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| Date Reviewed: Jul 13, 2003 |
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Strengths: All that has to be said, it is a REAL all around camera.Right out of the box type, start taking pictures.
Weaknesses: Haven't found any. People that say it "Eats" battries, must not be using NiMH batteries.( use the 1800 Mah or 2200 are real good) NO camera in today's market can use regular batteries, and last long.
Summary: I have taken pictures out of doors, in side, and in low light. All were very good. Now all were taken in the "Auto" mode. I have taken pictures in 4X zoom of objects, very clear. It is a real all around nice camera for the price.
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 14, 2003 |
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Strengths: 4X optical zoom, ease of use, amazing results even with standard image quality, auto and manual settings, compact flash, light and small - but not too small.
Weaknesses: Chews up batteries. Best results with Energizer NIMH 1800mah rechargables. Bring several with you......
Summary: This little camera produces amazing photographs. Took over 500 photo's in Colorado recently and cannot believe the results when printed at 8.5 X 11 size (on Canon i850 w/ Canon paper) paper. No graininess, excellent detail, crisp and clear colors, some people viewing them thought I purchased the photo's from a professional. Actually, results are better than blown up photo's from a 35mm negative. Camera is relatively easy to use - no problem if you've ever used a standard 35mm camera. Uses compact flash memory - inexpensive and can store large amount of photo's. Easy to use software. Great buy for the money.
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| Date Reviewed: May 22, 2003 |
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Strengths: Very solid, sturdy metal body, excellent 4X (35-140mm) glass optical zoom lens, wide variety of useful features, very sharp images, and an incredible price!
Weaknesses: Autofocus may be a little slow in low light, unusual tripod mount location, no external flash capability...but, hey, if these bother you then spend a few hundred dollars more!
Summary: I just took the plunge to digital for a second time and after researching and studying many different cameras I had narrowed my choices to a Nikon Coolpix 3100, Canon Powershot A70, Olympus C4000, and this camera. But after going to a local camera store and getting a hands-on feel of each my decision was easy. The S414 has a solid, sturdy, metal body and feel, an excellent 4X glass optical zoom lens, a wide variety of useful creative features, very sharp images...all at an incredible price! While it may have a few weaknesses (as I said, spend more...a lot more...if you don't like them), you won't get a better camera for the money!
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 29, 2003 |
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Strengths: Best all around camera, great pictures, price, better than Olympus 470
Weaknesses: Battery Life, System functions
Summary: The cameria met all my expectatios and more. Make sure you get the good rechargable batteries. The System functions take a little practice getting use to, but got it figured out quickly! Plenty of Zoom. Excellent quality pictures Lot's of features ! Auto or manual operation - simple or complex - it's your choice. Buy the camerica and save $100 bucks ! 4 million pixiels !
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| Date Reviewed: Mar 17, 2003 |
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Strengths: PICTURE , BATTERY USAGE, LCD SCREEN SIZE , 4X OPTICAL LENS
Weaknesses: NO HOTSHOE, OR NO NIGHT SHOT MODE....LIKE SONY HAS
Summary: I JUST GOT THIS CAMERA FOUR DAYS AGO AND LOVE IT. THE PICTURES ARE GREAT,EVEN WITHOUT VIEWING IT IN THE MINOLTA SOFTWARE PROGRAM AS SOME PEOPLE SAID YOU HAVE TO DO, USING WINDOWS XP DOES IT ALL FOR YOU.I LIKE THE 4X OPTICAL LENS ,ALOT OF CAMERAS ONLY USE 3X ,MORE CAMERAS ARE COMING OUT WITH HIGHER OPTICAL LENS NOW THOU , THE LCD IS LARGE NOT SMALL LIKE ALOT OF CAMERAS ALSO.THE BATTERIES GIVE YOU ALOT OF PICTURE USE...THE CAMERA IS JUST A BIT LARGE ,BUT OK. .....I TOOK SOME SHOTS AT NIAGARA FALLS THAT CAME OUT GREAT .. THE ONLY THING IS WITH NO FALSH IN LOW LIGHT YOU GET ALOT OF GHOST PICTURES,AND GHOST OUTLINE PICTURES, WHERE SONY HAS NIGHT SHOT CAMERAS,I WISH MINOLTA WOULD HAVE DID THAT ON THE S414.. AND ALSO WISH YOU COULD PUT A ADAPTOR FLASH FOR THE CAMERA , BUT IT HAS NO HOTSHOE, LIKE CANNON G3 HAS ,AND LIKE SOME OLYMPUS CAMERAS DO... BUT YOU PAY ABOUT $250.00 MORE ALSO. SO FOR THE MONEY THIS CAMERA IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY $359.00 AT J&R MUSICWORLD,,(PRICE MATCH).. DAVE
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| Date Reviewed: Sep 16, 2004 |
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Strengths: 4X OPTICAL ZOOM, 4 MEGAPIXELS, VERY GOOD PHOTO QUALITY, MANUAL CONTROLS, A REAL CAMERA FOR LESS THAN $250.00
Weaknesses: SLOW PERFORMANCE, REGULAR QUALITY BUILT, BULKY.
