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Under 2 Megapixels
Minolta Dimage F100 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Minolta Dimage F100 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $499.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good price, good portability, good pixel count...
Review: I don't know much about digital camers (at least not until i started looking to buy one.) i wanted one that was real easy to carry around, had a high pixel count and was reasonably priced. i almost got a canon s30 or s40, but decided they were too big for me. i also almost got a sony dsc 9, but felt that minolta had a better name in photography. so far, i really dig the camera. it offers me lots of photographic options - black and white is cool, plus you can easily delete pix you don't like. i wanted a good camera for an upcoming trip to costa rica and i think i have it now!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good camera, some minor quirks
Review: I got this as a gift over a year ago. Works great and I'm very happy with it. However, on a few occasions, the lens failed to open and I had to wait a while for it to start working again. As with some digital cameras, the most annoying feature is the slight delay in taking pictures. This is very frustrating when you're trying to capture a baby's actions! The mini movie feature is great and so is the quality of the photos. This is a good camera overall.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I got this camera about two month ago, and it is a perfect choice for "mid-professional" use! It works nice at night, no red eye, noisy pictures... The mechanical parts are also working very smoothly, no engine sounds. I had a DiMAGE X before this, you can not compare the picture quality at all. Battery life is good too, but I'd prefer to have a battery like DiMAGE X and the charger, since you have to pay about $40 for battery and a charger, which are not included in the package. Overall, this is a great choice if you don't are not concerned about getting VERY professional pictures...good luck!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pick another brand
Review: I have had my camera for just over one year and it has developed two major problems in that time and is currently inoperable. It has a problem with the lens not retracting and the camera losing function. (note: this is unrelated to the battery replacement issue outlined in the owner's manual). I sent it in the first time to be repaired and after a few weeks received it back. Then I developed the same problem again and it was just slightly past the year mark and the warranty had expired. I called them up and explained either something is wrong with my particular camera or it is a flaw in the product. They would only say that the base rate for repair was $110 and could go up from there. Konica Minolta was unwilling to do anything else. I would pick a brand 1. with a more reliable product and 2. that stands behind the products they make. This is a pretty camera and has some nice features, but then other brands have the same features and looks without the quality problems.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of money
Review: I have had this camera for one year and what waste of money and time.

The camera is slow to focus, will not focus in low light, and when it is 'focused', it isn't. Also, the auto focus mode tends to focus on the background and I am waving the thing around just to try to get it to focus on my subject. My wife and I have dozens and dozens of lost shots of our daughters (literally) because of this. If it is any consolation, many of the ruined photos were not good because . . . .

The shutter lag is terrible. I know that this is a problem with digitals, but this camera is definitely worse. Even when it is pre-focused (which is difficult to do because of what I said above), there is a lag. Oh yeah, it is not as light sensitive as other cameras, meaing that you will also get to wait for the flash to recharge for most indoor shots. And yes, I know how to set the flash to go 'as needed'.

The flash whites out faces indoors particularly badly.

Anyway, this should do. These are show-stoppers. This camera is terrible. I finally wrote this review after just using a family members Sony DCS-P9 (4MP) camera. I do not know if this camera is the only one that blows the Dimage F100 out of the water, but man, is sure makes this one look like the stinker it is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Minolta vs. Canon
Review: I have owned a Minolta F100 for about 3 months and I've taken about 500 photos with it so I think I have a good feel for its strengths and weaknesses. I also own a Canon S230 digital Elph and I can compare the two cameras.

I bought the Minolta because I wanted higher resolution than the 2 megapixel S230. The F100 takes beautiful photographs and I like the optics better than the Canon. It uses an SD memory card which is a little faster than the CF card in my S230. The SD card is so tiny, the size of a postage stamp, that I am always afraid I will lose one or break it. But the cards weigh nothing and it's easy to take two or three anywhere I take the camera. Three 256MB cards (bought separately) allow me to take several thousand 640X480 sized fine resolution pictures.

Large resolution photographs take several seconds to save to disk so I use that format sparingly. It's nice to know that high resolution is availble when I want it. In normal situations I take photos at the same resolution as the Canon. The Minolta is larger and heavier than the Canon. The Canon easily fits in a shirt pocket and I have it with me all the time. The Minolta is just beyond shirt-pocket size.

