Customer Reviews

Minolta Dimage 7 5MP Digital Camera w/ 7x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I like this camera. I'm what I call a professional amateur with lots of cameras. I've been taking pictures for 36 years with several different point and shoot, seven different Nikons, the Hasselblad 500 C/M, and now with a handful of digital. I've used an original Casio (<<1meg), an original Sony Mavica (<1meg), a Kodak DC290 (2.1), the Olympus C2100 (2.1), and now the Minolta Dimage 7 (5.24), which I chose instead of the Olympus E-10 (4meg). The most important thing I've learned is that there is no perfect camera, not even the Hasselblad. Every camera has good and bad things, it's up to the photographer to figure out how best to use each camera for the particular subject matter.

The first thing you need to fix with the Dimage 7 is the power supply. I solved this problem with the QB1+ battery pack and the MDC4 power cord from Quantum I also got the MDC2 power cord so I can use the QB1+ with my Kodak DC290 and Olympus C2100, and in case I get the Olympus E-20 and Nikon 5000 for Christmas. With AA batteries, I usually only got 20 pics. With the QB1+, I don't know how many pics I get because I've shot more than 200, all with flash, with the view set to auto so it's always switching between the screen and view finder, with using the quick view, with switching between capture and review modes, and I still have more that half the charge.

The next thing is a filter for the lens. I put a 49mm B+W skylight filter on, but at wide angles (28-35), the edge of the filter ring shows up on the top left corner of the image. You no longer see it when you get to 50mm and above. One way to fix this problem is to crop that part of the image out in Photoshop. Another way is to not use a filter. That makes me uncomfortable. I'm going to go ahead and use a filter, and when I need the 28-35mm shot, I'll just back up a little more to leave enough room to crop out the filter ring.

The auto focus is slow and not very good, which means high speed actions shots are almost out. Shooting manual at infinity works just fine. One way to put more of the subject at the infinity range is to up the ISO to 400 or 800. That moves where infinity starts. Another trick is to us small apertures, which for this camera is either 6.7 or 8, in combination with the ISO. When I do use the manual focus ring, I use the screen instead of the viewfinder. When I use the auto focus, I always use the spot focus instead of the area focus. One trick I use when I'm taking picture of my buddies playing pool, is to use the spot auto focus, pick out an average distance, get the focus, then switch to manual focus. The Dimage 7 has the ability to range with the auto focus and then remember that range when to switch to manual. I take a handful of shots, re-range using the spot auto focus, switch back go manual, and take another handful of shots. I keep the good ones and delete the bad ones. I do the same thing with high speed action shots. I pick out some average distance, range with spot auto focus, switch to manual, and shot the action as it goes by. If you wait for the auto focus, you'll never get the shot.

For memory, I prefer the Viking 128 meg CF. It holds 60-70 pics at size 2560 and quality Fine, which is where I like to shoot. You can get the 128 at Amazon now for only ... plus a rebate which takes it down to ... It's a great deal and I've never had a bad one. I take five of them with me when I go out, which gives me 300-350 shots per day. Forget about downloading images from the camera. Take the CF out of the camera and use a Zio! reader from Microtech.

The really nice thing about the Dimage 7 is not only the 5.24 meg image, but the 12 bit analog to digital converter. Both of these things combined means that the image has a ton of information for color corrections. I don't know yet what the Olympus E-20 or the Nikon 5000 has for A/D conversion, but if it's not 12 or more bits, I may save my money and not buy either one. The size of the A/D converter is very important and should not be under estimated. With that much information, I can make a very wide range of color corrections when I get the image into Photoshop. Then I send it off to Ofoto.com to get magnificent $4 8x10's. Believe me, I've spent... to ... for an 8x10 at custom photo labs, and I'm very happy with the quality of a digital image on a ... Ofoto.com 8x10. Plus, I don't even have to leave my house to get it.

Bottom line, although the Dimage 7 may not be for everyone, I like it. It won't replace either my Nikon F5 or my Hasselblad 500 C/M, but it does make a very nice addition. I'll keep it, especially now that I have the QB1+ battery pack.

