Customer Reviews

Konica Minolta Dimage S414 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I researched digital cameras for several months to find THE one for me, a digicamaphobe. THE camera is - the does it all AND at a reasonbable price - Minolta s414.

I considered Canons, the G2, the Elph s230, various Olympus cams, and the easy,cheesy Sony. The elph was easy to use, but small, awkward, and distance shots were blurry and pixilated. I tried a friend's Olympus, but it was kind of complicated for me, downloading seemed a pain...My sis emailed me Sony pics she took, but the quality wasn't there...In April, while shopping, a friend pointed out the Minolta s414, 4 megapixels and 4 times zoom with movie and sound. So, I researched it...From reviews and info about the s414 I learned it was truly awesome with options galore. Additionally it was considered "user friendly"... I showed my boyfriend the info I'd found...An amateur photographer, he'd had never thought digicams could produce the quality of his NIKON, but he was impressed with the research I showed him; so he bought one. He was immediately blown away with the quality from the moment he started using it. His first macro shot of flowers with the s414 convinced him to set aside his Nikon. Then he had me try he camera...and had trouble wresting it away from me, because the Minolta s414 REALLY IS USER FRIENDLY.

I had to have the s414, and we went to buy mine...In addition to "user friendly", we found "sold out" at three stores... At the fourth stop, we bought the demo... along with rechargeable batteries, a 256 picture card and card reader...

Sunday, June 8, armed with our s414s, my boyfriend and I went to a dance recital and took some stupendous pictures in sepia and black and white as well as color ...EASY. ..After downloading the pics, we were amazed as we zoomed in on an eye to see the outline of my daughter taking the picture was reflected in the pupil!!! I took 100 pictures and made three quick films, plus reviewed and downloaded the pics before needing to recharge the batteries...Now how awesome is that? This camera RULES...

I remain very happy with the S414. In fact, I have sold or given away almost all my other digicams. The one problem area with this Minolta had been its heavy battery use, but since I switched to 2,000 mAmp Monster batteries, this has become much less of an issue. I append my original review below:
**************************************************************** This is about my 12th digital camera, and in general each one gets better in several ways as the technology expands. This one takes the place of a Sony P72 which I bought for about the same amount of money 8 months ago. However, the Minolta brings several higher end features to the table, including a 4 megapixel resolution (great clarity in poster-sized enlargements possible) and a true, 4X optical zoom, which was my main reason for upgrading. However, the icing on the cake, it turns out, is the 414's faster CPU, allowing it to wake up quickly and to write and recover faster btwn shots. In fact, it is so quick that it allows for continuous shooting of digital stills at 0.8 second intervals until either the battery is exhausted or the memory card is full. Likewise, it takes fairly good quality video *with* sound, as well as allowing for voice over of still images. The controls are logical, intuitive and clearly marked, the thru-the-lens framing is bright and easy to use, and playback on the 1.8" LCD is clear even in bright haze. Even the synthesized camera-like sound effects are good; they are a pleasing means of non-visual feedback to the user. Of course, it's a camera, so the quality of the photographs is what really counts, and here I can say the Minolta optics are superb, easily trouncing the Sony & Olympus cams I've been using of late. Battery life has not been an issue for me, weight and balance are okay, and even the non-integral (but tethered) lens cap hasn't bothered me. It does, of course, need a much larger memory card right away; with a 256MB CF card I'm getting about 120 shots at the highest resolution.
In short, this is an amazing camera at a very good price.

I cannot begin to tell you how impressed everyone was with the pictures I took with this camera. Many have seen digital... but this is something else. And for under [money]? 4MP images, 4X OPTICAL Zoom -- you won't find that in a Canon for under [money]. Even better -- standard AA batteries so you'll never have to worry about your battery pack being depleted with no options or having your batteries become irreplaceable after a few years. IT takes video too and the 320 x 240 videos are usable, cute, and a nice additional feature. The ease of use is excellent. And best of all the vivid quality of the images combined with the sharpness left me impressed. I didn't need to refer to the manual during first use to get started. Very simple. Need to read to understand all the features.

