Rating: 
Summary: Lot of positives, a few negatives (The Dimage 7)
Review: After a couple of years owning a Kodak DC290, the Minolta Dimage 7 was a very welcome step-up in digital cameras.
Here's a quick list of the qualities I really like about this camera:
The image resolution (It's 4.91 megapixel effective resolution CCD actually allows small details in the picture to be visable and sharp); the acurate colors (once the image is run throught the Minolta Image Viewer utility, which is a necessity to convert the images from it's native Minolta color space to the appropriate desitnations color space; sRGB, ICC profile, AppleRGB, AdobeRGB, etc...); It's great quality zoom lens with it's f2.8 aperature; it's Flex Point focusing (a really great feature); it's use of easy to obtain and relatively inexpensive rechargeable AA NiMh batteries (instead of expensive, and mostly hard to find proprietary batteries that a lot of companies force you to use); it's Electronic Viewfinder (Somehow it doesn't seem right, but the LCD used in the Dimage 7's viewfinder is actually quite good. Somehow it is very close to CTR quality). There are many small things I like about this camera, but I can't write them all, so here is a list of qualities I dislike, (which is much shorter):
Compared to other camera, the Dimage 7 is a battery power hog (Be sure to use good quality 1,600mAh or 1,700mAh NiMh batteries); You have to run your images through the included Image Viewer Utilily or the colors in your images will most likely look dull and flat; and finally, when using the .RAW image format you must wait for the complete image to be written to the CF card BEFORE you can take the next picture (which can be as long as almost a full minute)
Rating:
Summary: Super Camera: Overcoming Batttery Life
Review: After years of SLR photography with Nikon gear, finally made the transition to digital. After much research, purchased a Minolta Dimage 7. It is fantastic! Have used it indoors for rock climbing events, and externally for portrait, flower, snow boarding, skiing, and climbing shots. Only problem is battery life. I get about an hour's life (c. 120 shots) from a set of three nickel-metal hydride batteries. My solution has been to buy three sets of batteries, and purchase a Q2 QUest quick charger that works on either 12 volt car/boat systems, or plugs into home outlets. Batteries are charged in about an hour, as opposed to the multi-hour epic using the charger that is shipped with the camera. Camera is easy to use, and has been an easy transition from SLR's. Using OFOTO, my print and film costs have dropped so much my wife even thinks the camera will pay for itself in a year or so!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Camera for best pictures ever
Review: Got the Dimage 7 a couple weeks ago. It too came with the Quest NiMh batteries and charger. The 1600 mAh batteries last for 150-200 pictures. Thats about the same I get on my Canon Powershot 100 Elph. Be sure to fully charge your NiMh!
Many people get NiMh fast chargers and take the batteries out when the charger say its full. NiMh are difficult to fast charge especially when they are new (am using them for several years). Even the most sophisticated fast chargers will cut off far too soon on new batteries. Make sure you look at the charge time (e.g. 1600mAh(capacity)/500mA(charge current)=~3.2h. So if the charger say it is done after 30min, let them rest for a couple minutes and start charging them again until you reach the total charge time. (Only with empty batteries!)
Just came back from a night shooting trip through Vienna (Austria). I have the most amazing 5M pictures in my pocket (ehm-notebook). It is amazing how clear they are. (tripod, iso 100, 4sec, manual focus, night program, rest automatic)
A good Compact Flash card is worth the investment. Got a 12x speed Lexar 256MB which holds ~100 pictures in full resolution and fine (jpeg) compression. Be carefull with cheap CF cards that are less than 4x speed. Rule of thumb: If the card does not specify the speed - it is slow and so will be your experience when shooting and transfering pictures.
I am using a CF adapater for the notebook instead of the USB cable. Preserves power and is at least 10 times faster in getting the pictures off the card.
