1st Digicam that Captures What I See the Way I See It
Written: Apr 14 '04
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Pros: mechanical zoom, AS, live histogram overlay, full manual controls, flash sync socket, wide dynamic range
Cons: electronic viewfinder, noise at high sensitivity settings, mediocre resolution for 5-megapixel sensor
The Bottom Line: Versatility is the key word.
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| zoltanus's Full Review: Konica Minolta DiMAGE A1 Digital Camera |
Note: I have upgraded from a Fujifilm Finepix S602Z, so in a few areas, I shall compare the A1 to that camera. This might be useful to some of you – presumably those who are also S602Z owners thinking about trading up –, while it might annoy others. Ease up. Such is life.
Note #2: I wanted to make this review as complete as possible. Thus it is rather long. I have broken it down into chapters and boldfaced the titles, so as to make it easier for you to follow, but you might still want to print it out.
Size, Shape & Weight
The camera turned out to be much smaller than I had expected it to be. In product images, the A1 looked like a big, solid camera with a sober, square design. In reality, it turned out to be a nice little digicam, with ideal weight and weight distribution to sit in your neck without the lens pointing down. The design is ergonomic: even though the body is small and there are heaps of external controls, you are unlikely to push a button or lever against your will, thanks to the clever design and the well-thought-out layout of the controls. My only complaint is that the focussing and zoom rings are too close to the body, and the fingers of your left hand might become entangled with those of your right hand clutching the handgrip. While we are at it: the handgrip is covered in soft rubber that actually feels more like soft leather to the touch – very pleasant. The whole camera is well built and feels quite solid despite the small size.
Optics
The A1 comes with a fixed-mount, 7x optical zoom lens covering fields of view that would pertain to focal lengths of 28-200 millimetres on a 35mm camera. Since the A1 has a 2/3in CCD, the focal length multiplier is about 4x. Thus, the greatest physical focal length is a little more than 50mm which, with the aperture wide open, can provide a depth of field shallow enough for portraits. The lens is quite “fast” in that the maximum aperture is f:2.8 at full wide angle and f:3.5 at full telephoto. On the other hand, the lens can be stopped down all the way to f:11 which, especially at shorter focal lengths, can provide you with a truly great depth of field for landscape photography or macro shots. The lens is a very high quality piece of optics: it is sharp from edge to edge and corner to corner, has almost no noticeable chromatic aberration and, while it has some bad barrel distortion at full wide angle – nothing unusual on long zooms –, remember that it starts at a focal length of 28mm (equiv.) and in the 34-38mm (equiv.) range, where most other digicams have their full wide angle, it is essentially free of any geometric distortion. Perhaps the best thing about the lens is that the zoom ring is mechanically linked, which enables you to frame your images quickly and precisely. Other advantages of this solution include power saving and usability in movie mode, even during filming.
The lens is threaded and takes filters of 49mm in diameter. If you have a Minolta film SLR, chances are you will have 62mm filters, since the newer Minolta models use 62mm lenses. Should you want to use these filters with the A1, you will need a step-up ring.
Anti-Shake (AS) System
One of the most useful features of the A1 is the system that eliminates camera shake during long handheld exposures. Using the EVF with the eyepiece pressed firmly against your head for increased inertia, and with the AS mechanism enabled, you can take sharp shots, free of any motion blur, at shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second at full telephoto and perhaps 1/4 of a second at full wide angle. The anti-shake system can be configured to commence working whenever the shutter is pressed halfway, or to work only when you expose. The advantage of the former is decreased shutter lag, while that of the latter is decreased energy consumption. You pick the one you like.
Auto-Focus (AF) & Shutter Responsiveness
One of my complaints about the S602Z was AF unreliability in dim light and EVF freeze-out during focussing. The A1 performs much better in this field. The auto-focus is faster, more reliable in low-light conditions and does not cause the displays to freeze. It must be noted though that it is neither as fast nor as reliable as that of a D-SLR equipped with an expensive lens. The camera can be set to single AF, continuous AF or MF (manual focussing) mode with a slider on the lower left-hand side of the body. In single AF mode, you can toggle between spot AF and wide-area AF by pushing the central part of the four-way controller on the back of the camera. The continuous AF mode is useful e.g. for taking candids at a wedding – something that was a very frustrating experience with the S602Z –, but do not expect it to be able to keep up with a very fast-moving subject. The manual focussing was a pleasant surprise, as I had not expected much of it on a camera using an EVF. However, the camera displays a rough distance scale in MF mode, and this makes it much more usable than on digicams which lack this feature. Note, however, that the focussing ring is not mechanically linked – as opposed to the zoom ring, which is –, but can be used in a sluggish fly-by-wire manner. How disappointing!