P.S., You can see some of my images at ...

To my mind, a camera should be a tool, not a participant. I love this camera, because it does whatever you tell it to do, and doesn't frustrate you with a lot of "smart" features. I had a 35mm camera once with "autofocus"-- so-called "point-and-shoot," and it drove me crazy, because half the time, it didn't focus on what I actually wanted in the picture.

This camera gives the user total control of light, aperture and zoom. In addition, because there's no film involved, you can shoot day or night without having to worry about the speed of you film. And by the way, it takes great twilight and night pictures!

All the adjustments are two handed, so it's like liquid; you don't have to adjust and check, adjust and check, go back and adjust again, etc. It's a quicker way to what you want.

Now I'll admit that's a personal preference; it's like stick shift vs. automatic-- some people are passionate about one or the other. Some people love point-and-shoot. If you're one, then this probably isn't the camera for you.

The camera has 5 megapixel resolution, which means that you can print poster size reproductions of your shots, or crop tiny portions, enlarge then, and have them look really good. This is a photoshop type of camera, a camera for someone who likes to play with images.

There are a few drawbacks:

It takes almost a minute for the picture to store, so if you want to take photojournalistic shots, like athletes in action, hitting the shutter as fast as you can move your finger, this isn't the right camera.

Also, as with just about any computer tool, you have to buy accessories. It comes with two alkaline batteries, which struck me as strange, because I didn't think that could be sufficient, but I thought "Hey, if the manufacture includes them...." I was right the first time. Fortunately, I already had some NiMH rechargeables, and they last for 60-70 shots. There's an adapter for indoor use as well, although I don't have one. You're going to want to buy an additional memory card too. I got the Viking 128 meg CF, and I like it.

Because of the high resolution, e-mailing or posting images takes a long time, and people who receive them will have a long wait on the download. Of course you can always print the image, and then scan it in, which is what I've done. Believe it or not, the scanned images from this camera actually look better than scanned actual photographs. This is probably because I've played with them, and gotten them to look good on screen before I've printed them. I've also used the highest quality photo-finish paper I could find.

I'm very happy with this camera. A camera is an individual thing, though. Before you buy, think through exactly what you want, and buy the camera that suits you. If you want outdoor nature shots and architectural shots at all times of day and night, portrait shots, and candid shots, and want to print them as album photos, and want to be able to crop, adjust color, and cut and paste, this is a great camera.

My camera decision came down between the Dimage 7 and the Olympus E-10. My former camera was a Fuji MX2900.

I wanted two things in the new camera: SLR design and feel and pixels! I wanted a digicam that can truly replace my film SLR.

The Dimage 7 was a bit more affordable than the E-10 and beat it in nearly every technical spec. What finally sold me was the zoom capability of the D-7, its wider range of shutter speeds, and wide range of manual options.

Shortcomings: Everyone moans about battery consumption and it's warranted. Do not buy this camera unless you also get NiMH rechargeables. Alkalines are good for 15 minutes. In my opinion, the biggest shortcoming of the D-7 is the autofocus speed. I have a toddler who does not like to sit still, and the D-7 simply cannot keep up. I agree with those who say an AC adapter should be included, especially since it is a very hard accessory to find. A minor annoyance that didn't appear in the brochure is that the video function does not collect sound. Not a dealbreaker, but someone out there will want to know.

Bottom line - I think it's a great camera. It takes excellent pictures in any lighting condition, has a great built in flash (red-eye reduction that actually works!), and feels like a real camera. Oh, did I mention that it takes great pictures??

The is an awesome digital camera that often takes photos of better quality than 35mm film cameras.

The 4 things that I can't stand about the camera:

1. Power hog: When using high capacity nickel metal hydride batteries, they only last about 20 to 50 pictures, depending on the resolution that you're using, the autofocus, and the flash. Don't even THINK about using the rear display screen. The power indicator often indicates a low battery when in fact you may have 10 or more shots left. I use 3 sets of batteries!