Hope this helps! Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Minolta Dimage 7 "battery life"
Review: Hi All
Have been reading some of the reviews about this camera and agree with most. Although some people seem to be dissatisfied with the battery life of this camera, my experience is as follows. When I bought my Dimage 7 I was told that the batteries with the camera were for "testing only" and was advised to buy some
Ni Mh . Bought 3 sets of 15000mah...and auto charger...This extra out-lay is annoying but well worth it. Have any of the complainants bothered to price spare proprietary batteries for some of the other cameras? Could be in for a shock. Have been using the camera for work to photograph houses and take 70 photos aday, about 30% of these are with flash (inside).
One set of batteries lasts for 100 photos. This is trying to use the electronic view finder as much as possible, even to review and delete photos.
The battery sets get charged and rotated regularly allowing me to carry two sets and this gives me ample battery life. I can only say I'am so impressed with the results achieved with this camera that when it was stolen from my car a few days B4 Xmas I had to replace it with the same. Good points:
Easy to use,takes great photos,light weight,versatile,uses readily available AA's, cheap memory and can use micro drive. Negetives:
Expensive,focusing takes getting used to,target for theft, insurance.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a high quality product
Review: I just returned from a vacation during which I took pictures with my old Sony DSC505F 2.1 megapixel cybershot and with the Dimage 7. Overall I was sorely disappointed with the Dimage 7. Despite half the resolution, the Sonys pics appeared nicer both on the monitor and when printed even in 8x10 format using the highest resolution of both cameras. The electronic viewfinder is disconcerting, focusing using the autofocus was inaccurate, and the flash is inconsistent, sometimes overexposing, sometimes underexposing. Color balance is off. Autofocus in dim light is difficult. Also, this camera goes through batteries unbelievably quickly. Don't even think about using alkaline batteries. NiMH are a must and should come with the camera. Instead, you get 4 cheapo alkalines that last about 5 minutes (no exaggeration). Top quality alkalines don't last much longer. Also omitted is an AC adapter - apparently optional but, really guys, this should come with the camera! Also comes with only 16MB compact flash card, not enough to store even one uncompressed 2560x1920 image. I've heard so many great things about the lens, but the Zeiss 10x lens on my Sony is vastly superior. Finally, the camera has a plastic body and just feels cheap. Overall, it just doesn't seem like Minolta put much into this camera. I plan on returning it to Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: Ergonomically Smooth
Review: I read lots of reviews and handled lots of high-end digital cameras before deciding on the Dimage 7. I'm not disappointed. The Dimage 7 handles very like a good 35. The manual zoom, an astounding 28-200mm, provides lots of composition latitude. All controls are handy and easy to use. Learning curve is really flat. Photos are sharper than 35mm film images (when resampled to 300 dpi and printed at a lab). Most complaints seem to be in the power consumption area. One must understand that battery operated equipment is only as good as the batteries one uses. By purchasing an extra set of NiMH AA batteries and conditioning them properly, I've had NO problems with lack of available power. You've got to cycle the batteries through the charger four or five times, after fully draining them, in order for them to go the distance. I'm getting about 80 to 100 hi-res shots per set. Overall, I'm very pleased with the Dimage 7. I've even begun a selloff of all my trusted Nikon film cameras. Digital is finally affordable, dependable, and definitely here to stay. If you're looking for a digital camera that is easy to operate and delivers consistently great photos, the Dimage 7 will do the job. I'd also recommend Adobe PhotoShop Elements as an affordable, feature-packed photo editing software. For the money, you can't beat it.
