Rating: 
Summary: Dimage 7 reveiw
Review: Shame on the engineers for releasing this camera! It takes fabulous pictures but the only way to power it is with a wall plug (adapter not included) or a motorcycle battery with plug adapter (make yourself). The 4- AA batteries last from 15 to 30 minutes so forget alkaline, and even Monster batteries require 4-6 sets to get thru even a light day. I use a motorcycle battery to get me thru a day especially if I use the attached flash and 1.5" screen.
Rating: 
Summary: How to overcome this brilliant camera's flaws
Review: The D7 is great value now it's being remaindered. BUT1. You need to upgrade the internal software (Minolta call it firmware) This gives you near D7i performance for about $(...), much faster focusing and lots of other improvements. (see minoltausa.com and/or some of the specialist minolta D7 websites) 2. You must have quality 2000 mah NiMh batteries and charge them using a quality 'intelligent' pulse charger. (Rayovac PS4b?) 3. You must minimise power comsumption by setting the camera: LCD off and EVF on auto (only comes on when your eye comes near the viewfinder),
EVF and LCD brightness set to 2 or less,
Instant playback set to 2 sec or less,
Auto switch off set to 1 minute,
Auto focusing set to single - not continuous. 1,2 & 3 above will enable, very roughly, 8 hours of shooting and 120 shots. 4. Lastly - have the patience to deal with all the buttons and learn the camera!
Rating: 
Summary: Great, but...
Review: The is an awesome digital camera that often takes photos of better quality than 35mm film cameras. The 4 things that I can't stand about the camera: 1. Power hog: When using high capacity nickel metal hydride batteries, they only last about 20 to 50 pictures, depending on the resolution that you're using, the autofocus, and the flash. Don't even THINK about using the rear display screen. The power indicator often indicates a low battery when in fact you may have 10 or more shots left. I use 3 sets of batteries! 2. The electronic viewfinder's pixelated resolution makes it difficult to tell whether the subject is in focus. 3. The autofocus can be infuriatingly slow at times, sometimes can't focus, and sometimes tells you that the subject is in focus when it's not (I mostly use the focus by wire focusing ring for manual focus). 4. The neck strap attachment ring on the right side of the camera gets in the way of opening and closing the compact flash door (just annoying). Don't even think of downloading pics through the supplied USB cable (very slow). I highly reccommend the Zio USB CF reader (transfer rates of ~1MB/S). Still, it's the highest quality camera for the buck right now.
Rating:
Summary: Excellence for creative photography
Review: The uniqueness of this camera, as compared to many of its analogs, is the availability and quality of the black-and-white mode for serious creative photographers. The results are comparable to the real film but with digital manipulation, the camera provides a more versatile and efficient application. The examples of black-and-white images taken by this camera can be seen at:http://pathology2.jhu.edu/shihlab/index.cfm. The only things need to be improved for this camera are: 1) the autofocusing function is too slow and sometimes not accurate especially in the dim light; 2) the range of aperture is relatively limited. Overall, this camera is probably the only digital one for photographers who are seeking taking black-and-white images.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera once I figured out image processor.
Review: This is my first digital camera and I am thrilled. I have been a 35mm hobby photographer for 30 years and feel I will never use film again. You can easily point and shoot with spectacular results. I' ve had mine two months and have only scratched the surface of the possibilities as I learn it's creative features. You MUST "process" each photo on your computer with the included DiMage Image processing software before every picture can be called perfect. The included four alkaline AA batteries died in five minutes, long enough for a counter salesman to verify the basic features are funtioning. I bought a NiMH charger and four sets to four rechargeable NiMH batteries. The include flash is great but I also bought the external flash and two 256MB compact flash cards (...) I feel I got what I paid for. (...) Once I figured out all the possiblities for misunderstanding what does what, I was amazed by the picture quality. I notice details and color differences in pictures that make me go back and look at the original subject a second time. The photos do not lie. I love it.(...)
