Customer Reviews

Minolta Dimage 7Hi 5.2MP Digital Camera w/ 7x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been using a variety of 35mm SLR cameras for more than three decades and I place great importance on the feel of the camera in my hand. I approached my recent purchase of a 5MP camera with some early leaning towards Nikon since I've worked with two of their CoolPix cameras. I tried to do my homework on the web and am aware of most +'s and -'s.

The hands-on experience sold me on the Minolta 7Hi. I love the fact that there is manual control, on the lens, of the zoom. I love the fact that the camera permits "DMF" or direct manual focus, which allows you to take advantage of a fast autofocus system that feels much faster than the Nikon (35mm or CoolPix), and THEN to tweak it manually with a ring on the lens. I love the fact that the LCD switches off whenever you put the camera up to your eye to use the electronic viewfinder (EVF).

About four weeks of shooting in Islamorada, Miami, and New York have only strengthened the love affair. This is one great camera. The images, both on screen and printed are gorgeous. I don't print at >=11X14 and the noise is so much better (to my eye) than my earlier digital cameras that I can not say it is a problem. The 12bit A/D and the 64MB RAM buffer in the camera are really nice additions that I think are not found in the other two 5MP choices. The UHS (ultra high speed) mode is incredible.....we're going to use that in my research laboratory in ways that I hadn't even imagined at the time I chose the camera (thanks to an adaptor from Brunel Microscopes in UK) . Finally, I think they designed the menus in a very easy to learn way. Nikon menus (880, 990, 995) always seemed a bit impenetrable to me. But, I move through all the 7Hi menus all the time and had little difficulty keeping straight how to do what where. This is a real credit to those who designed the user interface.

I've added a spare set of 4 AA 1850mAh batteries and (now that each set has been cycled 3-4 times) this will be more than enough for many hundreds of 5MP shots. I also sprang for a 49mm UV filter, a couple of high speed 256MB CF cards and am considering a firewire CF card reader. Otherwise, the bundle is complete.

My single most significant gripe is that the Minolta software crashes all the time under Mac OS X 10.2. The current Mac version is useless, while the Windows version seems OK. But, this isn't the camera's fault, presumably is something that Minolta will fix soon, and really only limits your use of RAW images. Photoshop, Canvas, or iPhoto all work fine.

This is a real camera that just happens to store the images digitally rather than on film. I'd say this camera finally delivers on the digital promise.

I spent several months researching the high end amateur digital cameras, looking for (and hoping to find) the ideal camera to pursuade me to give up film photography. I had a very demanding set of criteria: great lens, at least 5 MP, at least 7X optical zoom, lots of photographic control, Compact Flash and IBM microdrive compatible, non-proprietary rechargeable batteries, and it had to feel really good in my hands. To my surprize, such a camera does exist - the Minolta Dimage 7Hi. I tried it out at a local store, and was so impressed I immediately ordered it from Amazon.com. Now, over 4,000 pictures later, I'm absolutely thrilled. This is one awesome camera, that takes incredible pictures. Every feature works like clockwork, and the photo control is terrific. It's solid and even looks great. I've compared my pictures to those of a few friends using Canon and Nikon high-end digicams, and the 7Hi results are as good or better. I'm a very picky person who's been into photography and darkroom work for over 30 years, and I I've not shot a picture using film since I bought my DImage 7Hi - it's just too good and too much fun.
If you want a great digicam, that produces photos that rival the best you've taken with film, this camera won't disappoint.

I've been a serious amateur photographer for at least 50 years. This is my 3rd digital camera. It was difficult deciding between the Nikon 5700 and the Minolta 7Hi. The 28mm capability of the zoom lens plus all the other features made me go for the Minolta.

I've not been disappointed. The lens is absolutely pin sharp. The Auto focus (a problem with all the Nikon coolpix cameras) is right on for 99.9% of my exposures. And it focuses quickly.

If this camera has a weak point....it is the hot shoe which is a propriatory one which can be used only with Minolta external flash units. It is a dirty trick that Minolta played and their flash units cost a fortune. Hopefully Vivitar will come along with a compatible flash unit for the 7Hi.

I've never been able to observe the so-called noise that some reviewers have objected to in the images. Low light level images turn out beautifully.

I've tried all the color profile settings while playing around with the various profiles with my HP printer. I've finally returned to the Normal sRGB setting even though it has a smaller gamut than the Adobe RGB profile. I seem to realize better compatibility with my printer when I use the sRGB setting.

Images made with the camera then blown up to 8 X 10 on matte surface paper have an almost 3 dimensional quality. Beautiful, rich colors, so sharp it's almost too good to be true.

