Minolta DiMageS414 is it me or does it suck?

[NikonAISNo1]

thanks - It might be a bit of a lemon compared to most S414 s -but- I tried changing my monitor resolution to 1600 X 1200 ( albeit some flicker) and they looked much better. if I'm going to view these shots properly - i think I'll need a 21 in monitor to get flicker free 1600 x 1200 res. Also- I'm sure a really good printer that has a large dpi capacity ( in the future) will produce good results. the only other caveat I have about this camera is the lack of focus for objects in infinity areas or slighly closer than that. It definitely has no purple fringing at all. I'll bet if I shoot at under 1600X 1200 file size they'll look better and show with a lot less "jaggies"but I wont be able to get 11 X 14 prints - if I want them later. :lol:

[NikonAISNo1]

oh- I almost forgot. I was reading an article comparing the Canon 10D with the Digital Rebel. It mentioned something about how digital SLRs dont use sharpening and have much lower contrast- as opposed to smaller cameras with smaller lenses- which add both. Perhaps I will like softer sharpness as well - I'll try. Yep- the DiMage viewer has those readings viewable somewhere also (EXIF) Where can you I find the freeware you metioned? C/Net? Also- the 16 mb card that came with the camera was ok -about 12 pictures- but I decided to go for 64mb so i wouldnt have to go home and empty it so often.

[slipe]

EXIF: http://home.pacbell.net/michal_k/exif_v.html
This is very fast for displaying thumbnails and in the main view very fast as well for paging through full screen photos. Other people probably don’t file like I do, but its ability to show the pictures in all of the sub-folders in a folder is unique and the main reason I use it.

Irfanview: www.irfanview.com Everybody’s standard viewer and the Swiss Army Knife of graphics.

Your brain is still in 35mm mode and that is a good thing in some ways. People with 4Mp cameras are buying second 256Mb cards because one isn’t enough and a spare battery to fill the card. They aren’t going on safari for two weeks but can use that in a day of shooting. There are advantages to taking a lot of shots hoping one will be right and there are advantages to thinking the shot out and getting it right. I try to do both, but digital has spoiled me a little and I really don’t spend as much time thinking about a shot as I did in the 35mm days. You might be better off with your 64Mb card at best quality and just staying in 35mm mode mentally.

I shoot everything at the best possible quality and guard the originals. Many people think only about what they are going to do with the image immediately and don’t consider that those images are their future memories. Or that one might turn out spectacular and they would want a large blow-up of it on the wall.

I don’t think you will see an improvement by lowering your resolution and you certainly won’t see any by lowering the quality – they aren’t the same thing.

[NikonAISNo1]

lol- I delete 30 % in camera and about 10% when I see them. I pretty much know what I should be seeing and if I dont - its GONE lol I do carry 4 extra energizer 2100 mAh with me when I go shooting though. It eats power pretty badly. I am in 35 mm mode and hope it wont be too long till I can get a 14n Kodak or Nikon D100 type camera - like when I win the lottery Heck - even a 5700 Coolpix will be good. This is ok for now still better than the Kodak DX4300 I broke before I got this - but the infinity lack of focus really drives me nuts sometimes. This may be a problem with my camera and not all S414 s. I'll have to contact Minolta - there's still 5 mo or so on the warranty

[voxmagna]

...........Also- the 16 mb card that came with the camera was ok -about 12 pictures.............

That seems about right, my file sizes are about 1.4Mb to 1.9Mb.

.......... i think I'll need a 21 in monitor to get flicker free 1600 x 1200 res.

That probably won't help. As the screen gets bigger, often the equivalent screen pixel and white space get bigger too -and you are looking through a mask! Remember you are sitting pretty close - big screens are for viewing further away! 17" to 19" is the optimum for resolution with today's dot sizes. Best to make sure your GFX card can deliver high refresh rates first and your monitor can scan them. Increasing GFX card resolution and expecting the monitor to deliver it involves diminishing returns. Brightness/contrast drops off (Kell factor), scan speeds go up as does required video bandwidth and dot pitch on the monitor may be insufficient. It always used to be the case, that extremely fine dot pitch on a large monitor was physically difficult to achieve due to the support needed for the mask parts behind the glass.

Selecting a monitor resolution which is near to a multiple of your image file capture resolution is far more sensible than upping GFX output resolution and throwing quality away in re-sampling and monitor performance fall off. What you see in front of you at the end, is an analogue process, and what comes out may have less to do with numbers than it appears.

[NikonAISNo1]

Perhaps I really mean a 17 or 19 in monitor than can handle 1600X 1200 resolution at 75hz or higher. Right now I've squeezed my Trinitron CRT 17 inch to 1280X960 and it;s holding up fine. The photos do appear a bit better - but the infinity lack of focus problem remains lol. I think I also need to take into account the fact it was well below the recommended 32 deg. fahrenheit when I took the photos- although I did stuff the camera in my jacket front every so often as I was shooting ; to keep the camera temp up a bit.This could be part of the problem.I really do like the pictures I've gotten where infinity focus is not critical. So - for 215 bucks with shipping- it's still a damn good deal.Thanks for the input - Peter

[voxmagna]

It's not just the temperature, it's the formation of fog on the lens which might make infinity pics look like they were deliberately softened in Photoshop. I don't know now whether the rugged aluminium outer case is an advantage in your case, since it's a pretty good conductor of cold air.

Have a look at the lens next time you're in similar conditions and take the camera straight out of the pocket - it might be misted up with condensation! I'm not sure what autofocus would try to do in these circumstances. VOX

[NikonAISNo1]

Oh no- there was definitely no fog on the lens. It was between 0 and 10 degrees Far. I was actually referring to the focus mechanism's ability to do its job properly under those conditions. I'll see when it's about 40 F if it focuses better on objects in infinity range( or slightly closer).If there was any fog on the lens upon removing the camera from inside my jacket front- it was quickly dissipated when took the lens cap off.

[NikonAISNo1]

I forgot to mention- my monitor started to "crash" out after a while at 1280X960 res. ; so I had to cut it back to 1152X864. Its a little old- a Dell 17 in trinitron CRT with almost flat but not flat screen.