Minolta DiMAGE 7 Review

The DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility Software displays raw image data and allows for corrections and manipulations using built-in functions. The raw image data is processed with a 16-bit color depth so that the fine tonal gradations are preserved. Users can change tone curve / histogram, brightness / contrast / color pallet, hue / saturation / lightness, and sharpness and then save the image as a 16-bit TIFF.

JPEG and TIFF images can also be viewed and corrected. The Color Correction Job function saves correction settings so they may be applied to different images.

The DiMAGE7 uses its own color space so it's very important to enable the Color Matching option, select the desired color space and then apply it to the images. Most will probably select either the sRGB or Adobe RGB color space.

Failure to "process" captured images through the Viewer Utility software will yield images that appear flat or under-saturated.

You can easily load in an entire directory (folder) of images which are then displayed in thumbnail fashion. Here you can quickly rotate portrait mode images or flip an image horizontally or vertically using the toolbar buttons.

You can retrieve the embedded Exif information with the camera and exposure details.

Once in the Color Correction mode you will have access to the tools shown in all of the following frames. You can resize images while maintaining their aspect ratio.

This is a lot like PhotoShop's levels tool and the auto setting button works like the autolevel command. The eyedropper tools let you pick black, gray and white points.

Brightness, contrast and the individual color channels can be adjusted from this screen. Or click the auto setting button for the program's "best guess" setting.

Adjust the hue, saturation and lightness from this screen. Again there is an auto setting if you want the software to use it best guess as to what it should be.

And just like PhotoShop's variation command here you can make quick changes to the overall color tone of the image, the incremental amount is adjusted by the slider control. From the menu choose from Color Balance, Brightness & Contrast or Saturation.

One of the most powerful features is the "image snapshot" mode. Here you can capture a copy of the currently edited picture and save it in case you want to revert back to it after making other changes. You can even display them side by side as you make the changes.

The sharpness command can be set to work in the low frequency or high frequency range or anywhere inbetween. The amount of emphasis is adjusted by slider as well and you get a WYSIWYG preview of the effect before applying it.

DIVU ver 1.1.1 Update

This is an update to the DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility. This new Version 1.1.1 includes improvements in RAW file processing and as well as improvements in overall functionality. A previous version of the DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility must exist in your computer in order to complete installation of this update. If a previous version is not found, installation of this update will fail. This software will not be available on CD-Rom until sometime in January. Please be sure to download the Owners Manual for the DIVU Ver 1.1.1 as some instructions have been changed. The revised Owners Manual is accessible on the Support / Manuals section of our web site under the name of the product you are using.