Minolta Dimage 7 series

The Minolta Dimage 7, 7i, 7Hi series is a "pro-sumer" line of digital electronic viewfinder cameras from Minolta. These are also known as bridge digital cameras. They are capable of capturing images in the 5-megapixel range.

Minolta Dimage 7i

The Dimage 7 was announced 11 February 2001. The line uses a 2588 × 1960 pixel sensor coupled with a permanently attached optical 28–200 mm (35 mm equivalent) f/2.8W – f/3.5T zoom lens with a macro switch (16 elements in 13 groups, includes two AD glass elements and two aspheric elements)

The Dimage 7/7i/7Hi series cameras were powered with four AA batteries, which discharged quickly; the 7-series was replaced by the DiMAGE A1 in July 2003.

Specifications

7Hi/7i
CCD	ICX282AQF 2/3-type interline interlaced primary-color Super HAD CCD Total pixels: approx. 5.24 million Number of effective pixels: approx. 5.07 million Number of active pixels: approx. 5.02 million Chip size: 9.74 mm (H) × 7.96 mm (V) Unit cell size: 3.4 μm (H) × 3.4 μm (V) Saturation signal: 450 mV Sensitivity: 270 mV (G signal, 3200 K, 706 cd/m2, F5.6, 1/30 s accumulation) Dark signal: 16 mV (Ta=60 °C, 3.75 frame/s) Smear: −92 dB (without a mechanical shutter, frame readout mode)
Image processing	CxProcess
Operating system	pSOSystem/MIPS 2.5.x
Camera sensitivity	JPEG, TIFF, Motion JPEG (MOV): Auto (100–400), ISO 100, 200, 400, 800 equivalents RAW: ISO 100 equivalent
Aspect ratio	4:3
Lens construction	16 elements in 13 groups (includes two AD glass elements and two aspheric elements)
Maximum aperture	f/2.8 – f/3.5
Aperture steps	f/2.8, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5.6, 6.7, 8, 9.5
Focal length	7.2 – 50.8 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28 – 200 mm) Macro: 7.2 and 43 – 50.8 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28 and 170 – 200 mm)
Focusing range (from CCD)	0.5 m / 19.7 inch to infinity Macro: Wide 30 – 60 cm / 11.8 – 23.6 inch, Telephoto 25 – 60 cm / 9.8 – 23.6 inch
Maximum magnification	0.177× (equivalent to 0.7× in 35 mm format) (With a focal length of 50.8 mm. Distance at 25 cm) Area covered at maximum magnification: 50 × 37 mm / 2 × 1.5 inch (approx.)
Optical zooming control	Manual zooming ring
Optical focus control	Precision Focus-by-wire rotating focusing ring
Autofocus system	Video AF
Focus lock	By pressing shutter-release button partway down. Also possible with spot-AE lock button (The function of the spot-AE lock button can be changed with the recording menu)
Autofocus areas	Wide focus area, Spot focus point Flex Focus Point control with spot focus point mode
Focus modes	Autofocus: Single-shot AF (DMF), Continuous AF (DMF) Manual focus DMF - Direct Manual Focus
Focus features	Pixel binning in low light conditions Center scan mode for 4× electronic zoom image (EVF/LCD, manual focus) 2× digital zoom (LCD, manual focus)
Exposure modes	P (Programmed AE) (with program shift), A (Aperture priority), S (shutter priority), M (manual).
AE lock	With Spot-AE lock button or by pressing the shutter-release button partway down
Metering	Multi-segment (300 segments), center-weighted, Spot
Exposure control range	P / A modes: Wide; Ev – 1 – 18, Telephoto; Ev – 0.4 (7Hi) / 1.6 (7i) – 18.7 S / M modes: Wide; Ev – 1 – 17, Telephoto; Ev – 0.4 (7Hi) / 1.6 (7i) – 17.7
shutter	CCD electronic shutter and mechanical shutter
shutter speed range	7Hi: 15 - 1/4000 seconds (in P / A modes, ISO 100), Bulb (max. 30 seconds) 7i: 4 – 1/4000 seconds (in P / A modes), 4 – 1/2000 seconds (in S / M modes), Bulb (max. 30 seconds)
White-balance control	7Hi: Automatic, Preset {Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent 1, 2 (white / cool white), Cloudy}, Custom (3 positions) 7i: Automatic, Preset (Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Cloudy), Custom
