Digital cameras have arguably made a far greater impact than film cameras ever did, a quick look at the pages of Ciao reveals literally hundreds of digital models all vying for your attention and hard-earned. The majority are produced by manufacturers that are already well-established in the field of photography and all offer much the same in terms of functionality so how do you choose which is the best one for you?

Asking my wife is size is important isn't unusual... what surprised me slightly was that she said she'd prefer a smaller one than last time. With a baby one the way, she wanted a camera that she could carry around in a hand bag so that there was always a camera handy should the need arise. While there are smaller cameras out there, the G530 certainly cuts a fine figure. Barely bigger than a pack of 20 cigarettes and with no significant protrusions, lumps or bumps it's small enough to sit in the hand-bag. We even bought a padded LowePro case (because no case is supplied with the camera) and it's still smaller than the old Fuji F601 that we had previously. 4 out of 5 then for compactness.

Speed of use has long been a bug-bear of digital cameras. Start-up times and shutter lag can all too often mean that you miss the moment, moving subjects end up out of focus, people end up with eyes closed because the blinked. The G530 does well here, with a start-up time of less than 1 second(!) Just slide back the lens cover and by the before you've found the shutter button with index finger, it's ready to go. Shutter-lag too is almost non-existent. The documentation claims the shutter lag is an staggering 0.03 seconds (!) and I've not yet been able take a test photo that illustrates the problems I've had with other digital cameras. So 5 out of 5 for speed of use.

Given that LegendaryMrsDude is not particularly technical, ease of use was another big thing. Point-and-shoot had to be the default, although the ability to exercise a little more control wouldn't result in a marked-down score. The G530 does reasonably well in this area, although it could do better. There are 7 buttons and a thumb-pad on the back of the camera, and most seem to serve different functions depending on which mode the camera is in. Fortunately, they are well labelled and, once the camera has been set up for the first time, there are only 5 that need to be used on a regular basis; the shutter button, the pair for zooming in/out and the playback and delete buttons for sorting through your pictures before you've downloaded

Pictures of Konica Minolta DiMAGE G530

Front view

The focusing is complemented by the exposure and white balance which are similarly well handled. It has so far proved impossible to take a picture than has been exposed so badly as to be unrecoverable during editing and the actual number of pictures that have needed their "levels tweaking" have been few and far between. Of all the program modes, Angel is the one that plays with these settings the most, adjusting white balance and exposure to ensure that skin tones are more flattering than they would be under normal conditions. The effect is subtle and could easily be achieved on the PC, but it's handy to have it done consistently in-camera (if you like that sort of thing). So a 4 out of 5 for exposure.

All things considered then, this is a fine piece of kit. It's well engineered, packed with features and produces excellent pictures. It's let down slightly by the ease of use. Once set up, it's a dream, but getting there, or changing it afterwards, can be a bit of a nightmare. The lack of an intuitive control system is the only problem this camera has, in every other regard it's probably the best digital compact I've ever used.