Rating: 
Summary: Good snapshot/party camera, and wow size does matter.
Review: Let me start by saying I use to teach photography at college and an a critic as far as picture quality goes. A college of mind bought this camera and I was so impressed with the size and features I figured what the heck I'll give it a shot because my Cannon G1 is just to big to carry with me all the time. One of the most important feature to me was size, I wanted something I could carry around. This covered it, it is small, wow is it small and light. It's slender body fits into my pocket and I forget it is there. As a result I shoot more pics. The other nice feature is the quick worm up time of about a sec. Cameras I have had in the past I missed shots because they were booting up. This camera has a exceptional exposure control in low light, it is hard to take a bad picture. Now for the down side. The picture quality is OK. I find it a bit smooth and not crisp enough for my taste, but nothing photoshop can't fix. I miss a volume control on the shutter it is either on or off and there are no shortcuts to the menu items to quickly toggle features or delete frames. The view window on the back is fixed and a bit small and dark sometimes, mostly in low light. Also when shooting movies the mic is on the top of the camera rather than the front so if you are in a busy room it pics up everything else as loud as the people you trying to shoot. Over all for the size it is awesome. I would call it a excellent party, snapshot type camera. If I lost it I would go out and buy another one without hesitastion.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing for the size!
Review: GOOD THINGS: You don't appreciate how small this thing is until you sit it next to any other real digital camera on the market. I have two Olympus models, a C-2040Z and a Brio D-150. I thought the D-150 was small, but the Dimage X makes it seem huge in comparison. It even makes the Canon ELPHs seem porky. This camera is easy to use with simple menus and intuitive controls. I had it all figured it out in just a few minutes without looking at the manual. If you have Windows 2000, ME or XP, you just plug it into your USB port and it pops up on "My Computer"--no software drivers required. It's very quick to turn on (no lens to extend) and is reasonably quick at taking pictures depending on the image size/quality and if you're using the flash. The flash can take about 6 seconds to recycle but that's typical. It has a "multiple shot" mode as well. Commonly used controls like the flash mode, display on/off and exposure correction are accessible directly without using the menus. There are only 4 menus and they're really easy to navigate. You can choose from 3 image sizes and 4 quality levels including an uncompressed TIFF mode. Battery life seems AMAZINGLY good given that the battery is literally the size of some postage stamps! I ran around for over an hour with the display on taking tons of pics, downloading them, messing with the menus, etc. before it gave me a low battery warning. The reviews say you can leave it on all day with the display off and take several hundred pictures all on one charge. The case is nearly all stainless steel. It should stand up to a fair amount of use/abuse. The lens is covered by a sliding motorized door when it's off. There should be less to break/go wrong compared to cameras that have to extend the lens every time you turn them on. BAD THINGS: My biggest gripe is the picture quality. Other [more expensive] two megapixel cameras are significantly better. My Olympus C-2040Z takes sharper pictures with fewer artifacts under any conditions and completely blows the Minolta away in low light. With a much bigger (conventional) lens, however, that's to be expected. The Dimage X images are a bit "soft"--especially in the corners and edges. You don't really notice it on most casual shots, but if there's fine detail in the corners and along the edges, it's a bit fuzzy. Perhaps more annoying, there are "chromatic artifacts" visible in many pictures. These seem to be worse at the wide angle end of the zoom range. You get either a red, yellow or blue band next to sharp high contrast lines. This is likely due to the prism used to "fold" the lens and from keeping the weird lens design so small. It's part of the price you have to pay (at least right now) for a camera this compact. There are reviews on the net that have samples pictures that show this flaw quite clearly. ... The lens has a smaller maximum aperture than many comparable lenses on bigger cameras so it forces the Dimage X to use slower shutter speeds to make up for it. This means camera shake is more of a problem in lower light. It also means it can't focus as well in low light and the LCD viewfinder doesn't work as well either. The charger is a standalone unit and while fairly small, requires a plug in cord. It's just one more thing to travel with. You have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it. There's no manual focus mode (there is a focus lock where you can focus on something else, hold the shutter button part way down, and then take the picture). In really low light, like most digital cams, it can't focus at all--at least it defaults to 6 feet. The LCD display washes out more than some do in bright outdoor light. At least they give you a shortcut to the menu to adjust the brightness. You also have to push a button twice every time you turn on the camera if you want to turn the display off to greatly extend the battery life. The flash is kind of weak (or the small lens is hurting it) as the flash is only good to about 8 - 10 feet or so and even then the edges are darker at the wide angle zoom setting. There's no manual white balance, just presets. So if you're in tricky lighting, you're stuck. The auto setting also tends to be on the warm side under most conditions. This isn't a huge deal as you can always tweak the color later on your PC. OTHER STUFF: Extra batteries are still hard to find, ... . You'll want one. ...you might want to buy a cheap card reader instead [of an AC adapter]. MMC/SD cards are more expensive than SmartMedia and CF, but they make sense for this camera because they're much smaller. I doubt Minolta could have found room for the older flash cards. Besides, MMC/SD will keep dropping in price I'm sure--they're the newest technology right now. There is a note in the manual that MMC cards take longer to store pictures than SD (which is due to the card design). CONCLUSION: It's not perfect, but it's currently in a class by itself. The Canon ELPHs take slightly better pictures but are significantly bigger. If this is going to be your ONLY (or your best) digital camera, you hopefully put a much higher priority on size/portability rather than image quality and elaborate features. If it's going to be a second camera for more casual use, it's an excellent choice. I take this camera places I'd never take my C-2040 or even the D-150 Brio. What good is a nice camera if it always stays home? I'm sure other manufactures will follow with their own ultra compact digital models. Minolta will improve on this one as well. But as a first effort, it's pretty amazing. If image quality is a big priority, I'd look at the cheaper Olympus C-2040Z or Canon A20. If you want something that's small with slightly better quality than the Dimage X, consider a Canon ELPH. If small/light/easy are big priorities, the Dimage X may be well worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Great size, only one annoying feature
Review: I love the compactness of this camera. We bought it as our other digital camera tended to get left at home because of its size. Other features are fun, like making movies up to 35 seconds (though we've found the sound doesn't sync with the motion) and doing continuous shots (one every half-second, good for capturing actions like blowing out candles on a cake). There are some niggles that make this camera less than perfect. The one that bothers me the most is the fact that image labels start from 1 whenever you move the previous photos out of memory. So you take a bunch of pictures, pic00001.jpg, pic00002.jpg, etc., you move these to your computer and delete from your camera, and when you take more images they start again, labelling them pic00001.jpg, etc. It's not a big deal to store sets of images in different directories, but it is a headache if you are trying to make a calendar or otherwise bring in images from different directories together. All in all I'm happy with this camera, but wish they had thought through a few more aspects of their design.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple point and shoot camera that captures great pictures.