This is the sharpest lens and best camera I've ever owned in my life and I'm 67 years old. AND, guess what? The local Micro Center store had a 20% off sale on all digital cameras so I was able to get my 7Hi at a reasonable price from a local dealer without having to fight with high pressure salesmen on the phone.

This one is a real keeper.

Feature-packed but easy to use. For the quickshot, just remove the lens cap, turn the control dial from "off" to "record", turn the zoom ring on the lens while composing, press the shutter release part way to focus and meter then all the way down to take the picture. About one second later you can take another one. Buttons and dials are very intuitive. While composing and enjoying the full information viewfinder you can roll the function wheel, located just behind the shutter button, to change the f/stop-shutter combination. The autofocus draws a red box around the object focused on. If by chance the autofocus selected the wrong object, just turn the focus override ring on the lens until the correct object is in focus. The auto and manual focus are both very fast, accurate, and work great in low light. The viewfinder autoswitches to black and white in extreme low light to make autofocusing easier. For great skin tones, press the mode button to select portrait. For continuous focusing and high shutter speed press it again for action. Again for scenery, nightshots, or document photo. Button on side toggles between manual and auto focus. Function dial in combination with function wheel allows you to scroll through any combination of compensations for color, contrast, brightness, ISO equivalent (100-800), burst frame speed (up to 7fps), exposure control (program, aperture, shutter, or manual), and metering mode. This same dial is used to control what type of bracketing you want to do in burst mode. For normal pictures, you can leave everything in automatic. For unusual situations you can apply manual override. Built-in flash casts a soft light on the subject rather than the harsh light by some point-and-shoots. If you want super flash power using your old manual flash rather than buying a compatible new automatic shoe-mounted external flash, you can attach any pc-cord type external flash and set the exposure to manual. Press the info and function buttons at same time to see a much brighter viewfinder when manually controlling exposure. There is also a button that quickly resets your controls to programmed automatic in case you don't want to individually return the controls to automatic. I chose over the Nikon Coolpix 5700 because in-store model 5700 did not focus very fast, 7Hi uses standard filters (49mm) without adapters, 7Hi 28mm equivalent wide angle gets more people in the picture, the 7Hi 200mm equivalent telephoto matched anything I ever needed in my SLR film camera, 7Hi has dual range macro allowing me to focus at the telephoto setting so I get the shot without casting shadows on the tiny subject, and the 7Hi uses standard AA batteries. The battery charge life is a bit short but I do not believe I would swap any feature it has for longer battery life. I simply carry at least two spare sets of batteries and the charger on my outings. Under moderate use I get about two hours of use per charge. Drops to just over an hour for heavier use. Recharge time is 4 hours. To me the functionality and results are well worth the slight battery inconvenience. The 2560x1920 resolution makes great photos.

This is my fourth digital Camera and my second DiMage camera, I had the DiMage 7 when they first came out for couple of years, then I upgraded to DiMage 7HI about 3 months ago. This is a great camera, the most annoying thing about a digital Camera is you have to wait to take the next photo, but DiMage 7HI has 64mb of internal memory that allows you to do continous shooting, another point it uses AA batteries, I bought 2 additional sets of 1850 MAH rechargable batteries, $20!!, in addition to one set that came with it, I never run out of power compare that to the proprietry battries from SONY!. Compact Flash CF media is very affordable, I use an IBM 1GB microdrive with this camera, it makes a great combination. Just realize that IBM microdrive has much faster write speed than regualar CF cards that also help speed up your recycle time between shots. You can also use a new hard drive called Magicstor 2.2GB for $250, I take this camera on vacation for a week, come home with 400 shots of the highest quality!. Auto focus is %99 accurate. 7x optical zoom, fantastic quality. Auto or manual focus, why do you need manual focus?, let's say you want to take a photo of a shiny item, like a diamond or water falls, autofocus will not work with any camera, you have to switch to manual to get the correct shot.

The best batteries for this power-hungry camera are probably the Maha Powerex 1800's. The Sanyo rechargables that shipped with my 7Hi are almost useless. One flash picture and they're gone.

Two or three sets and a charger and you'll be able to shoot through the heaviest holidays. I took 91 pictures during christmas and didn't have to change batteries once!

My friends continually praise my 7Hi's quality (as if the photographer had nothing to do with the results!!!)

Get in line for a 7Hi, and you'll be rewarded with great photos for years to come.

When John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, he took a Minolta with him. Forty years later, the quality and ergonomics are still there.

