why not Konica Minolta

Since i started with a simple X-300 minolta camera, I have always been fond of this brand (I am using a minolta 7xi now in an Ikelite housing, use binoculars from them). It seems the UW industry does not support them that much, it is all canon and nikon. Ikelite dropped the available housings for minolta, but now offers housings for Olympus SLR

Konica Minolta now offer two digital SLR's (7D and the 5D). I am not yet in the market for an upgrade to digital, but is there any chance the industry will offer housings for such cameras?

Just curious

Gerard

I think that it is unlikely. In general at the moment I think that there is a trend (that has come from the compacts) to provide housings for each new DSLR model. And this trend does not make good financial sense for the housing manufacturers. Much better that they concentrate on producing good housings for less cameras. And if you want to shoot a DSLR UW then you buy a camera specifically for it. I think that we are already seeing this trend with the limited housing options for cameras such as the Fuji S3, Canon 350D and Nikon D50.

So my answer is that it is unlikely. I think that UK Germany are often very happy to take on commissions for housings for other cameras. They might be worth a shot.

Alex

Just for your info, Minolta/Konica has announced that they are shutting down the distribution and service office in Canada, in essence no more minolta in Canada, that say's a lot about too little too late for those guys, it's a big dog game now and even Nikon is struggling to keep up with the Canon Giant, most people are not aware of that but Nikon versus Canon is like 7/11 convenience store versus Walmart super store. so imagine Minolta, Pentax etc. Canon is so diversified and has access to huge R&D budget, they are the engine powering this photo industry.

Gee, I should wash my NIKONIC mouth for saying such blasphemy :-), oh well ! alway's rooted for the underdog anyway

Even if there will be housing for this cameras its still need a second thought about buying the Minolta cameras:

- Even If there will be housing available, the variety will be for sure less then to the more common models ok Nikon & Canon that are also already in the market.

- The Minolta will be a new camera in the market, a lot of knowledge you can find about the Nikon/Canon models will not available, its will be more difficult to learn from others, especially in the u/w community that is much smaller then the general photographers community.

- The variety of lens, especially in the beginning will be less.

So, if there is no a really good advance to the Minolta, I don't see any reason to be among the firsts to be used it and especially u/w with the more complication conditions that we have there.

As far as I know only UK-GERMANY makes a 7D housing:

price is around 2200 € over here.

I agree that the chance is quiet small that another manufacture will jump in for Minolta cameras.

Only thing to consider is local serviceability. As far as I know, opposite to companies like Subal and Seacam, UK-GERMANY doesn't have any external service point outside the country. So might be worth to consider if you live far away from Germany / Europe.

Julian

>>Gee, I should wash my NIKONIC mouth for saying such blasphemy :-), oh well ! alway's rooted for the underdog anyway

I too have always gone for the underdog, it is why I bought a Kaypro CP/M computer because I didnt want to go 'big blue'

And my film camera, up until I got the D70 last year, was a minolta SK. It was their 'answer' to the nikon F camera in the mid 70's. I did love that minolta!

Gerard,

I'd like to respond directly to the question in your subject line.

I, too, have a Minolta 7xi and Ikelite housing (I even had Ike install an extra "custom" control switch so I had slightly more control of the camera), although it has been sitting in a box unused for years now. I bought the 7xi (which is a great camera, BTW) and housing primarily because I already owned several Minolta lenses, and it seemed like a "waste" to switch to a different brand that couldn't use those lenses.

I'll state this as simply as possible: Sticking with Minolta just so I could use my old lenses-- even when it was clear that the uw photography world was dominated by and producing the most gear for Nikon and Canon -- was the worst mistake I've ever made relating to photography gear. I continued to have to buy more Minolta-compatible lenses, and increasingly found that my "upgrade" options were severely limited. In order to be able to use less than $1,000 of old lenses, I ended up spending thousands of dollars going down a dead end road.

So, years later, when I decided to switch to DSLR (after using a housed Nikon Coolpix for awhile), I decided I was "starting from scratch" and was just looking for the best gear with the broadest uw photo support and maximum future upgradeability options possible. I chose Canon, but Nikon would arguably have been just as smart. Minolta (or Pentax or some other less uw-supported brand) would not have been.

If you look at what it will cost you to get a good DSLR plus essential lenses, I believe you'll find that you won't spend that much more (probably only a few hundred dollars) to switch to Canon or Nikon vs. trying to stick with Minolta (now Konica Minolta). For example, a Canon Rebel XT or 20D -- with a 10-22mm lens for wide angle and a 60mm macro lens for fish shots and macro -- will cover the vast majority of uw situations, won't set you back that much, and will have a wide range of housing options...PLUS will leave the future wide open for you.

Bite the bullet. Acknowledge your Minolta history for what it is: history. When you do decide to go digital (DSLR), don't limit yourself just because Minolta is what you "used to shoot."

thanks for the comments. I was considering my options along the same way, even with film this housing is a bit of an underdog :-).

So all things considered, I think I would be better of not buying extra lenses and other additions to the current setup, but putting those in a DSLR fund. Whether that will be Canon or underdog Nikon (?) i can always decide later. For know, I'll enjoy myself with the things i got.

cheers

Gerard