I read in the London Free Press that the World of Motorcycles Show was coming to town and I decided it would be a good opportunity to take some photos with my brand new Minolta Maxxum 7D. The venue was indoors and the lighting was somewhat dim, so it was challenging to find a good setup for properly exposed photos. I experimented with slow shutter speeds and with fill-flash at higher shutter speeds, and I went through a lot of blurry photos and underexposed shots. Half a dozen of the photos on this page were underexposed and needed to be touched up, but most are exactly as the camera took them.
If you’re wondering how Minolta’s Anti-Shake feature worked in these low-light conditions, it seemed helpful but it was tough to get consistent results. With Anti-Shake on, I can usually get a sharp result with a 28mm focal length and an exposure of 1/6th of a second. I took some photos at the show with shutter speeds higher than that (like 1/25s) and I still noticed what looked like camera shake. Even without Anti-Shake, I’d expect to take a reasonably steady shot with a 28mm focal length at 1/25s. I’m not ready to fault the camera just yet, so I’ll pay more attention to my own movement the next time I take photos in low-light conditions. I’m also using the lens that came with my Minolta XTsi, and it may be that the newer digital lenses work better with Anti-Shake. In any case, it sure would be nice if Minolta added something like Nikon’s Best Shot Selector feature because that’s what I end up doing anyway (albeit manually).
Striped Beauty 780 x 518 | 
An Orange Harley 780 x 518 | 
Hydrogen-Fueled Concept 780 x 518 |
The Ominous Dodge Viper 780 x 518 | 
One Tough-Looking Car 780 x 518 | 
Looks Fast Just Sitting There 780 x 518 |
Asta la Vista, Baby! 780 x 518 | 
Poppin’ a Wheelie 780 x 518 | 
A Harley in Formal Wear 780 x 518 |
A Harley-Davidson in Blue 780 x 518 | 
Imagine Riding in That? 780 x 518 | 
She’s Still There 780 x 518 |
Looks Like a Parking Lot 780 x 518 | 
Checking Out the Bike 780 x 518 | 
A Custom-Built Chopper 780 x 518 |
“Blown Money” 780 x 518 | 
Some Serious Rubber 518 x 780 |