Minolta A1 - Manual

7 CAUTION • Do not use or store these products in a hot or humid environment such as the glove compartment or trunk of a car. It may damage the camera, charger, and battery which may result in burns or injuriescaused by heat, fire, explosion, or leaking battery fluid. • If the battery is leaking, di...

8 T ABLE OF CONTENTS Names of parts ....................................................................................................................................14 Camera body ........................................................................................................................

* This camera is a sophisticated optical instrument. Care should be taken to keep these surfacesclean. Please read the care and storage instructions in the back of this manual (p. 162). 14 N AMES OF PARTS CAMERA BODY Data panel (p. 17) Front control dial Shutter-release button Focusing ring (p. 46) ...

17 DATA PANEL Camera-sensitivity indicator (p. 74) Battery-condition indicator (p. 24) White-balance indicator (p. 70) Image-quality display (p. 82) Image-size display (p. 82) Flash-compensation indicator (p. 59) Single-frame advance (p. 33) Located on the top of the camera body, thedata panel shows...

7. Sharpness display (p. 97) 18 N AMES OF PARTS MONITOR DISPLAY - RECORDING MODE 2. Flash-mode indicator (p. 61) 5. Flash-compensation display (p. 77) 8. Color-saturation-compensation display (p. 77) 9. Contrast-compensation display (p. 77) 17. Exposure-compensation display (p. 59) 11. White-balance...

19 MONITOR DISPLAY - QUICK VIEW & PLAYBACK MODE 7. Frame number/ total number of images 5. Lock indicator (p. 121) 6. Print indicator (p. 126) 11. Image size display (p. 82) 10.Image quality indicator (p. 82) 2. Time of capture 1. Mode indicator 4. Voice-memo indicator (p. 115) 16.White-balance ...

20 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING GETTING UP AND RUNNING This section covers the preparation of the camera. This includes the changing of batteries and mem-ory card as well as the use of external power supplies. ATTACHING THE CAMERA STRAP REMOVING THE LENS CAP Using your thumb and index finger, pinch thein...

21 ATTACHING THE LENS HOOD Slide the hood onto the end of the lens and turn it90° clockwise until it clicks and the circular dimple isaligned with the focal-length index (2). When mount-ed correctly, the large petals of the lens hood shouldbe to the top and bottom. Never force the lens hood.If it do...

22 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING CHARGING THE BATTERY Before the camera can be used, the lithium-ion battery must be charged. Before charging the battery,read the safety warnings on page 4 of this manual. Only recharge the battery with the supplied bat-tery charger. The battery should be recharged before ...

INSTALLING AND CHANGING THE BATTERY Open the battery-chamber door by sliding the battery-chamberlock to the open position. Insert the battery with the battery contacts first. Insert the bat-tery so that it slides past the battery latch in the chamber. Pushthe battery into the chamber until the latch...

24 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING BATTERY CONDITION INDICATOR Full-battery indicator - the batteries are fully charged. This icon is dis-played for five seconds on the monitors when the camera is turned on.The icon remains on the data panel. Blinking low-battery warning - displayed on the data panel with n...

25 EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES (SOLD SEPARATELY) The AC Adapter allows the camera to be powered from an electrical household outlet. The ACAdapter is recommended when the camera is interfaced with a computer or during periods of heavyuse. AC Adapter model AC-1L is for use in North America, Japan, and Ta...

26 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING INSERTING AND CHANGING A MEMORY CARD A memory card must be inserted for the camera to operate. If a card has notbeen inserted, a no-card warning will be displayed on the monitors. Type I andII CompactFlash cards and IBM Microdrives are compatible with this camera.For memor...

28 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING While using the electronic viewfinder (EVF) or LCD monitor, grip thecamera firmly with your right hand while supporting the body with thepalm of your left hand. Keep your elbows at your side and your feetshoulder-width apart to hold the camera steadily. HANDLING THE CAMERA...

30 G ETTING UP AND RUNNING SETTING THE DATE AND TIME After initially inserting a memory card and battery, the camera’s clock and calendar must be set.When images are recorded, the image data is saved with the date and time of recording. Dependingon the region, the menu language may also have to be s...

