First Camera Which Should I get Minolta Maxxum 35mm Vs. Canon T70

[Kingnothing275]

Okay, I am buying a camera i've always liked photography and I've actually decided to pursue that, right now I have two options within my budget.

I have the opportunity to get a Minolta Maxxum 5 SLR for $150 CAD

or a Canon TL70 with a couple of lens' (28mm to 500mm) along with a 2x Multiplier for $125 CAD

Which do you think would be the better Camera, Overall I think the Minolta
seems to be the better of the two overall, but the Canon has a nice few accessories which I also know can make or break a body. So I'm very hard pressed on which to chose.

So I want the opinion of someone who knows a little more than I do on the subject

 

[DSLR noob]

They say with 35MM the lenses are all that is controlling your image quality. The camera body itself will just vary on features, but "couple of lenses" part sounds to be great. They say with an SLR the lenses are your main factor, not the body, this is especially true with 35mm film.

 

[agnew]

I've had a T70 for many happy years, me thinks it's a great camera:thumbup:

 

[Don Simon]

Hmm. The T70 uses FD mount lenses; Canon switched to the autofocus EF mount in the 80s, and now the FD mount is obsolete, i.e. no-one is making FD lenses, and they won't work properly on any current digital SLRs. Of course this is not necessarily a bad thing; the advantage is that FD lenses can be found significantly cheaper than the alternatives. But the downside is you won't be able to use them on a more recent film or digital SLR. With the Maxxum you could use the autofocus Minolta lenses on a Minolta or Sony digital SLR if you decide to go digital, or if you decided to switch brand those lenses would almost certainly have better resale value than those for an "obsolete" mount.

Comparing bodies, I would say the Maxxum 5 is definitely the "better" camera in terms of the number of functions. There are various exposure and metering modes including spot metering, good rate of continous shooting, plus of course you have autofocus. In other words it's a modern 35mm SLR with all the bells and whistles. Now a fully manual, mechanical SLR can be a better choice for learning photography, but the T70 is not a fully manual, mechanical SLR. If you want a fully manual and mechanical camera then go for one of the older Canons of the F or A series, or in fact any number of cameras from any number of manufacturers. Otherwise I would go for the Maxxum, or a similar autofocus system from Canon, Nikon or Pentax.

By the way, neither of those sound like particularly great deals. What lenses are included with them?

Also, plenty of 'nice accessories' are available for both; what specifically were you thinking of?

 

[Chili]

I sent you a PM