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| Brand: Minolta
Category: Photography
List Price: $1,299.99
Buy New: $599.99
New (1) Used (1) from $350.00
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 24425
Media: Electronics
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 7
Display Size: 1.8
Maximum Focal Length: 50.8
Minimum Focal Length: 7.2
Maximum Resolution: 8
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8.3 x 6.5
MPN: 2720-301
Model: 2720-301
UPC: 043325995064
EAN: 0043325995064
ASIN: B0001G6UAW
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good camera but....... September 25, 2005
Robert W. Rivera (Edison, NJ)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
The main reasons I bought the Dimage A2 camera was for the manual zoom lens that starts at 28mm, (one of the very few that starts this wide), the tilt adjustable viewfinder, (the only digital camera I know of that has this great feature) and the ability to shoot RAW or RAW + JPEG at the same time, the anti-shake feature and the hope that 8 Megapixels would produce better images.This camera has many more features and adjustments which can overwhelm some people. I had a few of the focusing and exposure quality problems some other reviewers reported but after updating the firmware and spending allot of time reading the manual thoroughly twice also trying different adjustments, I've managed to improve the focus and exposure quality of my photos. A soft focus shot still shows up once in a while though. I think the focusing sensor needs to be enhanced. I believe most people who buy this camera may be a little disappointed with the images produced with the camera at its default settings out of the box. You must experiment and adjust most settings to your taste. KonicaMinolta's own website has an excellent section on the Dimage A2 that clearly explains with illustrations, all of the A2's features and their purpose. The manual informs you on page 35 that the camera will have trouble focusing on a low contrast area or if it's too dark or if the subject is near a very bright object or area. Also, I strongly suggest you turn Off the Continuous focus setting but keep Tracking AF On in the menu system and not use the default focusing mode, it is not too reliable. By the way, I have read some posts from other A2 owners that the lens on their A2 has excessive play. Mine has no play at all, it is on solid so I must assume that this was a quality control problem at the factory and may be one of the factors in some autofocusing problems some A2 owners are having. For macro photography you must use a tripod and manual focus for best results. Do not rely on the anti-shake feature too much, it is only activated under some circumstances (read the manual). The anti-shake feature is nice but has its limited use and it is not a substitute for proper camera handling techniques. Optical stabilization is better but very expensive.
This is a good camera but, it has room for improvements
(as most do). Now that I am very familiar with the camera I am satisfied with it but I was hoping that 8 Megapixels would produce images that would be clearly better than a 5 Megapixel camera's but the images are not better in my opinion. This only proves that there is more to producing sharp high resolution photos than more megapixels. I'd rather have fewer megapixels but better image quality.
The improvements I would really like to see are;
I wish the Dimage A2 could take advantage of high speed flash memory because it is annoyingly slow at writing data to the flash card, especially RAW and RAW+JPEG. I used a regular Simpletech CF card and a Sandisk Ultra card and Lexar 80x card to see if it made any difference and it did not. Improved discernible image processing is a must to stay competitive in this category of camera. At least a 2" LCD that could tilt down at least 45 degrees would be an excellent improvement. Reduced noise at all ISO's but especially at ISO 200 and above. A wireless remote control that could work up to 20 feet away would be a great accessory feature. A more powerful flash. A wider and more responsive manual focusing ring and a larger histogram display in color. An internal focusing lens sinilar to the one on the Panasonic FZ-30 would be very nice. If Panasonic can do it certainly KonicaMinolta can do it. Video should be bumped up to VGA 640X480 30 fps. And of course, improved precise autofocusing in all modes. I hope the A3 or whatever they call the next model in the A line series includes these features if KonicaMinolta has decided to continue this line. I would gladly pay an extra $100 for these improvements because this camera just balances well and feels right to me.
I know the A200 has some of the features I would like but at the expense of having eliminated other features which I would also like to have. Oh well, nothing's perfect.