Review: Major Features:
* Incredibly compact and lightweight camera.
* Dimensions: 3.3" (W) x 2.8" (H) x 0.8" (D)
* Weight: 4.8 ounces
* Fits easily into your pocket.
* Unique 3x "folded" F/2.8 optical zoom lens
* 2-megapixel imager for images up to 1600 x 1200 pixels
* Still images stored in JPEG compressed or uncompressed TIFF format
* Motion video 320 x 240 with audio at 15fps up to 35 seconds
* 15-second audio notes can be attached to images
* 1.5-inch TFT color LCD monitor
* Minolta's CxProcess image processing provides clear and natural images
* 12-bit A/D conversion provides a finer tonal gradation
* White balance options: automatic, daylight, tungsten, cloudy and fluorescent
* Built in flash with Auto, Red-eye reduction, Night portrait and Fill modes
* Audio/Video output, NTSC or PAL selectable
* Removable flash memory cards (SD or MMC type)
* Epson PRINT Image Matching compliant
* Lithium rechargeable battery (~2hr. life) and charger included
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, great photos!
Review: After researching digital cameras for a couple weeks, I decided on the Dimage X. At first look, I wondered if i was sent a camera or a deck of cards....it's that small. The battery charges up in 1.5 hours and by then you've read the book and are ready to put it to use. It has great features and is simple to use...not to mention you can put it in your pocket and not feel like you're carrying Hugh Heffners wallet!
It has all the modes of other cameras, a good battery life, and once again, the size is super small. If you have big hands, you may have problems, but you'll get used to holding it. Everything comes in the box, a charger and all the cables needed. Get a bigger Memory Card, even though the 8MB card holds 67 pictures in 640x480/standard mode (only 1 in 1600x1200/super fine mode).
This is a perfect camera for trips, family photos and general use. Good pictures and not hard to use...
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly small... and stylish!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: view finder out of alignment
Review: After 2 years the view finder became distorted and out of alignment. Hopefully it can be repaired but there seems to be a lot of used cameras of this model advertised. I wonder why?
Rating:
Summary: My first digital camera
Review: This camera is the best. This is my first digital camera. I had two cameras before this one. I had a 110 and cheap 35mm. The thing I hate most about bringing a camera is having to carry it. This camera is smaller than my wallet. I take it everywhere.
I will tell you about the "bad" things first. When I give the camera to other people to take pictures, sometimes they put their finger over the lens. Since the camera is small some people's fat fingers get in the way. If you have small hands like me you will be ok. I have had trouble taking action shots at a distance. I think this is mostly because I don't know how to use the camera. I read the manual again and hope to correct this problem. The battery has a very short life if you take many picture. You will need a second battery and a bigger memory card. If you don't take more than 50 picture at an event you should be okay. The optical zoom could be better too. Now for the "great" stuff about the camera. The only reason you should look at this camera is if you want a small, point and click camera. If you want a camera with many buttons and settings to adjust to get the perfect shot, this is not your camera. The menus are easy to follow. Don't use the usb cable to send the pictures to your PC. Buy a card reader. I went to a camera store and they said there is a possibility of the camera getting fried. For the money it is worth it. I don't use the video feature. If I want videos I will buy a video camera. I bought a 128 meg SD card. I took about 500 picture at Disney and they all fit on the same card. I used the second resolution setting. With a 128 MB card I could have taken 999 pictures. I used to be conservative taking pictures. I didn't want to waste film. With this camera I take pictures of everything. If I don't like it, I delete it. I got a good deal on the price of this camera. For the money, this camera is worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fragile
Review: Initially I really liked the camera. It was small, the pictures seemed to come out ok, easy to carry around, etc... Unfortunately after having the camera roughly six months I began having problems with it. The lens cover would no longer go up and down and the zoom quit working. I took it back to where I purchased it, ... and they sent it off for repair. It was still under its one year warranty. I later received a call saying the repair would cost $240 and the camera had impact damage (meaning I had damaged it). This was absolutely not true. I did take the camera with me several times in a brief case but nothing happened to the camera outside of what you would consider normal use. The camera was not dropped or banged around. I discussed this with [the seller] and they admitted the camera was delicate and had to be handled with care. Obviously I did not pay the $240 to repair the camera. As you can see from this site I can get a new one for roughly that price. I intend to review literture on other cameras before purchasing another digital camera. Bottomline is my camera could not handle normal use....
Rating: 
Summary: Sand is a killer ...
Review: Wonderful camera until I went to the beach .... the shutter suddenly refused to open. Although I took great care of my brand new camera, the sand-damage was done and repair not possible according to Minolta.
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