Konica Minolta DiMAGE Xg

This is an excellent little camera for every day use, I bought it mainly because you can slip it in your top pocket, but I have since been impressed with its range of features and quality.

This model is a slight improvement on the Xt, the main difference being a larger viewing screen and improved movies (now up to 30 fps).

The camera looks very neat, only 20mm thick (the optical zoom is internal) and it feels and looks ...
...lens (automatically opens when switched on) you can throw it on the shelf or on the PC without worry. My son dropped mine on the tarmac with no ill effects.

Set up is simple, on my laptop (win 2000) I plugged it into my USB and that was it. On my PC (win 98) I installed the software and it works with no problems. It is also very easy to remove the memory card and use a card reader if you have one.

The camera is a dream ... more

This is an excellent little camera for every day use, I bought it mainly because you can slip it in your top pocket, but I have since been impressed with its range of features and quality.

This model is a slight improvement on the Xt, the main difference being a larger viewing screen and improved movies (now up to 30 fps).

The camera looks very neat, only 20mm thick (the optical zoom is internal) and it feels and looks quality.

With its metal case and covered lens (automatically opens when switched on) you can throw it on the shelf or on the PC without worry. My son dropped mine on the tarmac with no ill effects.

Set up is simple, on my laptop (win 2000) I plugged it into my USB and that was it. On my PC (win 98) I installed the software and it works with no problems. It is also very easy to remove the memory card and use a card reader if you have one.

The camera is a dream to use, with auto focus, auto flash, exposure, etc. you just point and click. If you are into manual methods, you can set the camera manually as well. The controls are easy to use and you don't have to go through umpteen levels of a menu in order to turn off the Auto flash!

In the thick of the action the camera is ready to take another photograph in a fraction of a second, if the flash is required it still only takes a second or so to be ready.

The movie mode is excellent and is as good as many DV cameras. The only limit on the length of movie you take is the size of the memory card. Thanks to the frame size and speed the quality is good too. You can also review the movie (with sound) on the camera, great fun. (99% of mine are deleted shortly after!)

The camera had loads of features, some of them 'gimmicky' but some useful ones too (see minoltas website for details)

One thing that worried me before I bought the camera was the battery. The camera uses a rechargeable lithium battery (like a small cell phone battery) this means that if it goes flat, you can not put in a couple of AA's to tide you over. However, since using the camera I find that even after a full day of taking flash photos and movies the battery does not run out. That said, a spare battery can be obtained for less than £20, this is worth considering if you are a really heavy user. The battery has to be removed and placed in a separate charger, but this is a simple operation.

There are plenty of cheaper cameras out there with a higher resolution, but resolution alone does not determine the quality of the picture. I think overall, considering the features, picture quality, compactness and build quality of this camera it is good value for money.
 

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