Home > Consumer Reviews > Minolta Dimage X 2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

The new DiMage X is just an incredible camera! First of all it's small, perhaps the smallest 2-megapixel digicam on the American market today. I still have my Canon S100 but this one is not only thinner but also lighter -- and the battery life is longer, too!

The second most amazing thing is even though the camera lens does not move, it *is* capable of 3X true *optical* zoom!! This is accomplished through an internal movable prism. Simply an ingenious piece of work! This means two things: fast zoom, and less distortion.

The camera is quite fast in saving images (max resolution is 1600x1200, just like the Canon S100) to the SD card. It takes about 1-1.5 seconds between pictures when flash is used and around 1 sec when flash is off.

Picture quality is *excellent*! One gripe I have about the S100 is the image quality is so so, especially in low-light conditions. The DiMage X easily ranks among the high-quality digital pictures. Images are sharp and color-rich. You can also make exposure compensation if you feel the picture is slightly over or under exposed.

This is one awesome camera! Its unique shape, extraordinary compactness and awesome picture quality make it simply the best consumer digital camera.

I got and enjoys it. Here's my assessment of the Dimage X.
First, ...
The CONS:

- There seems to be lacking a manual focus to "infinity" for taking pictures out of a window (not that it happens alot, but...). Maybe there is, but I can't find it.
- I would like a little more "sharpness." (All current digital cameras suffers from a lack of sharpness, even the 3 MP cameras...it could be JPG-related because I haven't really seen any digital camera that gives sharp pics without software processing.)
- Because it's so small it's easy to move while pressing the button (if you're loaded with caffeine!) thereby further decreasing the sharpness.
- The software is "powerful" but it requires time to learn how to use it properly.
- Battery is propriety and I'm not sure how long it REALLY lasts and it does seem to use alot of power (LCD display, navigating the menu, downloading pics, playing with the 3x zoom lens). Eventually, you'll want to buy another battery/charger as backup. You should also get a memory card reader when it's offered free (with rebate) and save on the power wasted on downloading pics to PC. (Heck! get 2--keep one in the office. Your PDA could use it also.)

THE PROS:

- It's small and flat (fits in shirt pocket) and handy to carry around wherever. More photo-ops.
- It's sturdy and looks cool.
- It has a "superfine" TIF mode (no loss...supposedly).
- 3x optical zoom is cool.
- The automatic lens protector looks and sounds cool when it opens/closes--like a James Bond gadget.
- Battery charges in 80 minutes.

VERDICT:

Kind of pricey compared with the recent price drops in the 3MP cameras, but chances are you won't like carrying those cameras around. The Dimage X's a decent "general purpose" camera you would LIKE to carry around and which can also be used for serious picture taking (in TIF mode). (Many of those other cameras don't have a TIF mode--just a higher JPG mode.) It's more than just a novelty. Good enough until next spring when the NEXT GENERATION cameras (with CMOS technology) are out.

THE GOOD:
The highlight of this camera is of course the size. It is super small, super easy to carry around in a shirt pocket, or for a lady to put in a small purse for a night out on the town. It is a DEFINITE attention getter. I went out to dinner with my girl, and about 20 people asked about it (too bad I was with my girl cause 19/20 were chicks ha ha)...
I am far from being a professional photographer, but I am very impressed with the quality of the pictures, and the ability to take them in 3 different sizes (1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480) and 4 different quality modes (super fine, fine, standard, economy)...
Another pro is the ability to upload the pictures from the camera to u'r computer. You can use the USB cable that comes with it, power it on once its connected to your PC, and automatically window will pop up asking you to tranfer the files from cam to PC (I use win XP)...

THE BAD:
The software that came with this camera was a waste of programmer's hours to develop. Better off using windows PAINT, and if your lucky and have XP, better to create a Pictures folder and maintain the photo's there. Not much ability with the software that came with it. Its not pretty to use, and doesn't give you much editing ability. If you already have Photoshop or MS Draw, or any decent photo editing software, then you are good to go.

It was also hard to take pictures using the LCD in the dark. For obvious reasons - the screen was pitch black. You would need to take the picture first, and then preview it in the LCD to see if you got the person or have to retake it. But you can shut off the LCD feature and use the viewfinder to take u'r nite shots.

