Minolta's legendary expertise in optical lens design has led to the creation of a unique compact folded 3x optical zoom lens with a depth of only 0.8 inches. By using a high quality prism that folds the optical path, the entire lens is positioned vertically within the body. This efficient optical design requires only a small zooming motor, allowing for quick and quiet focal length changes.

Auto focus is handled with a Wide Area focus system, the focus range is from a very close 3.9 inches (0.1 m) to infinity.

To the left of the lens is the self-portrait mirror. You choose the Portrait function from the menu, set the lens to full wide angle, hold the camera at arm's length and frame the shot using the mirror image.

The built in flash offers Auto, Fill-flash, Red-eye reduction and Night Portrait modes, it recycles in approximately 5 seconds. The flash range is approximately 0.8 – 9.5 feet (0.25-2.9m) in Wide angle and from approximately 0.8 – 7.5 feet (0.25-2.3m) in Telephoto (Camera sensitivity: ISO 200)

You can give your X31 a sun-shielded and magnified LCD with the $19.95 Hoodman H-DCR hood. This rubber (collapsable) hood mounts on any digicam with a 1.5 to 1.8 inch LCD screen. It has a 2x magnifier that allows a close look at your color LCD.

Controls are minimal and simple. Along the top is the Mode Switch to select either the still or movie recording mode. The 4-way controller serves as the zoom lens control by using the center Up and Down switch. In Playback mode this also controls the zoomed image and index functions. The 4-way controller is also used to navigate the menu system and to select images in playback. The MENU button calls up the onscreen menu system. On the bottom is the Play/Review button, press it to view the stored still images or movies.

See the page three for a description of the onscreen menu displays.

On top is the ON / OFF switch and the Shutter Release.

On the right side is the USB 1.1 data port.

Below is a DC IN jack for an optional AC power supply.

There is no video out capability.

The DiMAGE X31 is equipped with a SD card slot and is compatible with any size Secure Digital or MultiMedia Card. The camera ships with a 16MB SD card.

Storage capacity using 16 MB card: (640 x 480) Standard: 94, (1280 x 960) Standard: 37, (1600 x 1200) Standard: 25, (2048 x 1536) Fine: 9, (2048 x 1536) Standard: 16, Movie: (320 x 240) 47 seconds, (160 x 120) 189 seconds
(Numbers above are approx., and may vary depending on the subject)

The camera is powered by two standard AA type batteries. We strongly recommend the use of high-capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries. Minolta claims it has the capacity to record 90 pictures (half with flash) and has a 80 minute playback capability when using alkaline type batteries. This camera has no optical viewfinder, you must use the LCD monitor full time so it's important to use powerful batteries.