Summary: VALUE, VALUE, VALUE, THIS CAMERA HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TAKE BEAUTYFUL PICTURES, THE 4X OPTICAL ZOOM IS FOUND ONLY IN MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE CAMERAS.
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| Date Reviewed: Dec 16, 2003 |
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Strengths: Lots of features other cameras dont have. More pixels and zoom then other cameras.
Weaknesses: a little bigger and heavier then the latest cameras. The on button location is not great.
Summary: 2003-12-31 06:09:16 This camera has all the cool features you would need. Found out that the awful battery life I was getting out of the camera was do to awkward location of on switch. It's very easy to accidently turn this camera on when you place it in the bag. I suggest getting a larger bag then you would normally get. Was getting like 35 pictures and needing to change 1800mh batteries out. Found out wive accidently was turning the camera on when she placed it in the camera bag. Need to come up with a way to stop that from happening. I ran the camera through about 250 pictures 1/2 with the lcd and flash going. I still had a fully charged battery. I would recommend using the manual setting instead of the autofocus. You can have better results that way. But the camera is making some great pics now.
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| Date Reviewed: Jul 26, 2003 |
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Strengths: Versatile. Especially like the manual mode. Price is right. Pictures look great.
Weaknesses: As mentioned earlier, the battery compartment cover is a little tough to close and seems flimsy.
Summary: As a serious prosumer-amature photographer, I have been very skeptical of digital photos. Well, had a new kid and decided I'd better get one to email photos to family. I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality this camera give for the price. Definitely buy Nimh batteries for it, preferably with a one-hour charger. The previous poster wondered about the yellow cast of the photos. That is the color temperature of your scene. Light bulbs do that to regular photos, while flourescent makes them green. The s414 does a pretty good job of automatically handling that, but if you're still unsatisfied, go under manual, white balance, and select Tungsten, and it should correct the color for you.
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| Date Reviewed: Mar 21, 2004 |
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 Got this to replace a trusty Olympus c2040 that di ... Strengths: incredible clarity; nice flash pics; great feel; nice video with sound
Weaknesses: mediocre low-light/non-flash photography; bad white balance in outdoor shots; eats batteries
Summary: Got this to replace a trusty Olympus c2040 that died. It seemed like the best bang for the buck out there, and that may still be the case, but it fails utterly in one respect: the inability to take good low-light pictures without a flash. Every picture is dark when in auto mode with the flash off. I switched to all manual and tried various combinations of f-stops and exposure times and nothing matched the Olympus. We prefer to take natural light pictures, and after 7 months, this camera obviously doesn't fulfill that need. For those of you who are happy with using a flash, this camera will take great pictures. The clarity is nothing short of incredible.
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| Date Reviewed: Apr 17, 2003 |
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Strengths: CRYSTAL CLEAR Pics, Nice size LCD, FAST shutter speed, Autofocus deals AMAZINGLY WELL with light conditions.
Weaknesses: Need rechargeable batts, size may be somewhat bulky, but that's a matter of personal preference.
Summary: I've had this Minolta S414 for almost 2 months now and must say it may well be THE MOST VALUE 4 MP Digicam FOR YOUR HARD-EARNED $$$. Like the other reader who said he was considering the Olympus C-4000, I was also THIS CLOSE to getting the Olympus. But the price and higher optical zoom on this Minolta model won me over. I regretted before getting the Minolta thinking maybe I made a mistake. Well, folks....once you see the quality of the pictures this Minolta can produce, I guarantee all your doubts will fly out the window---KAPUT!! I have seen many pictures taken by my friends and relatives on their digital cameras, and I have to say this Minolta blows all those out of the water....I'm talking about the Nikon 4300, the Sony DSCS-9, and Fuji 3800. It doesn't come CLOSE to the Minolta S414. The images are CRYSTAL CLEAR on both printouts and displays on your PC/TV Monitor. I recommend spending maybe at least an hour or more getting familiarized with the features and the controls. There may be conditions where using Autofocus may not be enough to deal with shooting pics in difficult conditions (i.e. night shots, fast moving objects, etc.) I sincerely advise those folks who have bad-mouthed this Minolta to go back and RE-READ the manual! This camera is for SERIOUS DIGICAM LOVERS! Using it as a "point and shoot" doesn't utilize this camera to its fullest potential. Your hard-earned $$$ will be put to great use on this baby. You will LOVE IT!! The secret will get out soon.
