I took a look at both the Minolta Dimage X20 and the more expensive and fully featured Dimage Xt. (I had the Xt on trial for 2 days and have the X20 for a week. I have had a Fuji MX 1700 and currently have the brilliant Olympus C40 zoom.)
Build and Settings
The X20 has a robust plastic build and comes with a useful 1.6 lcd screen, audio and movie options, non-protruding 3 x optical zoom, flash and a self portrait mirror on the front. There is no optical viewfinder (but these can be very limited on small digicams !) and the lcd appears quite effective in most lighting conditions. The unit runs on AA batteries - therefore invest in rechargeables which are useful to have around the house anyway !
There are manual settings for white balance,exposure and flash and a menu system which is fairly easy to navigate. There are not many buttons on the X20 but the right and left menu navigation buttons can be programmed to change flash or exposure or white balance etc
In Action !
The camera fires up very rapidly and by pressing the shutter button halfway you get a quick focus in all but low light conditions. In low light it takes up to 3 -4 seconds to focus. No macro mode but the camera takes pics upto 10cm from the subject in reasonable light.
The Pictures !
The X20 produces very decent pictures in both standard and fine mode and vignetting and barrel distortion are not overly obvious. Colours are well captured but the camera may just veer slightly towards underexposure - but there are manual settings which may compensate for this. The camera performs less well in average to low indoor lighting conditions. Flash is effective at about 4-6 feet. Movie mode with audio (there is a speaker on the unit !) is a revelation !
Comparisons ?
The more expensive Xt has a 3 megapixel lens, metallic build and thinner design, extended audio option and lithium Ion battery. In my point and shoot tests the Xt did not perform any better than the X20 although being nearly twice the price. The Xt was not an inspired performer in low light conditions - producing grainy dull pictures.
The X21 and Xg are the replacements and I hope the weakness in the Xt is addressed in this update. We look forward to seeing it.
So what ?
Overall the X20 is a great beginners cam or useful for that second 'take nearly everywhere' digicam. Great value but about to be replaced !
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Advantages: 3x optical zoom, small & light, movie mode, looks cool, self portrait mode Disadvantages: Small memory card (8mb, almost useless!), battery life
simonsygem 04.03.2004 (04.03.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Minolta DiMAGE X20
Advantages: Light, very handy - always carry in my handbag for any occasion! Disadvantages: Digital zoom on video not as clear as you might think on playback
Jerushjo 15.07.2005 (15.07.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Minolta DiMAGE X20
Advantages: Lightweight, Stills, Video with sound, Webcam, Email function and flashing lights on the front! Disadvantages: No case and only 8mb sd card included
daniello 27.04.2004 (27.04.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Minolta DiMAGE X20
Advantages: 3x optical zoom, small & light, movie mode, looks cool, self portrait mode Disadvantages: Small memory card (8mb, almost useless!), battery life
simonsygem 04.03.2004 (04.03.2004)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Minolta DiMAGE X20
Feb 28th, 2004
very helpful by (65%):
helpful by (29%):
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