5 Frames with Minolta Alpha 7D – Dating My First Love Again

Shortly after I started photography with a Sony Alpha 100, issued by the news agency I worked for in 2006, I began dreaming about the Minolta Alpha 7D. Back then, its price was beyond my reach. Once I had saved enough, it was already the dawn of the full-frame era, and I went for a second-hand Alpha 900 instead.

Over the following decade, the advancement of digital photography threw everything old behind. The thought of getting an Alpha 7D hovered in my mind, but I wasn’t sure. I had deeply submerged into the full-frame world. And with fast autofocus and usable ISO 6400 becoming everyday norms, thanks to the Nikon D3s that served most of my journalism career, the Alpha 7D felt further and further away.

All I needed was a brainless, impulsive purchase. And so, my long-longed-for Alpha 7D made its way into my hands in April 2025.

My first impression of this ‘new’ camera was how familiar I already was with it. This is not only because I’ve used the Alpha 9 as my primary film camera for over fifteen years. It’s also because its digital interface, developed in the early years of DSLRs, is surprisingly the best I’ve ever used, even after owning or trying so many from Sony, Nikon, and Fujifilm. It’s dead simple, containing all and only the core elements of photography. Nothing more, nothing less. And the physical buttons and menu structure are arranged with perfect logic. I can find what I want exactly where I expect it to be. As you may know, I’ve always appreciated hard dials for ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, like those on my Df and X100F. But when it comes to digital interface, the Alpha 7D still remains unmatched.

As a twenty-one year old camera, it has all the flaws and restrictions of its time. The APS-C crop can be a pain. I use prime lenses only, and all of mine sit exactly at my most comfortable focal lengths. The autofocus hesitates in the dark, and noise becomes ugly at ISO 400 and above. These are serious drawbacks, especially as I love low light photography. But, of course, I expected all these already, didn’t I? It feels like going on dates with the first girlfriend of my life. I knew her little tempers, here and there, as that was just part of her nature. And if I pay attention and give her a bit more thought, everything stays sweet and young.

p.s. These photos were taken during multiple short road trips near where I live, using my Alpha 7D with 50mm f/2.8 macro, 200mm f/2.8 G, and 500mm f/8 reflex lenses. I batch-processed JPEG files with a VSCO black & white filter in Lightroom. No other edits were involved.

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