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| Date Reviewed: 08/25/2004 |
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Strengths: 5.0, ease of use, price, dual memory, size, looks.
Weaknesses: none so far
Summary: I read reviews and noted not one person noted a triangular shape on the bottom right corner of the view finder. I thought something was wrong and took back to Costco but 2nd one has it too. I emailed Minolta and they said it is normal for this camera but does not affect picture printing, which I confirmed. Has anyone else noticed this?
Otherwise I love this camera.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/29/2004 |
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Strengths: size, style, two mem slots, fast start up.
Weaknesses: low battert life, no zoom in movie mode, small LCD screen
Summary: Love the camera but I wish it had a bigger battery. I did not get much time out of it when using the flash. However I got an extra battery for $10 so all should be well. Menu is a little cumbersome at first but gets easier.
Overall im very happy with the camera
Oh, I noticed the "triangle in the view finder" also as stated.. what causes it is that you are "seeing" the telescopic lense. If you open the front with the camera off (no lens extension) you do not see the dreaded "triangle" :)
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| Date Reviewed: 11/27/2003 |
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Strengths: Compact, light, sharp pictures, many features including macro zoom, takes 2 kinds of memory sticks.
Weaknesses: No underwater case for it(yet).
Summary: I am an avid photographer. I especially like taking travel photos as my wife and I travel as often as we can. On our last trip to Cozumel, I took this camera and my trusty Canon EOS Elan. The Canon never came out of the case!
This camera does everything I ask of it and more. In fact, I am so happy with this camera I can only see myself getting a digital SLR for expanding the lens/ exposure options.
One last tip, buy the camera from Costco. They have a lifetime replacement policy. When they come out with a camera with more bells and whistles, just get your money back minus the shipping charges and upgrade.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/26/2004 |
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Strengths: small size, high resolution, easy to use, intuitive functions
Weaknesses: I'm getting more red eye than usual, even with the red-eye reduction flash, but it only happens rarely.
Summary: I bought this camera as an upgrade from my original Olympus model. And it sure is an upgrade. It is smaller, has a higher resolution, can take 30 second movies (with sound!!!!) and looks very stylish. All my friends want to get rid of their old ones and get one of these.
Since it uses a custom battery I recommend buying a spare to keep on hand for trips and such.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/02/2004 |
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Strengths: very good camera of steel and protect the lens very safely.
you don't even need manual to read through, except for installation on your pc. ít's a very friendly camera.
Weaknesses: battery could go longer. but you can make aproxiamately 100 photo's with a full battery. i must say that's a lot.
Summary: in the reviews on the other internet pages i saw that this camera is not so populair like canon. however, the camera shows what is its made of and preforms very well.
in dark as well in daylight. i must say that when somebody taking a picture of me, i get red eye effect. but that's not so bad. the light/flasher is very good, you can make good distance photo's with it. i keep my g500 always on 5 milj. pixels because i use the photo's to make a vcd. ít's like a living picture what you get. the menu is very simple, though it seems like it has very options, but just practise and you ll get there.
i can recommend everyone who is looking for a digital camera to choose this one. you don't need the manual at all.
a huge plus point for this camera is: memorystick and sd memory at the same time. memorystick's used most of all by sony is very modern memorycard and its lot quicker than compactflash and a little bit better than sd card. this memorystick will overrule in the future, watch my word.
with quicker i mean ... when you make a photo, the camera, the trasferring time is very fast. so you can make a lot of snapshot's at once with the memorystick.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/03/2004 |
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Strengths: See below
Weaknesses: See below
Summary: I am happier with this product than I've ever been with anything I've ever purchased. I am the sort of person who is critical of everything, but the features and performance of this thing blows me away.
I paid $198.01, though best buy sells it for $399 and Amazon says its suggested retail price is $600.
The pictures are great, even in low light when you don't expect them to be good.
There are several different picture resolutions
2592 x 1944 which is 5 million pixels
2048 x 1536
1600 x 1200
640 x 480
then you can change the JPEG compression if you want from normal to fine. On the top settings a picture will be 1.8 Megabytes. The camera will only hold 6 of these until you dump them on your hard drive. On the lowest setting (640 x 480) the camera will hold 132 pictures.
