|
Editors' Rating:
8.0 of 10
| • Value for money |
7 |
| • Ease of Use |
8 |
| • Performance |
8 |
| • Image Quality |
8 |
|
Average User Rating:
10.0 of 10
(1 vote)
| • Value for money |
10 |
| • Ease of Use |
10 |
| • Performance
|
10 |
| • Image Quality
|
10 |
|
Where to Buy ?
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PROS
•
Great Quick Review mode
• Real-time exposure histogram
•
Impressive, manually controlled zoom lens
•
Tons of advanced features
CONS
•
Fairly rudimentary RAW processing software
•
Writes RAW files to the CF card slowly
•
Slightly disappointing AF system
•
Significant noise in images
|
Includes: Minolta Dimage 7i Digital Camera, 16 MB CompactFlash card, four NiMH rechargeable batteries, battery charger, neck strap, lens hood, lens cap with strap, USB and video cables, CD-ROM with DiMAGE Image View Utility software and drivers, and printed camera manual.
Recommended
Accessories |
This is a camera for serious photo enthusiasts, and it has
the feature set to prove it. The list of added features and improvements is long and impressive, but the most salient are a dramatic improvement in autofocus speed and shutter delay, the addition of high-speed sequence and movie modes, and a significant change in the camera's native color space.
Dimage
7i Major Features:
| • |
True 4.95-megapixel CCD delivering resolutions as
high as 2,560 x 1,920 pixels. |
| • |
12-Bit A/D conversion. |
| • |
Digital Hyper Electronic viewfinder with 90-degree
variable position. |
| • |
1.8-inch TFT color LCD monitor. |
| • |
7.2-50.8mm lens (equivalent to a 28-200mm lens on a 35mm
camera) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.5, depending on the
zoom setting. |
| • |
2x digital zoom. |
| • |
Auto and Manual focus. |
| • |
Macro option at maximum telephoto or wide angle zoom settings. |
| • |
Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual,
and Subject Program shooting modesl. |
| • |
Shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to four seconds, with Bulb setting for longer exposures (up to 30 seconds), up to 1/4,000 under certain conditions. |
| • |
300 Multi-Segment, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering
options, with AE Lock function. |
| • |
Adjustable ISO with five settings. |
| • |
Built-in, pop-up flash with three operating modes, a dual-mode flash metering system, and manually adjustable intensity. |
| • |
External flash hot-shoe for Minolta accessory flash units. |
| • |
Built-in support for wireless TTL flash exposure with certain Minolta flashes. |
| • |
Continuous Shooting, Interval, and Movie shooting modes. |
| • |
Digital Effects Control for Exposure, Color Saturation,
and Contrast Compensation, and Hue (color filter) control, with Bracketing. |
| • |
Adjustable White Balance with six modes. |
| • |
Sharpness and Color control via menu options. Color modes include Standard, Vivid Color, Black & White, and Solarization. |
| • |
RAW, uncompressed TIFF, and JPEG file
formats. |
| • |
Images saved to CompactFlash Type I or II memory
cards (16MB card included), Microdrive compatible. |
| • |
"Storage-Class"
USB interface. |
| • |
USB cable and interface software for connecting to
a computer and downloading images. |
| • |
NTSC and PAL selectable video output
signals, with cable included. |
| • |
Power supplied by four AA batteries or separate AC
adapter (available as an accessory). |
| • |
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compliant. |
 |
Full Specs |
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Customer Reviews
|
Dianne
Hughes,
from Rohnert Park, CA, US, Mar 29, 2002
|
|
After almost a year of waiting, I finally bought it. I have been doing an intensive research about the Minolta Dimage 7 regarding its performance and how user friendly the camera is. And I keep coming to the conclusion that this camera is well made. The picture quality is superb, very high quality. Its color saturation is excellent and the picture detail is true to life.
The camera was designed to look and feel like a 35mm single reflex camera. It has a 7X optical zoom, which make a big difference if you are comparing zoom quality. As always, to me optical zoom is far better than digital zoom. Another nice feature to the camera is its manual zoom mechanism. This gives you a better control when zooming. The lens also has an adapter thread ring so you can add a whole lot of filters and lens effects. The option to add a hot shoe mount for the flash is another nice option that the Minolta people added to this camera.
One of the biggest complains to the Dimage 7 is that it consume batteries like a child eats candies. Its not the end of the world. Think positive. There are battery packs and rechargeable you can buy if you are not happy. But the best thing about the battery situation is it uses AA batteries and if you ran out, you can always go to a corner store and buy some. Or better yet, you can always take away that batteries you gave your kid for their hand held video games.
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|
•
Installation |
10 |
|
•
Image Quality |
10 |
|
•
Ease of Use |
10 |
|
•
Compatibility |
10 |
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•
Overall Value |
10 |
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The Lowest Price is not always best !
 When you buy a digital camera, the basic package almost always includes
extras such as a battery charger, lens cap, batteries, flash memory card, and software.
One of the more disreputable practices a dealer can engage in is called unbundling. These
dealers remove items from the package that are normally included in the price and
price them separately.
When purchasing
a camera you have three components of the price to consider - the camera price, postage and
handling, and taxes. Many dealers lower the price to make the camera more attractive, then
increase the postage and handling to boost their profits.
Hesitate before
accepting extended warranties. Every knowledgeable consumer expert says it's better to
gamble. Most of a company's profit is in the sale of these warranties so they press, and
press hard. Your job is to resist, and resist hard. The only thing to keep in mind is that
digital cameras can be horribly expensive to repair. If you want peace of mind, you may
want the warranty, even though it's probably overpriced. The cost of a repair can
approach, or even exceed, the original purchase price.
When you buy a
camera from a reputable dealer, you expect to be able to return it if you aren't
satisfied. Some dealers try to discourage this by requiring a restocking fee for returned
merchandise. This is always explained as a way to recover their costs of checking the
merchandise and restoring the packaging you may have opened.
Many dealers is
truly a false, deceptive and a total crook. Bait and switch tactics used. Does not sell
new merchandise and will ship used or refurbished goods without notifying customer. They then
try to charge a restock fee on top of their exobitant shipping fees to make a profit where
they could not on their goods. A try case of buyer beware.
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Where To Buy
Minolta Dimage 7i Digital Camera ?:
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