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Minolta DiMAGE V hands-on review

02 Apr

Introduction

In the DiMAGE V, Minolta combines point-and-shoot simplicity, modular lens design, thoughtful touches such as (literally) flexible storage media and the convenience of AA battery power to create a truly compelling photographic package for photographers of all types. From landscapes to family gatherings, the DiMAGE V is up to the task to help you capture the most of your moments in stunning 0.33MP detail. Younger photographers in particular will appreciate that the lens can swivel back towards you, making selfies just as easy as they are with your smartphone.

Key specifications:

1/3 inch, 0.33MP CCD sensor
34-92mm (35mm film-format equivalent) F5-5.6 manually zoomed detachable lens
Smart Media 5v storage (approx. 32 ‘Fine’ images per 4MB card)
Zero autofocus points (manual macro engagement)
ISO range of 160 to 160
1.8″ 71.8k-dot rear screen
Powered by four AA batteries, with a battery life rating of ‘not good’

Body, handling and controls

The DiMAGE V sits comfortably in the hand, thanks to a ridge on the front of the camera and an indent for your thumb on the rear. The rotating lens does, of course, encourage two-handed operation, and the smooth action of the manual zoom lever is a joy. A small door on the bottom of the camera prevents accidental operation of the ‘Format,’ ‘Date’ and ‘Self-Timer’ options, because we all know that accidentally enabling the self-timer results in many a photographer hurling their camera into the nearest body of water in frustration.

The rear screen does an excellent job of giving you a general idea of what your photo may look like, without giving you enough detail to ruin the ‘moment of discovery’ when you load it up on (preferably) an old Trinitron CRT.


The ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons not only control exposure compensation, but also navigating images in ‘Play’ mode.	This door prevents accidental operation, and will never, ever break, just like all of these little types of doors on ’90s electronics.

Operation of the camera is as straightforward as can be. The shutter button is in a nice spot, and the plus and minus buttons on the top give you control over exposure compensation and let you scroll through your images in playback mode. The built-in flash will be especially handy for when the light starts to drop, and the camera’s 1/30 maximum shutter speed won’t quite cut it. And to keep you focused on the actual process of taking pictures, there is no provision for manually selecting exposure settings.

So, does anyone out there have a Smart Media reader compatible with older 5v cards? Asking for a friend.

Lastly, the DiMAGE V runs on easy-to-find AA batteries, a blessing as you’ll be going through quite a few of them. It uses Smart Media storage, and will only accept cards up to 4MB – this thoughtful touch keeps you from over-shooting and having far too many images to go through on your OG Pentium-powered machine.

Performance and autofocus

In terms of performance, the DiMAGE V start-up time helpfully gives you plenty of time to think about the shot you’re going to take, and whether you really do want to take it. Likewise for shot-to-shot times. This careful slowing-down of the photographic process does, of course, encourage comparisons with Leica’s lineup of digital rangefinders, though we think the DiMAGE is the more practical option for most people.

This brings us to autofocus. There isn’t any. (Also like a Leica rangefinder!)

Image quality and usability

Ah, the moment I know you’ve all been waiting for. Unfortunately, this is just a hands-on review. We weren’t able to retrieve files from our DiMAGE V, owing to the scant availability of compatible card readers, but we’ve done the next best thing – we’ve photographed the rear of the camera so you can get an idea of how effective its screen is. Once we source a card reader, we’ll update the story so you can have your own ‘moment of discovery’ and see the full, glorious 0.33MP files that you crave.

Studio scene


Daylight	Low light

As you can see, the DiMAGE looks like it’s exposing the daylight scene fairly well without having to use exposure compensation. Colors look a bit cool, but we can’t say for sure whether it’s the screen or not – and certainly, there is no provision for custom white balance, to keep things simpler for the user.

Switch over to low light, and… well, perhaps it’s best to just not to shoot in low light.

Zoom range, selfies

The DiMAGE’s zoom range is fairly flexible, ranging from 34-92mm equivalent. Though the start of its zoom range isn’t all that wide, fans of Fujifilm’s X100 series – with its fixed 35mm lens – will likely see no problem with this.


Wide-angle	Telephoto

And thanks to the unusual design of the lens, you can even use the optical zoom while taking selfies. This is going to be great for those looking to spice up their Instagram feed with some more avant-garde compositions.


Wide-angle	Telephoto

Finally, we are big fans of the exposure compensation option on the DiMAGE. It really does give you wide latitude to adjust your exposure to your liking, particularly if you’re looking for a more silhouetted look. Though it’s difficult to see on the rear screen, it did help to bring back the Seattle wheel through the windows for this shot.


Automatic metering	Negative exposure comp

The detachable lens

It does detach, and you can even then use the camera itself as an off camera flash. This is something I was really looking forward to testing, but unfortunately, connector cables from the lens to the camera are harder to find than 5v Smart Media readers.

