Digital SLR that uses Minolta lenses?

I currently own a Minolta Maxxium 4, film camera. It is time for me to go digital. I want a Minolta Digital Camera that will use the lenses I currently own that fit my Maxxium. Do you have any suggestions. I really would like to use my lenses, they are very good lenses.

Minolta engineers have always been smarter then their very poor marketing department. It would be nit picking to say the 5d was the last gift from Minolta but the truth is Minolta engineering added to Sony's marketing is a win for fans of both companies products.

I asked the same question, being the proud owner of a Maxxum 5. As TomH pointed out, the Maxxum 7D is digital and takes most of the Minolta (Konica Minolta) line of lenses. I own a Maxxum 7D, and couldn't be happier. I revel in the fact that this camera can produce high quality images that others get spending 2X or even 3X as much (Yeah, I'm talking to you Canon-nites). It takes all the lenses that I have. What I wonder is with the lack of digital lenses being produced in the future that are specific to KM, will the new A100 line of lenses work in reverse with the 7D? The lenses seem a bit pricey right now. I've gone in and played around with A100 and it feels like a much cheaper version of the 7D, it just doesn't feel right. I'm also told that if I'm really interested, there's talk of Sony making vast improvements and releasing a much better Digital SLR later on, date TBD.

Recommendation(s):

Get the 7D while you still can....

or

Wait for the next generation from Sony, pass on the A100.

All this talk about the 7D--it is true. I've got one and it gives me a lot of control. One feature I like is all the knobs and dials. Menu driven cameras are a bit more confusing--click-click and I am done rather than wade into the menu screens. Later, if you want to go with the A100, it will be easy. Whatever you do, the anti-shake feature turns you into a tripod. That, alone, is worth having more pixels, higher ISO and so on.

Well, I thought hard and long about it and decided to pass on buying an A100 and bought a new old stock Minolta 7D on eBay for $200 more than the Sony. The feel and quality of the Minolta is just head and shoulders above the A100, which I found to be more targeted to consumers than pros (i.e. somewhat light, plasticky, and infinitely less sexy...). I hope that Sony doesn't continue to confuse the point and click market with the semi-professional buyers who are interested in an SLR and who, basically, love the joy of owning solid metal (preferably something exotic like titanium..) bodied cameras with tactile feedback buttons and click stop dials rather than small plastic cameras with an on/off switch, touch screens and menus! The joy is in the feel of using and hearing the camera as much as in the resulting photos! Incidentally the prices of 7Ds have gone through the roof since Minolta stopped making them, so Sony had better pull their finger out and come out with a professional level camera real soon now... it seems like I am not the only Minolta user who is not happy to jump ship - quite honestly I'd rather sell all my Minolta equipment and go the Canon EOS route before I'd buy an A100!

Outdated but Still relevant. My Minolta D7 developed a case of brain damage. It slowly would whine when trying to meter something and the autofocus went erratic and then the shutter would not release to capture. It would happen on an off a few times then one day it just would not take any photos regardless of recycling the power. I sent it in under warranty all happening while low and behold Sony is talking to Konica Minolta about a merger. It took months to get any answer as to whether they were going to fix my camera and send it back. Finally, through the authorized repair shop who sent it to Minolta, they informed me that Sony was buying Minolta and they will not fix the camera and gave me a refund less the extended warranty I paid for. Not all bad, but I had no camera and I had auto glass from another Minolta 35mm film camera.

Point is, Yes I have jumped ship and was pretty miffed about the situation esp. not having a camera for months on end while vacations passed with plenty of opportunities to take great photos. As far as Sony's Photography department is concerned, I willl not touch that with a 100 ft. pole. I've had Slews of $200 Sony point and shoots and they always fail, plus they make you buy their exclusive memory sticks instead of traditional SD or Compact flash cards. Their quality control leaves a lot to be desired. All those comments about them feeling cheap and plasticy is spot on! I should have just sold the fantastic old Minolta stuff, and invested in Nikon DSLR technology. After all my first camera, my fathers F-body, nikkor and vivitar len's are built like tanks, they even got run over in the '80s by a volvo (Sweedish tank) with no harm but a scratch on the prism corner. Plus 99% of the lens from the first F body will work on modern day DSLRs! It's a shame, Minolta was a great brand and their products highly robust!