How long can this camera go on? The
original 5-megapixel DiMAGE 7 came
out back in May 2001, and since then
it’s seen internal changes, a swap from AAs to a
lithium-ion cell, a new black fi nish and anti-shake
function for last year’s A1 model, and now it gets
one of the latest 8-megapixel CCDs. And yet
anyone who still owns an original DiMAGE 7 will
fi nd the new DiMAGE A2 essentially identical, right
down to the lens and the control layout.
There are two possibilities here. Either Minolta
got this camera so ‘right’ at the very beginning
that there’s really no need to redesign it, or it’s
plugging on with a model that belongs in an old
folks’ home for cameras. Which is it?
Putting aside this camera’s long heritage for
the moment, think about what we all want in a
camera. Doesn’t it boil down to just four things:
quality, features, handling and value?
Image quality
We’re willing to bet that anyone who buys an 8-
megapixel camera has image quality high on their
list of priorities, so does the DiMAGE A2 match up
to the other 8-megapixel cameras out there? We
had misgivings about the level of magenta
fringing exhibited by the Sony DSC-F828 when we
reviewed it, and the A2 produces better-quality
shots than the Sony for this reason alone.
Nikon’s CoolPix 8700 fares better. Colour
rendition is natural and nicely saturated, while fi ne
detail comes out very well, with an overall image
quality that’s just a little better than the A2’s.
The Canon PowerShot Pro1 produces strikingly
vivid, sharp, contrasty results. If you go by initial
impact alone, it’s the best of the current crop of 8-
megapixel models.
There’s a bit more to it than that, though. The
image quality you see depends on how the
camera has processed the image data from the
CCD. Different makers dial in different amounts of
sharpening, contrast and saturation to the default
camera settings, so although the image quality
may seem to vary from one model to another, this
may have as much to do with the camera settings
as the abilities of the lens and CCD.
Indeed, if you add a little saturation and
sharpness to the A2’s images in Photoshop or any
other image-editor, you can produce results that
are hard to distinguish from the Nikon’s or the
Canon’s. You may fi nd the same thing happens if
you adjust the camera’s own sharpness/saturation
settings. It’s one of those grey areas of imagequality/
processing that makes it hard to quote
outright winners and losers among cameras with
similar levels of performance. However, it’s
probably fair to say that the A2’s default settings
don’t produce quite the same overall level of
image quality as the Nikon’s or the Canon’s.
Don’t write off the A2 just yet though, because
there are other factors that make differences like
these comparatively unimportant. It has a number
of notable features on its side, and it scores highly
for both handling and value. There’s also one
particularly notable feature about this camera’s
results, and that’s the lack of any signifi cant
discernible barrel distortion at the wide-angle end
of the zooming range. This is such a standard
optical characteristic that it’s become grudgingly
accepted among photographers as a necessary
evil if you want the convenience of a zoom, but
with the A2, horizons stay straight and walls
don’t bend outwards like balloons. You can take
wide-angle and architectural shots without
having to fi ddle about with lens distortion and
pinch/punch fi lters on your computer later. It’s
a remarkable and valuable characteristic of this
camera that could easily get overlooked.
Stop shaking!
The 8-megapixel CCD is the big news with the
A2, but it also has the anti-shake mechanism of
its 5-megapixel predecessor, the A1. This works
in an unusual way. Conventional image
stabilisers work by moving one of the lens
elements (or a small group of lens elements) in
response to camera movement during the
exposure. The A1/A2, by contrast, shift the CCD.
Konica Minolta claims this allows ‘safe’ shutter
speeds three stops slower than conventional
cameras. For example, it’s reckoned that a
shutter speed of 1/30sec is about as slow as
you can go at a normal/wide-angle zoom
setting without risking camera shake.
Potentially, the A2 will enable you to get sharp
shots at 1/4sec.
However, the A2 does boast an ultra highresolution
EVF. At 922,000 pixels, it’s four times
as sharp as any of its rivals’, and that makes a
big difference to the camera’s handling and
usability, which is where the A2 starts to score.
