A1 owners: are you satisfied with your camera?

urban75 · Nov 2, 2003

I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1 after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon 5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?

Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

PWM · Nov 2, 2003

Am I happy with the A1? You bet I am...

I think a lot of people are complaining about the noise because they expected totally noise free images... well, wake up people! that's just not gonna happen with a 2/3" sensor (with present technology), unless you put a lot of NR in the camera... bottom line is that I don't see the noise as being too bad

before I bought the A1 I considered the 300D, but I found that it was way too big, and it didn't have a great feature set like the A1

you can see some of my pictures taken with the A1 here: http://www.fotokritik.dk/oversigt.html?bruger=4393

Peter

urban75 said:
I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a
mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed
to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing
their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've
got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

Geir Ove · Nov 2, 2003

urban75 said:
I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a
mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed
to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing
their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've
got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

Geir Ove · Nov 2, 2003

again: Noise will NOT show on a monitor when picture is scaled for the monitor, and it will NOT show on prints up to at least A4, so what's the fuzz????

My A1 gallery at: http://www.objective.no/geirove/web

Geir Ove

PWM said:
I think a lot of people are complaining about the noise because
they expected totally noise free images... well, wake up people!
that's just not gonna happen with a 2/3" sensor (with present
technology), unless you put a lot of NR in the camera... bottom
line is that I don't see the noise as being too bad

before I bought the A1 I considered the 300D, but I found that it
was way too big, and it didn't have a great feature set like the A1

you can see some of my pictures taken with the A1 here:
http://www.fotokritik.dk/oversigt.html?bruger=4393

Peter

urban75 said:

I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a
mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed
to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing
their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've
got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

Click to expand...

Rick Stirling · Nov 2, 2003

urban75 said:
I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a
mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed
to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing
their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've
got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

Mike,

Given your stated usage will be mostly night - low light I think you might be better off with a larger CCD camera or CMOS imager. The limitation on the A1 of 30 second bulb exposures might not be the ticket for you.

You may have to compromise and go with the added bulk of the 300D

No free ticket here unfortunately though you might want to take a look at Toni Leung's great A1 images and see if what he has been able to do with the A1 is instructive.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=6504506

I'd be very happy to get images like that myself. ;-)

--

cheers,
Rick Stirling
http://www.rickster.net/gallery/albums.php

alan k · Nov 2, 2003

urban75,

After a little over a month of use, I can say that I am extremely happy with the A1 in terms of image quality, camera (and controls) design, feature set, and overall performance. No problems with noise, although I normally shoot with sensitivity set to ISO 100.

I have been a digital camera user since 1995 and have used models from all the major makers over the course of my work and hobbies. The A1 is my first Minolta, and I am pleased with the choice I made for my new "axe".

urban75 · Nov 2, 2003

Rick Stirling said:
Mike,

Given your stated usage will be mostly night - low light I think
you might be better off with a larger CCD camera or CMOS imager.
The limitation on the A1 of 30 second bulb exposures might not be
the ticket for you.

You may have to compromise and go with the added bulk of the 300D

Cheers for the feedback, but much as I like the quality of 300D's images, the large bulk and lack of a swivelling screen means that I'd be unlikely to use it as often - and if I don't take the camera out with me, I'm not going to get the shot!

I've sold quite a few images off my own site - most recently 2 NYC street images to a international newspaper - and one of those was shot on a Sony DSC F55DX 3.3 mega-pixel camera!

There's no way I could have taken those images if I'd been wielding a chunky Canon 300D (people tend to get a bit uppity when they see a thumping great lens pointing at them!).

More recently, I've been using a Sony DSC F77 - another small swivelling lens jobbie - and the quality has been good enough for quite a few sales too.

Thing is that I need more SLR-like control for some images in a package that isn't too big - and once you get used to live previews and swivelling LCDs/viewfinders, it's hard to go back to an old-school SLR viewfinder display.