The shutter is very responsive; the shutter lag – granted, with the AS off – is not noticeable at all. Other reviewers put it to be around 0.14s, which is shorter than the reaction time of any human being. Still, D-SLRs and certain consumer/prosumer models appear to have more responsive shutters – but this is not bad performance at all. Much faster than any other digital camera I personally have had the chance to use.
EVF, Rear & Top LCDs
The camera is equipped with an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Not the best choice. It is in fact better than any I had seen previously, but is nowhere near an optical TTL viewfinder. I have had the opportunity to try out the famed 922-kilopixel EVF of the A2 – the difference is noticeable, but nothing revolutionary from a photographer’s point of view. Nothing beats a bright optical TTL viewfinder with a split-image centre surrounded by a microprism collar, such as the one found on the 30-odd-year-old Chinon CM-4s film SLR that I use.
The TFT LCD on the back of the camera can also be used for framing, and delivers a relatively sharp picture. In very dim light, the signal intended for the EVF/LCD is amplified and the picture turns black and white, probably to eliminate the chrominance noise caused by signal amplification. This has no effect on the colours (or noise level) of the final image, but makes it much easier to see the subject on the EVF/LCD. Both the EVF and the TFT LCD can tilt upward by up to ninety degrees for discreet waist-level photography. The rear LCD can also tilt downward, should you need/want to take photographs from above the crowds at a demonstration, concert or fiesta. It is a nice touch, but I would have preferred a “vari-angle” LCD of the type used on camcorders or the Powershot series of digicams. You can set whether you want crosshairs, a grid or absolutely nothing to be displayed on the EVF/LCD while framing – successfully mimicking the option of interchangeable ground glasses provided with some SLRs.
The camera is also equipped with a status LCD on top. This shows the current shutter speed and aperture, the current image size and quality settings, the approximate number of pictures that can be taken if these settings are not changed, plus a variety of other indicators. A backlight is applied if the camera determines that light levels are too low for the LCD to be seen well. Nice!
Exposure Modes
The A1 has Auto, P, A, S and M settings plus a number of those silly scene modes – or subject programs in Minoltese jargon – that are so useless they could make you cry. In fact, with the live histogram overlay and the AS system enabled, the only exposure modes you really need are A and M. I can’t conceive that somebody wanting to shoot in Auto mode would buy an A1. Such a point-and-shoot type of guy should go for a camera such as the ultra-fast and compact Casio QV-R51 or the ultra-compact, image-stabilised Panasonic FX5. Anyway. Exposure correction can be done in either 1/3 or 1/2 EV increments, which is easily accomplished by holding down the exposure compensation button with your right thumb and turning the top command wheel with your right index finger. While the live histogram overlay is a great tool for determining correct exposure, I would have welcomed blinking highlights in Review or Preview mode – sometimes you’ll deliberately want to burn out the background but it will still be necessary not to blow the highlights on your main subject!
Flash Photography with the A1
The built-in flash has a limited range but it can serve you well as a fill flash. According to the manual, the A1 uses the combination of a mechanical and an electronic shutter and apparently, the former is used with longer, whilst the latter with shorter exposures. This means the flash can be synchronised with very fast shutter speeds to balance the brightness difference between a backlit subject and its bright background, or to freeze a flower blown by the wind in macro mode. Flash exposure compensation (-2 to +2 EVs in 1/3 EV increments) is done by holding down the exposure compensation button on the back of the body and turning the rear command dial to the left or right. While you’ll need both hands for this, it is still much more convenient than having to dive into the menu, is it not?
