Cons: The way the cover opens, buttons too small for big fingers
The Bottom Line: Such a high level of performance and craftsmanship (and 6MP) that you would expect to spend twice as much. It would be worth it at twice the price too.
fnash's Full Review: Konica Minolta DiMAGE G600 Digital Camera
At the time I'm writing this review, I've had my G600 for a little over a month now and I couldn't be much happier with it. This is a high quality camera with fantastic performance at an unbelievable price. There isn't much not to like about it. It's the 4th digital camera I've owned. 2 of the others are the Dimage 7I camera that I sold because it was just too big, and the Nikon Coolpix 3100 that I got for my wife
Let's start first with look and feel. It looks great. The stainless steel body is very stylish. It also make it a bit heavier than similar size cameras, but that's actually a very good thing. The little extra weight just makes it feel more solid and feel better in your hands. The extra weight also helps act as a damper to reduce the effects of hand shake too. That was an unexpected, but very real bonus. The size is perfect too. It's very small so it's really easy to take it anywhere with great ease.
Now let's move on to non-performance related items. The battery is a removable battery that can be charged in an exteral charger (provided). Replacement or extra batteries are incredibly cheap too. I paid under $10 for a 2nd battery at www.power101.com. That's less than (or about the same as) those lithium camera batteries you can get at drug stores and supermarkets, except you can RECHARGE the ones with this camera. It takes either SD memory cards or Sony Memory Stick too. If you're like me, you'll stick with the SD cards because they are MUCH cheaper than the Sony stuff. Cards are very easy to get in and out too. Only complaints I have are in this area (non-performance related). The buttons could be a little bigger and the front cover could be a little easier to open. I have small fingers so I don't have problems with the buttons, but I can see how men with larger hands could fumble around with the buttons if they ever wanted to used them for menu functions, etc. The front cover slides from the center of the camera to the side to expose the lense. The cover kind of clicks into place when it's all the way open and it can be a little difficult to get it to do that. The ridge that you use to slide the cover open isn't sharp or defined enough to allow your fingers a really good spot to hold agains sliding, and that makes the cover harder to open than it should be. The camera turns on by fully opening the cover so it's a pretty big deal until you get used to it.
I read in a review somewhere that someone didn't like the fact that you have to open the cover to download pictures from the card, or to view the photos already taken with the rear LCD display. It's true that you do have to powert the camera on (by sliding the front cover all the way open) to view any existing photos on the memory card. You don't have to open the cover to transfer photos though. As soon as you plug the camera into the PC connected USB cable, the camera automatically powers on for transfer without requiring you to open the front cover. I don't know if the review I read was about an older version of this camera or some other camera. If it was about this camera (and I'm almost positive it was), then Minolta must have thought it was a pain to open the cover just to transfer photos from the memory card because you don't have to do that anymore.
Anyway, on to the meat of the camera. It does a superb job in any condition. The flash is nice and powerful to get shots down the hall or across the room, but not too powerful to wash out the subject in a close up shot. The menu system is just as easy to navigate as any other camera I've seen. Nothing really all that special about it, but it's not hard to find just about anything you want.
The battery life is outstanding. I don't count the number of shots per battery but it lasts plenty long. The start up time of the camera is super quick.
As fast as you can open the cover and put the camera up to your eye, it's ready to take the shot. That really helps catch those candid shots.
The focus is nice and fast, and so is the zoom too.
The photo quality the photos taken, and the amazing detail captured by the 6MP image sensor are out of this world. You can take a picture of someone across a medium size room and later zoom in on that picture to see individual hairs were out of place. Color is excellent in all lighting conditions.
One thing I really like is the fact that the digital zoom actually produces exceptionally useful, very fine grain photos. You don't see pixelation in photos taken with digital zoom on this camera like you do with other cameras. I haven't tried the movie mode yet so I can't report on that. Otherwise, all aspects of the performance of this camera are absolutely top notch.
Oh yeah, the camera comes with a Neck strap instead of wrist for carrying. It seems odd at first but you find it actually is much more useful. You can put the camera around your neck and have both hands free. The neck strap is just long enough so that you can still operate the camera and take photos very comfortably and easily while the strap is still around your neck.
Oh yeah, and the best thing of all is the price. I got this one for $250 at buydig.com, and have since seen it as low as $235. It's hard to find a decent 3 megapixel camera for that price so that makes this little camera a steal.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.