Conclusion

So, who is the Minolta DiMAGE V for? Well, while it’s tempting to say it’s great for anyone with fifty bucks and an eBay account, you may actually spend more money on and have a harder time finding the requisite memory card reader. But that said, we have to say we find the concept to be a bit of fresh air, even in 2019. There’s no denying that cameras these days are ludicrously more capable and more responsive, but designs are nowhere near as neat as some cameras seen in the early days of digital imaging. Today, the DiMAGE remains a fun-to-use novelty thanks to the detachable / swiveling lens design.

And later in the week, we promise we’ll get back to some reviews of, well, modern cameras.

Happy April Fool’s day, and H/T to our newest developer for generously loaning me his first ever digital camera.

Editor’s note – an earlier version of this article claimed incorrectly that the DiMAGE V has 3.3MP of resolution. It actually has 0.33MP – we regret the error.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Throwback Thursday: Minolta DiMAGE X

27 Apr

There were many ‘races’ in the compact camera market back when they were selling like hotcakes. From resolution to zoom, manufacturers were constantly trying to one-up each other. Another area in which they were competing was just how small a camera could be. One of the smallest was the ultra-thin Minolta DiMAGE X, released way back in 2002.

The DiMAGE X’s dimensions were 84 x 72 x 20mm (3.3 x 2.8 x 0.8in) – yes, less than an inch thick – so it easily fit into a shirt picket. How did they do it? Folded optics.

While we’re not 100% certain, it’s likely that the DiMAGE X was the first digital camera to use folded optics. Light comes through the lens, hits a 90-degree prism and then heads downward where it passes through the various elements until it his a 2 Megapixel CCD. As you can probably tell from the design of the camera, all of the zooming and focus takes place in the ‘downward’ portion of the lens.

As noted in Phil Askey’s review, two other things that allowed the DiMAGE X to be so thin was its compact lithium-ion battery and ‘tiny’ MMC/SD cards (which is funny, considering that the way-too-small microSD format was just a few years away). One tradeoff to having such a compact body was the camera’s tunnel-type viewfinder – you might as well just use the 1.5″ LCD.

While the camera was a snappy performer, its image quality was less impressive. Phil Askey noted that photos were very ‘video like – soft with some visible ghosting artifacts.’ Vignetting was also an issue. Its measured resolution was the lowest of any 2 Megapixel camera DPReview had tested at the time. Phil suggests that most of these issues are due to the folded optics design that made the DiMAGE X so unique.

Despite its unique optical design and ultra-compact body, the DiMAGE X didn’t win over Phil (mainly due to image quality), earning it a ‘Below Average’ award – a rarity on DPReview.

Did you have a DiMAGE X or its successors? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read our review of the Minolta DiMAGE X

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Throwback Thursday: Minolta’s prosumer DiMAGE 7

09 Feb

PMA 2001 was a pretty exciting show for new cameras. It saw the release of the Nikon D1X and D1H, the Fujifilm S1 Pro, Kodak mc3 camera/MP3 player (a camera so bad that I couldn’t complete my review) and the impressive Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S75. Along with those was probably the biggest vaporware product of all-time: the Silicon Film EPS-1. A prototype of a full-frame Pentax DSLR was also shown, but whether that’s also vaporware is up for debate.

One of the real highlights was the Minolta DiMAGE 7, a prosumer camera with an unconventional design, a long lens and tons of direct controls. Its 2/3″ 5 Megapixel CCD had the highest resolution of any non-pro camera at the time. All of that came at a price: $ 1500, to be exact.

The Minolta GT apochromatic lens had a manual zoom ring (please, someone do this again on a long-zoom camera!) and a fly-by-wire focus ring. The maximum aperture range was F2.8-3.5 with an equivalent focal range of 28-200mm. Notably, the lens had a pair of anomalous dispersion elements, which Minolta claimed improved color accuracy. The D7’s lens was not stabilized.

The D7’s body was made from a single piece of magnesium alloy, though despite that, DPReview’s Phil Askey was unimpressed with its overall build quality. The camera had a ton of physical controls, including the quick settings dial you can see above. Images were stored on a CompactFlash slot that supported Type II cards, such as the IBM Microdrive.

The DiMAGE 7 had a status LCD on its top plate, along with a standard-issue 1.8″ LCD (with 112k dots). The D7 also had a tilting EVF, a feature that has become increasingly popular in recent years. The EVF used ‘ferroelectric’ technology and was one of the best out there at the time.

The camera was generally snappy (though AF could be sluggish at times), image quality was good, and the APO lens kept chromatic aberration to a minimum. One unusual thing about the DiMAGE 7 was that it used its own color space, so users would have to convert it to sRGB manually. Once that was done, colors were much more vivid. One niggle Phil brought up in his review was regarding the D7’s poor battery life: you needed to bring a spare set of batteries as a backup for your other spare set of batteries.

A year after the DiMAGE 7 arrived, its successor (the 7i) was announced. It had a faster burst rate, more movie options (though it remained at 320 x 240, 15 fps), wireless flash control and a slightly updated design. It was also $ 500 less. A DiMAGE 7Hi later followed, with a snazzy black body, more manual controls and performance enhancements.

Did you have any of the DiMAGE 7-series cameras? Share your memories in the comments below!

Read DPReview’s DiMAGE 7 Review

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