The camera has a hot-shoe for Minolta system flashes, and a flash sync socket (in more technical terms, a PC sync terminal) for any kind of cable-contact flash unit or studio flash equipment whose voltage does not exceed 400 volts. Centre-contact flash units can also be used with a sync cable, using a converter. As far as the hot-shoe is concerned, it accepts the following proprietary Minolta units: 2500 (D), 3600 HS (D) and 5600 HS (D), plus the 1200 macro ring-light and the 2400 macro twin lights. Many of you might be interested in using third-party hot-shoe-mounted flash units. Well, I have tried out my Sunpak MZ440AF-MX that works as a system flash on my Minolta Dynax 505si 35mm SLR and found that it worked with the A1 but sadly, not as a system flash. It seemed to fire at full capacity with all exposures. So if you do not intend to buy any of Minolta’s proprietary program flashes, you’ll have to use the PC sync terminal.
Macro Modes
The lens must be fixed at either the wide-angle or the telephoto end in order for you to be able to shoot in macro mode. The built-in flash can be used, but if you get too close to your subject, the lens barrel might cast a shadow on it. A dedicated macro flash unit – see above – is recommended for serious macro photography.
Movie Mode
The A1’s movie mode is unimpressive, but you get the opportunity of using the zoom while filming. Frankly, I don’t care about it much, as I wanted a still camera and the A1 seemed a great choice for that (still does). However, those wishing to do serious filming should buy the A2 instead (see the section titled “A1 or A2?”).
Image Quality: Dynamic Range
Some other reviewers on the Web and in print have made allusions to a limited dynamic range. My own experiences show quite the opposite: notably, this camera has the widest dynamic range of the digicams I have used. While not yet on a par with the celebrated “eye vision technology” of AGFA negatives, this is still the first digital camera that captures what I see, the way I see it. I think that the sensor’s “native” contrast is at the -5 setting and not at 0, as one would suppose, and this is what might have mislead some other reviewers of this camera. Turning down the contrast does not make the image flatter – rather, it brings more highlight and shadow detail into the picture. Therefore you should always have the contrast set to -5, since you can boost it any time in some editing software if you feel the need for that, but it does not work the other way round: lost highlight or shadow detail cannot be retrieved by decreasing the contrast in the “digital darkroom” (except when shooting RAW). I have found that a contrast setting of -5 and the use of the vivid sRGB colour space is a very good combination for taking superb photographs. And if the tonal range of the subject still proves too wide for the sensor, you can mount your camera on a tripod, set it to auto exposure bracketing, and blend the resulting three images either manually or with the aid of some software such as HDRSoft Photomatix.
Image Quality: White Balance (WB)
The A1 has the most versatile white balance settings I have ever seen. There are a number of presets, such as Daylight, Cloudy or Tungsten, which can be fine-tuned in 10-mired steps, plus you can set the white balance manually and store your settings. To do that, simply put a white or grey card in front of the lens, and push the dedicated custom white balance button on the left side of the camera. Very convenient! On top of this, if you shoot RAW, you can set the white balance in degrees Kelvin in the converter software. Having said all that, I must admit that I prefer to use physical colour conversion filters when dealing with any light source other than the sun or a flash unit. If this sounds stupid to you, please scroll down to the “Combating Noise” section!
Image Quality: Resolution and Sharpness
Resolution is quite mediocre for a 5-megapixel sensor. In fact, I doubt that it resolves any more detail than the 3-megapixel Super CCD of the Fuji S602Z. And, since this amount of detail is spread across more pixels, the image looks a bit un-sharp when viewed 1:1 on screen. However, fear not: your photographs will look sharp in prints of up to 15x20cm (6x8in), maybe even 18x24cm. And the good thing is that this sharpness looks much more natural to the eye than the digitally over-sharpened images produced by many other digicams.
Image Quality: Noise
The imager’s sensitivity to light can be configured to ISO 100, 200, 400 or 800. As Phil Askey pointed it out in his own review of this camera, the actual sensitivity is about 2/3EV higher than that. So for example, “ISO 100” is in fact equivalent to about ISO 160/23, and not ISO 100/21, as one would think. This might be one cause for the easily detectable noise at the “ISO 100” setting, which becomes annoying at “ISO 200”, objectionable at “ISO 400” and unacceptable at “ISO 800”. However, it would be a grave mistake to dismiss this otherwise great camera on the basis of noise alone, since noise can indeed be kept under control. Please see the “Combating Noise” section for what I mean.
