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Minolta Dimage G500 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Minolta Dimage G500 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $599.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Super
Review: Beautiful, compact camera by Minolta, recently purchased at Amazon.com
I'm very happy with the purchase. This is my first digital camera, and I've never thought it's going to be so easy to use and operate.

Pros:
Great picture quality, good battery life, good value for your money.
Can't bid the $30 credit, when you pay with the new Amazon credit card.

Cons:
Not enough of the memory. You'll be needed to add more memory at some point.
Plus, you definitely should buy a carrying case.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great little camera
Review: Got this camera as a result of the reviews on here. As a summary of what most of them seem to say. It's great, battery life is good, picture quality is spot on. I've even used both memory formats though I didn't think I would. The two problems that seem to have been noticed by other people is red-eye and the amount of time it takes to take a photo. Though I have had red-eye in photos it's never been a problem really and I've never really seen a camera that didn't have red-eye of some sort. As for time taken between shots, I've compared it to a 3MP camera and it was faster, it's slower than my previous camera but that was only 1.4MP which I think has something to do with it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Camera but Amazon over charge
Review: Guys:

I just bought it from Amazon think that they should have better price but find out that Newegg's price much better with free shipping also. Hope Amazon will drop their price soon.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I wish I could give it 6 stars
Review: I am happier with this product than I've ever been with anything I've ever purchased. I am the sort of person who is critical of everything, but the features and performance of this thing blows me away.

...

The pictures are great, even in low light when you don't expect them to be good.

There are several different picture resolutions
2592 x 1944 which is 5 million pixels
2048 x 1536

1600 x 1200
640 x 480

then you can change the JPEG compression if you want from normal to fine. On the top settings a picture will be 1.8 Megabytes. The camera will only hold 6 of these until you dump them on your hard drive. On the lowest setting (640 x 480) the camera will hold 132 pictures.

This is with the 16 Megabyte SD memory card that comes with it. It also has a slot for a memory stick. It can use both at the same time. I'm purchasing a 256 megabyte memory stick (...) which will allow me to take over 100 high resolution pictures without downloading them onto my computer.

Don't bother with a memory stick reader unless you plan to take over 200 high resolution pictures at a time (or 4000 low resolution snapshots). Moving pictures from the camera to the computer is as easy as pluging it in to your USB port (you may not have one if your computer is over 3 years old). On both PC's and Macintoshes, its icon appears and it works like a hard drive. You just pull the folder full of pictures onto your computer's hard drive. Then you can erase them from the camera and start shooting again.

The battery charges in about 2 1/2 hours. I bought an extra one ... (look on pricegrabber .com).

It takes a respectable 30 second movie. It has a built in Microphone for this purpose. When you play the movie back on its built in LCD screen, the sound plays through a tiny built in speaker. I discovered today that you can record a sound memo to each picture (like "this is a picture of the Grand Canyon" or whatever). Could be very useful at the zoo.

The outer case is aluminum. It turns off and on by sliding open the front.

Some people complain that the 4-way button on the back is too small. I have no problems with it at all.

size 3 3/4 inches wide
2 3/6 inches tall
1 3/8 inches deep
So it's a bit larger than a pack of cigarettes.

For them to be able to pack all this into such a small box is incredibly impressive.

Now there are some things that I would like then to include.
A hard sided case, so I could toss it in my back seat or pack it without worrying
about it.
A larger memory card, or a coupon so I could buy one through Minolta for a lot
less than I paid.
An extra battery, or a coupon so I could buy one through Minolta for a lot
less than I paid would also have been great.
And while I'm dreaming, I'd also like them to give it to me for free.

I've owned it for about a week, so I cannot comment on durability.