31 Use the right controller key to highlight the 2nd tab atthe top of the menu. Use the down key to highlight the date/time-set menuoption. Press the central button to display the date/time setting screen. Use the left and right keys to select the item to bechanged. Press the central button to set t...

32 B ASIC RECORDING SETTING THE CAMERA TO RECORD IMAGES AUTOMATICALLY EVF AND LCD MONITOR DISPLAY Set the exposure dial to the program (P) position (1). Confirm themode switch is in the recording position (2). All camera operations are now fully automatic. The autofocus, expo-sure, and imaging syste...

33 BASIC RECORDING OPERATION Place the subject within the focus frame. For off-center sub-jects, use the focus-lock function (p. 34). The subject must be within the focus range of the lens: 0.5m(1.6ft) - ∞ . For subjects closer than 0.5m (1.6ft), use the macro function (p. 49). Use the zooming ring ...

34 B ASIC RECORDING FOCUS LOCK The focus-lock function is used when the subject is off-center and outside the focus frame. Focuslock may also be used when a special focusing situation prevents the camera from focusing on thesubject. Place the subject within the focus frame. Press and hold theshutter...

36 B ASIC RECORDING USING THE BUILT-IN FLASH FLASH RANGE - AUTOMATIC OPERATION To use the flash, simply pull up the unit by the tabs on each side.The flash position must be set manually, and once up, the flash unitwill always fire regardless of the amount of ambient light. The fol-lowing indicators ...

Movie files are recorded at approximately 522KB per second. A16MB Compactflash card can store about 19 seconds of digitalvideo with audio. Actual time depends on the subject and theamount of free space on the memory card. For more on movierecording, see page 112. Set the mode switch to the movie rec...

/ 39 DISPLAY MODE SWITCH Auto display - the camera will automatically change between displaying thelive image in the EVF or on the LCD monitor. The EVF’s eye sensors moni-tor if the EVF is being used and switches the display location accordingly. EVF display - the live image will only be displayed i...

To view images from the playback mode, turn the modeswitch to the playback position. To view images from the recording or movie recordingmodes, press the Quick View / delete button. 40 B ASIC PLAYBACK SINGLE-FRAME PLAYBACK AND HISTOGRAM DISPLAY Date of capture Frame number/ total number of images Im...

41 To return to a recording mode from Quick View, press the menubutton. VIEWING IMAGES AND HISTOGRAM To delete a displayed image, press the QV/deletebutton; a confirmation screen will appear. The displayed image can be deleted. Once deleted, an image cannot be recovered. Press the controller to exec...

42 B ASIC PLAYBACK The display-information button controls the display format. Each time the button is pressed, the dis-play cycles through to the next format: full display, image only, index playback. Full display Image only Index playback In index playback, the four-way keys of the controller will...

43 ENLARGED PLAYBACK In single-frame playback, a still image can be enlarged for clos-er examination from 1.2X. The degree of maximum magnifica-tion depends on image size: 8X for 2560X1920, 6.4X for2080X1560, 5X for 1600X1200, 2X for 640X480, and 4X for1280X960 digital-zoom images. RAW and TIFF imag...

44 A DVANCED RECORDING Movies can be played back on the camera. Movie files are indicated by an indicator at the bottom ofthe display. Press the center of the controller to play back the file. To cancel the playback, press the menu button. VIEWING MOVIES Press the controller to pause the movie; pres...

45 The display-information button controls what information is displayed withthe live image. Each time the button is pressed, the display cycles to thenext format: standard display, real-time histogram, focus frame, and liveimage only. The real-time histogram shows the approximate luminance distribu...

DIGITAL ZOOM The digital zoom doubles the lens magnification. The digital zoomcannot be used with RAW image quality or in movie recording. Press the magnification button on the back of the camera. Theeffect is immediate and X2.0 is displayed in top right corner of thelive image. Pressing the magnifi...

48 A DVANCED RECORDING FLEX FOCUS POINT The Flex Focus Point (FFP) is a powerful tool for off-center subjects. It canbe moved to any point in the image area. The FFP cannot be used with thedigital zoom or movie recording. Use the controller’s four-way keys (1) to move the Flex FocusPoint in the live...

49 The macro mode is used for close-up photographs of smallobjects. The built-in flash cannot be used with macro mode. Theuse of a tripod is recommended. Align one of the arrows on the zooming ring with the index next tothe macro switch and slide the switch forward. The lens must bezoomed to the wid...

