shoul i buy a DiMAGE 5????????

Pablo fernandez · May 2, 2002

Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2 cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Jonathan Calow · May 3, 2002

Pablo,

Battery life shouldn't be an issue if you're properly prepared. Use nothing less than 1800mAh NiMih rechargeables, get two sets at least and get a good fast charger such as the Maha or Annsmann. Also, camera settings play a large role - don't use the LCD unless you have to, set the camera to 1 min power saving mode and use the automatic EVF on/off function. It all depends how much you mess around before taking your shot, how much you use flash. Also, using an IBM microdrive uses more power than a normal CF card.

Don't believe all the horror stories - you can take up to 200 shots on one set of batteries.

Jonathan, satisfied D5 owner (although it was faulty when I got it, but Minolta UK reapaired it quickly)

Vladimir Tkatchev · May 3, 2002

hi Pablo,

you can buy the Dimage 5 without any fears. I'm a happy owner of this great camera for a month, and i'm totally satisfied. The famous "battery problem" makes me laught ...

I got a 128Mo card which permit to take 77 shots in best size (2048*1536) and JPEG "fine" , so i can't take more shots ! And the battery life with the ACL switch on is almost 120-130 shots !

And, in worth case, if you've got lot of memory, and lot of shots to do, just buy a second battery which is a cheap thing !

For informartion, it takes about 35 min to download 77 photos on a computer

)

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Russell Whyman · May 3, 2002

Hi Pablo

You shouldn't have any problem with batteries (I get over 100 shots from a set). Make sure they have been through the charge/use cycle a few times though before you rely on them as when they're new they can run out very quickly.

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

--
Russell
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.whyman1

wgm-cp4500 · May 3, 2002

Are you down loading via DIVU... if so DON'T.

I down load direct from digicam s304 to computer DELL Latitiude... a full FUJI 128MB in 12 mins!

Vladimir Tkatchev said:
you can buy the Dimage 5 without any fears. I'm a happy owner of
this great camera for a month, and i'm totally satisfied. The
famous "battery problem" makes me laught ...
I got a 128Mo card which permit to take 77 shots in best size
(2048*1536) and JPEG "fine" , so i can't take more shots ! And the
battery life with the ACL switch on is almost 120-130 shots !

And, in worth case, if you've got lot of memory, and lot of shots
to do, just buy a second battery which is a cheap thing !

For informartion, it takes about 35 min to download 77 photos on a
computer )

Pablo Fernandez said:

Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Click to expand...

Jonathan Calow · May 3, 2002

Best idea to get images onto a computer is to get a card reader, or if you have a laptop with a PC card slot get a CF adapter for this. I use my microdrive in the PC card slot on my laptop and can download 200 images in less than ten minutes. It's just like having another hard disk. Don't bother with the USB cable - it's dead slow and you use (valuable) battery power unless you have an AC adapter.

JC

JMoore · May 3, 2002

Vladimir Tkatchev said:
hi Pablo,

Vladimir Tkatchev said:
For informartion, it takes about 35 min to download 77 photos on a
computer )

I would have to agree I have had my D5 since December.

Battery life is not a problem I use Ray-o-vac 1600's with their 1 hour charger, which usually takes less than 1 hour after the inital charge. So just get a couple of sets of batteries. I can almost alway fill my 128 meg card on a set of batteries.

At first I used the camera to transfer pictures but now I have a card reader, $20 at WalMart for a Sandisk. It is a lot faster than transfer from camera and saves batteries.

--
Jeff Moore

mark Cooper · May 3, 2002

The quickest answer to your question is YES mine is great.

Coopes

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Aure · May 3, 2002

Russell Whyman said:
Hi Pablo

You shouldn't have any problem with batteries (I get over 100 shots
from a set). Make sure they have been through the charge/use cycle
a few times though before you rely on them as when they're new they
can run out very quickly.

He is right.

With my new Duracell batteries (1800 mAh) , I can take 117 shots, and only in a first charge. I hope that with more charge cycles I can take more photos.

Regards

Aure

JAS - St Louis · May 3, 2002

I have had my Dimage 5 since February. The battery problem is non-existent. I get over 200 shots on rechargeable Ray-o-Vacs. The Focus issue is blown way out of proportion. The tremendous zoom capabilities magnify the focus issue, which is inherent in all digitals.

You'll love the camera.

Aure said:
Russell Whyman said:

Hi Pablo

You shouldn't have any problem with batteries (I get over 100 shots
from a set). Make sure they have been through the charge/use cycle
a few times though before you rely on them as when they're new they
can run out very quickly.

Click to expand...

