Minolta DiMAGE F300 Review

The all-glass 3x Minolta GT lens is constructed of 8 elements in 7 groups. The focal length is 7.8 - 23.4 mm (38-114mm in 35mm format) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 - f/4.7

The focusing range is 17.7 inch to infinity in wide angle and telephoto. The dedicated macro mode is fixed at 15.5mm and covers from 5.7 to 21.5 inches.

The TTL autofocus system can be wide area or the user can select one of five focus points. The user can select single or continuous AF operation. And the DiMAGE F300 also features Subject Tracking AF and Manual focus.

The eyelevel optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 80% of the captured image. It has 18mm / 0.7 inch of eye-relief but no diopter adjustment. Two LEDs are used to indicate focus and flash status.

The built in flash has modes for Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye Reduction, Fill-flash, Fill-flash with red-eye Reduction or Flash Cancel. The working range of the flash is 0.5 - 3.5 m in wide angle and 0.9 - 3.0 m in telephoto. Flash exposure is controlled TTL with a pre-flash.

The large monochrome data LCD on the top lets you see all the important camera settings at a glance without the need to turn on the color LCD. Below the LCD are buttons for the flash mode and exposure compensation. The Mode Dial has positions for Off, AUTO record, Multi Record, Play, Movie record, Audio Mode and SETUP.

On the back is a 1.5" color TFT LCD monitor with 110,000 pixels which can be used as a live viewfinder or for image review or accessing the menu system.

The 4-way selector lets you navigate through the menus and make selections by pressing the center button. The 4-way selector is also used as the zoom lens control in record mode as well as changing shutter speeds, aperture values and exposure compensation. The "i+" button toggles exposure information in playback mode or flash modes in record. Next to that is the exposure compensation button. The "flower" button toggles Macro focus mode and in Auto record mode it also lets you enable Portrait mode, Sports Action mode, Landscape mode, Sunset mode, or Night Portrait mode. The MENU button enables the onscreen menus. Below that is the QuickView button to let you see the last image captured without leaving record mode. In playback this button is used to delete images. The bottom button controls the color LCD's ON/OFF, the display format or the information overlayed on it and in playback mode it activates the index mode (shows last six images on the screen).

The I/O ports are found behind a small flap on the back. There is a combination USB and A/V port for the monaural audio and video output signal (selectable for NTSC or PAL). Next to that is a 3v DC INput jack.

The F300 is equipped with a Secure Digital (SD) card slot and comes with a 32MB SD card, it's compatible with any brand or capacity of SD or MultiMedia Card (MMC.)

Power is supplied by two AA type batteries, high-capacity NiMH type is strongly recommended, you won't get very far with alkalines. You can also use one CR-V3 lithium type battery (included).

Minolta claims 280 frames with the LCD off or 150 frames with the LCD on if using NiMH and no more than 50% of the pictures use the flash.