-Great zoom
-Ultra-Compact
-Looks great
-Super wide AutoFocus area

-None!

The Minolta Freedom zoom 150 (or Riva zoom 150 in my case) is the best p&s camera I have used! I took it on my trip to America (where it was replaced by a FujiFilm FinePix S2800HD) and it produced excellent photos! My only complaint is the AutoFocus area: It's really wide across the viewfinder so it is kinda annoying when kids are photographing you: the focus area will go onto the foreground (if there is any) and focuses on that. I had a photo which my 6 year sister took and it turned out that the pole in front of us was in perfect focus and we were really blurry. But if that last bit dosen't apply to you then ignore it!

Customer Service

NONE

Similar Products Used:

Pentax Espio 135M

Compact. Good Zoom

Unstable

Camera broke quickly and took forever to fix. They eventually sent it to Japan to fix. Broke again soon afterward.

Similar Products Used:

Other Nixon and Kodax Point and shoot.

Size

poor quality pictures not user friendly

I purchased this camera because of the more powerful zoom and the size. I use it mostly for travel. This pictures are terrible!!! My $110 Fuji takes far better pictures. When I switch to panoramic the pictures are dark. Often times it locks up and won't allow me to take certain pictures. I called Minolta and sent the camera back within the warranty time but it's still not right and they won't even look at it for less than $95. Guess they don't stand behind their work. I agree that the customer reps aren't friendly or sympathic about problems. Don't buy this camera!!!

Customer Service

Not helpful

BEWARE:I wanted to help alert people to stay away from the Minolta Freedom series of point & shoot cameras. My Freedom 125 scratches the non-emulsion film surface on winding or rewind. Notice the similar review by another consumer(on this webpage)of the Freedom 150. Minolta supposedly has a $120 minimum charge to fix this, so I am left with trashing the camera and buying a different make. I''ve had scratches from day one, but I waited too long to deal with it and I''m now outside warranty. It''s too bad, because if not for the scratching, I''d have loved this camera.

compact size

Problems with 2 cameras scratching film Red eye awful Red eye reduction feature too slow to be practical

I had a very bad experience with this camera. I have children and purchased it mainly for family photos and vacations. My first pictures came back okay and then the next came back with faint scratches. I thought it was the developers fault. Each subsequent roll of film showed increasing more noticeable scratches. I finally returned the camera and got another of the same model. ( I really wanted to go with a different camera but the customer service people at the store were awful.) It soon began to do the same thing . It seemed to be scratching the film when it was rewinding. You could hear it sometimes. When I was finally able to find a real person at Minolta he was not very friendly and not very helpful with the questions I asked. I sent an email question in but only receiceved an automated. The instrucion booklet reads that there are rewinding problems when using polaroid 35mm film. I believe there are rewinding problems with any type of film. I used mainly Kodak which is what is packaged with the camera. I could hardly believe that I got two cameras that damged film in the same way. I finally did exchange it for a different manufacturers camera. I had purchased a service plan from the store. This whole process took over a year to settle. The pictures I took with the camera were not very good even when they were not scratched. The flash is terrible. Red eye is the worst problem. The red eye reduction feature is very slow. It makes 3 flashes before it takes and kids (and adults) either couldn''t be still that long or were confused by it. It did not always produce good results either. If you didn''t use it you would almost always have red eye with flash pictures. The zoom feature is not as good as I had hope either. It only has set stops and ypu can''t stop it exactly where you want it. The price has come down since I first purchased my camera and I think there have been some rebates. I my opinion, I think minolta is trying to unload these things before the word gets out. It was definely not worth the almost $300 I had to pay. I haven''t developed my first roll from my new camera yet. I hope it''s better

Customer Service

Inadequate- hard to talk to real person, not responsive on phone or email

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Nikon One touch Olympus zoom 170

