Minolta dimage7 - Manual

* This camera is a sophisticated optical instrument. Care should be taken to keep thesesurfaces clean. Please read the care and storage instructions in the back of this manual(p. 142). 10 11 NAMES OF PARTS CAMERA BODY Data panel (p. 13) Pro-auto button (p. 37) Control dial Shutter-release button Foc...

12 13 DATA PANEL Subject-program indicators (p. 38) Aperture/Exposure-compensation/ Flash-compensation display Camera-sensitivity indicator (p. 61) Exposure-mode indicators (p. 46) Shutter-speed/ Camera-sensitivity display Battery-condition indicator (p. 25) White-balance indicators (p. 58) • Daylig...

If the shutter speed falls below the point where the camera can be hand held safely,the camera-shake warning will appear on the monitors. Camera shake is slight blurringcaused by subtle hand motion and is more pronounced at the telephoto setting of thelens than at the wide-angle setting. The warning...

17 16 GETTING UP AND RUNNING ATTACHING THE CAMERA STRAP ATTACHING THE LENS HOOD REMOVING THE LENS CAP Using your thumb and index fin-ger, pinch the inside or outsidetabs of the lens cap to remove. • When the camera is not in use, always replace the lens cap. To mount the lens hood, align the rectang...

While using the electronic viewfinder (EVF) or LCDmonitor, grip the camera firmly with your right handwhile supporting the body with the palm of your lefthand. Keep your elbows at your side and your feetshoulder-width apart to hold the camera steadily. The EVF can be tilted between 0° and 90°. This ...

20 21 TAKING PICTURES GETTING UP AND RUNNING With the mode dial set to still-image recording, thecamera will be on and the electronic viewfinder(EVF) and LCD monitor will activate. The zooming ring can be used to frame thesubject. The effect of the zoom is immediatelydisplayed in the EVF and on the ...

QV/delete button Menu button VIEWING AND DELETING PICTURES IN QUICK VIEW Captured images can be viewed in recording mode. Simply press the QV/delete buttonto access the images, and use the controller to scroll through the pictures on theCompactFlash card. 1 2 3 4 5 Press the QV/delete button toplayb...

24 25 CHANGING BATTERIES BATTERY CONDITION INDICATORS BASIC OPERATION Open the battery-chamber door by moving the battery-chamber lock to the open position . Insert the batteries. • Make sure the positive and negative battery terminals are orientated as illustrated on thediagram in the battery chamb...

26 27 EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES (SOLD SEPARATELY) CHANGING THE COMPACTFLASH CARD BASIC OPERATION The AC Adapter allows the camera to be powered from an electrical household outlet. ,The AC Adapter is recommended when the camera is interfaced with a computer orduring periods of heavy use. AC Adapter mo...

28 29 BASIC OPERATION BASIC RECORDING OPERATION SETTING THE CAMERA TO RECORD IMAGES AUTOMATICALLY EVF AND LCD MONITOR DISPLAY While holding in the dial release (1), turn the mode dialto still-image recording. Press the pro-auto button (2) toreset the programmed and automatic functions. All camera op...

This digital camera has a quick, accurate autofocusing system. The focus signals in the lower right corner of the EVF and LCD monitor indicate the focus status. For moreinformation on autofocus modes see p. 68. 30 BASIC OPERATION FOCUS LOCK FOCUS SIGNALS SPECIAL FOCUSING SITUATIONS Focus confirmed. ...

32 33 BASIC OPERATION DISPLAY CONTROLS - RECORDING MODE Auto display - the camera will automatically change betweendisplaying the live image in the EVF or on the LCD monitor. TheEVF’s eye sensors monitor if the EVF is being used and switchesthe display location accordingly. EVF display - the live im...

To delete a displayed image, press the QV/delete button. • A confirmation screen will appear. Captured images can be viewed in recording mode. Simply press the QV/delete buttonto access the images, and use the controller to scroll through the pictures on theCompactFlash card. Images can be displayed...