He is right.

With my new Duracell batteries (1800 mAh) , I can take 117 shots,
and only in a first charge. I hope that with more charge cycles I
can take more photos.

Regards

Aure

Jack Steinhilper · May 3, 2002

Pablo fernandez said:
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????

I'm really hoping that mine will be delivered in a week or two, you cats have certainly made me feel better about it. I feel like a kid at Christmas...

If they have made you feel better about the focus and batteries issues, then go for it, it's a super camera.

Vladimir Tkatchev · May 4, 2002

Hi, i may have a problem !?

I download photos direct from my camera to my computer and not with DIVU.

Anyone got an idea ?

Geraint Morgan said:
I down load direct from digicam s304 to computer DELL Latitiude...
a full FUJI 128MB in 12 mins!

Vladimir Tkatchev said:

you can buy the Dimage 5 without any fears. I'm a happy owner of
this great camera for a month, and i'm totally satisfied. The
famous "battery problem" makes me laught ...
I got a 128Mo card which permit to take 77 shots in best size
(2048*1536) and JPEG "fine" , so i can't take more shots ! And the
battery life with the ACL switch on is almost 120-130 shots !

And, in worth case, if you've got lot of memory, and lot of shots
to do, just buy a second battery which is a cheap thing !

For informartion, it takes about 35 min to download 77 photos on a
computer )

Pablo Fernandez said:

Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Jenny Gersekowski · May 6, 2002

Hi!

I have a Dimage 5. The battery problem is only minor if you have rechargeable batteries as they last a reasonable time really. I have two sets with which I seem to manage o.k. The Dimage 5 is a great little camera with great resolution. I am sure you would be happy with it.

Jenny (Australia)

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

mark Cooper · May 6, 2002

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Hi Pablo. I have now had my D5 for two weeks I did have problems to start with, with the batteries, but once they have been charged and discharged 4 to 5 times they are fine. I have found that if you use the view finder the batteries last for 100 to 150 shots which is plenty in my opinion. The quality of the images are brilliant. Have a look.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark_cooper

Coopes

AnaDigi · May 6, 2002

Hi,

I think you better change your site, because I can only see the second picture, very poor ISP!!!

Coopes said:
Pablo Fernandez said:

Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Click to expand...

Hi Pablo. I have now had my D5 for two weeks I did have problems to
start with, with the batteries, but once they have been charged and
discharged 4 to 5 times they are fine. I have found that if you use
the view finder the batteries last for 100 to 150 shots which is
plenty in my opinion. The quality of the images are brilliant. Have
a look.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark_cooper

Coopes

Jack Zubyk · May 9, 2002

I got a card read also (came with my Cannon S800). It is definitly the way to go. Takes no time to transfer the pics to the PC. Plus you don't need to worry about hooking up the camera. I would highly recommend any one with a Digital Camera to get one of these. Plus, they are so cheap.

JMoore said:
Vladimir Tkatchev said:

hi Pablo,

Click to expand...

JMoore said:

For informartion, it takes about 35 min to download 77 photos on a
computer )

Click to expand...

I would have to agree I have had my D5 since December.

Battery life is not a problem I use Ray-o-vac 1600's with their 1
hour charger, which usually takes less than 1 hour after the inital
charge. So just get a couple of sets of batteries. I can almost
alway fill my 128 meg card on a set of batteries.

At first I used the camera to transfer pictures but now I have a
card reader, $20 at WalMart for a Sandisk. It is a lot faster than
transfer from camera and saves batteries.

--
Jeff Moore

Chuck Strickland · May 9, 2002

Pablo Fernandez said:
Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Pablo - forget the SOny, the Dimage is much more for the money. My only question is how much are you prepared to spend. I had decided on the Dimage 5 and was prepared to pay retail for it. After doing 2 months of research about features, problems, availability and pricing I decided I could get the Dimage 7 for just a little more than I was willing to pay for the D5. I finally ordered my D7 for $709US plus 25 shhipping the other day and I am expecting it Tuesday. I check the UPS tracking info every couple of hours - I can hardly wait.

The D5 - a GREAT camera according to MANY people is being discontinued and Minolta just announced an upgrade to the D7 firmware that will be available in late June that will bring the D7 up closer to the D7i in capabilities - at least close enough for me. I would strongly recommend saving a little more and going for the D7 - I think you would be much happier with it.

