minolta Xi vs Olympus D40 (C40 in UK)

[shakers]

I posted this first in the Q&A section but think its better off here. thanks

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I'm split between these two compact cameras that both seem to be full of great features. I can purchas the Xi for around £275 and the Olympus for around £300, so not a huge difference ($40?).

Both cameras do the basics of what I am looking for, at least 3mp and arround 3x optical zoom with the basic movie functions (ie 30seconds and sound). I'm very tempted by the Xi for its very compact size, and apparent ease of use, but the olympus has more features such as the remote control for taking and reviewing pictures, an output of up to 7mp (although true 4mp), but the size, mainly its thickness at being more than twice the thickness of the Xi is putting me off. The minolta also comes with a rechargable battery, the olympus doesn't but then again the AAs that it uses are cheaper!

The minolta uses SD/MMC memory which is more fture proof than the dying smartmedia, but then again I can get smarmedia for half the price of mmc/sd like for like size!!

The olympus seems to come out very well in the review on this site, but its almost a year older so it would look very good when it first came out, where as now perhaps its a bit out dated?

The olympus shutter can be open for upto 16 seconds which is great for non-flash night shots, but how does 2 seconds compare on the minolta? thats still better than 1/2 on my current fuji camera, right?! help please! The carry anywhere size of the Xi is important to me, but will I regret the smaller list of features in the end?!

It a shame the D40/C40 is so big (well its small to other cameras, but its twice the thickness of the Xi) as I'd go for that straight away even though it is obsolete techology (the C50 has replaced it already).


In fact does anybody out there own either of these cameras and have any positive or negative views of them

Does the minolta suffer from the "barrell" effect at all due to its tiny lens? i've looked at the sample pictures here and although the corners do not appear to be distorted, the upper two corners of most pictures seem to be sligthly darker than the rest of the image.... or have I just answered my own question ?!

Your help, thoughts and views are very much appriciated.

Paul




shakers

[steve6]

Both give good results, I favour the Minolta. Beware though as I've heard (not confirmed) that lens on the Xi regularly breaks down?

[shakers]

Many thanks for your comments. Even without hearing any rumours, the lens looks very complicated in the Xi and I thought it looked like something that would last a long time.

I opted for the D40/C40 and I am over the moon with it, the sample pictures from both cameras on this site (the Xi showing grey patches in the top corners) made it a lot easier for me to decide, and although the c40 is twice the thickness and not quite as portable, it has far more options on the camera and uses the cheap memory and battery options - smart media and AAs.

This camera is brilliant and is far far better than the only other 4mega pixel camera I have used - the LS443 from Kodak.