn't learn anything, as I do from most posts where people voice their opinions/ideas. But *as I said before* simple comments abusing companies, without discussion, without original opinions, without mention of personal experience or other sources, repeating what's been said before a thousand times, is not as you described as "different opinions", it's just flame.

Don't insult me again, I've not done it to anyone else, and you're doing so without even having properly understood my posts it would seem. Perhaps I iterated my points poorly.

ON TOPIC: js, I didn't forget, even if what you are adamant that Sony are going to do (overcharge) occurs, how is it that they are causing more bad than good? If KM were to not last very long anyway, the fact that out there a company exists producing them to those who choose to buy them for whatever price isn't going to be detrimental. I don't get what point I'm missing.

[Drew @ Mar 31st 2006 10:50PM]

I have to agree with Lee.
I don't mind the complaints but sometimes they really are unnecessary and totally irrelevant. For example, if Sony introduced some sort of LCD monitor, there might be someone posting "I'm never going to buy this because of the memory stick!" or even "I'm not going to buy this because of Sony's rootkit", or the "Sony doesn't make any good products anymore".

These type of posts don't really add anything to the discussion of the actual product on hand.

[ipodman715 @ Mar 31st 2006 11:51PM]

RIP Minolta!

[tenin2wenty10 @ Apr 1st 2006 6:20AM]

I have recently been convinced by a friend to purchase a Dynax 5D, he uses it mainly for snowboarding photos, which is similar to what I have in mind [action photographs: snowboard, climbing, mountainbiking] Hopefully I should be able to get one at discout now right? That would be awesome!!

[Fernando Cassia @ Apr 1st 2006 10:28AM]

Konica-Minolta makes great color laser printers, the printer line acquired from (and formerly known as) QMS... love my 2350EN

[tost @ Apr 1st 2006 10:33AM]

John,
The verdict IS what killed Minolta. It was a slow death, but the result is still the same. I worked for Minolta for 5 years. People divide the history of the company into Before Honeywell and After Honeywell. We were forever playing catch up after that. Then we couldn't afford the billboard in Times Square anymore. But the company did make a lot of blunders. Like when AT&T came out with their blue logo. We had ours first, but didn't copyright it, so AT&T sued us and one, and restricted us where we could use our own logo!

[TheGuyNextDoor @ Apr 1st 2006 12:41PM]

Lee:

You really should know by now that trying to come to the balanced aid of Sony when there are Sony-bashers around is a somewhat futile path to tred. I'm in total agreement with your comments however, and I would agree that MemoryStick is to me actually the most used of all flash memory formats, and the Sony products I DO own have been 100% reliable and have lived up to their promises.

I wish I had the amazing powers of foresight that some of these commenters has, in predicting the poorness of whatever comes out of this KM-Sony venture. I'm glad they're able to so convincingly write-off something before it's even happened, and speak on the world's behalf in their apparent disgust at all things Sony.

Some people need to live more freely and hate a little less I feel. If everyone's minds were locked into some bad experience they had of something in the past, or something naughty that a company's subsiduary did a few years ago, and was unwilling to forgive or at least be subjective, then the whole world would still hate the French... oh wait ;)

[Dennis @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:49PM]

Having been an owner of a Minolta XG-7 since '78, a Maxxum 7000 since 2000, and recently a Maxxum 7D, and being an employee of a sister division of the KM family...here's my 2 cents for those of you to ponder:

Konica Minolta Photo not only manufactured all their analog and digital cameras, they also manufactured photo papers, chemicals, and automated photo finishing equipment. It's been the onslaught of digital photography that has killed conventional photo finishing, and has resulted in significant financial loss leading to the selling off of this division to Sony. If cameras had been a separate division from the photo products, they might not have had to be sold off. Hard to say...since the merger of Konica and Minolta brought the photo products and cameras under one roof, it was a tough position no matter what. At that time, photo products (consumables) were high-income vs. cameras (hardware), which are market-sensitive. Anyway, I'm gonna miss them too...

[Peter Gordy @ May 11th 2006 12:13PM]

Purchased a Maxxum 7D just a year ago and had it in for repair with Minolta (warranty) almost from day one. First wouldn't accept memory card and lately a faulty electrical problem. Two months since I sent it in for repair and "waiting for parts" without any word of when it will be returned. Big mess! At this time, who is being held responsible for warranty problems?

[Peter Gordy @ May 11th 2006 12:14PM]

Purchased a Maxxum 7D just a year ago and had it in for repair with Minolta (warranty) almost from day one. First wouldn't accept memory card and lately a faulty electrical problem. Two months since I sent it in for repair and "waiting for parts" without any word of when it will be returned. Big mess! At this time, who is being held responsible for warranty problems?

[Peter Gordy @ May 23rd 2006 12:07PM]

Update to my comments dtd May 11th. Minolta/Sony finally contacted me after having my Maxxum 7 in repair for ten weeks and admitted that they can't locate parts. The good part is that SONY customer svc is taking charge and offered me a refund for the full purchase price.

[Lillian @ Mar 7th 2007 8:21PM]

I own a Konica Minolta Dimage X1 I need the instruction booklet. A retail store to purchase a rechargeable battery and a recharger for the camera.

Can anyone help me?

[Ivan Osborne @ Feb 12th 2008 1:28PM]

I do appreciate these coments and sad rememberances of K plus M being liquified and I am in a situation where its hard to get service for my treasured Minalta (Philippines 'remote Cagayan' and with a very harsh climate to precisan cameras that is!)however I do now know that I am not alone throu your coments page. Lets hope that the glass that Minolta have themselves in the past manufactured is fully apreciated by Sony!