2. The electronic viewfinder's pixelated resolution makes it difficult to tell whether the subject is in focus.

3. The autofocus can be infuriatingly slow at times, sometimes can't focus, and sometimes tells you that the subject is in focus when it's not (I mostly use the focus by wire focusing ring for manual focus).

4. The neck strap attachment ring on the right side of the camera gets in the way of opening and closing the compact flash door (just annoying).

Don't even think of downloading pics through the supplied USB cable (very slow). I highly reccommend the Zio USB CF reader (transfer rates of ~1MB/S).

Still, it's the highest quality camera for the buck right now.

I bought this camera and returned it in favor of the Canon D30 (a 3.3 MP semi-professional camera with much higher quality images and the ability to swap lenses). The Dimage 7 has plenty of pixels to be sure. But the quality of those pixels is pretty poor. Lots of noise in my shots and the lens caused quite a bit of distortion (keystoning). The battery consumption was also HORRIFIC. Finally, the case design was very poor and cheap feeling. .... This camera was a great let-down.

Got the Dimage 7 a couple weeks ago. It too came with the Quest NiMh batteries and charger. The 1600 mAh batteries last for 150-200 pictures. Thats about the same I get on my Canon Powershot 100 Elph. Be sure to fully charge your NiMh!
Many people get NiMh fast chargers and take the batteries out when the charger say its full. NiMh are difficult to fast charge especially when they are new (am using them for several years). Even the most sophisticated fast chargers will cut off far too soon on new batteries. Make sure you look at the charge time (e.g. 1600mAh(capacity)/500mA(charge current)=~3.2h. So if the charger say it is done after 30min, let them rest for a couple minutes and start charging them again until you reach the total charge time. (Only with empty batteries!)
Just came back from a night shooting trip through Vienna (Austria). I have the most amazing 5M pictures in my pocket (ehm-notebook). It is amazing how clear they are. (tripod, iso 100, 4sec, manual focus, night program, rest automatic)
A good Compact Flash card is worth the investment. Got a 12x speed Lexar 256MB which holds ~100 pictures in full resolution and fine (jpeg) compression. Be carefull with cheap CF cards that are less than 4x speed. Rule of thumb: If the card does not specify the speed - it is slow and so will be your experience when shooting and transfering pictures.
I am using a CF adapater for the notebook instead of the USB cable. Preserves power and is at least 10 times faster in getting the pictures off the card.
Hope this helps! Have fun!

I have two other digital cameras, a point and shoot 1.3 mgpx that I quickly retired, and a Nikon Coolpix 950, which I enjoyed for over a year but was constantly grumbling about its lack of manual control. As my photography hobby became more serious I decided to investigate some of the prosumer cameras, and I heard about Minolta's new camera. I got the Dimage 7 two days ago and I am still marvelling at how much it is like my old film SLR.

Initially I was intimidated by all the dials and buttons, they are literally everywhere! But as I learned the layout, making adjustments to the settings became very intuitive. I realized too that, for every button, I had another way of customizing my shots. I had read online reviews about the zoom lens being stiff, and I agree it is. It is not as nimble as I'd like, but it isn't terrible either. The only other gripes I have are the battery consumption (hello, adapter?) and Minolta's 16mb flash card (didn't anyone at Minolta think that would be totally inadequate for someone needing a 5 mgpx camera?) Otherwise I think the Dimage 7 is great, it shoots dazzling and sharp pics that print perfectly in 8 X 10 and definitely worth the price!

WOW! I am really impressed by this camera. But first, lets talk about the battery "problem". You must read the documentation that comes with the camera. It clearly says that Alkaline batteries are INADEQUATE for this camera! One thing I really loved is the fact that Minolta, realizing the mistake of shipping the camera with only 4 measly alkalines is now including 4 1600 mAh Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (Quest) AND a charger! this certainly helps. I have been taking photos on RAW quality (similar to TIFF - large transfer times, because of the size) on a 1 GB IBM Microdrive (more power consumption), using the camera on auto viewfinder/LCD, and 30-40% of these shots I've used the flash.. and am happy to report that the batteries are good for about 40-50 shots (not bad considering the power requirements of this setup). If you use a CFII card and resort to the LCD only ocasionally, the batteries should last you much more than this between charges.

