Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi Review

Note that all onscreen images and overlay data can be displayed on the EVF or the color LCD, just flip the display control switch located on the back.

These are all the possible on-screen icons that can be overlayed on the display.

A. Focus frame,     B. Spot metering,   C. AF sensors,   D. Flex focus point
1. Microphone (audio recording),   2. Flash mode,   3. Flash signal,   4. Mode indicator,  
5. Flash compensation,   6. Filter display,   7. Color saturation,   8. Contrast level,  
9. Sharpness,   10. Exposure compensation,   11. White balance,   12. Exposure mode,  
13. Metering mode,   14. Shutter speed,   15. Aperture,   16. Camera shake warning (slow shutter speed),   17. ISO sensitivity,   18. Macro focus,   19. Focus signal,   20. Data imprinting,   21. Frame counter,   22. Drive mode,   23. Manual focus,   24. Battery level,  
25. Image quality,   26. Image size,   27. Digital zoom,   28. Color mode

In Program AE mode the camera selects the best combination of both shutter speed and aperture automatically. If you have the "Shift" option enabled you can vary the shutter speed/aperture combinations by rotating the Control Dial. In the bottom right you see the "DMF" icon which indicates that we have enabled the Direct Manual Focusing option. This means that even with auto focus turned on you can turn the manual focusing ring to make critical adjustments. We also have the live Histogram display option enabled.

In Shutter priority mode you set the shutter speed desired to freeze rapid action or blur motion and the camera automatically selects the proper aperture setting. We have also enabled the "Vivid" color mode as indicated by the screen icon.

In Aperture priority you set the desired aperture for control of depth of field and the camera will automatically match the proper shutter speed. And this time we have selected the Adobe RGB color space option which is new to the DiMAGE 7Hi. The user can select Vivid sRGB, Natural sRGB or Adobe RGB as well as B&W or Solarize as the color mode.

In Manual mode you have control of both the shutter speed and aperture value.

In the Setup menu you can select the desired Display mode options. These options are: Standard display, Focus frame, Histogram, Grid, Scale or Image only. The next frame shows what most of them look like.

Here you can see the Standard display, Focus frame, Grid and Scale displays.

When you look at the specs and see that the minimum focusing distance in macro mode is eight inches it doesn't sound very impressive but that's the range when the zoom is at the full 200mm position. The D7Hi lets you engage macro focus at either the full tele or the full wideangle position but does not allow the zoom to be moved once it's in macro mode.

It's prefered to shoot macro pictures at longer focal lengths, this minimizes the barrel distortion common to wideangle and allows you to shoot from a comfortable distance without blocking the light falling on the subject.

The new high-speed continuous advance drive mode and a large 64MB SDRAM buffer makes it possible to record at approximately 3 frames per second with 2560 x 1920 full-size images at any quality setting including TIFF or RAW. The Ultra High Speed (UHS) mode captures at 7fps but only in 1280 x 960 (or 640 x 480 digital zoom) image size.

To operate in true Manual Focus mode press the AF/MF button on the left side and then turn the ring at the base of the lens. The distance to subject is displayed in the lower right and to aid in critical focusing, you can enlarge the center of the frame 4x by pushing the Magnify button.

Here's a screen display with all possible EFFECT icons displayed; flash exposure compensation, color, saturation, contrast and exposure compensation are all enabled. And down in the lower right, the drive mode is AE Bracketing as indicated by the three overlapping frames with the number "3" beside.

In Standard Movie mode you can record up to 60 seconds (per clip) of motion JPEG at 320 x 240 at 15 fps with or without audio. The DiMAGE 7Hi also has Night Movie mode which boosts the gain up and captures in B&W. And UHS (Ultra High Speed) movie mode that captures 640 x 480 at 7fps without audio. And finally Time-lapse Movie mode with selectable resolutions of 2560 x 1920 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960 or 640 x480 at 4fps without audio.

Record mode menu:

Basic
AF Mode - Single or Continuous

Image Size - 2560x1920, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480

Quality - RAW, Super Fine (TIFF), Extra Fine, Fine, Standard

Flash Mode - Fill, Redeye-Reduction, Rear sync or Wireless

Wireless ch - Wireless channel 1, 2, 3 or 4

Flash control - ADI, Pre-flash TTL, Manual

Advanced 1

Spot AF/AEL - Assigns function of the "Spot" button; AF/AE hold, AF/AE toggle, AE hold, AE toggle

Mag Button - Set function of the Magnify button, digital zoom or viewfinder 4x enlargement for manual focus.

Interval - Set the interval timer, 1-60 minutes

Frames - Set the # of frames recorded in interval mode, 2-99 frames

Interval mode - Still image or Movie

UHS movie - On or Off

Advanced 2

Data imprint - Date, Time stamping, Text or Text+serialization

Color mode - Vivid sRGB, Natural sRGB, Adobe RGB, B&W or Solarization

Sharpness - Hard, Normal, Soft

Exp. bracket - Step value for AE Bracketing; 0.3, 0.5 or 1.0 EV

Inst. Playback - Show last image captured for 2 or 10 secs or disable

Voice memo - Off, 5 or 15 seconds











When using the data imprint option you enter the desired text using this virtual keyboard and the 4-way selector switch.