So here's my dilemma - I need more manual controls in a reasonably compact package that is fast to operate and has reasonable hand held night shot abilities.

It's a bit of a Holy Grail granted, but the A1 seems the best bet so far....

Rick Stirling · Nov 2, 2003

urban75 said:
Rick Stirling said:

Mike,

Given your stated usage will be mostly night - low light I think
you might be better off with a larger CCD camera or CMOS imager.
The limitation on the A1 of 30 second bulb exposures might not be
the ticket for you.

You may have to compromise and go with the added bulk of the 300D

Click to expand...

Cheers for the feedback, but much as I like the quality of 300D's
images, the large bulk and lack of a swivelling screen means that
I'd be unlikely to use it as often - and if I don't take the camera
out with me, I'm not going to get the shot!

I've sold quite a few images off my own site - most recently 2 NYC
street images to a international newspaper - and one of those was
shot on a Sony DSC F55DX 3.3 mega-pixel camera!

There's no way I could have taken those images if I'd been wielding
a chunky Canon 300D (people tend to get a bit uppity when they see
a thumping great lens pointing at them!).

More recently, I've been using a Sony DSC F77 - another small
swivelling lens jobbie - and the quality has been good enough for
quite a few sales too.

Thing is that I need more SLR-like control for some images in a
package that isn't too big - and once you get used to live previews
and swivelling LCDs/viewfinders, it's hard to go back to an
old-school SLR viewfinder display.

So here's my dilemma - I need more manual controls in a reasonably
compact package that is fast to operate and has reasonable hand
held night shot abilities.

It's a bit of a Holy Grail granted, but the A1 seems the best bet
so far....

If you're located in NYC then trundle on over to B&H and check out the A1 ... if you're willing to do a bit of PhotoShop post-processing, I think you can get some really good night images from it.

--

cheers,
Rick Stirling
http://www.rickster.net/gallery/albums.php

urban75 · Nov 2, 2003

Rick Stirling said:
If you're located in NYC then ...

No, I'm back in London now - I was working in NYC for a year or so during the fabulous madness of the dot com boom, but now only get chance to visit occasionally

Rick Stirling · Nov 2, 2003

AH, OK ... whereabouts in London? I used to hang out at Advision Studios over in W1 - Great Portaland and Langham - I think Advision moved out of town to Brighton last I heard. It's been quite a while since i was in London.

Miss the ESB!

Cheers,
Rick Stirling

urban75 said:
Rick Stirling said:

If you're located in NYC then ...

Click to expand...

No, I'm back in London now - I was working in NYC for a year or so
during the fabulous madness of the dot com boom, but now only get
chance to visit occasionally

--

cheers,
Rick Stirling
http://www.rickster.net/gallery/albums.php

Jerry Kindall · Nov 2, 2003

I'm still learning my way around the A1 but I have, in the last couple weeks, been very happy with the photos I've taken. The quick autofocus, 7X zoom, and anti-shake technology have let me get some great shots handheld when others were using tripods.

Sure the A1's images are sometimes a bit noisier than I'd like, but I'd rather have a sharp image with a bit too much noise than a noise-free one with a lot of motion blur, or to miss the shot entirely because the camera couldn't focus quickly enough. The noise is usually easily dealt with using software, but there is no program that can recover the photo you didn't get.

BJN · Nov 2, 2003

urban75 said:
I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

You need to try the A1 before you buy. It's not that small, and the menu access is fragmented and fussy. The A1 is easily the most complex control structure I've tried in a digtial camera.

urban75 said:
How bad s the noise?

Okay at ISO 100, annoying at 400, unusable at 800

urban75 said:
Are you happy with the camera?

So-so

urban75 said:
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

The Olympus 5060. It was in consideration, but not available when we picked up the A1.

urban75 said:
Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

No. Night and low light will bring out the A1's noise. Again, the 717 is longer, but the Minolta isn't a lot more compact. It's quite a bit larger than the Nikon 5700, for example. See it first.

