Excellent size and appearance, seemingly point and shoot

Low light photos suck. Wife has a cam worth half the cost that does a better job. Discovered on indoor wedding photos, bad timing. Takes some time to 'think' on setting up a photo, not quick!

Think twice. I have a lot of respect for Minolta cams, but this one is a severe let down.

Customer Service

I have had the cam 6 months. I will not give up on Minolta, it does NOT deliver on its promise. It is not merchantable quality and I am seeking replacement. Its low light performance is NOT good enough in a camera of this cost.

Similar Products Used:

None

small size, sturdy, simple to use, great outdoor shots

None so far

Just developed my first roll, scenic pictures from S. Frisco hilltops overlooking the bay, shady Muir Woods, harbor shots, street scenes. All came out picture perfect. The panaramic shots were excellent. Would strongly reccommend.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon Nuvis 160i, canon elph lt, Pentax and Samsung 35mm zooms

Sleek metallic appearance, small size, light weight.

Many - I'm so disappointed with this camera that I had to write about it. When my less expensive Olympus Stylus died after 5 years of great service and fantastic pictures, I switched to a Vectis 300 for the Advantix system and small size. I've regretted that decision ever since. The camera has come with me to to China, Brazil, Honduras, Montana and South Africa, and the pictures are ALWAYS DISAPPOINTING. Prints are returned with washed out color and grainy quality. Consistency of color and clarity even within a single print varies - which is almost worse becuase you are taunted by what the picture could have been. I keep thinking I'll give it another chance - I've tried taking it to different developers, different brands of film and different lighting conditions, but nothing works. I'm now looking for a 35mm SLR camera - this experience has turned me off from these cameras for life. One last thing - after only 18 months, the automatic flash sometimes doesn't rise when the camera is turned on - which locks the camera and causes a missed shot.

Completely unreliable mechanically and quality-wise. Stick with 35mm film - professional photographers have not switched to 24mm Advantix for a reason. Cheaper cameras that use 35mm film return better pictures than this one. I was told that the Minolta is the best of these types of cameras, so after this experience I'm certainly not tempted to give the Canon Elph a try. This is one case where style and quality don't mix.

Customer Service

Not tried yet.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus Zoom

Rugged housing, well thought-out controls, nice responsive zoom,
can be used in manual setting with a tripod, nice remote. Extremely versatile if you are an experienced photogragher and know how to take advantage of it's abilities. This is NOT an APS point & shoot for the casual beginner. If you look at other reviews, you will find that those that are experienced photographers rate this camera higher than the novices...only because they understand the limitations of P & S cameras, lighting situations, ect., and will work around them. This one has great capabilities IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE MANUAL, as most people won't. The flash is comparable to any other P&S on the market (the fact is, they all stink!) This camera IS capable of changing film mid-roll; I can't fault those that say it isn't because the instruction manual doesn't spell this out! I'LL CLUE YOU IN...THIS IS NOT AN SLR!
If you want good, professional quality pictures, learn to use an SLR! The new Auto-Focus ones are d*** neer fool-proof! But...they are bulkier and weigh more than these neet little cameras!

It's f-5.7 maximum aperture lens! This ROTS in low-light situations- it seems that Minolta made this camera for daylight use only! The people that have complained that the pictures in low light stink have a valid point; even an experienced photographer would have to use a tripod to get quality pictures with THAT f-stop, because of the low shutter speed that the camera has no choice to avert to!

If you take the time to understand this camera, it does a nice job, although it will never match up to an SLR- but then, no point and shoot camera ever will. The features of this camera are endless- what a package! It depends on what you want to do. If most of your pictures are taken in low light at distances over 10 feet, you should probably consider something else. If most of your pictures are outdoors, it's a nice choice as the picture quality is very good. I recommend using 400 speed film with this and any other APS camera. The Canon ELPH LT260 is a nice alternative choice-it's almost as capable but can zoom only to 52mm- but it's maximum aperture is 4.2, better for indoor situations (and it's far cheaper!).