50 A DVANCED RECORDING EXPOSURE LOCK EXPOSURE-MODE DIAL The exposure-mode dial is used to select traditional exposure mode as wellas subject programs that optimize camera settings to specific shooting condi-tions. Camera settings saved in the camera can also be recalled with thisdial. Simply turn th...

52 A DVANCED RECORDING AUTO RECORDING Auto recording is set with the exposure-mode dial. Auto recording is the same as the program expo-sure mode (p. 51), except that when the camera is on if the exposure mode dial is turned to or fromthe auto position, the auto exposure mode is reset. Turning the c...

54 A DVANCED RECORDING Aperture priority is set with theexposure-mode dial (p. 50). Thephotographer selects the apertureand the camera sets the appropri-ate shutter speed to ensure thecorrect exposure. When A mode isselected, the aperture display onthe monitors turns blue. APERTURE PRIORITY - A Turn...

59 EXPOSURE AND FLASH COMPENSATION The ambient light and flash exposure can be adjusted before the image is captured to make the finalpicture lighter or darker. Exposure can be adjusted by as much as ±2Ev in 1/3 increments (p. 111).The exposure and flash compensation will remain in effect until it h...

60 A DVANCED RECORDING USING THE FUNCTION DIAL The memory function, metering mode, drive mode, white balance, and camera sensitivity are con-trolled by the function dial. The custom position is for a designate menu function that can be set insection 2 of the setup menu. Only white balance can be set...

61 The drive modes control the rate and method images are captured. Indicatorsindicating the selected drive mode appear on the data panel and monitors. Thedrive mode is set with the function dial (p. 60). DRIVE MODES Continuous advance - to take a series of images when the shutter-release but-ton is...

62 A DVANCED RECORDING BRACKETING This drive mode makes a three image bracket of a scene. Bracketing is a method of taking a seriesof images of a static subject in which each image has a slight variation in exposure. Contrast, satura-tion, and filter brackets can also be made. Turn the function dial...

64 A DVANCED RECORDING Continuous-advance mode allows a series of images to be captured while holding down the shutter-release button. Continuous advance acts like a motor drive on a film camera. The number of imagesthat can be captured at one time depends on the image-quality setting; five with RAW...

66 A DVANCED RECORDING INTERVAL The interval mode makes a series of still or moving images over a period of time. Similar to time-lapse photography, a series of images of a slow moving event can be taken: the blossoming of aflower, the construction of a building. The built-in flash can be used. Inst...

69 METERING MODES Metering mode indicators are displayed on the monitorsonly. To lock the exposure while pressing the shutter-release button partway down, the AE lock option in sec-tion 4 of the recording mode menu should be on. If theluminance levels of the scene are outside the meteringrange, the ...

70 A DVANCED RECORDING WHITE BALANCE 3 White balance is the camera’s ability to make differenttypes of lighting appear natural. Any changes are imme-diately visible on the monitors. Turn the function dial to the white-balance (WB) modeposition (1). Press the function button in the center of the dial...

71 Custom-white-balance function allows the camera to be calibrated to a specific lighting condition.Three setting can be stored in the camera and used repeatedly. Custom white balance is especiallyuseful with mixed-lighting conditions or when critical control over color is needed. CUSTOM WHITE-BALA...

72 A DVANCED RECORDING MEMORY - STORING CAMERA SETTINGS To save the current camera settings, turn the function dial to the MSET position and press the function button to open the register-selection screen; the current camera settings are displayed. Camera settings cannot be deleted from memory by tu...

73 MEMORY RECALL Camera settings saved with the function dial are recalled with the expo-sure-mode dial. Simply turn the exposure mode dial to the memoryrecall (MR) position (1); the register-selection screen will open. On the register-selection screen use the control dials or left/right keys of the...

74 A DVANCED RECORDING CAMERA SENSITIVITY - ISO The auto setting automatically adjusts the camera sensitivity to the light conditions between ISO 100and 200. When any other setting than auto is used, “ISO” will appear on the data panel, and “ISO”and the set value will be displayed on the monitors. P...

