Pros: Great pictures, great optical zoom range, Outstanding software package
Cons: Not supported by Linux (yet), Occasionally drops pictures out of memory, Horrible Tripod mount
The Bottom Line: Wouldn't recommend this camera if you are not intelligent. Unintelligent people might want to stay with cameras that use floppy disks to store pictures.
matuteam's Full Review: Konica Minolta DiMAGE S414 Digital Camera
I purchased the S414 just after Christmas time this past year and have developed a love/hate relationship with it. This is my third digital camera and have used several others so I consider myself to be knowledgeable on the subject.
(Pros) For the money ($300 approx) you get great pictures and a 4X optical zoom to boot... the upgrades to this camera from the S404 aren't too noticeable until you edit the pictures as you're now able to take black and white, sephia, etc. pictures. The software package that comes free with the camera is great for the novice (easy editing) and the experienced hobbiest alike (allows you to work with histograms which normally isn't a feature most would play with until they purchase Photoshop.) With all that, bottom line, you get great pictures and can edit them as you please.
(Cons) This camera is not supported by the Linux operating system (yet.) I run Mandrake 9.1 and it will see the camera, but doesn't like it... at all. I bypassed that by just taking out the compact flash card and using a compact flash reader ($20.00) and it worked just fine. This seems to be a plus as I also found out that the camera seems to have a firmware problem (one I hope to remedy when I come back to the United States with Minolta.) Seems to arbitrarily lose pictures (when the camera "reads" your compact flash card,) freaked me out at first as I obviously wanted those pictures. Come to find out, the pictures are still there when you read them with a compact flash reader but not when you download them into Microsoft Windows "thru" the camera... in fact, when I attempted to do so with the "buggered-up" card (because of the camera) Windows crashed and still would not see the pictures. However, the pictures were indeed still on the card and were readable through Linux with my card reader. Also, as a Con to this camera... the Tripod mount is on the very left of the camera, the total opposite end of where the batteries are; which makes for a unique experience adjusting your tripod to tweek into position.
All in all, I've overcome my Cons with this camera... I just feel everyone should know about them before dropping $300+ on a piece of equipment. For the money, it's a good camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $300.00 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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