Minolta Dimage 7HiMinolta updates their revolutionary five-megapixel electronic SLR with an external flash sync connection, faster continuous mode, an "extra fine" JPEG option, and increased color space flexibility.<<Image Storage & Interface :(Previous) | (Next): Test Results & Conclusion>> Page 11:Video, Power, SoftwareReview First Posted: 10/15/2002 |
Video Out
The
Dimage 7Hi provides a video output jack with an accompanying video cable. The
signal timing can be set to NTSC or PAL via the Setup menu. An adapter cable
terminating in a male RCA plug is included with units shipped to the U.S. European
models will presumably include cabling appropriate to PAL systems. The Video
output duplicates the contents of the LCD in all modes, permitting it to be
used as an auxiliary viewfinder.
Power
The
Dimage 7Hi uses four AA-type batteries for power, or the optional AC adapter.
Usable battery types include NiMH or alkaline, and I highly recommend
picking up two good sets of rechargeable NiMH batteries. This is definitely
a camera that you'll want to pack along extra batteries for, and a natural candidate
for use with an external power pack.
Here are the power-consumption numbers I measured for the Dimage 7Hi in the lab, along with estimated run times, based on a set of (true) 1600 mAh NiMH cells:
|
|
(mA @6.0v) |
(Four 1600 mAh AA cells) |
| Capture Mode, w/LCD |
|
83 |
| Capture Mode, w/EVF |
|
99 |
| Capture Mode, EVF off |
|
136 |
| Half-pressed shutter w/LCD |
|
79 |
| Half-pressed w/EVF |
|
90 |
| Memory Write (transient) |
|
|
| Flash Recharge (transient) |
|
|
| Sleep |
|
(indefinite) |
| Image Playback |
|
125 |
The Dimage 7 and 7i had reputations as rather power-hungry cameras, and the 7Hi very much follows in their footsteps. Still, I don't think it's quite as bad as some people have made out. With a high-capacity set of NiMH AA cells, you should be able to get 80+ minutes of run time in its worst-case power consumption mode. Use the EVF instead of the rear-panel LCD, and your continuous run time stretches to about an hour and 40 minutes. Use the auto-off feature for the EVF, and you should be able to leave the camera in capture mode for a couple of hours on a freshly charged set of batteries. (And in "sleep" mode, the camera consumes only the barest trickle of electricity.)
I've been working on testing batteries and chargers as sort of a background task for quite a while now. (Every few days, toss a set of batteries in the little battery-testing gadget I cobbled together.) I've found some interesting things. First, just because a battery *says* it's 1800 mAh (for instance) doesn't mean that it *is* 1800 mAh. Digicams definitely aren't a place to cheap-out on batteries, so it pays to get a good brand. Read my "Battery Shootout" article for the full scoop on which batteries tested out the best. (I'll be updating that article every few months, as of this writing in early October, 2002, the Maha 1800s were still on top, but some newly-released 1850s look like they'll finally surpass them.)
The second thing I discovered is that a good charger is possibly even more important than your choice of batteries. (!) Even some rather expensive chargers won't bring a set of batteries anywhere near to a state of full charge. Thus, the wrong charger can turn your 1800 mAh batteries into a set of 900 mAh ones! I'm hoping to expand the Battery Shootout article into a whole "power solutions" area for the site, to share my findings, but for now can just say that my favorite charger is the Maha C204 (shown above). The Quest Q2 and Alltek AT-5798 units also do a good job, although our test sample of the Q2 developed a bad circuit after only a little use. So... Get a couple of sets of 1800 mAh batteries and a good charger, and you should easily get an hour plus of continuous operation of the Dimage 7Hi (in worst-case power consumption mode) per charge.
Finally, I mentioned external power packs above. Given the type of camera this is, you're going to want to use it for extended periods. What to do, besides turning it off quickly? Apparently knowing our penchant for such things, we've gotten a lot of questions from readers about external battery packs with this camera. The problem is that most NiMH-based packs don't work, as the Dimage 7Hi apparently needs a higher voltage at its external power terminal than these packs deliver. (The camera's power terminal is labeled "6 volts," such packs usually don't come up to that voltage when subjected to high loads.) As I've found with several other cameras, the solution is a LiIon battery pack, which has a higher output voltage. Maha makes one (shown above), sold under their PowerEx brand. Running about $60, this unit provides 1400 mAh of power at a terminal voltage (under moderate load) of a bit over 8 volts. In my testing, the Dimage 7Hi ran just fine from this pack. The PowerBank's capacity should be enough to give you an extra hour to hour and a half of continuous running in maximum-power mode. (With the LCD enabled in capture mode.) Combine that with a set of the 1800 NiMH cells internally, and you'll be good for a full three hours or so of nonstop, worst-case operation. Easily all day if you're judicious about turning the camera off when not in use, or if you just set the "sleep" timer to a fairly short interval. One note: Maha makes both NiMH and LiIon versions of the PowerBank, make sure you get the LiIon model for the Dimage 7Hi. (Model number MH-DPB140LI.) Click here for more information, or to order online. Highly recommended for this camera!
In the Box
| |
|
|
The Dimage 7Hi ships with the following complement of accessories and software:
- Camera
- Lens Shade DLS-7
- Video Cable VC-100
- USB Cable USB-100
- CompactFlash Card (16MB in the US)
- Four AA alkaline batteries
- CD-ROM with Dimage Software
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