Some truth in all the reviews

I use Minolta cameras and like their design although I did read the reviews of the Canon and Nikon as well. What Minolta had going for it over the other two similarly priced models was the stabilizer, slightly faster lens 2.8/3.5 versus straight 3.5, and full movie mode.

Two design problems however are the flimsy compartment doors for the battery and output jacks. They should, but do not, click into a secure closed position. Instead it seems that a weak type of spring or friction holds them in place.

There is a shutter lag but after my first shoot of cross country runners I did not find it to be a major problem. Sunny days tend to over-exposure and dark shadows but on-camera adjustments (11 for contrast) allow easy compensation. I was surprised that the built in flash lit up a totally dark room without any indication of focus problems. Reviews indicate a noise problem at 400 and 800 ISO but with noise reduction on camera, it was not as serious as I had seen in the smaller cameras and post processing would totally eliminate it. The stabilizer is great and permits shooting in lower lighting conditions.

Bottom line is that picture quality is excellent and is most obvious in reasonably evenly lit situations. The more difficult situations such as sports require some experimentation and tweaking of the myriad of options but that is what makes the difference between a photographer and a simple point and shoot type.

There is also a potential for a lot of information on screen, which means that if you are the perfectionist type, it is necessary to keep track of the icons and what they mean. Movie mode apparently allows in camera editing but I have not looked at that yet as well as saving of individual frames as photos.

All in all, a very good camera with some great features that could use a little more speed in shooting and recording raw images.