Minolta DiMage S404 or G3?

[clv101]

Just as I'm about to get the G3 Mother is has found the Minolta DiMage S404 and is looking to buy it soon for herself. The feature set is similar, so how do you guys think it stacks up to the £150 more expensive G3?

 

[Owen H.]

Just as I'm about to get the G3 Mother is has found the Minolta
DiMage S404 and is looking to buy it soon for herself. The feature
set is similar, so how do you guys think it stacks up to the £150
more expensive G3?

--Forget the S404! I had one for two months and returned it. I was lucky to get full credit for it. Bought a Canon G3 and the resolution between the two cameras are like night and day. The 404 AF would miss about 40% of the time at maximum zoom. At wide, it was ok. Also, the 404 could not manual focus accurately. I would lock it on infinity and distant shots would be slightly out of focus as compared to when AF is activated. This is at any focal length above wide.

The G3 AF is precise and accurate and manual focus works. Many comments in this forum state the G3 images are soft as compared to the G2. Since I do not have access to a G2, I cannot comment. I compare my G3 images to Kodachrome slides I've scanned into Photoshop. Of course, the slides has better resolution which is not a fair compairson, but I like to see how close a 4MP digital camera's image can come. Since it takes about 6MP or more to equal film, the G3's image (at 2272x1704), interpolated, comes pretty close to film.

Pay the extra $$$, it's worth it.

Aloha.

Owen H.

 

[clv101]

I understand the G3 is better - I'm getting mine in the next couple of weeks. This is for my Mother, she's after her 1st digital camera after 20 years of SLR use. She's found the S404 for £400 and doesn't really want to spend a penny more.

She's is quite demanding though, these are the must haves:
Compact Flash,
AA batteries,
Pretty decent zoom lens,
Small (ish)

If the S404 isn't much cop, what's better for the price?

 

[Owen H.]

I understand the G3 is better - I'm getting mine in the next couple
of weeks. This is for my Mother, she's after her 1st digital
camera after 20 years of SLR use. She's found the S404 for £400
and doesn't really want to spend a penny more.

She's is quite demanding though, these are the must haves:
Compact Flash,
AA batteries,
Pretty decent zoom lens,
Small (ish)

If the S404 isn't much cop, what's better for the price?

--

Well, PC World rates the Olympus C-4000 4MP as their best buy for Nov. Sells for 499US. Street from 340-500. Uses 2 disposable lithium ion batteries but will take rechargeables, AA. Zoom is only 3X and takes SmartMedia cards. Check out PC World's site and research. Good Luck!

Owen H.

 

[AaroNZ]

If the S404 isn't much cop, what's better for the price?

--
Well, PC World rates the Olympus C-4000 4MP as their best buy for
Nov. Sells for 499US. Street from 340-500. Uses 2 disposable
lithium ion batteries but will take rechargeables, AA. Zoom is
only 3X and takes SmartMedia cards. Check out PC World's site and
research. Good Luck!

Hi, a friend just purchased the 3 megapixel Olympus C-730UZ
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/c730uz.html

and is very happy with it. He was coming from a Canon EOS A300 SLR and seems to be very impressed with how the digital compares, and is enabling him to do more with his photography. I have been considering the G3 for myself and have been interested in his Oly C-730 by comparison. It seems to offer a great suite of manual control but he mostly wanted the 10x optical zoom.

Check out http://www.dirtcheapcameras.com.au for a great price if you are prepared to consider foreign purchase via the Internet. My friend has been very satisfied with his purchase, so much so that I will get my G3 from this company.

http://svc003.bne012i.server-web.com/catalogue/dirtcheap/cache/item-3444public.html?cache=no (the C-730)

Hope this is useful, it is a great little camera that meets most of your Mums wish list I think?? Good luck.

Aaron

 

[Marc-O]

Tell her to get a S45...

I understand the G3 is better - I'm getting mine in the next couple
of weeks. This is for my Mother, she's after her 1st digital
camera after 20 years of SLR use. She's found the S404 for £400
and doesn't really want to spend a penny more.

She's is quite demanding though, these are the must haves:
Compact Flash,
AA batteries,
Pretty decent zoom lens,
Small (ish)

If the S404 isn't much cop, what's better for the price?