The Dimage A2 is a camera for people who are active in photography and like to experiment but don't want to invest a ton of money on DSLR's and lenses. If all you want is to put your camera in program or auto mode and shoot, then buy a point and shoot camera not the Dimage A2. Remember, this camera and indeed, all advanced cameras demand that you invest a bit of time studying and experimenting with them. Also, you must use proper camera handling techniques to get the best performance from any camera.
 I own one February 15, 2005
Kenneth Hitt (Natick,MA)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Konica Minolta Dimage A2 with Anti Shake Optical Zoom.
I own this camera,it was an upgrade from a Minolta Dimage 404 and I love it.
I took a cross country trip in September and the the camera performed teriffic in numerous lighting contitions.
The Anti Shake feature alone is worth the price.
I recommend having several batteries,I carry 3 so that I can having one charging all the time.
I also have 512mg compact cards,big pixils you will need large media cards
A2 versus A1: improvement or trade-off? January 30, 2005
Donal B. Botkin (San Francisco)
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
First off, let me disclose that I do not own an A2: I have an A1 and decided not to upgrade to the A2 for reasons that follow. Also, I am experienced in the use of both film and digital cameras as well as Photoshop and other digital darkroom tools.
Here's my conclusion: buy an A1. In moving up the mega-pixels from 5.3 to 8 Minolta made a subtle trade-off in reducing the A/D conversion from 14Bit to 12Bit. The 'A/D conversion' describes how much information each pixel is able to report to the CPU and ultimately, to the final print. If the information is color, the A1 reports 16,384 while the A2 only reports 4,096. Does this matter? If you are using a 'home' version digital darkroom that only handles 8 Bits per channel, probably not. Photoshop CS uses 16Bits per channel in its top-quality mode as does Elements 3, so you should be able to see the difference with the A1 providing the better picture at 'full-pixel' resolution.
So, the A2 might make bigger pictures, but they will not look as good as the A1. For most purposes either camera will do a fine job, I'm sure. I have shot thousands of pics with my A1 and the only complaint I would lodge is about the auto-focus in low light: it should be infra-red assisted.
Also, save the .jpg settings for 'snapshots' for the web: there is way too much compression done in the camera and you cannot get it back in the digital darkroom. Use 'Raw' where possible and work with PS Elements 3 and you will be very pleasantly surprised.
High-quality camera December 20, 2004
K M. NYSTEDT (Dubai, UAE)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I've had my A2 for over six months now and I can say I love it. It's not perfect, but for the price it's very good. It's lovely to hold and operate, especially with the BP400 battery grip attached. Knobs and buttons are well-placed and easy to operate.
I'm not going to go over all the things I like about the camera. Instead I'll point out the few things I think could be better:
- An LCD that would swing out to the side, and tilt up and down more (like on the A200). Some times it would help me take shots easier if I could move the LCD around more.
- Less noise at higher speeds. At 400 the noise is trouble some and at 800 it's not very nice at all. Although this is pretty much the same as with comparable cameras.
- Faster and more accurate autofocus in low light. Again, many cameras suffer from this, but when there is little light, the A2 doesn't focus very well. Luckily manual focus is pretty good, but you can't always use that.
Nikon vs. Minolta vs. Canon vs. Olympus, or d-SLR? December 15, 2004
Gadgester (New York)
6 out of 19 found this review helpful
Ok, this isn't one of my usual hands-on reviews. I ain't got the kind of money to buy all these cameras and test them. But I wanted to give potential buyers some help...
Should you consider an SLR-type EVF (electronic viewfinder) digital camera or an interchangeable-lens digital SLR for serious photography? I faced this question and agonized over it for months. I wish I had come across this brief and very helpful article by Popular Photography Magazine (I'm not affiliated with them in any way):
[...]
The article compares five current-model EVF cameras: Canon PowerShot Pro 1, Konica-Minolta Dimage A2, Nikon Coolpix 8700, Olympus Camedia C-8080, and Sony Cybershot DSC-F828. It's a very easy read, and at the end the writers give you a helpful checklist for the EVF vs. d-SLR decision.
As for myself, I'm going with a d-SLR since I want 1) high-quality lens, 2) lens choices, 3) little to no shutter lag, and 4) accessory choices. Good luck!
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