Flash mode (p. 76) Color-saturation compensation (p. 65) Exposure mode (p. 46) 36 37 RECORDING MODE ADVANCED OPERATION PRO-AUTO BUTTON 1 Simply pressing the pro-auto button (1) resets thecamera to programmed and automatic functions. Thecamera’s systems work together to bring professionalresults leav...

38 39 RECORDING MODE DIGITAL-SUBJECT-PROGRAM BUTTON 1 The subject-program button (1)optimizes the camera’s performancefor various conditions and subjects.Exposure, white-balance, and image-processing systems work in unison forbeautiful results. Pressing the subject-program buttoncycles through the m...

40 41 RECORDING MODE SETTING THE FUNCTION DIAL Image size, image quality, exposure modes, drive modes, white balance, and camerasensitivity are controlled by the function dial. Making changes with the function dial issimple. The function dial can only be used for still photography. Turn the function...

42 43 Data panel IMAGE QUALITY This camera has five image quality settings: raw, super fine, fine,standard, and economy. Always select the desired setting beforetaking the picture. See setting the function dial section on page 40. Image quality controls the rate of compression, but has no effect ont...

44 45 IMAGE-FILE SIZE AND COMPACTFLASH CARD CAPACITY Imagequality Image size 2560 X 1920 (2048 X 1536)* 1600 X 1200 1280 X 960 640 X 480 RAW Super fine Fine Standard Economy 1 (2) – – – 1 (1) 2 (2) 4 (4) 16 (16) 7 (9) 17 (15) 28 (23) 80 (57) 15 (16) 33 (26) 50 (38) 115 (81) 22 (27) 46 (41) 67 (54) 1...

46 47 RECORDING MODE PROGRAM - P The programmed AE exposure control uses luminance and focal-length information toensure perfect exposures. The sophisticated exposure system allows the photographerthe freedom to shoot without having to worry about the technical details of exposuresettings. The shutt...

The photographer selects the shutter speed and thecamera sets the appropriate aperture to ensurecorrect exposure. When S mode is selected, theshutter speed on the monitors turns blue. Turn the control dial (1) to set the desired shutterspeed. Press the shutter-release button to activatethe exposure ...

Manual exposure mode allows individual selection ofshutter speeds and apertures. This mode overridesthe exposure system giving the photographer totalcontrol over the final exposure. The shutter speedsand aperture values can be changed in half stopincrements. The value that is being set will turn blu...

Continuous-advance mode allows a series of images to be captured while holdingdown the shutter-release button. Continuous advance acts like a motor drive on a filmcamera. The number of images that can be captured at one time and the rate ofcapture depends on the image-quality and image-size setting....

After setting the drive mode to bracketing, turn the digital effectsswitch to the exposure-compensation setting. The order of thebracket series is normal exposure (as indicated by the shutterspeed and aperture displays), underexposure, overexposure. Theexposure bracket is set to 1/3 stop increments,...

The interval mode makes a series of still images over a period of time. Similar to time-lapse photography, a series of images of a slow moving event can be taken: theblossoming of a flower, the construction of a building. The built-in flash can be used.Instant playback (p. 89) is disabled. Use the f...

White Balance is the camera’s ability to make different types oflighting appear neutral. The effect is similar to selecting daylight ortungsten film, or using color compensating filters in conventionalphotography. When setting the white balance, “Auto” (data panel) and “AWB”(monitors) will be displa...

60 61 RECORDING MODE CAMERA SENSITIVITY - ISO Five settings can be selected for camera sensitivity: Auto, 100, 200,400, and 800; the numerical values are based on an ISO equivalent.ISO is the standard used to indicate film sensitivity: the higher thenumber, the more sensitive the film. See setting t...

2 DIGITAL EFFECTS CONTROL 62 63 RECORDING MODE Color-saturation compensation Contrast compensation Exposure compensation 1 1 2 Turn the digital effects switch to the image characteristic to be changed. Press and hold the digital-effects button in the center of the switch and adjust thesetting by tur...

