Minolta's Dimage A1 Camera

By David Em

February 15, 2004

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Minolta's Dimage camera series got my attention a couple years ago with its first model, the Dimage 7i. The $1,495 7i redefined the digital camera landscape with 5 megapixel resolution and a 7X zoom at less than half the cost of competitive models with similar capabilities.

The 7i represented a big step forward in price/performance, but it had power issues and required Minolta software to display color properly. Much of this was corrected with its successor, the Dimage 7Hi, but the latest version, the Dimage A1 ($899 street), is more than a mere upgrade to its senior siblings—it's in an entirely different class.

Ergonomics

The all-black A1 is a full-size camera measuring roughly 4.5" x 3.5" x 4.5," but it weighs only two pounds. Minolta makes an optional B-400 battery pack that gives the camera perfect balance and also functions as a second hand grip (more on the B-400 below).

I like the layout of the camera controls. They include a circular four-way selector pad and dials for adjusting functions such as scene modes, white balance, and color. The onscreen menu selection system for setting resolution, color space, and other functions is both deep and straightforward.

Displays

The A1 has two displays, a 1.8" LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder (EVF) eyepiece that rotates 90 degrees from full horizontal to full vertical position. I got the most use from a roughly 45 degree angle. Personally, I prefer optical viewfinders to EVFs. EVFs tend to lag, are subject to flare, have limited color and detail resolution, and eat power.

The quality of the 118,000 pixel LCD screen is excellent. I was able to see it clearly outdoors on a very bright day. It swivels up from the camera body 90 degrees, and down 20 degrees. I was disappointed that it doesn't swivel sideways as well (a feature I'd like to see on every digital camera).

You can display an alignment grid over an image in real time as well as a histogram that shows an image's luminance distribution values.

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