75 FLASH RANGE AND CAMERA SENSITIVITY Flash range (wide angle) ISO setting AUTO 100 200 400 800 0.5m ~ 3.8m / 1.6 ft. ~ 12.5 ft. Flash range (telephoto) 0.5m ~ 3.0m / 1.6 ft. ~ 9.8 ft. 0.5m ~ 2.7m / 1.6 ft. ~ 8.8 ft. 0.5m ~ 3.8m / 1.6 ft. ~ 12.5 ft. 0.5m ~ 5.4m / 1.6 ft. ~ 17.6 ft. 0.5m ~ 7.6m / 1.6...

The flash sync terminal allows a studio or location flash system to be connected to the camera with astandard PC cord. The terminal is compatible with both center positive (normal polarity) and centernegative (positive polarity) flash units with a voltage of 400V or lower. 76 A DVANCED RECORDING USI...

Turn the Digital Effect switch (1) to the image character-istic to be adjusted. Adjustments can be made repeatedly and in combination. Adjustments remain in effect until manuallyreset. When set to any value other than zero, an indicator and value will be displayed on the monitorsas a warning. 77 DIG...

78 A DVANCED RECORDING FILTER The contrast of a scene can be adjusted within eleven levels (±5) with theDigital Effects Controller (p. 77). The contrast must be set before the image iscaptured. When changing the contrast setting, an indicator is displayed to showan increase (+) or decrease (–) in co...

79 Filter levelswith color images Filter settings with black and whiteimages. FILTER EXAMPLES +2 +1 +3 +4 +5 –1 –2 –3 –4 –5 ±0 On February 20th, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. On board hisFriendship 7 spacecraft was a Minolta Hi-matic camera to record thathistoric eve...

Use the left/right keys of the controller to highlight the appropri-ate menu tab; the menus will change as the tabs are highlighted. 80 R ECORDING MENU In recording mode, press the menu button to activate the menu. The menu button also closes themenu after making settings. The four-way key of the co...

82 R ECORDING MENU Image size and quality must be set before the picture is taken. Changes are displayed on the LCDmonitor and data panel. Image size and quality are set in section 1 of the recording menu (p. 80). 2560 2080 1600 640 2560 X 1920 2080 X 1560 1600 X 1200 640 X 480 Image quality control...

84 A SHORT GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY In the RAW image-quality mode, the image size is set at full and cannot be changed. The image sizewill not be displayed on the monitors. The digital zoom, enlarged playback, data imprinting, and printfunctions cannot be used. Unlike the other image-quality modes, RAW ...

85 NOTES ON IMAGE SIZE AND RESOLUTION 640 X 480 (Full image area) 1600 X 1200 (Cropped) 2080 X 1560 (Cropped) 2560 X 1920 (Cropped) Image size changes the number of pixels in the image. When displayed atthe same resolution, images appear to have the same amount of detail,but the dimensions of the im...

87 Rear flash sync is used with long exposures to make trailinglights or blurring appear to follow rather than proceed thesubject. The effect is not apparent if the shutter speed is toofast and stops the subject’s motion. When the shutter is released, a pre-flash will fire. This pre-flash does not e...

88 R ECORDING MENU WIRELESS / REMOTE FLASH Wireless/Remote flash allows the camera to control an off-camera Minolta 5600HS(D) and 3600HS(D) flash unit with-out the need of a cable. Single or multiple flash units canbe placed around the subject to create different lightingeffects. The camera’s built-...

90 R ECORDING MENU WIRELESS/REMOTE CAMERA AND FLASH RANGES Flash-to-subjectdistance Camera-to-subjectdistance The camera and flash must bewithin 5m or 16.4 ft of the subject. Aperture ƒ/2.8ƒ/4ƒ/5.6ƒ/8 ISO 100 ISO 200 / AUTO ISO 400 ISO 800 Camera sensitivity setting 1.4 m / 4.6 ft1.0 m / 3.2 ft0.7 m...

91 NOTES ON WIRELESS/REMOTE FLASH Wireless/Remote flash performs best under subdued light or interior lighting. Under bright lightsources, the flash may not be able to detect the control signals from the camera’s built-in flash. The wireless/remote system has four channels so that multiple lighting ...

