Konica Minolta Dimage X31 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: unable to focus in low light
Review: As the owner of a bigger, more complicated digital camera for "serious" photography, I purchased this camera to bring along with me in my pocket to parties, happy hours, etc. BIG MISTAKE. This camera will not focus AT ALL in low light. I sent it back for exchange, thinking I had a lemon, and received a replacement that was just as bad. I called the manufacturer to complain, and was told "a camera at this price has limitations." Like being unable to focus?!?! I would expect this from a cheesey, no-name brand, but not from Konica Minolta (who now, in my opinion, rank with the cheesey no-name brands).

Rating:
Summary: Like a digital Advance Photo System camera
Review: First, the not great parts. This camera definitely has a problem in very low light situations. It needs enough light for the autofocus to work. In a dimly lit restaurant it was useless, although with normal room lighting it does work. The other thing I'm not crazy about, and I knew this when I ordered it, is that there is no viewfinder, only the display screen. Oddly enough that is a drawback in bright light situations when there's too much glare on the screen. Still, the screen is reasonably sized and pretty bright.

On the plus size, this thing is so great to carry around! I bought a small case for it (only $5) and my girlfriend will carry it in her purse wherever we go. Outside the case, it's smaller than a pack of cigarettes so I can just put it in a shirt pocket when I need to. I wouldn't recommend dropping it, but the case is all metal so it does seem fairly sturdy for its size. I also haven't noticed a problem with battery life. I use rechargeables (Maxell P2003 4 Rechargeable AA Batteries and Charger, which I highly recommend) and they last quite a long time, even after taking lots of pictures and video clips and downloading them. I'm also satisfied with the quality of the pictures. The optical zoom works well and the color reproduction is excellent. The 3 megapixel images are also pretty good. You can see a bit of graininess if you blow up the images too much, but for normal sized prints, even up to 8" x 10", the pictures still look good, and they're definitely fine for viewing on a monitor or TV.

Overall I do recommend this camera, but be aware of what you're getting. Think of this camera as the equivalent of the Advanced Photo System in the film camera world. They are inexpensive, compact, easy to use, and take good pictures, but they aren't going to match the picture quality of more expensive 35mm cameras. And this camera isn't going to match up with some higher end digital cameras, but given the features and the price, I think it's very good value.




Rating:
Summary: GREAT CAMERA!!!!
Review: Great camera ... IGNORE ALL OTHERS REVIEWS!! this is one of the best and fastests cameras u can have.
Pros -
Fast load speed
Fast flash
Auto focus
Easy to use menu
Good picture quality (very clear for 3.2 mp)
Great features that come with it.
Easily programmed
Fast shutter release
Carry case avail for cheap price
Uses batteries so you dont have to recharge alot

Cons-
Screen is kinda small but the quality and the features make up for it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother!
Review: I bought the X31 to replace a dimage X that I had used real hard over the last couple years. Great sized-camera, and it took amazing photos! The dimage X was awesome, but couldn't handle the rough usage I put it through, with the lens cover finally wearing out. The lithium battery life was also lame. I finally had to replace it and made the mistake of buying the dimage X31.

The only good thing about the dimage X31 is the use of standard AA batteries, although the batteries don't last long. The exposure/focus is just horrible as compared to the dimage X. The silly toggle switch is lame. The menu is just plain difficult compared to the dimage X. Also, the toggle switch between the video mode and still mode is placed in a stupid location.

DONT BOTHER!


Rating:
Summary: It's okay, but I'd get something else
Review: I bought this camera for my mother, but seeing as how technical things tend to go by her I wanted to try it for my self first. After a week of testing it I decided to return it.

I found the canera easy to use and all the features were very nice. I liked that it had on board memory and that you could even take video with it, and while the video was not spectacular, it was darn good, especially since usually when something says it will do both it is usually sucky on both or really good taking pictures and sucks on video.

However the digital zoom was a little "clunky" that it was not very good, I can't give a better description than clunky, sorry. But the biggest reason I returned it is that the focus was horrible. This camera only wanted to focus when the object was already brightly lit, escentially making the flash useless, and trying to take night pictures a pain in the posterior. Also it seemed to go through batteries awfull quick, it took about 50 pictures for the batteries that came with it to die.

So unless you live in florida or the South West and only plan on taking day shots and you can afford to buy new batteries every 50 pictures you need to find a different camera.

Rating:
Summary: Pocketable digital camera
Review: I researched online and found good reviews on this compact digital camera from "professional" reviewers. Many people mention that 3MP is sufficient for most users, unless you plan to blow up your pictures a lot. I personally think the picture quality on this camera is pretty good. I recently took it out on a trip to see foliage and the pictures came out really good, with beautiful colors and sharp pictures.

One tip: hold your camera steady! These little things shake easily if your hands shake.

Rating:
Summary: Good Features and Price, Terrible Image Quality
Review: When I opened the box, I was excited from getting my latest gizmo. After all, the specs and the camera look great. I liked it immediately for it's extremely pocketable size, use of standard AA batteries, 3.2MP resolution, sleek design, and low price. Trying it out, I noticed that it was fast and had very little shutter lag. In addition, the camera was easy to use (though it lacked manual controls being a point-and-shoot camera). I quickly found myself taking snapshots left and right while playing with my new 'toy'. However, my excitement quickly turned to extreme disappointment:

The image quality was horrible.

Once I took a look at the pictures I took, I immediately realized the that designers got a lot of things right but skimped on what matters most in a camera: the image quality. Almost all of my images turned out to be extremely grainy. The only ones that were half-way decent were outdoor shots in bright sunlight. All my other shots (mostly indoor with moderate lighting) turned out to be unacceptably noisy. Even then there was a fair amount of noise in all my shots. Adding to the problem was the extreme lack of fine resolution. Normally smooth edges appeared jagged and blurry and noise is evident even in good lighting conditions.

Looking online at sample pictures, I noticed that other people had the same results. Apparently, my camera wasn't defective. Compared to pictures I took using other cameras (the Olympus 2100 Ultra Zoom, Nikon Coolpix 2100, and Canon SD110) and the sample pictures of many 'budget' cameras from respectable camera review sites, the image quality of the x31 is clearly inferior.

It didn't take long for me to decide to send the camera back. I had to pay a restocking fee but that's better than having a camera that I don't want to use because of poor image quality.



Conclusion
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Overall, if you just want a cheap ultra-compact for use in broad daylight only and you're not too concerned about a bit of noise and lack of fine resolution, then the DiMage x31 might suit your needs. Otherwise, you will find much better image quality with just about any other digital camera out there (including those with lower megapixel ratings).


Summary:
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Pros:

Good price (>$200)
3.2MP rating
Small size
Standard AA batteries
Standard Media (SD/MMC)
Sleek design
3x optical zoom
Fast startup
Low shutter lag


Cons:

Image quality is terrible
Poor low-light performance