Customer Service

Have not had to use it.

Similar Products Used:

Canon ELPH 260LT,
Canon AE-1, Minolta X-370, and countless other point-and-shoots and MF/AF SLR's

Nice silver finish, small size. Good zoom.

Takes a long time to think before taking a photo. No MRC. Sometimes it locks up. Too easy to accidently turn on and off in case.

Not as good at action, night or quick snaps as I'd have expected for such an expensive camera. Needs to be held steady for zoomed shots, and the small size doesn't encourage two handed use. This is OK for planned shots, where you can balance on objects tripods etc.. but no good for spur of the moment type shots.

Customer Service

not attempted

Similar Products Used:

kodak 4100ix

Good looks and size.

Almost everything seems wrong with this camera. I bought it a year ago for a European trip. Prior to leaving I shot a couple of rolls outdoors in our garden which came out pretty good. Nothing suspicious. Of the 30 rolls I shot on our trip, three rolls turned out totally blank...and I do know how to tell if the APX film is exposed or unexposed. The camera store I used blamed the film and the film company blamed the camera company (even though I'd used Fuji and Kodak each of which didn't process). Indoor shots were awful with weak color and very fuzzy quality. Many outdoor shots had terrible color and were also fuzzy, while others were perfect. Go figure. I used mainly 200 film for outside and 400 inside. Each night of that trip I re-read the manual to make certain I wouldn't mess up our snapshots. The zoom is slow, the shutter release so slow I wondered if something was wrong with the mechanism. The Minolta Vectis 300 is a piece of junk and will be my last APS camera. Once again researching the perfect 35mm P&S.

Fuggedaboudit!!!

Customer Service

Zero

Similar Products Used:

2 Olympus P&S(can't recall models) which both died. And one Minolta P&S

Like other APS cameras, its compact size. Easy to use.

Its responsiveness (i.e., motor) seems slow. The optices aren't the best quality - I'm spoiled with my Nikon 35 MM SLR! The camera will not properly load film anymore. It seems to be stuck in a mode I can't change. Tried taking the batteries out and replacing them but that didn't work. I give up. It's a company camera and I took many pictures with it. Hopefully got our money's worth out of it but would not recommend it to anybody.

I would not recommend this camera to anyone due to its quality of optics and for the fact that it stopped working.

Customer Service

Haven't tried. Camera is out of warranty.

Similar Products Used:

None - in the market for a replacement.

Nice solid shell
Easy to carry

Flash is weak.

Use 400 film to get any good use of flash. Pics I have on the web to share even grainy, but prints I have had made decent. Sorry I purchased this camera. 35mm neg is small enough. I love Minolta, but not this one.

Customer Service

Minolta is excellent for service

Similar Products Used:

Minolta SRT, Maxxum 7000, Pentax IQ Zoom

A sexy camera wich doesn't live up to its promise.

However, the panoramic shots are great.

After 18 months this camera does not function. The flash started to misfunction and now it opens and shuts all by itself.

I don't want to have to send this to Minolta to the service centre as this seems an endemic problem. So, if anyone has a suggestion on how to fix this. It could be a simple programming error.

Customer Service

I have to send it to Kingsgrove who can take forever to fix this.

Similar Products Used:

None

Compact, sleek, appeared robust

The camera worked well and took some ok photos. But after 6 months battery ran out replaced battery and then the camera 12 months later developed a problem of the lens cover not fully retracting which means the camera is now useless. Problem developed outside warranty. I think if i had read these reviews i would not have bought this one. I am going to get it repaired (even though it is expensive) and buy a 35 mm P&S. I also find the APS expensive to get processed.

Dont buy it....looks good and with an expensive price tag but reliability has been poor with this camera. As a casual user i just want to put film in and take photos without problems, and for a new camera you would expect a number of years of trouble free shooting.

Similar Products Used:

None