Rating: 
Summary: excellent camera
Review: "Playing" with this camera for a couple of hours before returning it to the store does not give oneself sufficient time to really appreciate what the A2 is capable of. Macro, lens,build quality,battery life,EVF,features & functions,manual zoom & anti-shake all add up to stunning results when you LEARN how to use this camera to it's full potential.
Rating: 
Summary: poor repair service in the US!
Review: Both of my LCD's (viewfinder too!) went completely blank after 2 weeks of use during my learning period. I had to sent my almost new A2 to Minolta repair center in NY, and it has been waiting for repair for over 4 weeks!
Their service center is the only one in the US and it seems they don't even have spare parts to fix A2's. They have been waiting for ~4 weeks just to get some spare part and all they can "guarantee" is up to another 4 weeks of repair time! I am wondering if I am just unlucky or other A2 owners shared the fate. With all the respect to many possitive reviews I have seen for A2, I will never buy Minolta again because of their service. It's not exactly a cheap camera to get such a poor support.
There are other A2 users reporting problems with this camera (just google Dimage A2 problem), so maybe it's anot an accident and Minolta has some production quality issue with A2.
Rating:
Summary: LOVE THIS CAMERA!!!!
Review: Bought this camera before going to Europe. Left my Nikon SLR at home. I have no regrets. Excellent viewfinder, no digital lag when taking photos, compact, lightweight, excellent zoom lens, long battery life. We are done with film at our house. Great for point and shoot, but also lots of bells and whistles for tweaking photos depending on conditions. Well thought out. Kudos to Minolta on an excellent product.
Rating: 
Summary: A2 versus A1: improvement or trade-off?
Review: First off, let me disclose that I do not own an A2: I have an A1 and decided not to upgrade to the A2 for reasons that follow. Also, I am experienced in the use of both film and digital cameras as well as Photoshop and other digital darkroom tools.
Here's my conclusion: buy an A1. In moving up the mega-pixels from 5.3 to 8 Minolta made a subtle trade-off in reducing the A/D conversion from 14Bit to 12Bit. The 'A/D conversion' describes how much information each pixel is able to report to the CPU and ultimately, to the final print. If the information is color, the A1 reports 16,384 while the A2 only reports 4,096. Does this matter? If you are using a 'home' version digital darkroom that only handles 8 Bits per channel, probably not. Photoshop CS uses 16Bits per channel in its top-quality mode as does Elements 3, so you should be able to see the difference with the A1 providing the better picture at 'full-pixel' resolution.
So, the A2 might make bigger pictures, but they will not look as good as the A1. For most purposes either camera will do a fine job, I'm sure. I have shot thousands of pics with my A1 and the only complaint I would lodge is about the auto-focus in low light: it should be infra-red assisted.
Also, save the .jpg settings for 'snapshots' for the web: there is way too much compression done in the camera and you cannot get it back in the digital darkroom. Use 'Raw' where possible and work with PS Elements 3 and you will be very pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Use ISO 64 Setting
Review: Having a Konica Minolta DiMage X with which I am very happy, I decided to get this camera when I wanted an 8MP camera with better zoom capability. At first I was unpleasantly surprised with the amount of noise (color specks) showing in the pictures. Later I discovered that by putting the ISO setting on 64 instead of Auto, the noise is greatly reduced. Now I'm basically happy with the camera, but it seems that they should mention this in the documentation. Pictures at the highest ISO settings (400 and 800) are really bad - I guess these settings are there only for extreme low-light situations.The electronic viewfinder is amazing. I'm nearsighted and have trouble with the LCD display, but I can easily see everything in the viewfinder (including menus and playback of pictures). I just keep the LCD off all the time.
Rating:
Summary: gets the shake out &much more!