Hidden qualities
The fact is, it takes a while for this camera to
grow on you. At fi rst sight it’s angular and
ungainly. The startup time is unremarkable and
the AF system, for all its sophistication
(multiple AF point selection, 3D predictive AF)
still takes around half a second to lock focus.
The LCD display is okay but it looks a little
washed-out compared to others, and the A2
really has little to commend it against its rivals.
However, after a few hours or days of use,
the A2’s qualities really start to shine through.
Take the lens. The zooming range is matched
by the Canon, which also boasts a manual
focusing/zooming ring just like the A2’s. The
difference is that the Minolta’s zooming ring
controls the lens optics directly. It’s far faster,
more direct and more positive.
The manual focusing ring works really well
too, and this is where the high resolution of the
EVF comes to the fore. It’s not especially
saturated or contrasty, but it’s far sharper than
any other camera’s EVF. Sharp enough for quite
accurate manual focusing, in fact, and without
needing the awkward and grainy magnifi ed
centre sections used by rival cameras. The lens
also has a conventional (49mm) fi lter ring on
the front, enabling you to attach conventional
photographic fi lters.
The A2 handles far more like a traditional
camera than its rivals, with a responsiveness to
the controls that others lack. The outside is
dominated by an array of knobs, dials and
switches, but they’re there for a reason. You
can apply EV compensation, lock the exposure
and change ISO, drive mode, white balance
and metering pattern without having to use
the menu system for any of them. There’s a
switch on the lens for macro mode, a button
for custom white balance, a knob for fi lter
effects, contrast and saturation, and a slider for
choosing single AF, continuous AF or manual
focusing modes. The A2 handles like a proper
camera, not like a box of electronics. There’s
more too. The A2’s built-in fl ash is pretty good,
but you can also attach an external fl ash to the
accessory shoe and use the sync socket on the
side to connect it up to a full studio fl ash
system. While the LCD on the back doesn’t
have the fl ip-out mechanism used on the
CoolPix 8700 and the Canon Pro1, its simpler
top hinge makes it easier to set up for waistlevel
viewing, which is all most of us want a
swivelling LCD for anyway.
So should you buy it?
The DiMAGE A2’s image quality isn’t good
enough to put it ahead of its rivals. Neither are
its specs. It’s the design and handling that
make the difference with this camera, and
these are things you can’t quantify.
Getting back to our original question, maybe
Minolta did get it right fi rst time. Why change a
camera that’s as ergonomically sound now as
it ever was? And it’s cheap too, comfortably
undercutting the Canon Pro1 and the Nikon
8700. It’s a tough decision, but for all-round
qualities the A2 has its nose in front.
Of course, it can only counter camera shake:
it can’t do anything about subject movement.
Nevertheless, action photographers may fi nd it
useful because camera shake becomes even
more of an issue at long telephoto settings.
The rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed no
lower than the reciprocal of the focal length
being used. To put it into plain English, if you’re
shooting with a lens set to 200mm (equivalent)
focal length, you should only shoot at 1/200sec
or faster. With the A2, you might still be able to
get sharp shots at 1/25sec. In theory, anyway.
In practice, action photography isn’t going to
be the A2’s strongest point. True, it offers 3D
predictive autofocus, but like other non-SLRs, its
AF just isn’t quite quick or responsive enough to
keep up with fast-moving subjects. The
maximum continuous shooting speed of 1.8fps
isn’t really quick enough, and while there is a
7fps UHS (Ultra High Speed) mode, it only
offers 640 x 480 resolution.
The best way to shoot movement is to
switch to manual focus. This enables you to
pre-focus the shot and wait for the action to
happen. It eliminates shutter lag and you can
choose the perfect instant to fi re the shutter,
instead of using continuous shooting mode and
hoping the ‘perfect’ shot doesn’t fall into the
gap between the frames.
In other respects, the A2’s specifi cations and
features are directly comparable to those of the
Sony, Nikon and Canon. In cameras at this level,
you can take the PASM exposure modes for
granted, as well as the choice of three different
metering patterns, manual white balance
calibration, optional RAW fi le mode and autoexposure
bracketing.
Even the lens’s focal range of 28-200mm
(equivalent) is no longer unique. It’s now
matched by that of the Sony and Canon, and
