Customer Reviews

Konica Minolta Dimage G600 6MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Opinion
Fredrik in Sweden.

I had a 3 Mpix Olympus D-550 (C-300) for 12 months and it has been very difficult to find a better camera when it broke.

I first bought a Casio QV 5700, a semi-big and very sophisticated camera. It had all the features I wished for, bright optics, manual settings etc. but the size and ancient slow action bothered me. I swiftly returned it.

I realized I wanted something pocketable with great performance. Since no reviews on the web met my demands I finally went for the G600, the heir of a test winner, unreviewed until now.

---

The G600 with a spare battery and 512 Mb is a good setup. After the first charge of 14 hours the battery was good for 250 images (no flash, always display and 3 unloads) The very first charge also charges the onboard memory battery so it will perform better after that. It also takes 10 cycles before the battery is ripe. I expect 300-350 images.

Charging takes 2 hours with the bundled charger, neat.

---

A normal image in fine mode takes up about 1500-2800 kb of space. => 240 images on my SD card.

---

The shutter lag is ok, but not as awesome as I got the impression of. (with focus lock it is pretty instant)

I flung a stick into the evening air and shot it while it fell and the result was really neat and sharp. (See sample)

Startup time is really quick.

---

The size is dreamy. You can hardly feel it is in your front pocket on a pair of tight jeans. The metal gives it a sturdy feel.

The blue LED's on the front are a nuissance. They provide extra light for focusing etc. I don't know when they are activated, or if I can turn it off.

---

I have some sample images for you here.
All handheld on a grey spring evening in Sweden.
http://www.microsaft.com/g600/ this page.

Problems
I dislike using flash, as a result indoor images turn up dark.
Some are VERY dark with the automatic setting in spite of normal illumination.
I somewhat enhanced this by increasing ISO to 200.

Still not as good as my Olympus D-550 (C-300) in low light. I feel it necessery to switch between ISO modes for indoor and outdoor shots. Requires clicking in the menu.

The G600 wants to use flash at all times indoors. Flash make the pictures flat and boring. I want to capture atmosphere, not cold hard vectors.

---

The Automatic "focus depth" was very tight.
If I focus on my face, the eyes look great but the nose gets blurry. (My nose isn't huge). I am not sure how to compensate for this. (still learning)
In macro mode this is apparent when shooting a fat larva where half the larva is out of focus. Unless you only photograph coins... this is a problem.

---

In the evening, the automatic light control make the images a tad less bright and less in contrast than real life. Increasing brightness and contrast +25 and +25 in Pshop helps evening pictures.

I suspect this can be adjusted in the white balance settings.

Much of this can be compensated for, with internal tweaking, once and for all. The colors overall are very natural and life like.

---

The multi spot autofocus tend to pick the items in the background and not the thing I want to shoot.
I saw no reason to use spot metering until I got the G600.

---

The amount of "flawed images" are less than with the Casio, and I think that when I get used to this one it will perform as well as the point and shoot Olympus. I am well on my way.
---

I would love it if it had a "speed dial" to chose
between different scene modes.

The sound and avi format works very well.
16 seconds amount only to 2800 kb.

---

I'd rather they had two compartments for batteries than two for memory cards. Running out of juice is a bummer when you are to shoot the sunset from the top of a hill.

---

Some would say that the zoom is too fast.
It is, like the Borg would say, ...efficient.

---

It could be easier to record sound and movies. The menu system requires clicking... clicking...

---

I need to test the lense and ccd more, with some colorful sunsets, but so far the quality is really nice. I can count individual strains of hair on my head on my images. I'll keep this one, because it is portable and creates great images under the right conditions and decent images under strain.
A third battery may be an investment.

Manual settings will work out some of my problems.

---

/Fredrik

My free for all, no copyright 1000+ image archive.
(Most shot with the Olympus, but that will change.) http://www.microsaft.com

I love this camera. I wanted a small camera. I looked at the Cannon Elph. After reading negative comments on the internet about the E-18 error problem and knowing a friend who had problems with the E-18 error right out of the box I decided to pass.

I have a bigger camera with many features, the Sony F717, and I love the pictures it takes. I guess it spoiled me because after seing another friends small Sony camera the picture quality was not as nice even with the higher megapixels. I had to purchase Sony Memory cards and after purchasing several(expensive) I wanted a small camera that could use them.

My old small point and shoot which finaly died used SDcards. I was resigned to switching but still wanted to be able to use my SDcards because I hate to waste money.