This is with the 16 Megabyte SD memory card that comes with it. It also has a slot for a memory stick. It can use both at the same time. I'm purchasing a 256 megabyte memory stick ($70) which will allow me to take over 100 high resolution pictures without downloading them onto my computer.
Don't bother with a memory stick reader unless you plan to take over 200 high resolution pictures at a time (or 4000 low resolution snapshots). Moving pictures from the camera to the computer is as easy as pluging it in to your USB port (you may not have one if your computer is over 3 years old). On both PC's and Macintoshes, its icon appears and it works like a hard drive. You just pull the folder full of pictures onto your computer's hard drive. Then you can erase them from the camera and start shooting again.
The battery charges in about 2 1/2 hours. I bought an extra one for $14.99 + $3 S&H (look on pricegrabber .com).
It takes a respectable 30 second movie. It has a built in Microphone for this purpose. When you play the movie back on its built in LCD screen, the sound plays through a tiny built in speaker. I discovered today that you can record a sound memo to each picture (like "this is a picture of the Grand Canyon" or whatever). Could be very useful at the zoo.
The outer case is aluminum. It turns off and on by sliding open the front.
Some people complain that the 4-way button on the back is too small. I have no problems with it at all.
size 3 3/4 inches wide
2 3/8 inches tall
1 3/8 inches deep
So it's a bit larger than a pack of cigarettes.
For them to be able to pack all this into such a small box is incredibly impressive.
Now there are some things that I would like then to include.
A hard sided case, so I could toss it in my back seat or pack it without worrying
about it.
A larger memory card, or a coupon so I could buy one through Minolta for a lot
less than I paid.
An extra battery, or a coupon so I could buy one through Minolta for a lot
less than I paid would also have been great.
And while I'm dreaming, I'd also like them to give it to me for free.
I've owned it for about a week, so I cannot comment on durability.
Look at the positive reviews On Amazon out of 17 ratings, there are
14 5-star ratings
2 4-star rating
1 3-star rating
On this site only one guy didn't like it because the metal showed his fingerprints. Wel maybe he'd like a nice plastic camera, but I'll take metal anytime.
No I don't work for Minolta, I just love this little camera.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/28/2003 |
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Strengths: Excellent images; durable and rugged construction; 5 megapixels; short movies with sound; very portable
Weaknesses: Does not provide RAW format (small complaint)
Summary: I was very impressed with the quality of the images I took, even on a cloudy overcast day, they came out very rich in color and highly detailed. Indoor shots came out beautiful with skin tones looking very natural even with the flash. I used the Cannon PowerShot S50 as a benchmark for comparrison and found I got 90% of the same features for $300 vs. $500. This is my first digital camera (long time 35mm SLR user), and am very pleased with my purchase. Reccomend it to anyone looking for good quality and ease of use.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/05/2004 |
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Strengths: Compact body and rugged case. Good Zoom for such a small camera.
Weaknesses: Little longer delay than I like on taking a snap shot. Longer battery life would be nice.
Summary: I purchased a leather case and 256 SD Memory stick with it and it makes taking ALOT of pictures on vaction much nicer, instead of having to always download the pictures from limited 16MB factory SD memory card. The camera outta the box was easy to figure out and use without cracking the user guide. Once you get you inital Time, Date, and Resolution set-up your good to go. The camera marrys up to your PC with a supplied USB Cable and without any software using XP it creates the camera as a USB drive. This makes it easy to pull-down the specific pictures you want or do a slide show right off the camera. I paid aound $300.00 for the camera w/shipping and an additional $80 for the case and 256 SD card. If you looking for a good 5Mpixel camera this is one. Search frequently on pricegrabber.com for it. I noticed the price of it changed daily. The lowest I saw it after a 2 week search was $267.00 + S/H ($20-$30)
89% of People (17/19) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/16/2003 |
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Strengths: Smallness and Value!
Weaknesses: It is only a 3X digital camera.
Summary: 2003-11-24 17:36:26 Now please read this carefully! I am no digital camera guru at all! I am just your average Mom, who is a bit busier than I really want to be at times. I just want to share with you a few things about our family experiences with the Minolta G 500 digital camera.
This is a great little digital camera. The photos are sharp and clear. You know, the kind that you are not afraid to show to Grandma. Personally, I am a beginning scrapbook'er and I love taking the digital photos from this little digital camera and integrating them into a great looking page.