Rating:
Summary: Excellence for creative photography
Review: This is my second digital camera, and at first I hated it because it was not a point and shoot, which was the only camera I had ever known. It was just too complex for a meathead like me to use. If I'd have reviewed this camera a year ago I would have given it a 2 star rating. Over the last year I have really gotten to know the camera and have upgraded the firmware, and I now take great shots with this camera, using a 512mb CF and (usually) 3 sets of rechargable NMH AA batteries. The firmware fixed alot of the bad issues with the camera, and most importantly sped up the drive rate for multiple shots. I would say that the firmware was the most important thing here. It truly makes the camera great. This camera has phenominal picture quality without the firmware update and will teach a meathead like myself to take better pictures just by the trial by fire approach. It only gets better as you learn to use it. That being said - if you don't like a steep learning curve challenge and are used to point and shoots, this is not the camera for you. I purchased the 7i for my father in law and I can tell you that its a much easier camera to use than the 7, but with all of the great features. You may want to go that route if you want the great image quality without as steep of a curve.
Rating:
Summary: Behind the times
Review: While this camera boasts lots of features, and for the most part that is true, it is not easy to use. There is so many buttons to change to get the right photo, it is time comsuming and awkward. Battery life- none- batteries are only good for about 20 pictures then, new ones must be put in. Quality of pictures are variable and enhancements need to be done on almost all pictures taken. Eye piece and other connected plastic pieces seem to fall off easily and permanently The worst is the video, the quality compared to lesser priced camera is poor and WIHTOUT SOUND. What good is that. Overall I would go with another camera and I will. Most people don't need 5+ megapixels anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent picture quality!
Review: WOW! I am really impressed by this camera. But first, lets talk about the battery "problem". You must read the documentation that comes with the camera. It clearly says that Alkaline batteries are INADEQUATE for this camera! One thing I really loved is the fact that Minolta, realizing the mistake of shipping the camera with only 4 measly alkalines is now including 4 1600 mAh Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (Quest) AND a charger! this certainly helps. I have been taking photos on RAW quality (similar to TIFF - large transfer times, because of the size) on a 1 GB IBM Microdrive (more power consumption), using the camera on auto viewfinder/LCD, and 30-40% of these shots I've used the flash.. and am happy to report that the batteries are good for about 40-50 shots (not bad considering the power requirements of this setup). If you use a CFII card and resort to the LCD only ocasionally, the batteries should last you much more than this between charges. Now the photo quality -oh , the quality- this is the BEST picture-quality camera around! the lens is superb, no discernible color aberration or distorion, great color balance and reproduction, especially when using RAW, by far my favorite picture format -don't forget to process your images with the Dimage Image viewer utility!- and the zoom is reaaaly helpful (28-200 35mm equivalent); other cameras zoom pale in comparison. The camera feels solid but light (the magnesium-alloy body can be deceiving, your first impression is that this is plastic, because of the light weight, but no, it is metal).. The controls are intuitive, and I like to have a more tactile control of the camera, using the dials and not having to navigate through a sea of menus. Somehow, this makes me feel that I am using a "pro" camera and not a digital toy. (Have you ever tried to change a lot of settings while taking pictures on a Coolpix or a Canon? not easy for large fingers such as mine). The viewfinder? good; not the best solution, since a TTL optical viewfinder would be preferable, but this is the best LCD viewfinder I have seen, and a decent alternative to the main LCD; one advantage is that you can see all of the control information on the viewfinder. Of course, if you want an optical TTL viewfinder you can go for the newest 5 megapixel Olympus, but it will cost you about more! About the only negative comment I have of this camera is the flimsy plastic covers for the Video out jacks. It doesn't seal tight and sometimes it can crack a little open. Not a show-stopper, though. Also, the plastic cover for the batteries. I hope it proves to be durable, but certainly a metal one would have been much more preferable, especially since you will need to change batteries quite frequently (every 50-70 shots).
This camera feels good in your hand. In summary, this is the BEST 5 megapixel camera you can buy, but haven't had the chance to evaluate the Olympus E20N. The picture quality is superb, the lens system is excellent and in general, this is a well-designed product. Kudos to minolta for creating such a great product.
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