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Minolta Dimage 7i
I have been looking for a new Digital Camera and after much deliberation, I had decided either on the Fuji Film 6900Z or the Minolta Dimage 7.
The thing which swung me towards the Dimage 7 was not the technical specifications though but the fact that the Dimage 7 takes normal AA batteries and uses Compact Flash memory and Compact Flash Type II (IBM Microdrives), where as the Fuji Film uses a non standard Fuji Battery and smart media memory. So big deal I hear you cry, well I already have both of these so buying the Fuji Film would have required extra funds for memory and batteries. The other reason was that the Dimage 7 uses AA batteries and even if the rechargables I have run out I can always just buy normal batteries anywhere. The Special battery for the Fuji can´t be. So, what features does the Dimage 7 have that make it so special? I am not going to go on about all the features of the camera as if you are reading this you must be interested in the camera and probably already know. What I am going to waffle about is the ease of use and quality of the images this camera produces. First the ease of use. Get the camera out of the box and put in the supplied memory card and AA Alkaline batteries, then switch on the camera, turning the dial on top to the photo position. Point the camera and press the button. You´ve just taken your first picture. Now turn off the camera as the AA batteries that came with the camera have just expired! Well nearly, I took just 14 pictures before the batteries gave up the ghost and died. This was on 1 setting down from maximum, so I don´t know how long they would last on max. Also on Max the memory card is full after 1 shot. File size is in the region of 14 megabytes on Max. However on max the quality is superb. NiMh batteries will let you get about 70 images from them but the batteries I had at the time weren´t very high amperagejust 1550 mh. New 2200 mh is now the maximum and these will give you 125 approximately. If the camera is set to 1 down from max you will get 7 shots to the supplied memory card.
The camera also lets you take 60 seconds of video at 320 x 240. This is reasonable quality although there is no sound with the video. One 60 sec video clip takes up as much as one image does. Once you have got a decent set of batteries and a decent size memory card this camera is a joy to use as the quality of the images it produces are superb. The final results when printed on a decent printer will amaze most people. The images at maximum size are the larger than A3. The camera itself is knobs and buttons city. In total 5 dials and 12 buttons which allow you to change the settings of the camera. There is a LCD screen on the back of the camera which can be used as a view finder and to view images you have taken. It is also used to display any menus and camera settings. There is also another LCD display on the top of the camera which displays the quality settings of images. Also on the top is the view finder which also doubles as a mini screen for viewing settings and menus. The camera automatically switches between the LCD on the back and the view finder when you put your eye close to it. This also swivels so you can lower the camera, hold it level and look down into the view finder just like a professional higher priced camera. On the left of the camera is another set of dial´s and buttons which are used to setup the quality and size of the images your about to take. On the front of the camera is the Lens which when turned will zoom the lens in and out, also is a macro switch on the side for up close picture taking. Also at the back of the lens is the focus ring which focuses the image when manual focus is used. The lens also has a screw thread on the front which will accept 49mm filters. If you want to use filter´s let me say they work wonderfully. I have a few different filters which I use such as a Radial Polarizing filter, a skylight filer and a few special effects filters. On the right hand side is a little door which houses the port for the connector to your PC and also the Compact Flash card, which a Type II housing. This means that you can use Type I and Type II compact Flash cards, like the Microdrive. Oh, also on the back is the latch for the battery opening. You´ll have to get familiar with this as it wil be used quite a lot. So after a few weeks of use how would I rate this camera. Well apart from the speed it flattens batteries (1550MAh), I am very impressed with this camera. No, I am very impressed. The image quality. At high quality the images are superb and even at 1 down from maximum the quality is still excellent. I am also impressed at the speed you can take images. Press the button 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 its as quick as that although at highest quality be prepared for a wait as it takes about 30 seconds to save the image (14 megs), one down from max images are about 2.5 meg. Viewing the images is just as easy, turn a dial and press the right and left buttons for next and previous pictures. Downloading the images is a boring process especially with a large memory card but this can be speeded up using a card reader. Size wise the camera is quite chunky, about the size of an average SLR but the extra features, quality and speed make up for more than larger size than other cameras. I am extremely happy with this little toy and I am looking forward to taking lots and looking at lots of pictures with it. I only had the camera for 4 weeks and I´d had already taken 500 pictures. Mainly to get used to all the settings. I must say the images I took at the Gladstone museum where superb. I´m off out to take more pictures! March 2002. Update: Links
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Both cameras are around the same specification, both have a 6x+ Zoom and 5+ mega pixels, although the 6900Z is higher it is only 3 mega pixels which are interpolated, see my digital camera review for meaning. The Dimage 7 has a optical zoom of 7.1x and also has a digital zoom of 2x where as the Fuji 6900z is 6x optical. 
I really, strongly recommend that you purchase an additional memory card to go with this camera. I ended up buying a 1 gig IBM Microdrive which at the cameras maximum setting will still only allow 78 pictures on it. However at one down from maximum will allow 420 pictures. Obviously the lower settings will allow over 1000 images to be taken. 