--
BJN

Dave20730 · Nov 2, 2003

urban75 said:
I'm just about ready to dip into my pocket and buy the Minolta A1
after trying out the Canon G5 (too cumbersome and fiddly), Nikon
5400 (horrible squinty LCD screen), Canon 300D (waaay too big and
no live review/swivel screen) and Sony 717 (great camera - but too
bulky and I've given up waiting for the 828), but I'm concerned at
the repeated comments about the noise issues.

The A1 has consistently picked up great reviews with barely a
mention of the noise or the supposed post-processing effort needed
to produce a decent image, but as several people are loudly voicing
their concerns here, I'd appreciate the opinions of those who've
got some real experience with the camera.

How bad s the noise?
Are you happy with the camera?
Is there any other camera you'd subsequently wish you'd considered
before buying the A1?

Much of my photographic work is night/low light shots, so would the
A1 be a better bet than, say, the chunky 717?

Thanks!

Mike
http://www.urban75.org/photos/

david.mitchell · Nov 2, 2003

it rocks!

Jim N'AZ · Nov 2, 2003

BJN said:
BJN said:

How bad s the noise?

Click to expand...

Okay at ISO 100, annoying at 400, unusable at 800

BJN

True, the ISO at 800 is pretty bad when compared to 100. But my thesis is that 800 is not unusable. You will get the photograph and with a bit of post processing, it can be usable. Perhaps not for salon display, but usable to me. YMMV.

Here is a shot I did on a whim tonight @ 800 to see if I could glean anything at all. Mind you, this was under some pretty funky mixed lighting! I handheld this @ 1/5 second and it is a pretty fair representation of the scene. First, the exif:

And here is the shot. Yes, the fullsize shot is pretty ugly, but you can bring it back from there. A tripod and more time with the WB and it would have been better, even tho it was raining! Point being, 800 is usable, and certainly moreso in the hands of those more skilled than me.

Regards, Jim

--
Jim N'AZ

urban75 · Nov 3, 2003

BJN said:
No. Night and low light will bring out the A1's noise. Again, the
717 is longer, but the Minolta isn't a lot more compact. It's quite
a bit larger than the Nikon 5700, for example. See it first.

I have - but the Nikon has a really fiddly, squinty LCD screen that looks like it'll snap off easily! Moreover, the camera hasn't got a manual focus/zoom ring which more or less rules it out for me.

All this talk about A1 noise here has made me a little hesitant and I'm starting to mull over the Sony 717 again - but then I figure I'd be mad to buy that before seeing what the 828 has to offer - and who knows when that camera will see the light of day

As you've probably worked out, I've been mulling and faffing over this for ages. I thought the G5 was going to be the one for me until I saw the purple fringing and the limited viewfinder display, then I was convinced that the Nikon might do the trick until I saw the A1...

Decisions! decisions!

Rick Stirling · Nov 3, 2003

Jim N'AZ said:
BJN said:

Jim N'AZ said:

How bad s the noise?

Click to expand...

Okay at ISO 100, annoying at 400, unusable at 800

BJN

Click to expand...

True, the ISO at 800 is pretty bad when compared to 100. But my
thesis is that 800 is not unusable. You will get the photograph and
with a bit of post processing, it can be usable. Perhaps not for
salon display, but usable to me. YMMV.
Here is a shot I did on a whim tonight @ 800 to see if I could
glean anything at all. Mind you, this was under some pretty funky
mixed lighting! I handheld this @ 1/5 second and it is a pretty
fair representation of the scene. First, the
exif:

And here is the shot.
Yes, the fullsize shot is pretty ugly, but you can bring it back
from there. A tripod and more time with the WB and it would have
been better, even tho it was raining! Point being, 800 is usable,
and certainly moreso in the hands of those more skilled than me.