The kids also use this digital camera a lot and seem to get even better reults with their digital photos than I do! The Minolta G500 is very affordable (we bought ours for a cruise this past fall) and it is really easy to use. Remember I warned you. I am not a digital camera guru.
This is just a fun digital camera that everyone in the family seems to enjoy using a lot. Take a look at it, please, we think it is really great!
Maureen O'Brien
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| Date Reviewed: 10/15/2003 |
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Strengths: sharpness, takes sd memory and stick memory,Takes multiple pictures quickly. Has video with sound!
Weaknesses: Very small. Not made for big hands or camera cases.
Summary: Comes with very small 16mb sd disk. Recommend buying a 256mb to carry everything u would ever need. Also buy another battery. Battery life is good on this thing but since it completly runs on battery it wouldn't hurt to have spare. This camera is perfect for capturing small items.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/21/2004 |
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Strengths: very compact,durable,high image quality, ease of use, portable,
Weaknesses: shortage of battery life
Summary: 2004-01-21 21:37:28 I v used it for about 1 months and have taken about 1000 pics with it. i m satisfied with my purchase. I havent read the manual since I had used it for so long, while everthing is so obviously, and you dont need to bothering the manual or the cd included. The built in flash is also very good, but a little too strong, since i v switched it to the lowest output,especially when indoor use.
The only thing i m not satisfied with is the battery life.
normaly I can only take about 60-70 pics with the Lcd on.
And the battery goes to its end though it still indicates the half-life. so you need another spare. Sd card is ok, the speed when writing is also good, it only takes longer when use long exposure time such as 5 seconds.
The only thing you d pay attention is to avoide touching the lens when the cover slides to the right, pitty, it cant use a filter to protect the lens.
all in all, everthing is satisfied when you dont mind the short battery life.
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| Date Reviewed: 10/15/2003 |
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Strengths: great flash, high resolution, excellent macro focus
Weaknesses: only comes with 16meg card, SD and Memory Stick are expensive
Summary: This camera is excellent, I stumbled accross it when looking for an ultracompact camera. It has none of the major compromises often seen on a small camera including high noise in dark shots, soft pictures from compact lens, no manual controls, and weak flash. If you were looking at the s400 as your main choice, the g500 is a much better option or the upcoming g400 may also work for you as well.
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/02/2003 |
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Strengths: Small, compact, very easy to use. Very sleek and stylish.
Weaknesses: The few night shots I took did not come out as well as I had hoped. (Perhaps this is not peculiar to the DiMAGE G500.)
Summary: This is my first digital camera, and my friends tell me that I got it for a steal. For its price (it was going for $315 on www.beachcamera.com, incl tax and shipping) and many advanced features, there is hardly more one could ask for. I took it with me to Lake Tahoe over the Thanksgiving break, and the pictures we took while snowboarding turned out great. Unless other models come out soon, I am inclined to believe that this will be a very very popular camera.
80% of People (4/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/28/2004 |
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Strengths: Compact, light
Weaknesses: Delay when pushing button and picture taken, digital cameras do this. Manual doesn't explain how to use camera options very well. Not much memory given with the stock memory card.
Summary: Bought the camera on-line for around $300 dollars. Great to be able to see the pictures you take instantly. Manual doesn't really explain how to use/set all the options available on the camera. Stock memory card is very low, bought a 256 mb card. Delay when hitting button and actual picture is taken. Alot of pictures came out blurred until I got used to holding camera still a few seconds after hitting the button for a picture.
75% of People (12/16) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/17/2003 |
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Strengths: 5 megapixel, light weight, picture quality very good, price is very competitve compared to other brands of the similar quality.
Weaknesses: comes with only 16MB memory card, separate battery recharger, easy to get fingerprints on the camera case
Summary: Very rugged, easy to use and just a fun camera to have. Even my 5 year old daughter found it very easy to use. I upgraded the memory to 256MB which gave me the flexibility to take lots of pictures at high resolution mode. When set to 5MP resolution and file compressed mode, average file size is about 1.5MB. Roughly 160 pictures can be stored. I like the movie mode. It allowed me to take movie clips about 30 seconds long which I can email to relatives and friends.
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