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| Date Reviewed: Jan 15, 2004 |
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 I ordered this camera because i thought I would be ... Strengths: Good quality. Great price when compared to megapixels. High speed cpu made switching betweeen images snappy. Lots of options.
Weaknesses: Indoor images were indeed too yellow. Drained batteries. Not so user friendly. Camera weighs a freakin TON.
Summary: I ordered this camera because i thought I would be better off getting a 4mp camera instead of the canon A70, which about half a dozen of my friends have. When I got it, I was shocked by the size of it, but I decided to give it a try. After a few days of messing around with all the settings, i was dissatisfied with the yellowness of indoor photos, and the fact that I couldnt really carry this camera around with me because of the enormous size and weight of it. On top of that the camera was giving me technical problems.
SOmetimes, I would turn it off, and the camera would turn on. The lens would extend, which was sort of dangerous if I put it in its case. When it would act up like this it would take like 3 minutes of tinkering with the on button to turn makethe lens go back in. Keep in mind this was only after 1 week of owning the camera. I didnt even want to think about what would happen after 1 year of wear and tear. I already owned a Kodak dx3600 that was giving me hell after 1 year. I decided to return this camera and get a Canon A70 instead. I trust the brand more when it comes to digital cameras because i know tons of people with A60,70 and 80 cameras.
Summing it up: This camera weighs a ton, drains batteries, takes yellow photos and gave me some technical problems.
Dont comprimise overall camera quality for .8 mexapixel!
Luckily my online seller had a decent return policy, and the canon is on its way right now.
Good luck.
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| Date Reviewed: Mar 15, 2003 |
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Strengths: very intuitive controls, almost AI like light sensing
Weaknesses: little heavy for size, bad tripod mount position
Summary: fabulous macro results thus far, nice easy controls compact , nice hearty handgrip (i have man hands) but not quite as killer as the grip on the D-600L I had which fit like a glove. I'll cope and get used to it. Makes GREAT inside shots so far in dark conditions my other camera never would have even let me take before, just througly impressed. Uses regular AA nimh's so i didn't have to buy a whoel new battery system since I alread had several sets from before. Plug an play in MAC OSX, no install needed, just stick inthe cable and go, but I bought a card reader on my own to take it easy on the camera in the long run. i shopped and shopped and shopped and thier was the price range I wanted and the features I needed/wanted (CLOSE macro and AA nimhs) macro length is 6" or less. As I said he tripod mount is in a bad spot (far left, and weight is onth e right) but I'm goign to get a offset bracket for the tripod to fix that, $20 is cheap work around. Just thrilled to bits with it.
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| Date Reviewed: Jan 21, 2004 |
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Strengths: Best value in its class. Compares favorably to Canon G2 in Picture quality for half the price!
Weaknesses: No hot shoe. Unusual tripod mount position.
Summary: I've read all the negative reviews and found a resolution to almost all of the problems mentioned. Yellow cast can be resolved easily with a filter set. 16MB cf is not unusual, just buy alarger capacity. Buy a couple sets of nimh batteries and charger and your good to go. Even with these updates you still have one of the best deals in digital photography! I have produced great photos in all light conditions. Take the time to learn the camera, not point and shoot. Very well built metal body, thus a little heavier. You should be very happy with this camera.
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| Date Reviewed: May 1, 2003 |
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sisterinter
from PA - Member Since:
May 2003
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: I had been searching for a digital camera for the past 6 weeks. I reviewed several internet sites that offer digital cameras, at various prices shapes and size. I was about to give up my internet search when I found, buy digital direct web site. I did a price comparison check and found that I could not beat this price. I purchase a brand new Minolta dimage S414 digital camera. I called the phone # given and spoke directly to operator #104. The person I spoke with was knowledgable about the product. I purchased this product with the comfort of knowning that I made the right choice shopping at buy digital direct/price grabber.
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| Date Reviewed: Oct 1, 2003 |
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Strengths: Good picture quality. Priced competitively.
Weaknesses: Several other people have already commented on the battery cover. It truly is hard to close after you insert the batteries. You have to push down and then back at the same time to close.
Summary: The batteries that come with it are alkaline and will not last through your first set of pictures after you have pushed every button and looked at all the menu options. This camera is packed with a tremendous amount of options for the price. I purchased a set of rechargable batteries with a charger and they lasted 4 times as long. If you get a second set of batteries you will always have a back up set. Great buy and good quality.
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