Minolta Vectis S1 Compact Camera

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Excellent
Range & Quality of Features	Excellent
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Overall Look & Design	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Compact,weaterproof body, full multimode operation, as easy or as difficult to use as you want,capable of superb results,pinnacle of APS technology
Disadvantages:	Small range of lenses, plastic lens mount, its APS so has it's own quirks .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I remember the Minolta Vectics S1 being launched back in about 1996-when APS was being hailed as the "replacement for 35mm". Total claptrap of course and I told the Fuji rep that to his face and almost ten years later I've been proved right...

Anyway back to the camera.

When new the Vectics S1 used to be on sale for £400 c/w 22-56 zoom lens, but I purchase mine c/w a 25-150mm zoom lens from Cash Converters (again!) for the grand total of £50-bargain again eh?

The first thing I noticed is that the Vectics S1 is an extremely compact SLR camera which is down having a side mounted pentaprism-thats the device which allows you to see through the lens of the camera before taking the pic-hence the term SLR or Single Lens Reflex. However, despite being made almost entirly of plastic it does handle very well and inspires confidence

Loading the film is very easy,you press a button which opens a door on the side , pop the film in and close-and thats it. As easy as the 110 and 126 cameras of old.

On holding the camera up to the eye, I noticed a bright clear image and full information ie a read out of both shutter speed and aperture. It also has a pop up flash and a hot-shoe which is non-standard so only Minolta Dynax compatible flashguns will fit. This isn't a major issue because the design has been around for a good 15 years now.

In operation, the autofocus proved fast and decisive with virtually no "hunting" (the inability to focus) and the flash would fire just when it was needed-unless I had turned it off. All good signs of obtaining some great pics.

A word has to be said about the functions here:

PROGRAM,a totally automatic fuction with self explanatory settings which are indicated on a LCD panel in the form of icons. Portrait, Landscape, Close up and Sport. The idea is that somebody with no experience can set the camera on one of these modes and obtain decent results. In practice this certainly works but I like to have more control, so its a seldom used function.

APERTURE PRIORITY. On engaging this mode, you set the aperture-or the opening on the lens. The camera then sets the corresponding shutter speed. Ideal for portraits and landscapes.

SHUTTER PRIORITY. The opposite way round-ideal for sport and if you are wary of camera shake (which caused blurred pics-the higher the shutter speed the less chance of shake)

MANUAL. Where you set both aperture and shutter speed- This gives total control but also the scope for the most mistakes.

Other functions include TTL Flash, giving very accuratly exposed flash pics and a plethora of APS related functions such as PQI (Picture Quality Improvement which tells photo printer via 'computer'data recorded onto film-giving better prints), HCP Format change-giving you standard ,widescreen or panoramic prints automatically,Mid roll film change which allowed the film to be taken out and put back in again-ideal if you wanted to take shots say in black and white then colour you could change films without the hassle a 35mm camera may give you.It also has the funtion of printing day,date and time of the pic on the BACK of the photo along with titles if you wanted.

So all those facillites but what about the quality of the results?

In a word,excellent. I had mine loaded with Fuji 100 speed film and had the film processed using theJessops 'Diamond Laser'
service. 40 bright, clear sharp pics. Although my photography can always improve, I was very pleased especially for a camera using the APS format which doesn't normally give pics as good as 35mm.

And the drawbacks?

A very limited range of lenses for the serious photographer as Minolta introduced a new lens mount and only ever produced six (four zooms a telephoto and macro lens)It also had a less durable plastic mount but this isn't a major problem for this type of camera.

Overall though, I'm very happy with my Vectics S1. Sadly Digital cameras have destroyed APS as a format including the Vectics S1 which Minolta stopped making last year so you are unlikely to purchase one new. The going rate for them is about £100-150 in decent condition in Jessops and specailised camera shops.

At £49.95 I've got myself yet another bargain!