12:00 PM EST: As part of four new camera announcements Minolta has introduced the entry level DiMAGE E323. The E323 has a three megapixel sensor and three times optical zoom lens. "The new DiMAGE E323 provides fabulous digital images with point-and-shoot simplicity," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing, Minolta Corporation's Consumer Products Group. "This camera adds diversity to Minolta's digital camera lineup ensuring more choices for users of today's digital cameras."

Press Release:

MINOLTA INTRODUCES THE NEW DiMAGE E323 DIGITAL CAMERA

Stylish compact 3.2 megapixel camera makes digital photography simple and fun

New York, NY (August 7, 2003) - Minolta Corporation introduces the new DiMAGE E323 - an easy-to-use, compact 3.2 megapixel digital camera. This stylish camera combines high-quality digital images and value-added features, such as the ability to make 6-megapixel images for high quality printing and digital video, all in one attractive package.

"The new DiMAGE E323 provides fabulous digital images with point-and-shoot simplicity," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing, Minolta Corporation's Consumer Products Group. "This camera adds diversity to Minolta's digital camera lineup ensuring more choices for users of today's digital cameras."

The DiMAGE E323's precision electro-optical system is built around a 3.3 megapixel 1/2.7-type interline primary-color CCD with 3.2 million effective pixels for high-resolution images. This resolution can produce 10 x 14-inch 150dpi prints or 4 x 6-inch size photo-quality prints. For those special occasions where users want to make big prints, the camera can automatically interpolate the data when it is captured to create a large 6-megapixel image. This will allow users to make up to 11x17-inch 150dpi prints or letter-size 300dpi prints.

The DiMAGE E323 is equipped with a 3x optical zoom lens. With a focal range of 5.6mm to 16.8mm, the lens is equivalent to a 36 - 108mm zoom on a 35mm camera. It can range from wide angle for landscapes to telephoto for portraits. The resolution of the seven-element, six-group lens design ensures the best quality results from the camera's 3.3 megapixel CCD image sensor. The maximum aperture of ƒ/2.8 - 4.9 allows the camera to be used in less than ideal lighting conditions without the need of the built-in flash.

The new Minolta DiMAGE E323's digital zoom can extend the optical zoom lens performance by four times giving the E323 an equivalent of a 432mm lens on a 35mm camera. The combined optical and digital zooms give this compact digital camera an amazing 12x zoom range. The camera's macro mode also allows small objects and details to be captured. The lens can focus down to 4.3 inches for close-up photographs.

The DiMAGE E323 could not be easier to operate. Exposure, focus, white balance, and flash are all controlled automatically for clear, sharp color pictures. By simply pointing and shooting, the camera will do the rest. And to transfer the data from the camera, a user simply connects the USB cable, and drags and drops the images into their computer.

The DiMAGE E323 is not limited to recording still images - movie sequences can be captured too. The length of the movie clip is only limited by resolution and the capacity of the camera's memory card. Clips can be shot at two resolutions: 320 x 240 pixels for large (QVGA) images or 160 x 120 pixels for frugal use of the SD memory card.

Captured still and video images can be played back in the camera or on a TV. Still images can be played back automatically like a slide show. Images can be rotated to orient them correctly so viewers don't need to twist their heads to the left or right to view vertically composed shots.

Minolta DiMAGE E323 Specifications

Sensor 1/2.7" type CCD (3.3 million pixels total)
Effective pixels 3.2 megapixels
Image sizes • 2880 x 2160 (interpolated)
• 2048 x 1536
• 1600 x 1200
• 640 x 480
Image quality • Fine
• Normal
Image formats • JPEG EXIF 2.2 (Still)
• MOV Motion JPEG (Movies)
Movie clips • 320 x 240, 15 fps, max 45 secs
• 160 x 120, 15 fps, max 2 mins 38 secs
Sensitivity Auto (ISO 50 - 200 equiv.)
Lens • 3x optical zoom
• 36 - 108 mm equiv.
• F2.8 - F4.9
Digital zoom Up to 4x
Focus range • Normal: 0.5 m - Infinity (1.6 ft - Infinity)
• Macro: 11 cm (4.3 in)
Shutter speed 2 - 1/2000 sec
Metering 256 segment metering
Exposure compensation +/-1.8 EV in 0.3 EV steps
Scene modes • Auto
• Sports
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Night view
• Cosmetic
• Slim
White balance • Auto
• Sunny
• Incandescent
• Fluorescent
• Cloudy
Noise reduction Auto
Print compliance • Print Image Matching II
• Exif Print (EXIF 2.2)
Viewfinder Optical
LCD monitor • 1.6" TFT LCD
• 84,960 pixels
Power • 2 x AA batteries (NiMH recommended)
or • 1 x CR-V3 Lithium
Connectivity • USB 1.1
• Video out
Dimensions 99 x 62 x 35 mm (3.9 x 2.4 x 1.4 in)
Weight (no batt) 145 g (5.1 oz)