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"Excellent 8MP camera for novice or professional" on by abvbynd02
Pros: This is an easy to use camera if you want to just point and shoot, but excels if you are a more serious photographer. The anti-shake feature and EVF are awesome.
Cons: You must take the time to read the manual, or don't complain!
Summary: I have used this cameras for over 6 months. Coming from a strictly 35mm background, I am very imnpressed with the overall performance fo this camera, and the quality of pictures. Printing them (if you wish) is very easy, as is storing them on your computer using the USB cable. In fact you can use the video cables included to display the pictures directly to a TV screen. Overall this is one of the best cameras I've used, and an awesome experience as a first time digital camera user. The anti-shake feature works so well, I got great pictures of whales out in the rough ocean in an 18 person hardbottom raft. I highly recommend this camera for serious photographers and novices alike. One final feature that is excellent is the EVF. It is excellent in regular lighting conditions, but is awesome in low light situations.
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"Very usefull digi cam!" on by Mr. Orchideon
Pros: Stabilization,zoom and sharpness ring,wide angle lense,ergonomics,five user memories,best EVF with auto switch,very good battery life,USB 2.0 connectivity,tele-macro is super !!! and full manual !!!
Cons: Some vignetting, lens shading,lcd does not twist out, no AF asist lamp, softer images (with possibility to make it better in PC)no wirelles remot control
Summary: I would like to use (with kindly permission of Steve some parts of his review on:
http://www.steves digicams.com) while I want to say, or to write the same :
The A2 will offer you everything you need. Of course there are exposure modes of Program (with shift), Aperture and Shutter priority and Manual. Is the scene lighting challenging? You have a choice of Multi-segment, Center weighted or spot metering, along with exposure compensation settings of +/- 2EV including Flash. White balance can be automatically detected, selected from preset sources with seven levels of fine adjustment, or one of three custom settings you can calibrate to the exact lighting conditions. You can adjust contrast, color and saturation with the convenient Digital Effects Control, and those changes are visible on the viewfinder before the image is captured. With such versatile controls, making changes to camera settings could become difficult and tedious, but the A2 allows you to save five sets of camera settings that you can later recall, reducing the chore of camera setup and helping you get it right every time.One of the A2's most impressive features is its zoom lens. Anybody that has used a digicam with a long focal length zoom knows that these lenses really add to the overall "fun factor" of using a camera. Minolta chose a versatile zoom range of 28-200mm for the 7x GT lens, offering a wide field of view for interiors and landscapes while providing enough telephoto magnification to bring your subjects close. It's an excellent set of optics that has been perfectly matched to the camera's imager. The lens is razor sharp from edge to edge, but exhibits a bit of chromatic aberration (purple fringing) at wide angle, a moderate degree of telephoto pin cushioning, and noticeable wide-angle barrel distortion. It's a joy to move the lens continuously through its range using the mechanical zoom ring rather than the buttons that actuate the motor-driven stepped zooms included with most consumer digicams.
While powerful 7x to 8x zoom lenses add versatility to our digicams, the camera manufacturers have been unable to use optical viewfinders with them; it's simply too difficult to couple the viewfinder with the lens over its wide zoom range to provide an accurate viewfinder image. Cameras in this class all use an eye-level Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) in place of a real optical viewfinder with varying degrees of success. With the A2, Minolta has raised the bar for EVF viewfinders; its the closest to the quality of an optical viewfinder of any that I've used. In High Precision mode, the EVF is resolute enough to be used for manual focusing, while its Smooth mode increases the refresh rate to 60fps, eliminating the jumpiness of other EVF's and allowing you to easily pan and follow moving subjects.
As with its predecessor, the A2 is equipped with an "Eye Start" Auto-EVF feature that automatically switches the viewfinder image between the LCD monitor and EVF when the camera is placed at or removed from you eye. When shooting at eye-level, I prefer to use the EVF for composing, and the LCD for reviewing images and navigating the menu system; with auto-EVF enabled, you simply place the camera at or away from your eye, and the A2 switches viewfinders automatically.The EVF can be tilted through a 90-degree range, allowing it to be used at eye or chest-level.The moderate 28mm (35mm equivalent) wide-angle end of the zoom range provides enough field of view to compose shots in cramped quarters. Its builtin, manually-raised flash seems to be more powerful than Minolta's specifications suggest (12.5 feet range). It covers the field of view with the lens at 28mm well, and produces well-exposed portraits. If you are in need of a high-quality digicam capable of being hand-held in conditions of low ambient light, the Minolta DiMAGE A2 is a very cost-effective solution.A2 uses the proprietary NP-400 Lithium Ion battery that Minolta claims will provide power for 280 shots.The Dimage A2 is a pleasure to use. If you're looking for a feature-rich, high-resolution, digicam with an exceptional electronic viewfinder and image stabilization, the Minolta DiMage A2 is worthy of your consideration. -
"Very Nice Camera" on by dennhk
Pros: Santi shake, fast start, great lense, clear images,
Cons: LCD not swivel, lens cap not tethered to camera, ISO 800 has a little noise .
Summary: I like most all of the features about this camera. The images are great and the anti shake works great. I would like to get the larger flash and it can only use Minolta flash units. I have a 1 gig memory, which it needs. For the money it is well worth it and I love the manual telephoto and the quality of the lens. I have used a 35 mm Nikon for many years and this camera comes close in images. The editor rated this camera well.
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"Walks the walk and talks the talk." on
Pros: Packed with features and rock-solid image stabilization make this a great all-around camera. Read the manual. The instructions are among the most complete and understandable I've ever read, though I often don't read the manual. This one is the exceptio
Cons: No doubt, auto-focus is tricky. Make sure you know what you're doing. It's somewhat cheesy that the battery recharger does not double as an AC power source. That will cost you extra. So will the remote control cord (and a memory card). None of the pr
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"Great camera, but fragile" on
Pros: The camera is packed with features normally reserved for an dSLR, but without the extra cash for a true SLR. The interface is easy to learn and use, and the picture quality is great.
Cons: I had a mishap with my camera within a month of purchase (bumped my camera bag against a door frame) and had to return it for a non-warrenty covered CCD replacement (the CCD in the camera was bent by a small external shock). Not only did I have to pay fo
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