The color saturation of a scene can be adjusted within sevenlevels (±3) with the Digital Effects Controller. Colors can beaccented or subdued. The color saturation must be set before the image is captured.When changing the color-saturation setting, an icon will appear onthe data panel and in the liv...

66 67 RECORDING MODE AUTOFOCUS AREAS AND CONTROL In still-image recording mode, the controller selects the focus area used and moves thespot-focus area within the image. The two focus areas, wide focus area and spot focuspoint, allow flexibility over a variety of situations. The wide focus area is a...

68 69 RECORDING MODE AUTOFOCUS MODES This digital camera has two autofocusing modes. The single and continuous autofocusmodes are selected in the basic section of the recording-mode menu (p. 80). • Do not confuse these icons with the metering-mode icons (p. 74 ). • The shutter can be released even i...

Manual control over focus is simple. Thefocus mode button (AF/MF) (1) togglesbetween automatic and manual focus. TheMF icon is displayed on the data panel andmonitors when the camera is in the manual-focus mode. Use the focus ring (2) at the rear of the lensbarrel to make a sharp image in the EVF or...

When the shutter-release button is pressed partway down, the focus and exposure arelocked. The AF/AEL button performs the same operation when press and held; thefocus signals and exposure displays will confirm if the settings are locked. Theoperation of this button can be changed in the custom-1 sec...

75 74 RECORDING MODE FLASH METERING Two flash-metering methods are available: ADI and pre-flash TTL. The flash metering-mode can be changed in the basic section of the recording-mode menu (p. 80). ADI flash metering - Advanced Distance Integration. This metering mode combinesdistance information fro...

77 76 RECORDING MODE FLASH MODES Data panel EVF & LCD monitor – – Fill-flash Red-eyereductionRear flashsync Used in low-light conditions and toreduce shadows under direct sunlight.To reduce the red-eye effect with flashphotographs of people and animals Flash fires at the end of long exposures. T...

79 78 RECORDING MODE The flash output can be controlled by ±2 Ev in1/3 Ev increments. Flash compensation is setin the basic section of the recording-modemenu (p. 80). If the flash compensation is setto any value other than 0.0, the flash-compensation indicator will appear on themonitors and data pan...

1 2 Activate the recording-mode menu with the menu button (1). The “Basic” tab at thetop of the menu will be highlighted. Use the left/right keys of the controller (2) tohighlight the appropriate menu tab; the menus will change as the tabs arehighlighted. 80 81 RECORDING MODE NAVIGATING THE RECORDIN...

Sets the degree of sharpness to beapplied before the image is captured. 84 85 RECORDING-MODE MENU - CUSTOM 1 (CONT.) Menu option Settings Description EVF and LCD monitor display RECORDING-MODE MENU - CUSTOM 2 Soft (–) Sharpness(p. 86) Hard (+) Normal Color B&W Disables the data imprinting functi...

86 87 RECORDING MODE SHARPNESS The sharpness of the image can be altered. This must be set before the image isrecorded. Sharpness is set in the custom 2 section of the recording-mode menu (p.80). If any setting other than normal is selected, the sharpness icon will be displayed on themonitors with t...

89 QV/delete button 88 RECORDING MODE ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD The electronic keyboard is used to enter text for imprinting data or for naming newfolders. The keyboard automatically appears when text needs to be entered. INSTANT PLAYBACK After an image is captured, it will be displayed on the monitors be...

Disabled This camera can record up to sixty seconds of digital video. Themotion JPEG image is 320 X 240 pixels (QVGA). The effectiveimage area is 308 X 240 pixels; two thin lines will appear to theleft and right of the image when played back. Shooting digital video is simple. Set the main dial to mo...

To set the aperture value, turn the Digital EffectsController to exposure compensation (2). Whilepressing the digital effects button (3), turn the controldial (1) until the correct aperture is displayed. • The camera’s exposure system cannot be used to calculate bulb exposures. The use of a separate...

