Konica Minolta DiMAGE X60 Review

The X60 features a Konica Minolta folded-optic 3x zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent coverage of 38 - 114mm. The maximum aperture is f/3.3 - 4.0 and this all-glass lens remains inside the camera body and is protected by a sliding lens barrier that also serves as the power switch.

The X60 features a fast and precise 5-point autofocus system that operates in a wide area of the frame by default with manual selection of the AF point via the Spot focus option. The normal focus range is from 4 in. (0.1 m) to infinity in Wide and from 20 in. (0.5 m) to infinity in Telephoto. In Super Macro mode the lens focuses as close as 2 in. (0.05 m) with the focal length fixed at 12mm.

The X60 does not have an optical viewfinder, the large 2.5-inch color LCD monitor has 115,000 pixels of resolution and is used as a live viewfinder with 100% frame coverage. The color LCD has an anti-reflective coating to provide excellent clarity indoors or outdoors in the bright sun light.

The built-in flash has modes for Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye reduction, Fill flash and Flash cancel.

The camera's recording mode is controlled by a slide switch located on top of the camera. It has positions for AUTO, Digital Subject Program and Movie/Voice.

On the back are the zoom lens controls which act as the magnify controls in review mode. The "green arrow" button enables review mode. The Monitor button controls the amount of data overlayed on the LCD screen. The MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus. The 4-way selector lets you navigate menus and select images during playback, the button in the center accepts menu selections. The "Up" button selects the Flash mode, in review it is the Delete button. The "Down" button enables the self-timer or sequential drive mode, in review it is used to rotate portrait mode images for proper playback on the LCD screen.

The X60 is equipped with ~15MB of internal memory and a Secure Digital card slot. Compatible with any size card, we tested it with the SanDisk Extreme III 1GB SD card.

The I/O ports are on the side, the DC INput jack is for an optional AC adapter. The USB 2.0 port (Full speed, 12Mbps) connects to PC or Mac computers and can also be connected directly to any PictBridge compatible printer. This connector also handles the Audio-Video Out cable, the format is NTSC or PAL (selectable.)

The X60 is powered by a proprietary NP-700 3.7v 660mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery. Konica Minolta claims the NP-700 supplies enough power to capture up to 150 frames per charge. The small and portable BC-800 charger is included and works on 100-240 VAC 50-60Hz power systems and replenishes the battery in approx. 90 minutes.