Rating:
Summary: All in all, an excellent camera
Review: I read many reviews of this camera before I bought it. Let me say right up front that it definitely has its flaws - I'm not sure any technical gadget I've ever purchased was free of them. The flaws of this camera are well documented: eats batteries, little port door keeps popping open, auto-focus a little slow, and the manual zoom is stiff. The software you need to run against all of your downloaded photos is an unfortunate step in the photography process. These are all true, and certainly annoyances. But, the positive side of the balance sheet completely overwhelms the bad. Everything about this camera feels top notch. Its mostly metal construction, great optics and plethora of features are all part of a well-integrated product. Very little fluff, save for maybe the little mode selection that allows you to pre-set types of photographs: portraits, sunsets, etc. They could have ignored that stuff. It's the way you can adjust this camera that shines. Manual focus and easy of switching between automatic and manual exposure settings are examples. I count thirteen controls, which seems overwhelming until you get the hang of what they do. The electronic viewfinder is maybe not quite as nice as a great optic through-the-lens one, BUT you can see all your settings without taking your eye off of your subject. And, it switches between a black and white mode and color, depending on the amount of light in the room, so the viewfinder continues to be useful in dim situations. One "cute" feature: the camera detects when your face is near the viewfinder, and can switch between the LCD and the viewfinder just by putting your eye against the viewfinder. The pictures are high quality, what you'd expect from a 5 megapixel camera. I find that many more of my photos are keepers than with previous cameras. The prices on this camera are good, as its replacement, the 7i (which fixes some of the hassles of this camera), is out at higher cost. For the money, this one is an excellent buy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Piece of Glass on a Great Digital Camera
Review: Lenses have been the BIG WEAK POINT on high-end consumer digital cameras, and image resolution isn't far behind. This camera fixes both problems spectacularly. The 7x zoom lens is very sharp throughout its range, and making it manual was a stroke of genius. It's the only SLR-like digital which actually has the feel and vibes of an SLR. Yes, there are a lot of adjustable features, but you eventually get the hang of them, and they become very nice creative tools. I don't seem to have the battery problems that some report, since I use the automatic eye-level viewfinder exclusively, and I turn the camera off if I'm not going to use it in the next few seconds. It boots quickly when you turn it back on. The automatic focus is a bit slow, and so I use the manual focus quite a bit. It has a dedicated switch to toggle between manual and automatic. My only real aggravation is the time the camera takes to store RAW images, which means you really can't use them in a dynamic shooting situation. But I can live with that, given all the other really great things about it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Photos -- Painfully Slow Autofocus
Review: My camera decision came down between the Dimage 7 and the Olympus E-10. My former camera was a Fuji MX2900. I wanted two things in the new camera: SLR design and feel and pixels! I wanted a digicam that can truly replace my film SLR. The Dimage 7 was a bit more affordable than the E-10 and beat it in nearly every technical spec. What finally sold me was the zoom capability of the D-7, its wider range of shutter speeds, and wide range of manual options. Shortcomings: Everyone moans about battery consumption and it's warranted. Do not buy this camera unless you also get NiMH rechargeables. Alkalines are good for 15 minutes. In my opinion, the biggest shortcoming of the D-7 is the autofocus speed. I have a toddler who does not like to sit still, and the D-7 simply cannot keep up. I agree with those who say an AC adapter should be included, especially since it is a very hard accessory to find. A minor annoyance that didn't appear in the brochure is that the video function does not collect sound. Not a dealbreaker, but someone out there will want to know. Bottom line - I think it's a great camera. It takes excellent pictures in any lighting condition, has a great built in flash (red-eye reduction that actually works!), and feels like a real camera. Oh, did I mention that it takes great pictures??
Rating:
Summary: Minolta Dimage 7
Review: New to digital cameras so bear with me! Plus points 1)very SLR-like in operation; 2)ease of use (up and running in a few mins after batteries charged); 3)uses IBM 1Gb microdrive (who needs a laptop to download to?); 4)superb quality enlargements; 5)ergonomically sound, fits neatly in the hands and NOT too heavy; 6)easy software to use; 7)easy computer connection via USB; 8) Gets quite warm so good for your hands in winter! ---- Minus points 1) EATS batteries!! - you need at least two sets of high capacity NiMH batteries to hand, fully charged. One set of 1600mAh NiMH batteries will only last me about 45mins and that`s mainly using the EVF; 2)lower quality settings give variable quality on photos to e-mail; 3) BIG file sizes if you don`t have a microdrive or handy laptop.
Overall I`m very happy with my new purchase but there`s still a lot of experimenting to do with it yet.
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