Digital Subject Programs	Portrait, Sports action, Sunset, Night portrait, Text
Digital Effects Control	Exposure, Color saturation, Contrast compensation, Filter
Exposure compensation	+/− 2 Ev in 1/3 increments
Flash metering	ADI, Pre-flash TTL, Manual flash control ADI - Advanced Distance Integration
Flash-sync speeds	All shutter speeds
Flash modes	Fill-flash, Red-eye reduction, Rear flash sync, Wireless / Remote flash
Built-in flash range* (approx.)	ISO setting Flash range (wide angle) Flash range (telephoto) AUTO 0.5 m – 3.8 m / 1.6 ft – 12.5 ft 0.5 m – 3.0 m / 1.6 ft – 9.8 ft 100 0.5 m – 2.7 m / 1.6 ft – 8.8 ft 0.5 m – 2.1 m / 1.6 ft – 6.9 ft 200 0.5 m – 3.8 m / 1.6 ft – 12.5 ft 0.5 m – 3.0 m / 1.6 ft – 9.8 ft 400 0.5 m – 5.4 m / 1.6 ft – 17.6 ft 0.5 m – 4.2 m / 1.6 ft – 13.8 ft 800 0.5 m – 7.6 m / 1.6 ft – 25 ft 0.5 m – 6.0 m / 1.6 ft – 19.6 ft When the camera sensitivity is set to auto, the ISO is set between ISO 100 and 200. The flash range is measured from CCD.
External flash connection	Accessory shoe Flash sync terminal (7Hi)
Recycling time	7 seconds (approx.)
Flash compensation	+/−2 Ev in 1/3 increments
Viewfinder type	EVF (Electronic viewfinder), Variable-position: 0–90 degrees Automatic monitor amplification, electronic magnification for manual focusing
Viewfinder display	4.8 mm (0.19 inch) Ferroelectric reflective liquid crystal microdisplay Equivalent visual resolution: 220,000 pixels (approx.), field of view: 100% (approx.) Display format: 300 (H) × 224 (V) Pixel dimensions: 0.0135 mm (pixel dimensions include a 0.0005 mm interpixel gap) Color depth: 18 bits (6-bit RGB) Brightness: 250 cd/m2 Contrast ratio: 80:1
Viewfinder magnification	0.31 – 2.1×
Diopter control	−5 to +0.5 diopter
Eye relief	20 mm (from eyepiece)
LCD monitor	46 mm (1.8 inch) low-temperature polysilicon TFT color Total pixels: 118,000, field of view: 100% (approx.) Number of colors: Analog full color Pixel arrangement: RGB delta Effective pixels per unit area: 115.4 dots/mm² Optical transmittance: 8.6% Contrast ratio: 200:1
Display format	Recording mode: Live image, Grid, Scale, Quick view, Instant playback, Histogram of live image, Various statuses Playback mode: Single-frame, Index, Enlarged playback, Slide show, Histogram of recorded image, Various statuses
Display-mode switch	Auto-display (Viewfinder proximity sensor), Electronic viewfinder display, LCD-monitor display
A/D conversion	12 bits Correlated Double Sampling (CDS) 79 dB SNR
Camera memory	7Hi: 64 MB (SDRAM) 7i: 32 MB (SDRAM)
File formats	JPEG, TIFF, Motion JPEG (MOV), RAW. DCF 1.0 / DPOF 1.1-compliant
Printing output control	7Hi: Exif Print, PRINT Image Matching II 7i: Exif Print, PRINT Image Matching
Recording media	Type I and Type II CompactFlash cards (max. 2 GB) IBM Microdrive (170 MB, 340 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB)
Image quality modes	RAW, Super fine (TIFF), Extra-Fine (7Hi), Fine, Standard, Economy (7i)
Number of recorded pixels	Still images (JPG): 2560 × 1920, 1600 × 1200, 1280 × 960, 640 × 480 Still images (RAW): 2568 × 1928 Movie clips: 640 × 480 (UHS continuous-advance mode), 320 × 240 (standard, night movie modes), Time-lapse movie at all image sizes
Color modes	Natural Color (sRGB), Vivid Color (sRGB), Adobe RGB (7Hi), Black and white (neutral and toned), Solarization
Advanced color management	Yes (7hi) Embedded ICC Profiles are available for all formats except RAW
Sharpness settings	Three levels (Soft, Normal, Hard)
File size* (approx.)	2560 × 1920 1600 × 1200 1280 × 960 640 × 480 Economy n/a (7Hi) / 670KB (7i) n/a (7Hi) / 390KB (7i) n/a (7Hi) / 300KB (7i) n/a (7Hi) / 160KB (7i) Standard 1.5 MB (7Hi) / 1.1 MB (7i) 660 KB (7Hi) / 620 KB (7i) 460 KB (7Hi) / 420 KB (7i) 240 KB (7Hi) / 200 KB (7i) Fine 2.5 MB (7Hi) / 2.1 MB (7i) 1.0 MB (7Hi) / 1.0 MB (7i) 720 KB (7Hi) / 680 KB (7i) 320 KB (7Hi) / 280 KB (7i) Extra Fine 4.8 MB (7Hi) / n/a (7i) 1.9 MB (7Hi) / n/a (7i) 1.3 MB (7Hi) / n/a (7i) 420 KB (7Hi) / n/a (7i) Super Fine 14.2 MB (7Hi) / 14.1 MB (7i) 5.6 MB (7Hi) / 5.6 MB (7i) 3.6 MB (7Hi) / 3.6 MB (7i) 1.0 MB (7Hi) / 980 KB (7i) RAW 9.6 MB (7Hi) / 9.5 MB(7i) n/a n/a n/a Movie 297 KByte/second (7Hi) / 250 KByte/second (7i) Numerical value may vary depending upon the subject.
