Lens barrel controls

On the left side of the camera, behind and on the lens barrel are a variety of controls, these cover a range of camera settings and features thanks to two innovative (if initially awkward) function and effect dials. These are operated by turning the dial to the required setting, holding the central button and then turning the control dial (beside the shutter release) to change that setting's value.

Zoom ring

The DiMAGE A2 has a very usable and wide zoom range. The lens goes from a wide 28 mm equiv. (perfect for architecture / real estate / landscapes / group shots) all the way up to an impressive 200 mm equiv. telephoto. The other nice thing about this particular lens is that the zoom ring is mechanically linked to the zoom mechanism, this means you can change focal length quickly and more precisely. It also has the added effect of making the camera feel more 'SLR like', the speed and accuracy advantages of this kind of mechanically linked zoom shouldn't be underestimated.

Buttons / Switches

Button Description
MACRO Macro focus mode

This lever enables the cameras macro focus mode. The DiMAGE A2 has two different macro focus positions, one at full wide angle and one at telephoto. You can only engage the macro lever when the arrow on the barrel is aligned with the arrow on the zoom ring. Note that at the telephoto end there is a small amount of movement available.
  Wide angle macro Telephoto macro
Macro zoom (equiv.) 28 mm 175 to 200 mm (approx.)
Focus distance 0.3 - 0.6 m (1.0 - 2.0 ft) 0.25 - 0.6 m (0.8 - 2.0 ft)
AF
S/C/MF

Focus mode

Switches between the camera's auto focus system and manual focus mode. In manual focus mode you change the focus distance by turning the fly-by-wire focus ring at the back of the lens (ribbed ring nearest to the camera body). As you focus the focus distance is displayed on the LCD / EVF.
Custom white balance

Press this button and a calibration square appears on the LCD monitor, keep it held for a second or so longer and the camera takes a custom white balance reading from a white subject within that square. This measurement can then be saved into one of the three custom white balance presets, it is then made immediately active. Kudos to Minolta, this is easy to use, quick and very effective.

Function Dial

Position
MSET

User Memory

Store current camera setup into one of the five user memories. These can be retrieved by turning the mode dial to the MR position.
 • Memory 1
 • Memory 2
 • Memory 3
 • Memory 4
 • Memory 5
CUST

Custom set

This position on the Function dial can be programmed to change one of six different settings (its your choice):
 • Image size
 • Image quality
 • Flash mode
 • Flash control
 • Sharpness
 • Color mode

Metering mode

Select metering mode:
 • Multi-segment (300 segments combined with distance info)
 • Center weighted average
 • Spot
DRIVE Drive mode

Turn the front dial to select drive mode, turn the rear dial to select a sub setting.
Turn front dial
 Turn rear dial
 • Single frame
 None
 • Bracketing  • Continuous drive bracket
 • Single frame bracket
 • Digital Effect bracket
 • Continuous drive  • Standard continuous (2 fps, 3 frames)
 • High-speed continuous (2.8 fps, 3 frames)
 • Interval  • Interval
 • Interval and time-lapse movie
 • Self-timer  • 10 sec self-timer
 • 2 sec self-timer
WB

White balance

Select white balance setting (front dial):
 • Auto
 • Daylight *
 • Tungsten *
 • Fluorescent *
 • Cloudy *
 • Shade *
 • Flash *
 • Manual preset 1-3
* Can be fine tuned in 7 steps by turning rear dial (1 step = approx. 10 mired).
ISO

Sensitivity (ISO equiv.)

Select ISO sensitivity equiv.:
 • Auto (ISO 64 - 200)
 • ISO 64
 • ISO 100
 • ISO 200
 • ISO 400
 • ISO 800

Function button shortcuts

Hold the Function button and press one of the four buttons below for a shortcut to certain camera features.

Func + Description

Focus screens

Digital zoom
MENU Setup menu
Reset camera

Effect Dial

Position

Colour filter

Select a colour filter between -5 (cool; blue) and +5 (warm; red). If the camera is in B&W mode there are 11 filter modes which apply a different colour after-effect to the B&W image. This after effect ranges through - red, green, magenta, blue and normal B&W.

Colour saturation

Set colour saturation level between -5 (less saturation) and +5 (more saturation). Indicated setting remains on the LCD / EVF display.

Contrast

Set output image contrast between -5 (less contrast) and +5 (more contrast). Indicated setting remains on the LCD / EVF display.