No I don't work for Minolta, I just love this little camera.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All you expect from a small digital camera
Review: I am using this 5 megapixel camera for about 1 week. My thorough research of review sites (the best is http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/advanced-digital-cameras-ratings.html) convinced me that I should go with DiMAGE G500 and I was not disappointed. Everything seems to work very well: the pictures are sharp in various conditions, color rendition is accurate (although somewhat on the cool side; try to play with white balance), it is easy to use and the resolution is great. On the latter aspect, follow Minolta instructions in the manual and you will be pleased with the results. The biggest file size is about 1.5 MB, which is quite all right with modern computers. Awesome sharpness, depth of focus and detail! Red eye for me is always a huge problem since my pupils are naturally dilated. However, at point blank range the flash with red eye reduction produces very nice pictures with only a slight red visible. The pictures are best viewed in QuickTime viewer; Photoshop darkens them a lot. However, simply tweak brightness and contrast and it will be OK. Did not have a chance to try the supplied DiMAGE viewer software. The learning curve is short when you print the 127-page manual (only supplied as pdf. file; customer service also a problem) as it has all you need and provides nice recommendations. When buying more memory, consult Minolta compatibility chart (http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPG_Compatibility/DiMAGEG500). Not all cards are created equal; to avoid problems with bigger memory, use Panasonic or Toshiba SD cards. Do not buy a card reader since the camera connects seamlessly to a USB computer port and all works well. I did not care that much about fingerprints although they are in fact all over the place. Overall, I am very impressed with ease of use, style, size and (!) picture quality and can heartily recommend this little pocket-size gem. Fully equipped, it comes at about 400-450 dollars (I got mine from J&R Music World)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent all around camera
Review: I can't say enough about this camera. I researched a load of models before buying it and have had no regrets. I've used Minolta film cameras for years and the G500 is a great addition for anyone. The 5 megapixels are astounding. I took a quick snapshot of a flower in my wife's garden and it came out looking like it could be on a poster or calendar.

The only feature I wish they had was a better battery meter. The one it comes with isn't precise enough to give you an accurate estime of how much battery time you have remaining. With that said I purchased a 256 meg memory card and can store more images then I know what to do with.

It's also incredibly small but very solid feeling. Yes the metal case gets fingerprints on it but so what? You can easily remove them with a cloth. One issue I have had to adjust to was the lens cover which slides to the right side of the camera and being right handed my fingers tend to cover the lens as it extends from the camera. I would occasionally brush the lens and leave a fingerprint it but I learned to open and avoid leaving smudges.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice small camera, problems with on/off switch
Review: I hae owned this camera for about a year and have taken some great shots with it. It is good basic a point and shoot vacation camera.

What I like:
-Small size and solid construction, except for the on/off switch
-Good quality output/pictures for the most part
-Good battery life and multiple card options (SD and Memory stick, although I only use one)

What I don't like:
-Switch on cover that slides back and forth to both turn off and on as well as protect lense is now broken and renders the camera unusable
-Poor low light capability and performance
-Poor lcd quality and small size
-Poor movie mode that only caputes 320X240 movies
-Menus are confusing and not useful

Would I buy again? I would not buy given what I know about the camera and the other better options out there right now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Isn't this the old KONICA Digital Revio KD-500Z
Review: I have been looking to buy a digital camera for myself, and read the reviews for several cameras. I have narrowed the selection down to Canon s400, s50, sd100, Olympus stylus 400, and the Minolta G500. The Minolta G500 appear to be a great buy comparing to the other brands. However, as I searched the web for info on minolta cameras, I found out that the two companies Konica and Minolta merged last year, and Minolta assumed the brand name for all digital cameras produced by Konica. In comparing the Konica KD-500Z and Minolta G500, I found the two to be almost identical. So I am asking the abvious question here, did Minolta simply repackage the KONICA Digital Revio KD-500Z and marketed it under G500. I also read the review on KONICA Digital Revio KD-500Z, and it came out average. I would appreciated if someone has an answer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excelent even issues are not a real issue
Review: I have read in some of these other reviews about the delay in taking pictures. There seems to be an easy way around this that I have found takes away this one issue in this otherwise nearly perfect product. When you are about to take a picture simply depress the shutter button part way. Do not press it all of the way down so that it takes a picture, just part way. This will prime the camera and you will be able to take a picture instantly when you want.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent small, easy to use camera
Review: I hightly recommend this camera for someone who wants a small, easy to use, fast responding camera. Very solid feel and good quality output. I wanted something small and simple that took good pictures. After going through several other cameras, this is it.


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