92 R ECORDING MENU FLASH CONTROL Select the manual option from flash control in section 1 ofthe recording menu. With the built-in flash raised, press theexposure compensation button (1). Use the rear control dial(2) to select the manual flash power ratio; the front controldial compensates the ambien...

8 / 26 11 / 36 16 / 52 22 / 72 93 The chart lists approximate guide numbers for manual flash calculations. The following equations areuseful in determining the guide number, aperture (ƒn), or flash-to-subject distance required for expo-sure. Guide no. (for distance in meters / feet) Manual flash 1/1...

94 R ECORDING MENU When the AEL button is pressed and held, the exposure is locked. Theexposure remains locked after an image has been captured until the AELbutton has been released (hold setting) or pressed again (toggle setting).How the button operates can be changed in section 1 of the recording ...

95 RECORDING MODE RESET The recording mode functions can be reset in section 1 of the recording menu (p. 80). When select-ed, a confirmation screen will appear; choosing “Yes” resets the following functions and settings, “No”cancels the operation. Exposure compensation 0.0 p. 59 Flash compensation 0...

96 R ECORDING MENU INTERVAL SETUP The parameters for the interval drive mode (p. 66) are set in section 2 of the recording menu (p. 80). Int. set Bracket set Enter Select “Enter” in the interval-set option in section 2 ofthe recording menu. Press the center of the controllerto open the setup screen....

Soft Normal Hard 97 SHARPNESS The sharpness of the image can be altered. This must be set before the image is recorded.Sharpness is set in section 3 of the recording menu (p. 80). If any setting other than normal is select-ed, the sharpness indicator is displayed on the monitors. Menu options Hard (...

Int. set – Bracket set 0.3Ev Data imprint Text Imprint to Image + Exif Inst.playback Off Voice memo Off 98 R ECORDING MENU DATA IMPRINTING Data can be printed on a still image and saved to the file’s Exif data. The function must be activatedbefore the image is taken. Once activated, data will contin...

99 ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD The electronic keyboard is used to enter text for imprinting data or for naming new folders. The key-board automatically appears when text needs to be entered. To enter text, simply use the four-way keys ofthe controller to highlight the desired characterand then press the cen...

R ECORDING MENU INSTANT PLAYBACK If the central button of the controller is pressed duringthe instant playback period, the displayed image(s) aresaved immediately and the playback canceled. To delete an image during the instant playback, pressthe QV/delete button. A confirmation screen willappear. U...

Voice memo allows up to fifteen seconds of audio to be recordedwith a still image. The function is activated in section 2 of therecording menu (p. 80) and is used in unison with instant playback.When the function is active, the microphone indicator is displayedon the monitors. Voice memo must be set...

102 R ECORDING MENU COLOR MODE The color mode controls whether a still image is color or black andwhite. This must be set before the image is recorded. The colormode is set in section 2 of the recording menu (p. 80). The liveimage on the monitors will reflect the selected color mode. Thecolor mode h...

103 Adobe RGB has a larger color gamut than the more common sRGB. The size of the gamut limits thecolors that can be reproduced; the larger the gamut, the more colors. If the image will be printed outwith a high-quality printer, the use of the Adobe RGB color mode is recommended over the sRGBcolor m...

The monitor amplification options control the display of the liveimage. Monitor amplification has two settings: Auto - in low-light conditions when the camera-sensitivity gain hasreached its limit, the automatic monitor-amplification function willintensify the monitor image. Although the live image ...

Initially, the 2X magnification area is displayed. This canbe moved in the live image with the four-way keys of thecontroller (1). Pressing the center button of the controllerreturns the area to the middle of the image. Press themagnification button (2) to enlarge the image. 105 The function assigne...

106 R ECORDING MENU DIGITAL SUBJECT PROGRAM (DSP) SETUP DSP set DSP Tracking AF On AE lock On Spot AE area Center spot Direct MF Off The memory registers used for camera settings can be assigned tothe Digital Subject Program positions on the exposure-mode dial.This is set in section 4 of the recordi...

SPOT AE AREA When using spot metering (p. 69)with the Flex Focus Point (p. 48),the position of the spot meteringarea can be specified at the centerof the live image or linked to theFlex Focus Point; the spot movesafter the position of the FFP is set.This is set in section 4 of therecording menu (p. ...