The interface on the Minolta is easier to use than the Canon, at least for the most frequently used features like changing image size and/or resolution. The self-timer is inconvenient because it has to be set for every photograph and it takes about 4 "clicks" to set it up. That means moving the camera between shots. The Canon can be placed in continuous self-timer mode.

The Minolta uses AA batteries and I've had no trouble using rechargables. Even though the batteries cause the camera to be larger than the Canon it is nice to know that in a pinch I can use off the shelf batteries in the Minolta. The same can not be said for the Canon as it requires an expensive proprietary battery.

Lastly, the Minolta turns on with a turn of a knob and I find it turns on accidently way too often. Just walking with the Minolta in my cargo pocket can cause it to turn on and when it turns on the lens comes out and makes it difficult to pull from my pocket. It once turned on accidentally in my pocket as I was talking to my wife's boss, the sudden bulge took some explaining!

I like the Minolta F100 and I would gladly buy it again. I give it 4 stars. I would rate the Canon the same. If I had to choose only one of the cameras I'd take the Canon because of its small size. If cost were not an issue I would purchase the 5MP Canon Elph.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One of the most frustrating cameras I have ever owned!
Review: I have owned several cameras but this was my first (and last)Minolta and the worst camera in my experience. I really thought that the Minolta name implied a certain degree of high quality - I was wrong. What good are 4 Megapixels if the camera can't be used in normal circumstances. (Stick with Canon, Nikon, Olympus and even Kodak)
Pros
--Excellent clarity and true colors at close range (outdoors in good lighting only)
--Almost always excellent photo quality outdoors in daylight
--True flesh tones and colors

Cons
Battery life is horrible - Even with the expensive enclosed battery I operated the camera for about 30 pictures before wiping it out.I wound up buying 8 rechargable AA batteries (2100ma) and constantly had to change them out
--digital display had to be kept off in order to save battery life
--impossible to use in low light for subjects beyond 6 feet
--camera took over 10-15 seconds to adjust itself for dim indoor use - you will miss a lot of shots (People posing for these shots always wound up with a look of irritation that the shots were taking so long to take.)
--terrible photo quality (clarity and color) results indoors or outdoors in dim light. Camera can't focus and adjust beyond 6'
--The lens takes forever to telescope in and out when turning it on or shutting it down.
--Terrible preset adjustments don't improve performance - almost always make it worse
--Manual settings are very difficult to set due to the maze or menus you have to navigate through
--Anything above a 100 ISO setting produced so much noise thatthe pictures were rendered usless
-- very long refractory time between shots - takes forever for it to recharge itself between pics
-- takes a very long time to save each pic

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Minolta Dimage F100
Review: I have to question for the people who have this camera. When I turn it on and set it to AUTO mode, the camera will make noises (sound like a broken radio, you have to put your ear near the LCD to hear it), and the picture showing in the LCD will be blurry a little for a second. If I leave on a table (not moving it), the noise will stop. If I move it, the noise will appear again. It doesnt have this problem in Manual mode or other modes. I returned this camera twice and still having this problem. Please let me know if your camera does the same thing or is it just me. Thanks. Otherwise, its a very good 4M camera ...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Big camera features in a sleek small package
Review: I just love this camera for the great combination of features it provides in ths small sleek take-everywhere package. But features alone wouldn't suffice without good picture quality, and the F100 delivers excellent pictures for an ultracompact. Nice sharpness throughout the entire lens, and natural well-balanced colors. Autofocus is fairly fast and reliable. Works on two AA batteries and gives only average battery life, but the convenience and cost-savings of being able to use rechargeable NIMH batteries is well worth the tradeoff. In fact, this was a big selling point for me. I have a [brand name] digital camera that uses a proprietary li-ion battery which is very expensive, though it does last long. But for an ultracompact like the F100, I much prefer the AA batteries. One other plus for the F100 is the 4 megapixels. Some other compacts,... , only give you 2 megapixels. For the most casual photographer, this may be enough. But when you end up cropping some shots, like I do, the extra megapixels are mandatory. There is a full range of manual controls for the more advanced shooters, plus a wide range of auto settings for complete point-and-shoot convenience. I'm glad I waited for this model to come out before going for one of the many other digital compacts out there.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: it broke
Review: i love the quality of the pictures, and it'sfun to use, but the motor broke beyond repair right after the warantee was over. wouldn't buy another one.


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