This is a great camera for students and families who want a wide range of features and ease of use for a great price.

I will confess that I'm not a professional photographer or even a big photographing buff. I'm just a casual photographer that likes to take photos at special occasions, on trips, or whenever I want to capture a special moment or memory. So while you're not getting an "expert's opinion" on this camera, you are getting the honest and complete view of a user that's probably in the target market for this type of camera.

Key Features

* Advantix Photo System (APS)
* 25-50mm 4 element zoom lense
* Auto focus
* 170g weight(without battery or film)
* 104 x 65 x 39 mm size
* Built in/fixed flash with red-eye reduction
* 10 second timer
* Auto Advance/Rewind
* Title imprinting
* Date/Time imprinting

Size and Weight

As you can see from the above specs, the Vectis 200 is very small and lightweight. It's roughly the size and of a wallet or a PDA so you can easily keep it in your side pocket or purse while travelling.

Durability

The camera comes with a padded, foam case for protection that seems to work rather well. I have also accidentally dropped my camera once or twice without any noticeable damage so the metal and plastic housing of the camera is rugged and sturdy. The viewfinder and lense are protected by a sliding capsule that covers them when the camera is not in use. It's a great idea - you don't have to worry about losing your lense cap or fumbling with it when taking pictures. You simply slide it off to turn the camera on and slide it over the lense to shut the camera off.

Photo Quality

The Vectis 200 uses Kodak's Advantix film. For those people that aren't familiar with it, there are several key features:

1) The film comes in a special cartridge that loads your film into the camera automatically. There's no need to worry about touching the film or exposing it accidentally.

2) There are three available photo formats - classic, group, panoramic. Every single shot in your roll can be of a different format or just one. It's up to you.

3) After your film has been processed, your negatives remain stored safely and neatly in the cartridge. There's no need to worry about losing the negatives. Each developed roll comes with an indexed print for easy ordering of enlargements or reprints.

4) Some cameras (not this one) allow you to change rolls while still in the middle of one so you can keep different subjects/occasions on different rolls.

I've had this camera now for just over a year and have been very satisfied with the pictures I've taken with it. The pictures are always clear and the colors vibrant and lifelike. I particularly love the three file formats. It's so convenient and so useful that you'll wonder how you did without it. As an example, I recently went on a trip to Las Vegas (to be reviewed later). The panoramic photo format came in particularly useful for taking pictures of the entire Eiffel tower replica at Paris, the entire arrangement of fountains at Bellagio, and the four story tall wine cellar at Mandalay Bay. With my old camera, none of those pictures would have been possible and those are some of my most spectacular pictures yet.

The red eye reduction feature works well although like most other cameras, the blinking beforehand is somewhat annoying but I guess that can't be helped if that's the way it works. The 2x zoom is more than adequate for getting close up shots. The panoramic picture format actually acts as a kind of reverse zoom when taking pictures of large subjects which is also great.

In terms of processing, the APS system is slightly more expensive (usually about 10%) but with it, you do get a few extra bonuses such as the extra large prints (group or panoramic) if you used them as well as the index print. In terms of availability, the Advantix system has been around so long that you should be able to get the film developed anywhere regular film development is offered. Basically, the biggest advantage of the Advantix film apart from the additional picture formats is that it reduces the number of bad photos that you take. You can't ruin a roll of film by accidentally exposing it for example. Therefore, you make less errors and get more successful photos with each roll.

Finally with regard to battery life, the Vectis 200 uses a 3 volt CR2 lithium battery. According to the manual, it's rated for 12 rolls with 25 exposures each and 50% flash. Thus far, I haven't had the need to replace the battery in almost a year so battery life appears to be long.

Summary

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this camera. It does precisely what I want in an easy, error free way. My pictures come out well each time without fail. With its small size and extra features, I find myself taking more pictures than ever. Maybe someday I will become a photography buff but until then, I'll keep using my Minolta Vectix 200.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 120