None except small size

Picture quality Red eye Film loading and advance Customer Service

I spent lots of time reviewing different point and shoots to replace my 10 year old Canon Sure Shot. I bought this camera when it first came out. I bought it based on the size, zoom, Minolta name, perceived lens quality as well as some of the initial reviews. I really had a hard time deciding between this camera and the Canon Sure Shot Classic 120. WHAT A MISTAKE I MADE! I am pretty good with a camera-not pro but not a beginner. From the first roll I noticed out of focus shots, lots of red eye and really poor picture quality even at modest zoom levels. In addition, every roll would advance past the end of the roll and give me an additional 2 or 3 shots beyond 24 or 36, which I was charged for when developed. These pictures were dark, skewed and half exposed. It was obvious that the film wasn''t being advanced correctly. We also had problems loading the film, as it always took a few times to correctly load. I finally decided to send the camera back to Minolta for warranty service when the camera stopped loading the film altogether. Maybe I just had a lemon. After a few WEEKS they finally got back to me with more good news about this camera. They informed we that there was "impact damage" and the warranty was void! When I called they said even if it hadn''t been dropped it may have been "bumped" as there was a scratch or something on the front cover. They want $110 to repair! After they assured me someone at a management level would call me I am still waiting over a week later for that call. In the meantime, I bought a new Canon Sure Shot Classic 120. What a difference. GREAT camera! Beautiful color, flawless film loading/advance and really crisp, focused pictures. I will NEVER buy a Minolta product again. I have Canon and Nikon and that''s what I''ll stick with. Do yourself and favor and don''t make the same mistake I did.

Customer Service

Terrible. Basically none.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Nikon

Light, small.

Terrible red eye. Turns your family and friends into demons.

Red eye, red eye, red eye. At first I thought I was making some error or did not understand the instruction manual. I tried several different types of film. I carefully noted light conditions. After a year of trying to make the best of this camera I can confidently say that if you love photos of your loved ones with bright red eyes get this camera. If the ambient light is strong and you use 800 speed film and do not use the zoom at all the red eye is not such a problem. But any indoor shots in less than strong light or with the slightest zoom get red eye. The triple flash red eye reduction system just startles and irritates people, especially children. I is not effective. This camera is OK outdoors in broad daylight. It is very easy to carry. I like the wireless remote. I wrote to Minolta two months ago about my problems with the 150 and am still waiting for a response. I never had one photo with redeye in eighteen years with my Minolta Hi-Matic. That is why I tried another Minolta. Now I use a Contax T3 for most of my photos (it never red eyes) and the 150 outdoors only.

Customer Service

After two months no response to my letter.

Similar Products Used:

Other Minolta, Canon, Fuji, Kodak P&S.

Great Zoom, Good Featureslike Panorama etc

Got blurry picture when I use zoom, returned and got one more. But this time I got some black shade on my pictures

Impressed but not quite good

Customer Service

I reported to canon and they asked me to bring pictures. I could not go there.

Similar Products Used:

Now I got canon sure shot 120

Product stopped working during second use - Minolta is charging $103 to fix what should be a warranty repair.

I purchased the Freedom 150 Zoom as a Valentine's Day gift for my girlfriend. I had researched many other comparable cameras and thought it was the best out there in terms of features and price.

On March 17, after a roll and a half, the camera mysteriously stopped working. I thought about returning it to Amazon.com - where I purchased it - but decided to send it in for repair. BIG MISTAKE!!

I figured it would be covered under warranty since the camera had not been misused in any way. I received an initial estimate saying there would be no charge and the camera was covered.

Three weeks later, I received a "Revised estimate" for $103.00. Under additional comments it said that they had found "impact damage" on the top left front corner. Hmmm. how come they didn't see that before? Perhaps because it wasn't there!

I spoke to the head of the department, and he informed me that his technician "with more than 20 years of experience, could have made a mistake - though it wasn't very likely." He then assured me that I would receive a call from the technician the following Monday, May 14. It's now the 21st and I still haven't received a call back from Minolta.

What's bugged me the most about this purchase is that I know this camera was not dropped when it was in the possession of my girlfriend, or myself. It was even packed in bubble wrap, and Styrofoam peanuts, and now Minolta is trying to charge me for repairs that should have been under warranty.

What a shame that a company I held in such high regard before would act so unscrupulously. I purchased a product I thought was high quality. I purchased the Minolta brand because I trusted it. Now I would advise anyone who will listen to avoid Minolta products. If you have a problem with one of their products, that's exactly what it'll be, your problem!

Customer Service

POOR

size/weight
many nice features including continuous shots

TERRRRRRIBLE lens flare with lens racked out to full zoom

I really wanted this camera and was psyched about all the cool features in such a light, small unit. True, the photos were sharp and contrast was ok, but I've never seen such bad lens flare, totally reproducible, whenever the zoom was fully racked out. Don't buy this camera.

Customer Service

web site is useless. made toll call to service center. Service guy, said, 'gee, we sell a lot of 'em. No one else complained.' minimum 3wk to diagnose. Returned camera to vendor.

Similar Products Used:

olympus xa2, olympus zoom 125, minolta srt 101