Ragards,

Chuck

PS - where do you live, drop me a line at [email protected] and I will be glad to help you find wither the D5 or the D7 at a good price.

handsome_a · May 11, 2002

Chuck Strickland said:
The D5 - a GREAT camera according to MANY people is being
discontinued and Minolta just announced an upgrade to the D7
firmware that will be available in late June that will bring the D7
up closer to the D7i in capabilities - at least close enough for
me. I would strongly recommend saving a little more and going for
the D7 - I think you would be much happier with it.

Ragards,

Chuck

PS - where do you live, drop me a line at [email protected] and I
will be glad to help you find wither the D5 or the D7 at a good
price.

I just picked mine today at Samy's Camera in Pasadena, CA for $599 (No sales tax due to their 4 days promotion May 9-12). I almost went for the D7 which they sell for $799 (no sales tax) but changed my mind in the last minute. They are not grey market product. I have full 1 year U.S. warranty and 3.3 Mpixels is more than enough for me. I don't have a big printer and most of the time I just print 4"x6" or 8"x10" on my HP 990cse.

I was going to wait for the Fuji s602 but after doing some research through the net in the past week, I decided to go with the D5 due to the following reasons:

1. D5 has 7x optical zoom vs. Fuji 6x
2. Price is less than $600 vs. $7-800 plus tax & shipping

3. Being in the big city, I hate the idea of buying thing online. I may pay a little bit more but I can be assured that there is no problem after sales.
4. I don't think that they will ship on 5/15/02 as they say.
5. I like Minalta.

So far I am happy with it!

Andy

AnaDigi · May 11, 2002

I don't know why people are keep saying that D7 & D5 are close to price. In Canada, the D& D7i(not available yet but they do have the price) are $1,490.00, and D5 $899.00. After the tax, it is almost a double!!!! I you are going to buy the D7 why just wait for a little while and have the D7i plus it is better, and you don't have to pay the stupid US$50.00 for the firmware upgrade.

Chuck Strickland said:
Pablo Fernandez said:

Hello, can anyone help me, after a great search i am thinking in 2
cameras, the DiMAGE 5 and the sony dsc s75, can anyone help me
deciding, anyway, i think i´m going to buy de minolta camera, but
i´m concerned about the battery life, should I??????
--
Pablo Fernandez

Click to expand...

Pablo - forget the SOny, the Dimage is much more for the money. My
only question is how much are you prepared to spend. I had decided
on the Dimage 5 and was prepared to pay retail for it. After doing
2 months of research about features, problems, availability and
pricing I decided I could get the Dimage 7 for just a little more
than I was willing to pay for the D5. I finally ordered my D7 for
$709US plus 25 shhipping the other day and I am expecting it
Tuesday. I check the UPS tracking info every couple of hours - I
can hardly wait.

The D5 - a GREAT camera according to MANY people is being
discontinued and Minolta just announced an upgrade to the D7
firmware that will be available in late June that will bring the D7
up closer to the D7i in capabilities - at least close enough for
me. I would strongly recommend saving a little more and going for
the D7 - I think you would be much happier with it.

Ragards,

Chuck

PS - where do you live, drop me a line at [email protected] and I
will be glad to help you find wither the D5 or the D7 at a good
price.

Jerry Rosen · May 11, 2002

I bought mine at cameraworld about a week ago for $494.00 plus fee shipping

Handsome_A said:
handsome_a said:

The D5 - a GREAT camera according to MANY people is being
discontinued and Minolta just announced an upgrade to the D7
firmware that will be available in late June that will bring the D7
up closer to the D7i in capabilities - at least close enough for
me. I would strongly recommend saving a little more and going for
the D7 - I think you would be much happier with it.

Ragards,

Chuck

PS - where do you live, drop me a line at [email protected] and I
will be glad to help you find wither the D5 or the D7 at a good
price.

Click to expand...

I just picked mine today at Samy's Camera in Pasadena, CA for $599
(No sales tax due to their 4 days promotion May 9-12). I almost
went for the D7 which they sell for $799 (no sales tax) but changed
my mind in the last minute. They are not grey market product. I
have full 1 year U.S. warranty and 3.3 Mpixels is more than enough
for me. I don't have a big printer and most of the time I just
print 4"x6" or 8"x10" on my HP 990cse.

I was going to wait for the Fuji s602 but after doing some research
through the net in the past week, I decided to go with the D5 due
to the following reasons:

1. D5 has 7x optical zoom vs. Fuji 6x
2. Price is less than $600 vs. $7-800 plus tax & shipping
3. Being in the big city, I hate the idea of buying thing online.
I may pay a little bit more but I can be assured that there is no
problem after sales.
4. I don't think that they will ship on 5/15/02 as they say.
5. I like Minalta.

So far I am happy with it!

Andy

shoul i buy a DiMAGE 5????????

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