To delete a displayed image, press the QV/delete button. • A confirmation screen will appear. 1 Still images and movie clips can easily be viewed and edited in playback mode. To setthe camera to view images, turn the mode dial to the playback position (1). Simply use the controller to scroll through...

96 97 PLAYBACK MODE SINGLE-FRAME PLAYBACK DISPLAY MOVIE PLAYBACK DISPLAY HISTOGRAM DISPLAY Image size (p. 42)Image quality (p. 43) Frame number/ total numberof images in folder Printing icon (p. 108) Lock icon (p. 105) Date of recording Time of recording Frame number/ total number of images in folde...

98 99 PLAYBACK MODE DISPLAY CONTROLS - PLAYBACK MODE In the center of the display switch, the display-information buttoncontrols the display format. Each time the button is pressed, thedisplay cycles through to the next format: full display, image only,index playback. Full display Image only Index p...

The number of magnification steps in enlarged playback is dependent on the size ofthe recorded image. The smaller the image size, the fewer steps are available. 1024 X768 digital zoom images recorded with the DiMAGE 5 are enlarged in three steps: 2X,2.5X, and 3.2X. 100 101 PLAYBACK MODE ENLARGED PLA...

1 2 Play Basic Custom1 Custom2 Delete Lock Index format – – 9 frames Activate the playback-mode menu with the menu button (1). The “Basic” tab will behighlighted. Use the left/right keys of the controller (2) to highlight the appropriatemenu tab; the menus will change as the tabs are highlighted. NA...

104 105 PLAYBACK MODE PLAYBACK-MODE MENU - BASIC Deleting permanently erases the image. Once deleted, an image cannot be recovered. Care should be taken when deleting images. Single, multiple, or all images in a folder can be deleted with the playback-mode menu.Before an image is deleted, a confirma...

To select all the images in the folder to be displayed in theslide-show presentation. The custom 1 section of the playback-mode menu controls the slide-show function.This function automatically displays all still images in a folder in order. 106 107 PLAYBACK MODE PLAYBACK-MODE MENU - CUSTOM 1 (SLIDE...

108 109 PLAYBACK MODE PLAYBACK-MODE MENU - CUSTOM 2 The print menu option is used to set an order for standard prints from images in aspecific folder. Single, multiple, or all images can be printed. If a CompactFlash cardhas multiple folders, a printing file must be created for each folder. Folders ...

111 110 PLAYBACK MODE COPYING IMAGES Image files can be copied from one CompactFlash card to another. Up to 10MB of datacan be transferred. Every time the copy function is used, a new folder is automaticallycreated for the images (p. 130). This frame - To copy the image currently displayed. Marked f...

112 113 This section contains detailed information on controlling the camera’s functions andoperation as well as creating and selecting image folders. The navigating the setupmenu section (p. 114) covers the operation of the setup menu. The section is followedby detailed descriptions of the settings...

114 115 The “Basic” tab will be highlighted. Use the left/right keys of the controller (2) tohighlight the appropriate menu tab; the menus will change as the tabs arehighlighted. NAVIGATING THE SETUP MENU To access the menu, simply turn the main dial to the setup position. The four-way keysof the co...

116 117 SETUP MODE SETUP MENU - BASIC The basic section of the setup menu allows changes to be made to the operation of thecamera as well as the ability to format CompactFlash cards. EVF AND LCD MONITOR BRIGHTNESS The brightness of the EVF and LCD monitor is set independently of each other.Brightnes...

118 119 SETUP MODE SETUP MENU - CUSTOM 1 The custom 1 section of the setup menu controls file number sequencing and the cre-ation of new folders. See page 130 about the organization of the folders on theCompactFlash card FILE NUMBER (#) MEMORY When file number memory is selected, if a new folder is ...

Image quality EVF auto switch 120 121 SETUP MODE SETUP MENU - CUSTOM 2 RESET DEFAULT Unlike the pro-auto button (p. 37), this function affects not only the recording mode, butalso the playback, and setup modes. When selected, a confirmation screen will appear;choosing “Yes” resets the following func...