Image Quality: JPEG vs. RAW
I have already mentioned the RAW format a couple of times. I’d give it a slight edge over JPEG in the resolution department, but it’s nothing spectacular – you won’t notice it unless you scrutinise your photographs very closely. The other benefits of shooting RAW include fine-tuning the white balance using the Kelvin scale, an opportunity to save your photo as a 16-bit TIFF, as well as some moderate exposure correction. In the end of the day though, you will probably want to use Extra Fine JPEG most of the time, especially because no in-camera noise reduction is applied to RAW images.
Combating Noise
OK, so we have a noise problem with the DiMAGE A1. But is it really as severe as it seems? No, there are a few things that can help you minimise noise, or even eliminate it fully.
Don’t Use High Sensitivity Settings Unless You Absolutely Have To. You would normally resort to using higher “ISOs” when light levels are low and it would require a slow shutter speed to take the shot – which, in turn, would likely produce blurring from camera shake. But with the AS incorporated into the Minolta DiMAGE A1, you should hardly ever worry about that. So use the higher sensitivity settings only when you are trying to photograph a fast-moving subject in dim light.
Leave the White Balance at the Daylight Setting & Use Physical Colour Conversion Filters. One of the advantages of digital cameras is that they can adapt to various light sources having various colour compositions. But how do they do that? If, for instance, the colour of a light source is more yellow than that of sunlight, then the camera boosts gain in the blue channel. The problem with this is that boosting gain introduces/amplifies noise in the given channel. So when you are trying to take a shot in the light of a household incandescent lamp, the camera will compensate for the colour shift relative to sunlight but at the expense of image quality. So it’s much better not to fuss about with the WB – instead, leave it permanently at the daylight setting and use tangible, physical colour conversion filters. Now, I’m not saying you must invest into an expensive set, but if you have hitherto been using a film SLR, chances are you have some filters already. And if you do, by all means use them. And leave that – otherwise great – manual white balance setting feature for mixed-light conditions, when it would be difficult to determine what filter to use anyway.
Leave the Contrast at -5 & Don’t Use In-Camera Effects. It seems to me that in-camera increase of contrast invariably increases noise. So leave it at the lowest setting, and adjust for it in some photo editing software such as GIMP, Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. As to digital effects: the same applies to them as to white balance. You don’t have to use them just because they are there.
Contemplate Whether You Really Need 5 Megapixels. The Minolta DiMAGE A1 is a five-megapixel camera, but that does not mean it should never be used at the two- or three-megapixel setting. When you are absolutely sure you won’t want to print bigger than 10x15cm (4x6in), then two to three megapixels shall suffice. I have found that noise is much more subdued in two-megapixel images, even at higher sensitivity settings.
When Shooting JPEG, Use Extra Fine Only. If you are running out of memory card capacity, consider switching to two or three megapixels but never compress your images to death!
Use Noise Reduction Software If Necessary. NeatImage, NoiseNinja or Grain Surgery can deal with noise that you would be inclined to view as hopeless. I have personally tried the demo version of NeatImage 4.0 and it worked wonders on my pictures. Highly recommended!
A1 or DSLR?
The benefits of having a DSLR include the convenience of a true optical TTL viewfinder, low noise levels at high sensitivity settings, and the versatility of interchangeable lenses. The gravest problem with them is dirt getting on the imager. This issue has not been resolved by any manufacturer, and I personally decided I’d go crazy if I had dirt specks on all of my photos. Also, you should consider that while DSLR bodies have been pricing down recently, it still costs a huge amount of money to equip them with lenses that deliver the same optical quality as that provided by the A1’s excellent zoom. And if you wanted optical image stabilisation… you would really need to dig deep in your pocket!
A1 or A2?
My reasons to go for the A1 instead of the A2 were these: the A1 is cheaper (I bought it for the equivalent of $855, but I live in Europe where everything is more expensive than in the US – those of you living across the Atlantic should be able to get it for about $6-700), has a wider dynamic range because of the larger pixel pitch, and consumes much less energy. However, the A2 has some nice characteristics that the A1 lacks: for example, it can record movies with a higher resolution, and you can set the exposure while filming. This is great news for filmmakers, as this feature is usually absent even from midrange camcorders. Also, the A2 has a higher-resolution EVF – it didn’t give me the thrill, but others might consider this important. Finally, the elevated pixel count might matter in the case of large prints (or regular-sized prints of small details) but don’t forget that the 60% increase in pixel count does not translate into a 60% improvement in resolution.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 855
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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Epinions.com ID:
zoltanus
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
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