When i was shooting film i used a few Minolta cameras. As i early moved to digital, i switched to a Nikon only equipment for my work but i also bought some Canon point and shoot and some Minolta bridge cameras.The first of theses DSLR like was a Dimage 7i. I sold it in 2003 to buy a Dimage A1. This one had a few things i liked : A very good and sharp 28-200 lens, an AS system, a more robust body and a better buffer for RAW shooting.
The Dimage 7 and A where some small and light cameras delivering some nice pics at 100 ISO, i used to always have one of them with me. With them i captured some nature shots i still like and sell and i also used them to play and shoot with my 3 years old daughter.
Last week i went for a few days van trip with my wife and daughter, i took the A1 with its bag thinking to catch some nice family candids. When i switched on the camera the viewfinder and LCD where black and the light metering system indicated 13 seconds at f2.8. I changed the battery, removed the card, nothing to do, the viewfinder was still black and trying to shoot a white bright scene gave me a black picture.
For me it seems to be a dead sensor.
I'll try to send it to the French Sony support service, i think they can replace the sensor for free if the problem is due to oxydation. If they don't, i'll sell my last Minolta gear : a 5600 HSD flash.
