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Product Reviews:
Konica Minolta Dimage A1 5MP Digital Camera with 7x Anti Shake Optical Zoom |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Minolta Dimage A1
Comments: Cannot say enough about this camera. Have it for the past 4 years and I absolutely love it. Takes great pictures (250+) on a single charge. Has many advanced features, so do not spend the money unless you are going to use all the nice features. Even though this camera is easy to use, I would suggest this camera for advanced users to make the price worth it. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: great cameraq
Comments: I have had this for several years, purchased it when it 1st came out. I like it much, it took the place of 35mm film SLRs that I'd used for years.
It is complicated to take maximum advantage of it's potential however it takes great pictures on the auto setting.
I really like the electric contacts that determine if your hand is grasping the camera. If not it shuts off so battery isn't drained.
Two features that make me reduce its rating. It is difficult to tell depth of field if you are using it's manual aperture and the photos are vignetted if you use a filter and I like to keep a polarizing filter on all lenses that can be fitted.
Decent size, not too big. however I do borrow my wife's pocket Canon for ease of use and portability |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: happy with this camera.
Comments: I purchased this camera a year ago. I love the fact that a lot of the settings can be changed without going into the menu. The anti-shake feature is helpful as I am a senior citizen with severe arthritis of the shoulders. Holding a camera steady is a challenge at times. This was the main selling point for me.
I have used the camera for scenic shots, portraits, weddings and flowers with insects. The pictures are fantastic.
Highly endorse. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: wonderful camera
Comments: This camera is my favorite. The pictures have outstanding clarity, and the camera is easy to operate. It can practically take pictures on its own!!!! I use it alot for puppy pics, and I can not tell you how easily I can capture the pups in motion...there is not the normal lag time of a typical digital, so I can capture the moment as it really happened instead of the formerly seen blank view...or the view of a puppy's tail!!!! It's a Minolta...of course!!!! |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: I'ts like carrying an electronic tripod.
Comments: I was looking for another digital camera to supplement my pocket digital (Optio 330rs). The Optio has served me well and will always take with me because of its portability. I wanted a camera with more functionality and overall quality and was willing to sacrifice some portability.
I have narrowed down my choices to these: Nikon 5700, Panasonic Z10 and Minolta A1. After much research and going to retailers to "test drive" the cameras, I finally settled on the Minolta. Actually, I did purchase the Nikon 1st however returned it to Amazon un-opened because of my concern with it's slow autofocus and low light performance. The Z10 was a strong contender, it has a great lens plus optical stabilization however it was too bulky and had a smaller sensor. Big camera, big lens with a tiny sensor hmmm, somehow I did not feel comfortable with this combination.
The Minolta A1 has a decent lens, great size stabilized sensor. It did not have the long range zoom of the Panasonic however instead it had a wider angle which I find much more useful.
What I like almost all about this camera is it's image stabilizing feature which was just a afterthought when I purchased it. It soon proved to be invaluable. For example, on a trip to Lake George NY I was photographing a canon(not the camera) firing demonstration, the bang was so loud that I jumped and triggered the shutter involuntarily. Yet the end result was a sharp photo at peak action See http://www.pbase.com/image/31903396 ,notice the ear protection worn by the soldier.
Another shot that was helped by the image stabilizer was a portrait taken at a museum, indoor, no flash and tight, alalmost all macro. Amazingly even the brushstrokes appeared sharp on the photo. I think the shutterspeed went down to 1/20th.
Having this camera is like carrying around an electronic tripod!! I have taken hand held shots of fireworks, street lights, buildings at dusk and full zooms in low lighting.
As far as themega pixel count, 5MP is plenty. Although the 8mp Minolta A2 is out, it's alalmost all $1,000. The A1 is a real bargain at around $550, It is basically the same camera as the A2 except for the MP count. Besides who needs 8MP unless you crop heavily or print posters. I even turn it down to 3MP sometimes to fit more shots and a quicker shot to shot performance, still 3MP is big enough to print 8x10's.
A few minor issues:
1thing the camera can improve on is it's dimensions, I would like it to be a little bit smaller, maybe like the Nikon 5700, and the proportions are a little awkward, it's alalmost all as wide as it is deep and tall. Somehow this makes it a little tedious to carry around, I have permanently removed the lens hood to make it easier to carry (however the camera will not look as Cool!!). So this not a carry ewhere camera, however it complement nicely with my pocket camera.
Another issue I have with this camera is that the viewfinder is electronic, basically it's a tiny second LCD that replaces the traditional glass viewfinder. Using electronic viewfinder is not satisfying, you get a pixelated image with awful colors and when panning it feels like the LCD can not catch up to what your eyes are trying to follow.
Lastly, many people may find it dissappointing when they 1st see the photos right off the camera. The default settings for this camera is neutral, therefore the images may look flat. This is because as a high-end camera, minolta wanted to leave room for post-processing for advanced users. For photographers who do not want to do any post-processing the camera must be set at a higher contrast, saturation and sharpening.
Pros:
Larger sensor than similar cameras
Great lens
Wideangle zoom
Image stabilizer
quick autofocus
cons:
Slightly too big to carry anywhere, anytime.
Flimsy CF door
Electronic view finder hard to get used to. |