Photography can be a rewarding pursuit. It is a broad and disciplined field that can take years tomaster. But the pleasure in making photographs and the joy of capturing a magical moment cannotbe compared. The guide is an introduction to some basic photographic principles. The lens aperture controls...

110 A SHORT GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY –2.0Ev –1.0Ev Calculated camera exposure Sometimes the camera’s exposure meter is deceived by certain conditions. Exposure compensationcan be used in these situations. For example, a very bright scene, such as a snowy landscape or awhite sandy beach, can appear too d...

111 +2.0 Ev +1.0 Ev 0.0 Ev –1.0 Ev –2.0 Ev 4X as much light 2X as much light 1/2 as much light 1/4 as much light Calculated exposure WHAT IS AN EV? Ev stands for exposure value. A changeof one Ev will adjust the exposure calcu-lated by the camera by a factor of two. LIGHT SOURCES AND COLOR The human...

112 M OVIE MENU In movie mode, press the menu button to activate the menu. The menu button also closes the menuafter making settings. The four-way key of the controller is used to move the cursor in the menu.Pressing the central button of the controller will enter a setting. Use the up/down key to s...

114 M OVIE MENU To make custom white-balance calibrations can only be made in the recording mode. Once made,the setting are available for movie recording. The movie mode’s motion JPEG image is 320 X 240 pixels (QVGA). The effective image area is 316X 240 pixels; two thin lines will appear to the lef...

115 PLAYING BACK VOICE MEMOS Press the central button of the controller to start theaudio playback. Voice memos are indicated by the voice-memo indica-tor displayed at the bottom of the monitor image. ADVANCED PLAYBACK This section covers how to playback voice memos as well as the playback mode’s me...

116 A DVANCED PLAYBACK Use the left/right keys of the controller to highlight the appropri-ate menu tab; the menus will change as the tabs are highlighted. In playback mode, press the menu button to activate the menu. The menubutton also closes the menu after making settings. The four-way key of the...

118 A DVANCED PLAYBACK FRAME-SELECTION SCREEN When a marked-frames setting is chosen on a menu, the frame selection screen will appear. Thisscreen allows multiple files to be selected. The index format of the screen can be changed in section1 of the playback menu (p. 121). The up key of the controll...

119 DELETE Deleting permanently erases the image. Once deleted, an image cannot be recovered. Careshould be taken when using the delete function. This frame - The image displayed or highlighted in playback mode will be deleted. All frames - All unlocked images in the selected folder will be deleted....

120 A DVANCED PLAYBACK FORMAT The formatting function is used to erase all data on a memory card. Before formatting a card, copythe data to a computer or storage device. Locking files will not protect them from being deleted whenthe card is formatted. Always format the memory card using the camera; ...

121 Single, multiple, or all images in a folder can be locked. A locked image cannot be deleted by eitherthe playback-mode menu functions or the QV/delete button. Important images should be locked. Tolock images in other folders, the folder must first be selected with the view-folder option in secti...

122 A DVANCED PLAYBACK COPY Image files can be copied from one memory card to another. Up to 15MB of data can be transferred.Every time the copy function is used, a new folder is automatically created for the image(s). This frame - To copy the image currently displayed. Marked frames - To copy singl...

Section 2 of the playback menu controls the slide-show function.This function automatically displays all still images in a folder inorder. 124 A DVANCED PLAYBACK SLIDE SHOW Number of images displayed / totalnumber of images in the presenta-tion. Press the central button of the controller to pause an...

126 A DVANCED PLAYBACK The print menu option is used to set an order for standard printsfrom images in a specific folder. Single, multiple, or all images canbe printed. If a memory card has multiple folders, a printing filemust be created for each folder. Folders are selected with the view-folder op...

127 When the this-frame or all-frames setting is chosen, a screen will appear requesting the number ofcopies of each image; a maximum of nine copies can be ordered. Use the up/down keys of the con-troller to set the number of copies desired. If the all-frames setting was used to create a print order...

128 A DVANCED PLAYBACK VIEWING IMAGES ON A TELEVISION It is possible to view camera images on your television. The camera has a video-out terminal whichcan be used to connect the camera to a television using the supplied AV cable. The camera is com-patible with the NTSC and PAL standards. The video-...

