Cost, size, battery life, zoom range, lens quality, contrast

None.

I picked up a Minolta Explorer Freedom Zoom "new" in the box for $20 as new-old stock from Ebay. I wanted to use a small point-and-shoot camera to experiment in my B&W film class. This camera delivers astonishingly sharp B&W images using Ilford Delta 100 film. Superb contrast. Every shot is perfectly focused and exposed. It gives comparable color performance with Fuji 400 film. There is some corner vignetting on the widest zoom (28mm), but I don't mind the effect.

Filters are helpful in B&W photography: holding a Tiffen yellow filter in front of the lens while shooting the Ilford 100 film did what it was supposed to do, darkening the blue sky to bring out the clouds. The camera exposed the image properly. Caught without a filter, I used my polarized sunglasses in front of the camera to take sunset shots of downtown across a river. Again, the camera exposed and focused a decent, rich image.

I developed my own B&W film and then had it scanned. I think the pictures are sharper and more saturated than those from my $800 digital camera. If you want to outsource everything, here is the cumulative cost:

B&W film: $5.50 for a 36-exposure roll
Color Fuji 400: $1-$1.50
Film developing: $5-$10
Scanning: $7-12 (depends upon resolution)

Ballpark Total cost: around $20 to get 36 hi-res scans from a roll of film, or roughly the cost of my camera!

Travel:

This is a great trip camera. Small, light, and too cheap to tempt thieves. Good battery life. Fits in a baggie. I have to carry several proprietary battery packs (and a charger) for my digital camera. The Minolta takes one Duracell lithium CR17345 battery, which can power it through many rolls of film. Toss in a spare (for $4) if you are worried.

Similar Products Used:

Point & shoot:
Olympus XA, & Stylus Epic
Canon Sprint
Minolta AF102
Rangefinder: Yashica Electro 35
Digital: Lumix G and several smaller Panasonic models

Lens quality, speed of use generally, variety and usefulness of shooting modes, which are simple but effective. Close focus, wide and reasonably fast lens. Auto Power Down.

No exposure compensation other than possible AE/AF lock; the focus lock is mentioned in the manual, AE lock is not, but it does seem to have it. SMALL viewfinder as mentioned by other reviewers, takes some getting used to. Focal range is not great, but that does help to keep it compact and light. Defaults to flash ON every time it powers down, I'd like to see a Personal mode like the Canon Sure Shots have. No Spot mode either. A bit distorted on the wide end, take care around buildings.

Easy and fast to use generally, very contrasty and sharp lens, fairly compact and light, fast lens for this type of camera.

Customer Service

Haven't needed any, got it used at Amazon for $40, it's probably at least 5 years out of warranty.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Sure Shot Z90W, Sure Shot 120

28-70. Price. Takes a beating. Battery life. I shoot 95% fill flash.

Could be a tad smaller.

This review is based soley on the fact that I was looking for a travel camera. The main selling point for me was price, and the 28-70 zoom. It has never seen the inside of a protective case and has dwelled mostly next to my butt, (hip pocket,) and under my truck seat. I didn’t want to spend a lot in case it got stolen or damaged during my trips. It looks like it’s been to hell and back but as to date nothing has ever broke inside or out. I can’t tell you how many rolls of film I have pumped through this thing. I bought this camera when it first came out. It just won’t die! It does what its meant to do and does it well. No more no less. While it doesn’t take as good photos as my lovely little (retired) XA, it still rivals some of the more expensive P&S my friends have.

Customer Service

I dont know. Its never let me down.

Similar Products Used:

XA, Stylist, Leica CL, Dial 35.

wide angle (28mm), infinity lock, sharp lens, overall very consistent perfomance

noticeable distortion at 28 mm a bit big for its zoom range not dust/weather proof

I bought this camera several years ago and took it for many trips within the U.S. and to Europe. Overall this is excellent reliable camera. The performance is surprisingly good for a P/S. Lens is very sharp. Autofocus never failed me: virtually all my shots were in focus. All program modes are useful and working fine. Flash is well balanced, no nasty overexposures, like it often happened when I used Olympus Epic. What are the drawbacks? It is a little big to fit in the pocket. It easily catches dust. I had to disassemble it to remove the dust from viewfinder and LCD (assembling it was a bit tricky). At wide angle distortion can be rather noticeable when you shoot architecture.

Customer Service

not used

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Epic, Canon Owl

Great lens and plenty of features for the price.

