Customer Reviews

Konica Minolta Dimage X50 5MP Digital Camera with 2.8x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just purchased this AWESOME ultracompact digital camera from my local camera store. I am by no means a novice to the world of digital photography. I bought my 1st digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 990) over 4 years ago for just under a thousand dollars. While it took great pictures, it was too bulky and a bit too easy to change the settings on the camera. My 2nd digital camera was a SONY Mavica-that one had TERRIBLE photo quality. My 3rd camera was the Canon S50 which is very highly rated butI had 3 problems with it- 1. It was too bulky to toss into my pocket. 2. The toggle switches are a pain to operate (they eliminated them for the S60/70) 3. I was not blown away by the photo quality. To be honest, I think my Nikon Coolpix took better indoor pictures and it only had 3 (vs 5) mega-pixels! I have heard that Nikon utilizes some of the best photo lenses in the industry which result in great-looking pictures. I was thinking about getting the Nikon Coolpix 3200 BUT the shutter speed is way too slow! And it has a cheap, plastic body. Then I read Mossberg's review of the Dimage X50 in the Wall Street Journal and was very intrigued. So, I headed to my local camera store and purchased it (they have a 7 day return/exchange policy). I took a bunch of pictures of my baby both indoors and out, and I was VERY IMPRESSED with the photo quality (for a camera this tiny)*.
UPDATE:
*Some reviewers complained about "noisy" pictures. You have to factor that in when considering a digital camera purchase. If you want pictures with no noise, then you have to use a much bigger camera like the Canon A95 or Sony W1. Also, I don;t recommend buying an ultracompact camera as your primary or sole camera. They are best for taking to parties or tossing them in your bag to capture spontaneous life moments. You shouldn't expect an ultacompact to produce museum quality pictures- it's simply not possible. I truly believe that the XS50 offers one of the best photo quality in the arena of ultracompacts.

Besides the high photo quality, there is A LOT I love about my 4th digital camera. 1st, the price is GREAT esp. when you consider the picture quality, TINY size, and zoom capability. I think it's a STEAL! 2nd, the only thing I disagree with Mossberg is that he didn't think it looked very "sleek". I love the all metal design - aside from the viewfinder, you will not find any cheap plastic parts. Even the A/V out has a tiny metal door that slides up and down. Not to be anti-American made but it's obvious that this was made in Japan. It is also extremely EASY to use-the buttons are very intuitive. I have yet to crack open the manual. It also makes a soothing "ding" sound when the picture is in focus (not at all loud or annoying) so that you are assured a great picture! Even though it is very small, the lay-out is great and NO TOGGLE SWITCHES. And of course, having a 2" LCD monitor is very helpful (and fun). You don't have to squint into a tiny viewfinder! The combined 12x zoom is VERY COOL-it's similsr to a submarine telescope and doesn't protude !

The only thing I'm not crazy about is that it uses a proprietary battery but it's supposed to last for over a 150 pictures and using "AA" batteries would have added too much bulk. Overall,
I am THRILLED with this camera! I finally got (almost) EVERYTHING I was looking for in an ultracompact digital camera- Very Good photo quality, ease of use, tiny size, and a very FAST SHUTTER SPEED at a great price. What more can you want? Well, maybe a bigger memory card :-)

I researched cameras for about 2 months before finally deciding on the DiMage X50. I went to a camera store to check them out and found that the camera I really wanted hasn't been invented yet. (I wanted a large LCD screen (2-2.5 inch), and more than 3X zoom, and all in an ultra compact camera!) It all came down to the Dimage X50 but I also looked at the Casio Exilim EX-Z55 which had a nice 2.5 inch LCD (but you need a dock to connect to a computer), and the Canon SD300. The viewfinder on the Canon was in the middle of the camera and was uncomfortable, as it hit my nose. (and I must say I have a small nose!) The DiMage X50 came the closest to meeting all my needs. I also liked the non protruding zoom lens and the metal cover that protects the lens and also acts to turn the camera on and off.