122 123 SETUP MODE SETTING THE DATE AND TIME It is important to accurately set the clock. When a still image or a movie clip is record-ed, the date and time of the recording are saved with the image and are displayed dur-ing playback or can be read with the DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility software inclu...

Set the mode dial to the data-transfer position. • The data-transfer menu will be displayed. CONNECTING THE CAMERA TO A COMPUTER 125 124 DATA-TRANSFER MODE When the camera is properly connected to the computer, a drive icon will appear. If thecomputer does not recognize the camera, disconnect the ca...

127 126 DATA-TRANSFER MODE CONNECTING TO WINDOWS 98 Choose the recommended search for asuitable driver. Click “Next.” Choose to specify the location of the dri-ver. The browse window can be used toindicate the driver location. When thelocation is shown in the window, click“Next.” • The driver should...

129 128 DATA-TRANSFER MODE QUICKTIME 4.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS IBM PC / AT Compatible Pentium-based computer Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000. 16MB or more of RAM QuickTime is used for viewing movie clips. To install QuickTime, follow the instructions inthe read-me folder and in the installer. Users with ...

131 130 DATA-TRANSFER MODE Image-file names begin with “pict,”followed by a four-digit file number,and a tif, jpg, avi, mrw, or thmextension. The thumbnail images(thm) are used in camera opera-tion and cannot be opened. Once the camera is connected to the computer, image files can be accessed by sim...

DISCONNECTING THE CAMERA FROM THE COMPUTER 133 132 DATA-TRANSFER MODE WINDOWS ME AND WINDOWS 2000 Confirm that the access lamp is not lit. Turn the mode dial to another position and thendisconnect the USB cable. Never disconnect the camera when the access lamp is lit - the data or CompactFlash card ...

135 134 DATA-TRANSFER MODE CHANGING THE COMPACTFLASH CARD (DATA-TRANSFER MODE) Care should be taken when changing CompactFlash cards while the camera isattached to the computer. Data could be lost or damaged if the camera is not properlydisconnected. WINDOWS 98 1. Turn off the camera.2. Change the C...

The lens aperture controls not only exposure, but also depth of field; the area betweenthe closest object in focus and the furthest object in focus. The larger the aperturevalue, the greater the depth of field and the longer the shutter speed needed to makethe exposure. The smaller the aperture valu...

139 138 Problem Symptom Cause Solution The camerawill not work. Nothing dis-played on thedata panel orthe monitors. The batteries are dead. The batteries are insertedincorrectly. The AC adapter is notconnected properly. Replace batteries (p. 24). Reinsert the batteries takingcare that the negative a...

141 140 If the camera does not function normally, turn it off, remove and reinsert the batteries,or unplug and reconnect the AC adapter. Always turn the camera off using the modedial otherwise the CompactFlash card may be damaged and camera settings reset. The camera temperature rises with extended ...

143 142 OPERATING TEMPERATURES AND CONDITIONS • This camera has been designed for use in temperatures from 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F). • Never leave the camera exposed to extreme high temperatures, such as in a car parked in the sun, or to extreme humidity. • When taking the camera from a cold to a...

145 144 BATTERIES • Battery performance decreases with temperature. In cold environments, we recommend keeping spare batteries in a warm place, such as the inside of a coat.Batteries can recover their power when they warm up. As the performance of Ni-MHbatteries are less affected by temperature, the...

147 146 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Specifications are based on the latest information available at the time of printing andare subject to change without notice. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Mac OS, and the Mac OS logo are registeredtrademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Microsoft and ...

Minolta Co., Ltd. 3-13, 2-Chome, Azuchi-Machi, Chuo-Ku, Osaka 541-8556, Japan Minolta Corporation Head Office 101 Williams Drive, Ramsey, New Jersey 07446, U.S.A. Los Angeles Branch 11150 Hope Street Cypress, CA 90630, U.S.A. Minolta Canada Inc. 369 Britannia Road East, Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 2H5,...