Not weather proof.

i did extensive research and found this camera to have the most features at its price point. The lense is very good and this is one of the only p&s cameras under $200 with a 28mm wide angle lens. It has preprogram modes like the Canons and auto shut off. it even comes with a wireless remote. For $149 its a very good value.

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Stylus zoom 70

Has a very nice zoom, with 28 mm wide angle end. In my opinion this is by far more useful than an 1XX tele end.
The maximum lens aperture value is also reasonable high for a point-&-shoot camera. The lens itself is sharp for a point-&-shoot camera.
I was looking for a small camera to bring with me on business trips, when my SRL equipment is cumbersome.
I use almost exclusively slide film and I was looking for a camera with wide angle lens and a quite accurate exposure meter. After a quick search on the web, this seemed to be the best choice.
I bought also the nice IR remote control.

The build quality is not so good.
I experienced a copule of film partial jams, resulting in overlapped exposures.
The wiewfinder is small and difficoult to use for eyeglasses wearers like me.
Focus lock on the infinity and other options are reset to default values after each shot.
I found also evident distortion at the wide angle end.

I have passed around 50 rolls of slide film trough it. Apart for a couple of malfunctions, it worked fine so far.
Exposure is quite good with slide film, at least in non-critical conditions, and wiewfinder accuracy could be improved, but I believe this are common defects on economical point-&-shoot cameras.
In conclusion: it's not the best point-&-shoot camera, but it's a nice travel companion and resulting pictures are quite good, even with slide film. Maybe one day I will replace with something else, but I haven't found nothing so far.

Customer Service

Never tried. Taking into consideration the cost of shipping a point-&-shoot camera and getting it fixed, the best solution, after the warranty has expired, is to send it straight to the trash can and buy a new one.

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Canon Snappy 50
Olympus miu-I
Olympus miu-II
Olympus miu-zoom

Great picture quality for size of camera. Cheap and easy to use. Super wide zoom, good aperature settings, simple controls.

When at full wide angle, some darkness at edges.

Good, cheap camera which I have taken almost everywhere. Pretty rugged. My pop-up flash jammed in Venice. I banged it and it fixed itself. 35mm film is cheap and picture quality is good. Very good lens.

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Canon Elph 2

28mm wide
to 70mm
recommended by Phil at Photo.net

very long shutterlag
fragile lens cover

I was hooked on wide angles for travel and needed that enviornmental perspective. Phil at Photo.net recommended this camera for its contrast. So I hunted high and low to find it. It is a decent 28mm camera that has good sharpness, but terrible shutter lag. For still subjects this is okay, but with anything that moves- forget it. I can tell you the times it has... ok, enough. I even brought this camera travelling... The is significant noticable distortion in both the 28mm end and the 70mm end. The 70mm end is worse, pincushioning, distorting both round and parallel subjects. The sharpness and contrast are high, though. Here's my opinion on the lens- the color balance is strange, sometimes it's very good (like on overcast days), but in the daytime it is very cool. Colors are deep, but not rich/vibrant- leaving me to think that the contrast is very, very high for a compact. It is a pebble shape (what manual says), but I find it bulky and heavy like a baseball. It has taken some good shots, but has that shutter lag. Sophisitcated AF may be the blame, but sharp, contrast shots. Now called the Silver Streak at low prices.

Customer Service

lens cover jammed-2 weeks repair (OK) decent

Similar Products Used:

all small ones

Nice design, good features zoom, panoramic, date, lightweight, remote, multiple flash modes.

I was very disappointed in the photo quality Pictures were grainy and not very sharp -- both indoor and outdoor. Many came out dark (yes, the flash was on).

Ended up returning camera (I had the newer silver-metallic finish Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer Panoramic Date EX 75W). Decided to forego the panoramic and zoom for better picture quality -- So I upgraded my purchase to the silver-metallic bodied Yashica T-4 Super. I'll review that one as soon as I get some pics back!

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My 12 yr old Cannon P&S took better pictures than this one!

Reasonably sharp, high-contrast lens; excellent exposures, versatile design.




.

Somewhat flimsy construction; vignetting at wider focal lengths, <40mm; noticeable edge distortion.

Especially at around 50mm in good light this camera has taken many beautiful pictures, just a little less sharp than a basic SLR with virtually perfect exposures. Although I've never had a mechanical problem with it (in 2 dozen rolls) it is clearly not built to last or survive rough handling. Nevertheless it is good deal at the price, particularly for landscape and travel pictures.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon AE-1
Yashica T4 Super