UPDATE:

Most of the few bad reviews that drag down the rating of this camera are due to the common misperception that using regular AA batteries is the norm. READ THE MANUAL PEOPLE! ALL cameras are the same in this regard and everyone will tell you to BUY RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. Yes, they make a HUGE difference. I have a set of 1850mAh which will easily last me 125+ shots with the LCD on, reviewing the photos, etc. What is great is that this camera CAN use standard AAs if you are in a jam, one of its greatest assets. The picture quality is superb for the most part. Like all other cameras, autofocus is not perfect but it is very good and many of the pictures have just overwhelmed people who see my work. There are numerous other features that this camera offers and for 4 megapixels, the options and the price, this camera is a total steal. It feels good to grip in the hand. For some this camera might be a tad large and slightly heavier but you get quality photos which is the bottom line. Get a tiny camera you'll get much lower battery life and picture quality. Make your decision regarding the trade off. Having seen the pictures from this camera I would easily have paid more.

I have owned two other digital cameras, this was to be a replacement for a dead 3.2MP Casio QV300EX. I am a point-and-shooter primarily, but like to have the controls when I feel creative. If all you want is an auto setting camera, you can do much worse. However, if you are at all interested in manual control, look elsewhere!

The bad:
1. Only two aperature settings
2. Lens does NOT zoom when in Macro mode
3. In manual mode, the LCD does NOT display the focus. The user is expected to view the focus as a number displayed on the LCD, i.e. 0.6m, etc. This makes it impossible to get the correct focus in manual mode.
4. Has problems in low light getting a good focus. My test photos were blury in evening light, the kind of light that makes for some of the best photos. This is probably due to the relatively slow lens.
5. Lacks shutter priority mode. Come on!
6. Battery door seems fragile and is hard to close. The tabs that lock it into place seem to be stuck when sliding the door, I'm afraid over time they would break.
7. Too easily turned-on while in the pocket/bag.

The good:
1. Solid metal case
2. Turns on quickly
3. Good battery life
4. Good feel in the hands

The S414 is an excellent choice if you are looking for an all-around awesome camera. A very good fried of mine has the S404 and loves it. I consider myself an advanced photographer that has been fighting off the digital craze. Until now 35mm is had been dear to me but the instant gratification of digital is amazing. I am very happy with the manual settings that let me be creative. The auto setting also takes very good pictures. My 10 year old daughter has no problems in taking nice shots. I would recommend NiMh batteries and at least a 128 meg CF card. I purchased a 256 meg card and at medium setting the card will hold over 400 images. At this price with all the features...well I am very happy!!!

This camera taught me so much about digital photography! I researched features, prices, accessories and customer satisfaction for just about every camera this size (4 MP) and without ever physically holding the camera, purchased the Minolta DiMAGE S414 from Amazon. The first hard lesson I learned was that this camera barely functions without Monster's Ultra-High Capacity batteries (2000 mAh). Invest the extra fifty bucks for a set of four rechargeable Monsters and the rapid charger and you will be so glad you did. I upgraded to a 256MB CF card for seventy bucks and will never fill the thing to its capacity, even on a week-long vacation. My husband is a novice to digital photography, but took to the DiMAGE like a fish to water and is so pleased with the ease-of-use and quality of it. The photos are spectacular. We have logged such events as our daughter's first ballet recital, our annual beach vacation, and even 4th of July fireworks with most pleasing results. We will be taking a trip to the Caribbean in October and while I am hesitant to travel with my new toy, I would be foolish not to take it along. The colors are crisp, the details *amazing*, and if you take the time to read the short manual and research the features before using the camera, you will be in love with the DiMAGE. The camera itself is chunky and professional looking, easy to hold and even take one-handed photos if necessary. The "movie with sound" feature is cute, although the files are typically too large for email to the grandparents. I use my DiMAGE in combination with HP's Photosmart 7350, which I found at Staples (refurbished) for under a hundred bucks, and found that HP's printer software compliments the package nicely with automatic photo reduction for email, super easy red-eye removal and very professional quality photos on any type of photo paper (the 4x6's are amazing.) I have read every review posted about this model camera and with enough detailed research, you can resolve most problems. Probably not a good camera for the electronically challenged. I recommend this camera without hesitation.

I bought 3 sets of panasonic rechargeable batteries (1950 mA) from the local warehouse store and they lasted most of a day. They are an affordable alternative to the monster rechargeable batteries mentioned in other reviews and it seems that 2 sets would have been enough. I bought a 256mb compact flash card and a sandisk usb card reader. For all of you new to digital photography (like I am), the camera is pretty much useless until you have purchased all of these.

I can say that the camera compares well to my Canon Z135 35mm. For a digital camera, it is a bit on the large and heavy side, but I'm ok with that.

I've found the 60 seconds of movie quite useful (in daytime outdoors and bright light only) especially when I saw dolphins in the ocean. I couldn't get a still shot because I never knew when the dolphins would go above water, so at least I was able to get a clip.