When you're looking for a 5MP camera, there are really just two items for the non-pro to consider: this one, and the Nikon Coolpix 5700. I was a Coolpix nut before I moved up to 5MP, but this camera won out, for two reasons: the manual zoom and the processor.

Even on the highest-quality setting -- one that will produce a picture of 20 by 25 inches with great resolution -- this camera will take three pictures per second. Think about your toddler son blowing out candles on his birthday cake or your grown-up daughter throwing a bouquet at her wedding and you'll want this camera.

The manual zoom is much quicker, and quicker-responding, than the motorized zoom of the Nikon. When you looking for the-right-shot, this is a heckuva boon. I want a nimble camera, and this is it.

As this isn't a perfect world, there is a caveat. To get full use of this powerful tool, you'll have to buy some more: Photoshop 7.01 AND the Adobe RAW plug-in. Once you've shelled out the shekels for those, though, you've got a picture-producing system that is just about idiot-proof. With the software you can screw up everything except the focus -- the exposure, the white balance, the lot. The RAW plug-in lets you use the raw (sorry) data from the camera and overcome bad color and bad exposure.

I have had this camera for two months and I've taken about 600 pictures. Yes, I've saved only perhaps 150 of them, but that's why we use digital! All of those I have saved are near-enough to professional to satisfy me. Now, if only I can get a fire-wire card reader ...

A last note: I bought this camera in Hong Kong, for rather less than what it seems to cost in the U.S. so you might want to look around for sale prices.

I've been involved with photography for nearly 50 years, and recently went digital. WOW!!! I'm having more fun with the 7Hi than I've had in years. This camera is capable of doing far, far more than I had any idea was possible. I'm still trying to figure out what all I can do with this camera. The quality of the image on "very fine" mode is unbelievable. Between the 7Hi and my new Photoshop Elements 2.0 I'm finding how much fun it is to have a darkroom on my desktop. The instruction manual is not the easiest thing to use, however; and don't bother with the Dimage Viewer - go straight to Photoshop.
This is no camera for for the point and shoot folks. Aside from the price, this piece requires a bit of photo knowledge to get where you're going. You can set it up to point and shoot, but there are many better options for that at much lower price.
Overall I believe the results achieved by the 7Hi are limited only by the abilities of the photographer.

I've read all the reviews on this camera, and it is all that people say it is. It has a great feel, and is packed with a ton of fantastic Prosumer features.

In all the reviews I have read there is one flaw that seems to appear frequently, .....faulty USB connector.

I received my camera, I immediately read the manuals, installed the software, and started shooting (I love the artificial shutter sound). I went to transfer the pictures to my PC (Windoze XP on a P4)... and guess what... It couldn't find the camera.

I reread the software and camera manuals 2 times. There are no soft or hard switches to enable the USB port. I set the camera to all possible modes (including transfer) no luck. I tried another USB port, another USB cable, I upgraded the DImage Software, I upgraded the camera's firmware, I tried the cable with my 3030 it worked on all USB ports, I read the flash card through a card reader ...the DImage software found the card and transferred the pictures.

The USP Port is broken, faulty, flawed, kaput.

Back it goes..

Repackaged..

Dropped at UPS for return to the merchant... (Tough choice, back to the merchant or to Minolta for repair! I opted to return it to the merchant to avoid the inevitable frustration of proving to the manufacturer that the camera is actually broken, and I'm not retarded... i.e. "Try this" "Try that" we'll send you new software yada yada yada)

Wait 15 days while the wheels of the dot com bureaucracy crank out a replacement camera. (the only bad thing about buying online is returns)

If you buy this camera TEST THE USB PORT IMMEDIATELY! I've read of too many USB failures from too many consumer reviews for this to be a coincidence. I think Minolta isn't adquately testing the camera's USB port during it's QA process.

I love the camera... I'm happy with my selection... I just wish I didn't have to deal with this one minor issue, and all the time it takes to cure it!

P.S. I think my rebate might have gotten hosed in the process.. all the criteria are suddenly not valid (I had to return the camera with the packing slip which was also necessary for the rebate!)

Hope this helps.

This is Digital Camera #4 for me. Started out with a Fuji Finepix 2800 and loved it. Moved to a Fuji Finepix 4900 and loved it. Wanted a small digital camera to carry in a pocket so I bought the Sony P5. I still keep it with me where ever I go. Wanted to to move to a Prosumer type camera and after hours of research I decided on the Minolta Dimage 7Hi. GREAT CAMERA - I had to go back to Photography 101 to remember all the different aspects of photography once I left the fully automatic mode. This camera is nearly professional level, only missing interchangable lens. This camera may be my last digital camera purchase.