Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2

...a marketers. Hats of to Konica Minolta for having the nuts to make what is essentially one of the UGLIEST cameras ever, but has been voted Editors choice in many a camera mag/website.

In kung fu terms, its the understated cool dude who leaps out of nowhere are whips all the brash and arrogant young ninja into shape. You heard me.

Anything I missed?.........It has a pretty good wide or telephoto macro.....it has a proper ...
...up flash is pretty good in the dark....one bad point, you have to use it with a minolta fit flash, but there are still third party manufacturers for these on the cheap....you can use the extra flashes wirelessly....another bad point, there is no bundled wireless shutter release like the one you get with the A200. I don't know why not.....the manual may come on CD or in paper form....the software is pretty good, but it aint photoshop....

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There is a tendency for manufacturers to talk a lot of rubbish when it comes to selling cameras. I call it number abuse. They hope by lobbing enough numbers at you they can persuade you that because 'the numbers are higher' its a better camera. Please. We just aren't (or at least shouldn't be) that easy to sell to. Granted, any website, shop or dealer you go to will run through the specification sheet , but this camera has a lot more to offer- and it still boasts a beasty specification in its price bracket anyway.

This is one of many cameras in a growing area of digital photography. Before digital, you were pretty much stuck between 'big but good pro camera' and the 'small but poor amateur camera'. Now due to the miracle of miniaturization, we have the pro-sumer bracket; relatively compact yet feature packed. If you are looking for a compact, these aren't for you. If you are interested in exploring what fun photography can be, there's no better time to get started.

I'm turning the review into a jargon and reality comparison now, so you can see the numbers and what they really mean in terms of you taking good photos.

'8 Megapixel CCD'

Really detailed images suitable to print at A3 size, and probably larger than that if you're careful

'Konica Minolta GT lens'

Very high quality, (but not pro) lens. Just don't talk to me about that god-damn purple fringing. If you're worried about that then fine, go and spend 3 grand on a camera.

'CCD Anti-shake'

Now this is some clever technology right here. Don't you hate photos that ruined by blurring generally caused by your own shaking hands. I don't care how much diazepam (one for the MGS fans, sorry everyone else) you have had, no one's hands are that steady. You can use this in darker places, on longer exposures and at longer zoom lengths than other cameras in this bracket. I think the Canon Pro 1 and Panasonic FZ20 have got something similar.

'Fine EVF'

The bit you look through with your eye, not the screen on the back is highly detailed so you can see what your shots are going to look like more accurately than most. Unlike the anti-shake, this doesn't seem to have been picked up by other manufactures as much. And another thing.....

'Tilting EVF and TFT'

You can tilt the EVF to point straight up, horizontally or anywhere in between. The TFT can be pointed straight up or tilted a bit down. No, it doesnt swing all around like some, but how many self portraits are you planning to do? I found I use the EVF practially all the time- plus it saves on the....

'High power batteries'

Now, I was lucky to have got 3 batteries with mine, so haven't even come close to running out of power EVER. But, the new Dynax 5 DSLR takes the same battery so it must last pretty well- considering the extra drain of the Anti shake. I think on dpreview.com the Olympus 8080's battery is the best in this range.

'7x Optical Zoom'

Or 28-200mm in film terms. Could be more, but bigger zooms = bigger cameras and bigger cameras = bigger bucks. Try it and see if its the kind of power you're looking for. You can upgrade to a 400mm with an extra 2x telephoto lens.

'Magnesium/titanium/kryptonite alloy body'

This is a tough camera in short, and it feels GOOD. Try and (oo-er) get a feel your self!

AND NOW THE LAST YET MOST IMPORTANT POINT SO FAR....

'Manual controls'

But, I thought the digital revolution was all about autofocusing, autobalancing and generally letting the camera do all the work!?!?!

Hell no. The A2 has a manual zoom (the Canon Pro1 has one to) and this is honestly one of the main reasons I bought it. Sounds a bit odd doesn't it? Not the megapixels, not the 0.00000000001 second start up time, not the 3fps burst mode. A feature that doesn't involve a number! Since when has that awful little zoom button been fast enough or precise enough to get EXACTLY the photo you wanted? Never! Manual zoom = Exactly the right amount in as fast a time as it take you to twist the damn thing. But the A2 keeps on rolling with the manual features...Manual focus ring (actually attached to the lens elements so once again this means precision) , two function dials giving you quick access to, well everything, and a further two dials letting you set the values of the settings you select with the primary dials......

In non-waffle language, if you need to do something on this camera there is a 99% chance you can do it by pressing, twisting or rotating a dial, button or switch. Do you want to fumble through menu after menu with that naff little control pad or do you just want to press the damn button? Thought so!

*UPDATE*

Recently went to Rome for a long weekend with my girlfriend and her family- and of course took my A2 with me. I was pretty much using it the whole day for three days and managed to use 2 and 1/2 batteries, and about 2 gig of memory. I was shooting almost entirely X-fine 8MP JPEGs- as I can't be bother to post-process most of the stuff. It was great for the architecture, great for group portraits... But the best part was watching everyone else struggle with useless little compacts or massively heavy pro stuff, and there was me with something thats as close as you can get to the perfect all rounder.

CONCLUSION
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Do you want to have a seriously fun amount of creative control over your photos? Do you want something you can realistically carry around on a trip without being totally weighed down? Do you want manual (yay!) rather than electronic (boo!) controls? I have never been happier with a camera. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of a manual zoom. Trust me, it is unthinkable to go back to a button pressing nightmare.

It's been built from a users point of view, not a marketers. Hats of to Konica Minolta for having the nuts to make what is essentially one of the UGLIEST cameras ever, but has been voted Editors choice in many a camera mag/website.

In kung fu terms, its the understated cool dude who leaps out of nowhere are whips all the brash and arrogant young ninja into shape. You heard me.

Anything I missed?.........It has a pretty good wide or telephoto macro.....it has a proper 49mm thread for filters etc, no adaptor needed here.....the pop up flash is pretty good in the dark....one bad point, you have to use it with a minolta fit flash, but there are still third party manufacturers for these on the cheap....you can use the extra flashes wirelessly....another bad point, there is no bundled wireless shutter release like the one you get with the A200. I don't know why not.....the manual may come on CD or in paper form....the software is pretty good, but it aint photoshop....

Dont buy a prosumer until you've tried one with a manual zoom at least. Oh, and Canon kill babies and Nikon mug old grannies.*

*- may not be true.

**- The sample photo is reduced in quality from the original, which was so good it made my EYES BLEED. 

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