129 SETUP MENU The setup menu controls camera operations. The menu navigationsection covers basic menu operation. It is followed by detaileddescriptions of the menu settings. OPENING THE SETUP MENU The setup menu can be opened two ways. To access the menu directly, hold down the function button(1) a...

130 S ETUP MENU Use the left/right keys of the controller to highlight the appropri-ate menu tab; the menus will change as the tabs are highlighted. See page 129 on how to open the setup menu. The four-way key of the con-troller is used to move the cursor in the menu. Pressing the central button oft...

132 S ETUP MENU LCD BRIGHTNESS The brightness of the EVF and LCD monitor is set independently ofeach other. Select the display to adjust using section 1 of the setupmenu; the corresponding monitor activates automatically and thebrightness screen is displayed. LCDbrightness Monitor Shortcut help EVF ...

133 Scale Grid To display a grid or scale over the displayformats, press and hold the function button(1) and press the display-information but-ton (2) to cycle through the options: grid,scale, and off. For more on the displaysmodes, see page 45. When using manual focus, a shortcut allows switching b...

134 S ETUP MENU Hold down the function button (1) and press the menubutton (2) to open the setup menu. LCDbrightness – Shortcut help – Transfer mode Data storageEVF auto swtch Auto EVF/LCDVideo output NTSC Language English Hold down the function button (1) and press the QV/deletebutton (2) to reset ...

135 EVF AUTO SWITCH This option controls the auto-display function in the recording andmovie mode (p. 39). Two setting are available: Auto EVF/LCD - the EVF’s eye sensors switch between the EVF andLCD monitor automatically. EVF auto on - the LCD monitor is turned off and the eye and grip sen-sors ac...

136 S ETUP MENU CUSTOM SETUP The one frequently used function can be allocated to the customposition on the function dial. The function is selected in section 2 ofthe setup menu (p. 130). The following recording functions are avail-able: Custom set Image size File # memory Quality Folder name Flash ...

FOLDER NAME All recorded images are stored in folders on the memory card. Folder names comein two formats: standard and date. Standard folders have an eight character name. The initial folder is named100MLT16. The first three digits are the folder’s serial number, which will increaseby one each time...

138 S ETUP MENU NEW FOLDER This allows the creation of new folders. The folder-name option onin section 2 of the setup menu must be set to standard form inorder to use the new-folder function. When selected, the electronickeyboard (p. 99) automatically appears so the folder name can beentered. Once ...

139 RESET DEFAULT This option resets all camera modes: recording, movie, playback, and setup. To reset the recording ormovie modes, see pages 95 and 113. When selected, a confirmation screen will appear; choosing“Yes” resets the following functions and settings, “No” cancels the operation. Display m...

142 S ETUP MENU AUTO POWER SAVE The camera will turn off the monitors to conserve battery power if no operation is made within a cer-tain period. The length of this period can be changed to 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes. To restore power,press the shutter-release button partway down or press the main switc...

144 S ETUP MENU CONTROL DIAL SETUP The control dial setup option in section 4 of the setup menuchanges the front and rear control dial operation in the P, A, and Sexposure modes. Exposure compensation (p. 59) can also beassigned to one of the control dials. Refer to the sections on theexposure modes...

145 Each time a delete command is used a confirmation screenappears confirming the action to erase the image data. When thisscreen opens, the no button is highlighted. This function allowsthe yes button to be initially highlighted to make deleting imageseasier. Care should be taken when deleting ima...

146 D ATA - TRANSFER MODE DATA-TRANSFER MODE Read this section carefully before connecting the camera to a computer. Details on using andinstalling the DiMAGE Viewer software are found in the supplied software manual. The DiMAGE man-uals do not cover the basic operation of computers or their operati...

147 CONNECTING THE CAMERA TO A COMPUTER 1. Start up the computer. The computer must be on before connecting the camera. 2. Open the AV out / USB port cover. Attach the smaller plug of the USB cable to the camera. The plug should be firmly attached. 3. Attach the other end of the USB cable to the com...

148 D ATA - TRANSFER MODE CONNECTING TO WINDOWS 98 / 98 SECOND EDITION The driver needs only to be installed once. If the driver cannot be installed automatically, it can beinstalled manually with the operating system’s add-new-hardware wizard; see the instructions on thefollowing page. During insta...