Also, I was unable to get a shot in medium light (indoor pool) conditions, (using the flash, the subject was fine, but the background wasn't, without the flash, the background was good, but the subject wasn't, using the fill flash was slightly better) but I'm not sure my Canon would have got the picture any better.

I've found the camera to do very well, for indoor portraits and outdoor (bright sun) landscapes.

I'm not happy with the date stamp feature, because it removes part of the picture (maybe there is a setting to change the way it puts the date stamp?)

I also don't like the way it does red eye reduction. It does 3 flashes, and the third is when the picture is actually taken, but after the first (no matter how many times you tell them) the subject believes that the shot was taken and stops posing.

Digital photography is great for beginners because you can immediately see what you are doing wrong and correct it.

Love this camera, and the pictures come out great on our Canon S-820 with glossy 4x6 paper.

Two complaints:
1. Delay between pressing the button all the way down (after pushing half-way for AF) and the actual snapshot can be slow at times, and makes quick snaps harder. Maybe I'll try more manual mode shooting to solve this...

2. Battery muncher. I keep two sets of 4 AA 1800+ mA batteries handy since it chews through them quickly. I'm not sure if using the LCD less would make a big improvement, but that's my next test.

Overall, easy to use, lots of manual features for the more serious photo jock, and a great bargain for a quality DC.

I have this camera for 2 weeks now and really enjoyed using it. Although it seems no different than s404 at first, you can later notice that it considerably uses less battery. However I would still recommend to buy Monster Cable 2000mAh rechargeables with this baby. I have 256MB Lexar 12x and its reader, I feel like owning a photo studio. Super stuff...

Now I have this camera for about 6 month. It was a gift for my wife since I preferred camcorders. But lately my camcorder stays at home while I'm looking around with this camera for the perfect motive. After about 5.000 shots I rate this product as follows:
Pro
* uses AA: You get `em everywhere and the rechargeable NiMH are inexpensive. ( No hidden cost in sometimes very spendy special batteries other manufactures use).
* the same about the Compact Flash Card. Here you get the best bang (MB)for the buck among all Flash Memory. (Go and compare XD or Sony Memory stick...).
* 4x optical is no standard in this price class
* solid metal body
* fast internal memory enables this camera to take 5-7 consecutive shots - very fast. After that it takes about 20 sec. until the camera is ready to shoot again.
* has Aperture priority, Shutter prior., and Manual. Manual conrols Shutter, Aperture, ISO, and you can focus if you want. Maybe I should mention this under Cons, but I mainly use the Manual mode since I feel that the Automatic mode often doesn't get the right setting.
* good Macro, gets you up to about 6inches from the object. I came to realize that getting close the autofocus is often inaccurate and so I swithc to manual focusing.
* with 4 Mb you can magnify and still keep impressiv detail.
* I love the LCD not only for "what you see is what you get" but also for it very helpfull impression how the exposure of the picture will look like.
* I used to have a SLR and couldn't shoot slower than 1/60 in my hand. With this one I was able to get very nice 1/15 out of my hand.
* produces clear and lively colors - I prefer the Vivid color mode.

Cons:
* The camera turns itself on when you push it into the bag. I learned to avoid this problem by pushing it into the bag with the wider side of the camera (battery compartment) first. That way the mode wheel will be turned towards the OFF position, and ON when you pull it out of the bag which isn't really a problem.
Unless you don't use this trick you will turn the camera accidently ON while it is in the bag. The camera tries to extract the lenses and it hangs up. To get it running again you have to open the battery compartment which will reset the camera.
* when I download the pictures on my PC (XP) I'm using the standard picture watching tool in the explorer. This tool gives you the option to turn pictures vertically. This will erase the information about how the picture was taken in the software that came with this camera, the DimageViewer. Very often the Dimage Viewer hangs up when I try to open a folder, with pictures turned vertically. This problem occured on all 3 of my PCs. Migth as well be a problem of XP, but just that you know what might affect your Dimager Viewer.
* The focusing in dim light condition is horrible. The LCD doesn't let you know that the picture is blurry, until you find out later on the PC monitor. Manual focusing helps it.
* battery drains in about 1 h, with LCD and permanent autofocus on.
* a little bit more clumsy compared to other models.
* no possibility to adjust flash / no chance to use flash in closeups, beyond 8 feet it becomes useless. I`m using my fingers in front of the flash light to adjust intensity.
* the door from the battery compartment looks somewhat shaky to me but the overall impression is that you have a piece of quality in your hand.

A nice Point and Shoot camera. Exceptional value for the money. You will be glad you made this decision.