Minolta Dimage G500 Review
The Minolta Dimage G500 is a five megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. It is targeted at anyone who is looking for a stylish digital camera that will slip into a pocket and look very good when you take it out again.
Its easy to use, you can start taking pictures almost as soon as you have taken it out the box and charged up the battery. In terms of features the Minolta Dimage G500 offers a good balance. For someone that is looking to take snaps and doesn't want to have to spend hours with their head in the instruction manual it is ideal, but for someone who is looking for a little control over the final picture then there are enough features to help you to do that too.
Image Quality
The Minolta Dimage G500 handles most photo opportunities well. Outdoor shots in particular came out clearly and were well balanced in terms of colours and the sharpness of the image. The standard of macro or close up shots was also good.
The one area where I felt there is room for improvement is when taking pictures indoors is relatively low lighting. These conditions appear to give the camera a problem with its focusing and the final picture was nowhere near as sharp as those produced by its rivals.
Features
Some cameras tend to concentrate on style rather than features. This is not true of the Minolta Dimage G500. There are a number of preprogrammed scenes available to you to help you take pictures in different conditions. These include scenery, portrait, sports and night photography.
In addition to the scene modes you are alos able to control white balance and exposure compensation. The control of white balance comes in handy when you are faced with different lighting. For example there are settings for sunny days and another for cloudy. There are also settings for different indoor lighting situations.
You can also choose the ISO setting. These vary between 50 and 400. Continuous shooting is available and you can shoot pictures in black and white or with a sepia tinge. For photographers who are a little more advanced you have a choice of metering, and bracketing is available for focusing and exposure.
You can also select the picture size. This is useful if you are looking to save space on the memory card or you want to take pictures that can be loaded to the Internet or sent by email.
Pictures that you have already taken can be played back on the LCD screen. You can review pictures either as a single full screen image or as nine small thumbnails. You also have the facility to use the zoom so that you can home in on a selected area of the image so that you can check the detail.
Deleting images on the Minolta Dimage G500 is also easy as there is a dedicated delete button that is clearly marked. One problem that I did have is when I deleted an image the camera would return me to the last image that I had shot. This wasn't a problem when there were half a dozen images on the memory card, but it became a problem when there were a greater number and I wanted to delete a couple on the middle or towards the beginning.
I had no problems with the start up and shutter response times. Both were very good for this type of digital camera.
One complaint though was that the LCD screen becomes very dark when you are shooting some indoor shots or shots in relatively poor lighting.
Ease of Use
For getting started and shooting your first images the Minolta Dimage G500 is about as straightforward as they come. The only thing that might fool you is that the camera doesn't have an on/off button and is started up by sliding back the lens cover. The layout of the controls is clever. Everything that is important is right there for you with its own button on the back of the camera.
The menu system also scores highly.
The Minolta Dimage G500 would score highly for ease of use too, but it only comes with a printed Quick Reference Guide. If you really want to get to grips with the camera then you will find the remainder of the instruction manual on the accompanying CD. It's not the end of the word, but it can be handy to have the instruction manual with you when you are out and about.
The Minolta Dimage G500 has four modes, automatic, scenes, manual and movie. It is easy to change between each one and each one has its own simple menu that is easily accessible and simple to understand. It is very difficult to get lost and it is as straightforward as it can be to find the any particular setting that you want to change.
A minor complaint is that the printed instruction manual only covers the camera's basic functions. There is a full user guide on an accompanying CD, but that is not very helpful if when you are just getting to know your camera you need to refer to the manual when you are out and about.
Cost
You will need to pay around £250 for a Minolta Dimage G500. That is a little cheaper than it's main competitors in this bracket.
Style
This camera is all about style. The Minolta Dimage G500 is a little slimmer than some of its competitors and comes in a shiny, silver colour.
Batteries / Memory Cards
The Minolta Dimage G500 is powered by a proprietary Lithium Ion battery. A recharger is supplied with the camera. I have mixed views on this type of battery. The upside is that they last longer than the standard AA batteries commonly found in other digital cameras. The downside is that to buy a spare rechargeable battery is expensive by comparison. If you are planning to use this camera extensively then I think you have little option except to buy a spare battery, so you need to include the cost of that in your overall budget.
Images are stored on either Secure Digital (SD) Cards or memory stick. You can choose which one you prefer, although the camera is supplied with an SD card initially. The card supplied is a 32mb card. Therefore you should also strongly consider buying an additional high capacity card.
Conclusion
If you are looking to buy a stylish digital camera that offers good value for money then the Minolta Dimage G500 is a good choice. You will find it easy to use and on the whole it will produce good quality images. There are one or two areas where it could be improved upon. The fact that it is a little cheaper than other cameras in this range takes that into account. Click for: Specification