My criteria was: a small camera I can keep in my purse, large LCD screen, optical viewfinder, fast startup and no/short lag time between pictures, USB connection to computer and connection to TV, movie with sound ability, easy to use, good picture quality, zoom (could be better - although you can zoom in on pictures using photo software).

I am extremely pleased with my purchase. I was very surprised when I took my first pictures in a dark restaurant. The couple sitting across from us came out clear and without red eye!! The camera is very easy to use. I was taking pictures and movies before I even read the instructions, which I eventually did to find out how to use the camera correctly. The pictures indoors as well as outdoors came out great. Downloading them onto the computer was very fast and easy.

I've been keeping the camera in an eyeglass case (men's vertical type) with no problem. It's easy to carry in my purse without worrying that it will be damaged. I did order the Minolta casual case for it and will see which works better when I receive the case.

I can definitely recommend this camera with no hesitation!!

My brother and I both bought this camera (X50). I had only owned one camera before this, a Canon S110, so comparisions will be relative to the S110.

It is very small and light (slightly smaller and lighter than the S110) and it starts up very quickly (much faster than the S110). Daytime picture quality is very good (comparable to the S110 except with higher resolution). Night/dark area pictures are terrible due to the noise (the S110 does better). I expected better since the S110 is a much older camera model.

Like B. Hart's review on May 13, 2005, I also had problems with the LCD screen. Unlike Hart, I did not drop my camera. It just stopped working at one point. After taking a picture outside a castle in Japan, I went into the castle to take more pictures. 5 minutes later in the castle, I slided the lens cover open and the LCD displayed all white. The LCD had become stuck at ultra high brightness. I couldn't see a thing with the LCD (no viewing pictures already taken, etc) and it drained the batteries real fast.

It has been 2 months since I sent it in for repairs as covered by warranty. They said they'll replace the LCD. I also find the repair turn around unacceptable.

Some notes: My S110 has a "Made in Japan" label, whereas my X50 has a "Made in Malaysia" label. My brother's X50, which he bought in Japan, has a "Made in Korea" label. His camera has no problems whatsoever. I had originally assumed my X50 was also made in Japan until it broke. I was looking for the SN and noticed the Malaysia label. I'd definately be more careful next time in checking the made in labels before I buy.

Bought this camera during my trip to St Thomas in the Virgin Islands after my old Panasonic DMC-LC43 got washed down by a wave at the ocean. The main reason I bought it was the design and the super micro mode which lets me take extreme close ups (see my pic of a bee in the images section). Since almost all of my pictures are taken outdoors, the noise in dark pictures is not a factor; when I do take dark shots, I set the ISO to 50 and that gets rid of nearly all noise.

Pros:
-Sleek and small design
-Great for close-ups
-Customizable sounds (menu clicks, shutter, focus)
-Slideshow function
-WEBCAM function with decent quality video
-Good quality video recording for the full card capacity
-Good battery life
-Lots of modes (sunset, landscape, portrait, etc)
-Very quick start-up time
...more

Cons:
-Slight noise in dark pictures at auto ISO
-The internal zoom lens is a little loud and sometimes gets stuck for a split second in the middle of the 'zooming' (while the button is pressed). This started about a week after I bought it. Works but sounds as if it's about to break every time it reaches the max/min zoom point.
-Battery door is a lil wobbly.

Got it for $300 at the duty-free store + an extra battery and case at a discount, so I consider it a great cam for the money. Overall 9/10.

This is one cool camera...it has all the buzzwords and is -physically - a dream. I wish I had known that the images would not quite be up to snuff. Before you disregard my post as flamebait or trolling by a camera snob, let me say that my last digital camera - which has very good image quality - was a $199 Fuji Finepix 1.3MP bought 4 years ago.

The images are quite noisy in low contrast areas, especially in indoor lighting conditions. The only way to mitigate the problem is to manually set the ISO to its lowest value - 50 - which will cause a lot of flash work on a camera with an f/5 telephoto lens. At the lowest setting, however, the pictures seem very nice. Although this workaround does allow it to produce acceptable images, you'll need to be more interested in the "coolness" of this super-mini camera to feel that its worth $350.