Review: I HAVE PARKINSON'S DESEASE, THIS CAMERA GETS THE SHAKE OUT, AND THE QUAILITY IS GREAT. THE PHOTOS ARE CRISP AND CLEAR. OPERATION IS SIMPLE. WAIT TIL YOU TRY THE VIDEO, THE SOUND AND FILMING IS SIMPLE. LOVE THIS CAMERA!.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely pleased with A2
Review: I have read others in forums talking about problem A2's and having to return several to get a good one. Perhaps I was lucky but mine has been perfect right out of the box. Even my wife who thinks I am crazy to buy so many digital cameras agrees that the photos from this one are fantastic. As I am getting older the anti-shake feature is a real bonus. I traded in a Sony 828 on the A2. The Sony was a good camera, nothing really wrong except a little purple fringe under certain circumstances. None of that on my A2. I couldn't be more satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, what an upgrade.
Review: I should preface this review by saying that I am not an expert, rather a moderately experienced digital camera user who wants to learn more. This camera has it all (read the stats), but some of the unique features include the viewfinder (best on the market - almost like looking through the lens on an SLR), manual zoom, and "anti-shake" which gives some protection against shaky hands. I have only had the camera for a few days. I find it to be rather easy to use, even though it is a different brand from my prior digicam (the Canon PowerShot S30). Got outside today and the results were stunning - fast focus, great zoom, impeccable detail, true color (not the "bling bling" color some cameras produce that just aren't real). The prints (from the Canon 860) are gorgeous. Indoor shots were typical digicam shots, difficult to take good ones, though we have had terrible light in the house the past few days. It is heavy, for a digicam, but fits my hands well. There are lots of buttons and dials but they feel intuitive to me, again, even though I used to a different brand of camera. I think it would be a hard camera for someone who has never used digital or done much photography, but for moderately experienced digital or film user, it will be a dream. It uses compact flash (none included, I would get a 512 at least) and a proprietary battery (which seems to last very well, much better than my Canon did). I give it five stars after two days. I might revise my review as I continue to use it, and uncover weaknesses. This camera has an infinite array of features - I know, not literally true -and can do most anything you might ever want to do. Highly Recommend - Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Better Than I'd Hoped
Review: I've had my A2 for one month. It exceeds my expectations. If you want outstanding prints the A2 will deliver. Film experience will help you get the most from the cam. I've taken a couple of thousand pics with it and I continue to be suprised by the number of keepers! Very,very nice. Read the reviews and believe them. I've sold my film gear. Something I never intended when I bought the cam. Awesome.
30 DAY UPDATE: Still loving my A2. The software that comes with the cam does an outstanding job of editing your pic. I thought I would be using Photoshop to open my pics but so far I really can say I haven't used it.(The photos look a little different when opened with PS, but not "better") The Dimage Viewer Sharpens very nicely. I'm printing with my Canon i960, results are outstanding. I still give it 5 stars plus. Sweet. Viewfinder is xcellent and LCD screen is nicest around. Didn't think I would need the viewfinder to tilt up but I use it that way 100% of the time. Also the tilt up of the the LCD makes for some nice waist high shots. If You Want the Number 1 Prosumer cam the A2 is it. Frankly I have no cons. That is sweet! Oh yeah, I finally tried the video recorder and the results are outstanding. You will have to use the Dimage Viewer to get rid of flicker, etc. Once you do so you wil be stunned that a still camera can take video of this quality. I couldn't be happier.
Rating:
Summary: High-quality camera
Review: I've had my A2 for over six months now and I can say I love it. It's not perfect, but for the price it's very good. It's lovely to hold and operate, especially with the BP400 battery grip attached. Knobs and buttons are well-placed and easy to operate.
I'm not going to go over all the things I like about the camera. Instead I'll point out the few things I think could be better:
- An LCD that would swing out to the side, and tilt up and down more (like on the A200). Some times it would help me take shots easier if I could move the LCD around more.
- Less noise at higher speeds. At 400 the noise is trouble some and at 800 it's not very nice at all. Although this is pretty much the same as with comparable cameras.
- Faster and more accurate autofocus in low light. Again, many cameras suffer from this, but when there is little light, the A2 doesn't focus very well. Luckily manual focus is pretty good, but you can't always use that.
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