This camera seemed to be the answer to my dilemma. It uses the two media cards I alreay own. It has a sturdy metal body. The layout/design of buttons is easy and simple. I love the fact that opening the lens turns the camera on and off. I purchased an extra battery and keep it in the charger. The charger comes with the camera and charges fast.

It is a great point and shoot and has many features if you want to do more. It is small and fits in my evening bag but is not so small/delicate that I worry about damage.

It has an optical viewer as well as an lcd screen. I thought this was critical. If you need to take a picture in bright sun or want to conserve battery life use the viewer. One of the things I did not like about my old point and shoot was it only had an lcd screen. I was very careful with it and damaged the screen while on vacation and could not use the camera. I had to buy some disposeables and send it for repairs when I got home.

Konica makes a great product. It may not be as sexy looking as some but it is great and I have yet to take a bad photo. Two media cards is terrific. I was at a good friends wedding and went to visit family and with both cards in the camera I had enough space to take pictures for the week. I took 800 pictures a couple of movies and still had plenty of space. I put in two 512MB cards and did not have to worry about carrying extra cards.

I love this camera! Hope this helps you in your search, happy hunting!

sturdy metal body good lens
top notch quality pix
menu navigation simple
manual control access a breeze
indoor manual tweaks may be fine tuned

read many web reviews
very happy with this choose

Good points:
1. The price is magnificent...you can get it for about $244.00 for 6Megapixels!(as of Jul-11-2005);
2. The quality of the pictures is excellent;
3. Battery Life is fairly good (about 280 flash pictures);
4. Takes BOTH SD and MemoryStick memory types;
5. Optical Zoom at 3X is about normal and works fine;
6. On-Off system is nice and simple;
7. FAST shutter speed (time from moment you press button to picture actually being taken); Canon is awful at this.
8. Very FAST Flash recovery time (picture-to-picture): about 1.5 seconds.

The problems are few, but very real:
1. Video is really limited to 30seconds - no matter how much memory you have or what resolution you choose;
2. Doing anything other than taking pictures is a MESS...you have to go through the menus and the complicated button sequences...forget about my MOM using it for anything other than taking pictures;
3. Even VIEWING the pictures you took is a mess...having to go through the menus. If you're a gadget freak or a techie, you'll be just fine...but if it's for your mom or dad and they can't program their VCR, then look for a user-friendly camera (not this one, sorry!); they WILL end up erasing pictures they're trying to see...
4. The USB transfer cable is NOT standard...good luck if you travel and leave it at home (better have lots of memory and not lose the camera while traveling or you'll lose your memories before you get to transfer them!!);
5. Zoom controls could be better located.

Summary:
If you are a techie and don't need videos longer than 30seconds, this camera is great.

I just got the Minolta G600 and love how easy it is to use. I take pix mostly on vacation and wanted something sturdy yet small enough to carry with me. Menu options are very easy to use - start up is quick, and the pix have turned out great. Not alot of confusing buttons/wheels to learn - very easy. You will love it.

The flash on this camera broke after < 2 months. Sent back to Konica-Minolta for warranty service was told that repair takes 2 months. 3 1/2 mos go by and no word from manufacturer. I called, found out they are awaiting parts from Japan and would take another month. I called again after 6 weeks and was told that the parts are no longer being made as camera is discontinued. They will send me a "REFURBED" replacement as my only recourse. Since I had no choice, I took that. The refurb broke after 2 months as well - autofocus no longer focuses, and the metal ring around the tip of the lens fell off. No wonder Konica-Minolta is now out of the digital camera business. Buy a Canon or Nikon instead.

No dials with modes as in many other cameras. The menus are complex and complicated, not easy to navigate - try it on a small screen in bright sun. Small LCD screen.
The camera gives good outdoor pictures in good light. At indoor or low light conditions it has some problems - rising the ISO number to 200 or 400 produces image noise (particularly at ISO 400).
Setting ISO in AUTO mode in the Quality menu - the camera always sets it to ISO 50 even if there is a very little light available. Thus I manually set the ISO at 100 or 200 for most situations (rarely at ISO 400 or ISO 50).
Proprietary AC adapter - no generic adapters for digicams fit this camera.

I have had this camera about 6 months and have had to return it twice so far for the same repair, without any explanation or recourse of requesting a replacement. I use the camera for my work so two to three weeks per repair is pretty disruptive to my schedule. Quick shots are out of the question since the camera is ultra sensitive to any tremor, and I must always use a tripod.