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Minolta Dimage F300 A compact, stylish camera with a full five-megapixel sensor and clever autofocus system. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet F300 Photo Gallery! F300 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on F300 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & Interface Review First Posted: 05/22/2003

Image Storage and Interface

The F300 stores images to SD memory cards, and ships with a 32MB card. I definitely recommend picking up a larger capacity card to handle the 2,560 x 1,920-pixel maximum resolution size and TIFF option. Memory cards are cheap enough these days that you really shouldn't restrict your shooting options by not carrying enough memory capacity with you.

SD cards themselves have a small write-protect switch on them, which will prevent anything from being written to them, as well as their being formatted. Apart from the card's overall write-protect feature though, the F300's "Lock" function prevents individual images from being erased or manipulated in any way. However, formatting a SD card erases all files, even locked ones.

Four main image resolutions are available on the F300, including 2,560 x 1,920, 2,048 x 1,536, 1,600 x 1,200, and 640 x 480 pixels. However, the UHS Continuous Advance mode records images at 1,280 x 960 pixels. Movies are captured at either 320 x 240, or 160 x 120 pixels. Images can be saved as uncompressed TIFF files (via the Superfine quality setting) or as compressed JPEG files (Fine, Normal, or Economy compression levels).

The table below outlines the approximate number of images that can be stored on a 32MB SD card, and the corresponding image compression levels.

 

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 32MB Memory Card		Hi	Fine	Normal	Basic
Full Resolution 2,560 x 1,920	Images (Avg size)	1 14.7MB	6 2,560KB	12 1,306KB	23 674KB
	Approx. Compression	1:1	6:1	11:1	22:1
High Resolution 2,048 x 1,536	Images (Avg size)	1 9.4MB	9 1,641KB	18 853KB	35 451KB
	Approx. Compression	1:1	6:1	11:1	21:1
Standard Resolution 1,600 x 1,200	Images (Avg size)	2 5.8MB	15 1,032KB	29 538KB	53 299KB
	Approx. Compression	1:1	6:1	11:1	19:1
Low Resolution 640 x 480	Images (Avg size)	16 921KB	75 213KB	118 135KB	163 98KB
	Approx. Compression	1:1	4:1	7:1	9:1

 

The F300 comes with a USB cable and interface software for downloading images to a computer. It's a true "storage class" USB device, which means it will show up on your computer desktop automatically in Windows Me and XP, or in MacOS 8.6 or later. The F300's USB connection is pretty speedy too, as I clocked its transfer rate at 496 KBytes/second on my Sony VAIO desktop, 2.4 GHz Pentium IV, running Windows XP. (For reference, slow USB-connected digicams upload at around 300 KB/sec, while fast ones run about 600 KB/sec.)