THE UGLY:
The ugly is the price. I paid around [$$$] for the camera in April 2002, then bought a matching clip on carrying case for another [$$$], then a 2nd battery for it for another [$$$] (which I lost and had to buy yet ANOTHER battery), plus I bought a 128MB SD memory card for [$$$] cause 8MB wasn't cutting it (now I can put almost 2000 pictures on the card in standard mode)...so bottom line, the camera with a few accessories ended up being around $500. But that is still not too bad for this camera, and the price has DEFINITELY dropped since April, you can probably get it for around [$$$] if you look hard enough.

The JUDGEMENT:
This camera overall ROCKS! for being someone's first digital camera. The price has gone down, it is VERY much a fasionable item for guys and girls, GUARANTEED to be approached by someone to ask about it or hear side comments like "wow that is a awesome camera"...
The quality is great for being 2.11MB, which is plenty for a first timer. It is VERY easy to use...high BUY recommendation!

I am new to the Digital camera thing, so I wanted something convenient, and easy to use. I was looking at this camera and the Elph. This won, because it's smaller, has a movie function, and a 3X optical zoom. The Elph 200 has no movie function, and has a 2X optical zoom. Optical is better then Digital zoom (less grain).

This camera is pretty much plug and play. I had to read a few of the instructions to understand some of the things, but it seems really straight forward. Do not use the top setting. It is a waste of space. It is the same data as the Fine setting, just Uncompressed. The pictures 4X6 come out looking exactly the same. But you can fit only 28 pictures on a 128 card, instead of 130 pictures at the Fine setting.

As soon as you buy this Camera, go on line and do a search for a 256MB Secure Digital (SD) Card. It costs about [price]. It's the best card out there for the money, and you will not find the 256MB in stores. You can find a 512 card on line, but it is
[price]. That's just as expensive as the camera! The camera comes with an 8MB card. You can take 3 pictures with this thing, then it's full, get a bigger card. You WILL want it.

The ONE flaw with this camera, and this REALLY bothers me, is the stupid Battery light. Whoever designed this thing, should be forced to use a bad universal remote, for the rest of their life! Most battery levels, have a picture of a battery, that is broken into sections, and each section disappears as the battery runs out of life. Easy to understand, right? This camera has a battery symbol, that is white when full, then light gray when half full, then Red when you have 5 minutes left. I challenge anyone to tell the difference between White, and light gray on a battery symbol that small.

Buy an extra battery. You WILL need it. And buy the nice pouch, it has a pocket for the extra battery in it. I love this camera. I hate the battery symbol.

Good thing is.... The battery can charge fully in about 45 minutes. That's fast.
The camera comes with a Battery Charger, USB cable, Software for viewing the pictures on your computer, a Lithium battery, and an 8MB card.

You need to buy a case, another battery (If you use it all day), and a much larger Memory Card (nothing less then 128MB). They sell an AC adapter, but it's really not needed. It just seems like more wires to worry about.

The camera is not really point-and-shoot. It focuses first, then shoots.
Hope this helps.

I Keep it with me wherever I go - it's so compact! I'm really pleased with the start up and shutter response time. If I have it in my shirt pocket I can actually pull it out and do one hand grab shots (takes about 4 seconds total to start it and get the shot).

I'm also happy with the rechargeable battery life. The package I bought came with two batteries and charger - very nice to have an extra battery handy (they're so small)!

People are always amazed by it's size when I pull it out of my pocket to take a picture! The 3x zoom really helps in composing the picture.

I put a 128 MB Secure Digital Card in it and at normal quality - (about 500k jpeg file size) I've got about 250 picture capacity!! If I don't do any movie shots, which are also very good - my whole vacation can be on one card before I have to download!

5 x 7 prints are photo quality - I was impressed. I haven't tried it but the best quality mode stores as a TIFF file (about 8MB in size!).

Two things to I've learned:

1 - Due to it's small size it's easy to get your fingers in front of the lens or flash - but you'll quickly learn how best to hold it.

2 - The flash is located to the side of the lens so I turn the camera to put the flash above the lens to avoid background edge shadows when the subject is several feet in front of a wall or backdrop.

I just noticed they've come out with a 3 Megapixel version in the same package if you feel you must have more resolution.