Regards, Jim

--
Jim N'AZ

Who knows Jim, maybe we'll discover a whole new way of expressing photographic art with ISO 800 on the A1 ;-) Remember the guy that dropped his digital camera in a lake? The resulting strange performance of his camera won him international acclaim.

As they say, it ya got lemons then make lemonade. ;-)

I actually look forward to experiment with this 'new medium'

cheers,
Rick Stirling
http://www.rickster.net/gallery/albums.php

Hans vdC · Nov 3, 2003

pretty happy user here. had to adjust myself a little over the 'noise' issue. I have been using a Powershot S45 which gave me very nice pictures without noise, but when I compare them to the A1 shots, it definitely becomes clear that the A1 has a lot more detail to the pictures than the S45.

mind! the S45 picture quality always seemed incredibly to me, but just after comparing them to the A1 shots, I started noticing missing detail and off-colours with the S45. so picture quality of the A1 is a definite plus to me, as long as I can take the noise for granted (and it's not THAT bad, just a bit more visible than other digicams that use alot more incamera processing than the A1)

if anything that I have to say is a little less 'ok' than I expected, it is the size. I knew this before buying it, so it's definitely something personal, but I notice that taking the A1 everywhere I go is a little more involving than with the S45 which fitted nicely in every pocket, the A1 needs a bag or the neck strap which makes me look silly

all in all, I'm pretty happy with the A1, if I could change my decision, I would have kept my S45 and bought a DSLR as my 'photography' camera, but I simply did not have the money for that, so I sold the S45 and got myself a middle-of-the-road camera, the A1

Andy62252 · Nov 3, 2003

Hans von der Crone said:
pretty happy user here. had to adjust myself a little over the
'noise' issue. I have been using a Powershot S45 which gave me very
nice pictures without noise, but when I compare them to the A1
shots, it definitely becomes clear that the A1 has a lot more
detail to the pictures than the S45.

mind! the S45 picture quality always seemed incredibly to me, but
just after comparing them to the A1 shots, I started noticing
missing detail and off-colours with the S45. so picture quality of
the A1 is a definite plus to me, as long as I can take the noise
for granted (and it's not THAT bad, just a bit more visible than
other digicams that use alot more incamera processing than the A1)

if anything that I have to say is a little less 'ok' than I
expected, it is the size. I knew this before buying it, so it's
definitely something personal, but I notice that taking the A1
everywhere I go is a little more involving than with the S45 which
fitted nicely in every pocket, the A1 needs a bag or the neck strap
which makes me look silly

all in all, I'm pretty happy with the A1, if I could change my
decision, I would have kept my S45 and bought a DSLR as my
'photography' camera, but I simply did not have the money for that,
so I sold the S45 and got myself a middle-of-the-road camera, the A1

Elvar Laurik · Nov 3, 2003

If You are interested about Sony-828 noise, then here it is:

http://www.dpgr.gr/forum/index.php?board=36 ;action=display;threadid=4755

A1 is not bad if You compare with other cameras.

urban75 said:
BJN said:

No. Night and low light will bring out the A1's noise. Again, the
717 is longer, but the Minolta isn't a lot more compact. It's quite
a bit larger than the Nikon 5700, for example. See it first.

Click to expand...

I have - but the Nikon has a really fiddly, squinty LCD screen
that looks like it'll snap off easily! Moreover, the camera hasn't
got a manual focus/zoom ring which more or less rules it out for me.

All this talk about A1 noise here has made me a little hesitant and
I'm starting to mull over the Sony 717 again - but then I figure
I'd be mad to buy that before seeing what the 828 has to offer -
and who knows when that camera will see the light of day

As you've probably worked out, I've been mulling and faffing over
this for ages. I thought the G5 was going to be the one for me
until I saw the purple fringing and the limited viewfinder display,
then I was convinced that the Nikon might do the trick until I saw
the A1...

Decisions! decisions!

A1 owners: are you satisfied with your camera?

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