Continuous advance	Modes : High Speed continuous advance (with 2560 × 1920 size images) (7Hi) UHS (Ultra High Speed) continuous advance (with 1280 × 960 size images) Standard continuous advance UHS and standard continuous advance cannot be used with Super Fine or RAW images. Speeds : High Speed continuous advance: max. 3 frame/s (approx.) (7Hi) UHS (Ultra High Speed) continuous advance: 7 frame/s (approx.) Standard continuous advance: max. 2 frame/s Actual speeds may vary depending upon subjects and shooting conditions.
Interval recording	2 – 99 frames. Interval time: 1 – 10 / 15 / 20 / 30 / 45 / 60 minutes
Digital Enhanced Bracketing	Exposure, Contrast, Color saturation, Filter Exposure: 1.0, 0.5, 0.3 Ev increments Contrast, Color saturation, Filter: fixed increments Number of brackets: 3 frames
Self-timer	10 seconds (approx.)
Movie recording	Standard movie mode: 60 s (max.) with and without monaural audio Number of recorded pixels: 320 × 240 Frame rate: 15 frame/s Night movie mode (Images is monochrome.): 60 s (max.) with and without monaural audio Number of recorded pixels: 320 × 240 Frame rate: 15 frame/s UHS (Ultra High Speed) continuous-advance movie mode: Number of recorded pixels: 640 × 480 Frame rate: approx. 7 frame/s without audio Time-lapse movie mode: Number of recorded pixels: 2560 × 1920, 1600 × 1200, 1280 × 960, 640 × 480 Frame rate: 4 frame/s without audio
Audio	Voice memo: 5 or 15 seconds monaural audio with still image File format: WAVE
Audio signals	Two tones and two shutter sound effect settings
Exif tag information	Date and time, Camera settings: Exposure mode, shutter speed, Aperture value, Exposure compensation value, Metering method, Flash on / off, Camera sensitivity, White balance setting, Focal length, etc.
Delete function	Single, multiple, or all frames can be deleted
Format function	Available in the Play mode
Data imprinting	Year / month / day or Month / day / time, Text, Text and serial numbers
Digital zoom	2×
Dark frame subtraction	Yes in Bulb
Customizable interface	Yes (7hi)
Batteries	Four AA Ni-MH or alkaline batteries (Use of Ni-MH batteries is recommended.)
Battery performance (approx.) (Minolta measurement*)	Number of recording: 220 frames Continuous playback time: 120 minutes 1700 mAh Ni-MH batteries, EVF on, external LCD monitor off, full-size images (2560 × 1920), Standard image quality, No instant playback, No voice memo, flash used with 50% of the frames
Operating time (approx.)	Start-up time: approx. 3 seconds shutter release time lag: 0.1 – 0.17 second
External power source	6 V DC (with specified AC adapter AC-1L or AC-2L); current rating: 2 A
PC interface	USB 1.1
AV output	PAL / NTSC
Dimensions (W×H×D)	117 × 90.5 × 112.5 mm / 4.6 × 3.6 × 4.4 inch
Weight	7Hi: 530 g / 18.7 ounce 7i: 525 g / 18.5 ounce without batteries or recording media
Standard accessories	Leather neck strap NS-DG1000 (7Hi), Neck Strap NS-DG7 (7i), Lens cap (49 mm) LF-1249, Accessory Shoe Cap SC-9, AV cable AVC-300, CF (CompactFlash) card (16MB), USB cable USB-100, DiMAGE Software CD-ROM (Includes DiMAGE Viewer), Lens Shade DLS-7Hi (7Hi), Lens Shade DLS-7i (7i), Four AA Ni-MH batteries, Ni-MH battery charger Availability of accessories depends on areas.

Minolta 7Hi with 5600HS(D) flash

External links

• Complete review of Dimage 7
• Comparison of 7Hi and 7i
• RAW Deal
• UFRaw
• Bryan D. K. Biggers Digital Camera Experiments
• Minolta Dimage 7 Bugs and Tips
• Jens Roesner − Camera Page
• Pete Ganzel − Camera Page