Now the photo quality -oh , the quality- this is the BEST picture-quality camera around! the lens is superb, no discernible color aberration or distorion, great color balance and reproduction, especially when using RAW, by far my favorite picture format -don't forget to process your images with the Dimage Image viewer utility!- and the zoom is reaaaly helpful (28-200 35mm equivalent); other cameras zoom pale in comparison.

The camera feels solid but light (the magnesium-alloy body can be deceiving, your first impression is that this is plastic, because of the light weight, but no, it is metal)..

The controls are intuitive, and I like to have a more tactile control of the camera, using the dials and not having to navigate through a sea of menus. Somehow, this makes me feel that I am using a "pro" camera and not a digital toy. (Have you ever tried to change a lot of settings while taking pictures on a Coolpix or a Canon? not easy for large fingers such as mine).

The viewfinder? good; not the best solution, since a TTL optical viewfinder would be preferable, but this is the best LCD viewfinder I have seen, and a decent alternative to the main LCD; one advantage is that you can see all of the control information on the viewfinder. Of course, if you want an optical TTL viewfinder you can go for the newest 5 megapixel Olympus, but it will cost you about more!

About the only negative comment I have of this camera is the flimsy plastic covers for the Video out jacks. It doesn't seal tight and sometimes it can crack a little open. Not a show-stopper, though. Also, the plastic cover for the batteries. I hope it proves to be durable, but certainly a metal one would have been much more preferable, especially since you will need to change batteries quite frequently (every 50-70 shots).
This camera feels good in your hand.

In summary, this is the BEST 5 megapixel camera you can buy, but haven't had the chance to evaluate the Olympus E20N. The picture quality is superb, the lens system is excellent and in general, this is a well-designed product. Kudos to minolta for creating such a great product.

This is my first digital camera and I am thrilled. I have been a 35mm hobby photographer for 30 years and feel I will never use film again. You can easily point and shoot with spectacular results. I' ve had mine two months and have only scratched the surface of the possibilities as I learn it's creative features. You MUST "process" each photo on your computer with the included DiMage Image processing software before every picture can be called perfect. The included four alkaline AA batteries died in five minutes, long enough for a counter salesman to verify the basic features are funtioning. I bought a NiMH charger and four sets to four rechargeable NiMH batteries. The include flash is great but I also bought the external flash and two 256MB compact flash cards (...) I feel I got what I paid for. (...) Once I figured out all the possiblities for misunderstanding what does what, I was amazed by the picture quality. I notice details and color differences in pictures that make me go back and look at the original subject a second time. The photos do not lie. I love it.(...)

I'll say it up front, I love the pictures! There is so much data available; you can just keep zooming in and in... Two stars for the picture!

Having said this, I returned this camera after 10 days.

- The first set of lithium batteries quit after less than 5 minutes. I turned the camera on and off maybe 6-8 times to check features and took one picture (!!!) before the camera shut down.

- The second set lasted for 8 pictures. These were the (useless) alkaline batteries included by Minolta. Why did they bother?

- I then purchased two sets of 1800ma NiMH AA batteries. I used these for a little over a week during vacation. And never got over 20 pictures out of these batteries. (I carried the dead camera for most of that vacation.)

This monstrous battery usage made the camera almost unusable.

A few other things to watch out for...

- The auto focus is a little quirky and slow.

- I put the camera on a camera strap and hung it around my neck. The rubber protector of the viewfinder rubbed against my body and fell off on the first day. Also, the odd shape of the camera back was very uncomfortable hung around my neck this way.

- A 16MB card for a 5.2 Megapixel camera? I am surprised the camera itself doesn't laugh when installed. At the highest setting you can only get one picture out of this card! Even at the "Normal" compression setting you will get maybe 12 pictures.

- Very sparse software.
- No AC adapter.

I would recommend passing on this camera unless you have a very long extension cord. Try the Sony 5 Megapixel camera or wait for the Nikon 5000 if you must have one with this many pixels.