I have a post over at steve's digicams forums which shows the noise problem. Just in case Amazon checks for links, you'll have to cut and paste this link into your browser:

(...)

I put some time into finding a good digital camera. Many people I meet at parties and social events pay a lot for bad quality name brand cameras that boast portability and style (ie, sony, canon's sd series), and I checked out most of these ultracompact cameras suggested to me. Most of them to be honest (maybe with the exception of the canon sd300) just didn't do it for me. I finally came across the dimage x50. This camera is UNDERRATED; the image quality is excellent, it has the flexibility to become a point-and-shoot camera or a manually adjustable camera, the color saturation is the best I've seen from cameras this small, and you can also have the option of recording captions to remind yourself why you took the picture or what it's about.

I was looking at the canon sd300 and sony t1, very small cameras with power and many features, and I guess the deciding factor for me in going with the Dimage was that 1) its lens is non-protruding, unlike the Canon series. I've worked in electronic stores, and trust me--cameras frequently come in because the zoom lens won't function. 2) I think the overall quality is the best, not just due to higher MP, but just because the camera distinguishes colors a lot better than most other cameras and the final product (sans red-eye, blur--unlike the sony) is perfect.

Finally, this camera has a cheaper price compared to other cameras in its class.
Hope this review is helpful.

I purchased the X50 and have been happy with it for the most part save its video mode which is sub par. However, I dropped the camera and even though there was no visible damage to the body the LCD screen was damaged internally with an odd shaped section of about half the pixels blank.

I sent the camera in to Minolta warranty repair and it seems that to repair it they had to order a new LCD screen component from Japan. I've now been waiting 5 weeks (not including shipping time) for my camera. I find it totally unacceptable that the repair turn around is so slow. This is a current model with probably hundreds of thousands being shipped so why can't they have spare parts on hand in the US. Bottom line likely is that warranty repair is not profitable and therefor low priority.

I now have Sony F717, Sony P8, and this Dimage X50. Overall speaking, it is superior to Sony P8 in terms of image sharpness, design, weight and LCD size. However, I found that the LCD display is not as good as that of sony's. Sometimes the display of LCD will simply blur and you cannot see what is going on there esp. when you zoom in or zoom out. Another problem with it is that the LCD is sort of fragile and tends to be easily broken (I wish that is only my guess). Since nothing is perfect, you have to ask yourself what is the most significant factor that you are looking for in any kinda Digital Cameras. For me, of course, it is the image quality and portability. Hence, the Ultra compact minolta X50 is a must keep for me. I have done a lot of research before I made this purchase, all the candidates I once looked at were Sony T-1, Canon SD300, Casio ex-x55. After a elaborate comparison and field test, I prefer this x50 for its best performance in image capture and also for its elegant design. Hope this is helpful for you.

Just got my X50 today and I can't put it down. I wasn't sure if I needed 5MP, but this is selling for cheaper than Minolta's older 3MP x-series cameras, so I thought I might as well go for 5MP.

PROS: - Real thin, < 1 inch - fast power-on < 1 second - 2-inch LCD screen is sweet - above-expectation image quality - 5MP in a small body - 3x optical zoom - optical viewfinder (great for stabilizing your shots) - stylish - rechargable battery - looks and feels good - uses SD - 5MP at a good price

CONS: - prop battery format

As a loyal customer of Minolta, I purchased the x50 with confidence. While the camera has some of the high-quality expectations and features of a Minolta, as previous customers have noted, the casing and the battery cover are extremely flimsy and not the expected Minolta quality. After using the camera only 6 months, the LCD screen displayed a red line and then days later multiple colored lines, rendering the screen useless. After not receiving contact from the repair center for over a month, I contacted them. Their response was the infamous "impact damage" which was not covered by the warranty and the repair cost was their infamous $148. I talked with numerous customer (dis)service representatives and managers in an effort to determine how impact damage can happen during just normal usage. They said that "if you carry your camera in your pocket and get even a slight bump that can cause impact damage". Seems like a flimsy excuse for a flimsy camera!