Buyer Reviews : The Minolta Maxxum 5, at a first glance seems to be the consummate budget SLR - small, compact, and seemingly devoid of the 'Star Wars' features packed on the more advanced and higher end cameras. This little Maxxum will surprise, time and time again. It has unique features associated with Maxxum cameras, such as the eye start function - a feature that starts the camera autofocus and camera operation the moment your eye looks through the viewfinder. The camera's functions and important operations are very simple and easy to use - Minolta placed the buttons and dials in places where you can reach the important functions without EVER having to take your eyes off the viewfinder. The camera has 6 Modes to pick from, other than the obvious Manual mode - where you pick the f-stop and shutter speeds - There's Program - which is your basic jack of all trades, pretty reliable in all situations. Portrait - the camera selects a 'soft' f-stop to give your subject a pleasing feel and look. Landscape, Action, Nature, and Night.. night scene is probably the most feature extensive, since it illuminates the flash for longer exposures to bring out the background behind your subject during night shots. Of course, you can set the camera for aperature and shutter priority functions. My only real gripe with the camera itself was the fact that it uses it's two CR2 batteries far too quickly, running through about 14 to 19 rolls of 36 exposure film - depending on if the camera uses it's built in flash often or not. The flash is good for fill situations, but it would be a much better option to pick a dedicated flash unit to save battery power and give your portraits more 'pop' - something with a guide number of ASA 100 is just about right for this kind of camera. The autofocus is fabulous - the camera can focus flawlessly in near dark situations, but it does take SOME time - about a second or two.. but in fully bright situations, the autofocus rivals some of the top-end SLR's, right up there with the Minolta Maxxum 7's and 9's. All in all, this is a great budget SLR to start out with that will continue to give the serious amateur/beginner room to grow.