149 Choose the recommended search for a suitabledriver. Click “Next.” Choose to specify the location of the driver. Thebrowse window can be used to indicate the driverlocation. The driver should be located in the CD-ROM drive at :\Win98\USB. When the location isshown in the window, click “Next.” MAN...

151 AUTO POWER SAVE (DATA-TRANSFER MODE) If the camera does not receive a read or write command within ten minutes, it will shut down to savepower. When the camera shuts down, an unsafe-removal-of-device warning may appear on the com-puter monitor. Click “OK.” Neither the camera or computer will be ...

152 D ATA - TRANSFER MODE MEMORY CARD FOLDER ORGANIZATION Once the camera is connected to the computer, image and audio files canbe accessed by double clicking on icons. Image folders are located in theDCIM folder. To copying images and audio recordings, simply drag and dropthe file icon into a loca...

DISCONNECTING THE CAMERA FROM THE COMPUTER 154 D ATA - TRANSFER MODE WINDOWS ME, 2000 PROFESSIONAL, AND XP Confirm that the access lamp is not lit. Turn off the camera and then disconnect the USB cable. Never disconnect the camera when the access lamp is lit - the data ormemory card may permanently ...

155 The hardware devices to be stopped will be dis-played. Highlight the device by clicking on it then click“Stop.” Confirm that the access lamp is not lit and then drag themass-storage device icon and drop it into the trash.Disconnect the USB cable. A confirmation screen will appear to indi-cate th...

157 1. Insert a memory card in the camera and connect it to the computer with the USB cable. Other devices must not be connected to the computer during this procedure. 2. Right click on the My-computer icon. Select “properties” from the drop-down menu. Windows XP: from the start menu go to the contr...

158 T ROUBLESHOOTING Problem Symptom Cause Solution The camera willnot work. Nothing displayedon the data panelor the monitors. The battery are dead. The AC adapter is not connectedproperly. Recharge batteries (p. 22). Check that the adapter is connected tothe camera and a live electrical outlet(p. ...

160 T ROUBLESHOOTING If the camera does not function normally, turn it off, remove and reinsert the battery, or unplug andreconnect the AC adapter. Always turn the camera off using the main switch otherwise the memorycard may be damaged and camera settings reset. The camera temperature rises with ex...

161 ATTACHING THE FERRITE CORE FRC-100 ABOUT THE LITHIUM-ION BATTERY CHARGER CORD The included AC cord is designed for the current of the sales region. Only use the cord in the regionit was purchased. Japan (100V) Continental Europe, China, Korea, Singapore (220-240V) Great Britain, Hong Kong (220V-...

162 C ARE AND STORAGE CLEANING • If the camera or the outside of the lens is dirty, gently wipe it with a soft, clean, dry cloth. If the camera or lens comes in contact with sand, gently blow away loose particles. Wiping may scratch the surface. • To clean the lens surface, first blow away any dust ...

164 C ARE AND STORAGE LCD MONITOR CARE • Although the LCD monitor is manufactured using high precision technology, there may occasionally be a lack of color or bright points on the LCD monitor. • Do not apply pressure to the surface of the LCD monitor; it may be permanently damaged.• In a cold envir...

166 I NDEX INDEX AC adapter, 25, 67, 147Adobe RGB, 2, 102, 103, 152Auto focus Continuous, 46Flex Focus Point (FFP) 48, 49, 107Full-time, 143Single-shot, 46Subject Tracking, 46, 106Signals, 35, 46 Anti-shake, 37, 143Auto power save, 24, 142, 151Battery Care and storage, 4, 164Changing, 23Charging, 4,...

168 T ECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Number of effective pixels: 5.0 million CCD: 2/3-type progressive primary-color CCD with a totalof 5.3 million pixels Camera sensitivity (ISO): Auto and 100, 200, 400, and 800 ISO equivalents Aspect ratio: 4:3 Lens construction: 16 elements in 13 groups Maximum aperture...

170 The Battery Pack BP-400 is a portable power source for the camera.This accessory uses two NP-400 lithium-ion batteries or six Ni-MH oralkaline batteries to power the camera. For more details on the BatteryPack BP-400 or other accessories listed in this manual, contact yourlocal Minolta dealer. B...

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