The DIVU software does a better job with post-processing of the images than other software, because there is a different color space used to store the originals. Yes, saturation and contrast adjustments can improve it, but you still won't get the truest colors without the DIVU software. This becomes a major hassle, especially if you want any kind of other operating system. I can't use a friends' CF reader when to give him copies of my pictures when I visit, because I don't have the DIVU CD with me. This is a drag, as the immediate results and sharing are what digital cameras are all about.
I would not say don't get an S304, but I would say don't get it if you can afford to spend just $100 more. That opens you up to more choices and perhaps better cameras. If it is the only one you can afford with the features you want, and you've never gone digital, then go for it instead of waiting.
I'll give you some good and bad about the S304, after about 9 months of use.
A few good points about the S304:
Great picture quality, when it is focused
Good lcd, although hard to see outdoors.
Pretty good battery life (when using rechargeable NiMH)
Easy to use
Good spot metering. It never has failed me. I love spot metering with this camera, especially when I can see the live preview on the LCD. It gets darker/lighter according to where I aim the lens (sunny spots, shadows, etc.) But, all this is a bit hard to see in daylight.
Pretty good flash range and coverage.
It is digital. I know all digital cameras are, but it's still worth mentioning. This is a huge advantage over film in many situations.
A few painful truths about S304 (but I think many of these apply to all cameras in this range):
Slow lens. This means it does not open very wide. Also, very few choices of aperture (how wide or narrow it opens). On wide, I get f 3.0 or f6.0, with nothing in between. On tele, I get f5.6 or f8, with nothing in between.
Bad shutter lag (the time you wait between pushing the button and the camera actually taking the picture). This is caused somewhat by the slow autofocus system. Sometimes, the camera takes a picture, and you can't tell until seeing it on a computer screen that it is out of focus. This happens sometimes even when the camera shows it is ready to shoot, thinking it has a focus lock.
Bad manual focusing. You just can't tell when something's in focus.
Bad optical viewfinder. Way too much is cut out if the subject is within 10 feet of you.
Almost all the controls for manual settings are in menus, for which you must use the LCD. This is very inconvenient and hard when you are outdoors. I guess most consumer digicams are this way.
Horrible audio on the video mode. There is a constant rumble sound that is louder than the person talking. Decent video quality, though, and good frame rate.
I'm thinking of buying a Minolta S304 and have 2 questions:
1. I read that pictures have to be processed through software
supplied with the camera. Is this necessary? Does the processing
involve standard transformations which can be applied with other
image editing software? Does the supplied software run under Linux?
2. I also read that only certain types of memory cards will work
and I can't use cheaper memory. Can anyone elaborate?
Thanks.
