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Minolta DiMAGE S414 DiMAGE technology and optics in a compact, stylish four megapixel design. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet S414 Photo Gallery! S414 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 S414 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:Optics Review First Posted: 07/31/2003

Optics

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Built into the S414 is a 4x Minolta GT, 7.15-28.6mm lens, the equivalent of a 35-140mm lens on a 35mm camera. A plastic lens cap protects the lens when not in use, and features a small tether to attach it to the camera and prevent it from being lost. When the camera powers on, the lens telescopes outwards about three quarters of an inch, into its operating position. (A nice touch is that the lens cap rides on the lens threads, rather than attaching to the body, so there's no strain placed on the lens mechanism if you turn the camera on with the lens cap still in place.) Two aperture settings are available, with values of f/3.0 and f/6.7 when the lens is in its wide angle position, and f/3.6 and f/8.0 when the lens is zoomed to its full telephoto setting. (As is the case with essentially all digicam lenses, the effective aperture gets smaller as the lens is zoomed towards its telephoto end.) The aperture settings can be either automatically or manually controlled. Personally, I'd like to see a range of aperture options rather than just two, but I realize that when I'm worrying about aperture (apart from when working with an external, fixed-output strobe system), I generally only care about selecting the largest or smallest possible aperture, for controlling depth of field or motion blur. - A full range of aperture settings is therefore probably not all that important for most users. The biggest impact is that it makes shutter-priority metering impossible, as the aperture can't adjust precisely enough to set exposure on its own.

Lens focus also features either manual and automatic control, and ranges from 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) to infinity in normal focusing mode. A distance readout appears on the LCD monitor in manual focus mode, with the actual focus distance controlled by the up and down arrows of the Four Way Arrow pad (pressing the center of the pad switches the operation of the up and down arrows back to the optical zoom). The manual focus control seems to have about 13 discrete focus positions associated with it (judging by the sound of the focus motor in response to actuations of the arrow keys), but the numeric readout shows only 5 different settings (0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 2.0 meters and infinity). Manual focus is also somewhat difficult to determine from the LCD screen, as there's no enlargement of the image to help you see whether you're in focus or not. - Overall, I'd really like to see much finer-grained manual focus control, as well as some sort of an enlarged or otherwise enhanced view on the LCD to help you judge focus. Macro mode alters the focus range for closer, smaller objects, focusing from 6.2 to 23 inches (0.16 to 0.6 meters). Through the Setup menu, you can activate a Full-time AF mode, which adjusts the focus continuously instead of only when the Shutter button is halfway pressed. Continuous AF mode may be helpful with moving subjects, but has little impact on shutter delay with stationary ones.

The S414's user interface shares the up and down arrow keys rather nicely between manual focusing and lens zoom control. In normal operation, the up/down positions of the rear-panel rocker control actuate the lens zoom mechanism. When you switch to manual focus mode though, the same controls actuate the focusing mechanism. Simply pressing the center of the rocker control toggles the function of the up/down arrows between the zoom and focus functions. Normally I'm not keen on camera functions sharing controls in this fashion, but it seems to work pretty well in the case of the S414. This does mean though, that focus and zoom adjustments will end up being even slower and more deliberate than their already somewhat leisurely pace. (Neither focus nor zoom operation is blazingly fast on the S414.)

In autofocus mode, the S414 lets you change the AF area by pressing and holding the center of the Four Way Arrow pad. The AF Area Selection screen appears on the LCD monitor, with five available AF areas to choose from. The arrow keys navigate the area selections, and a half-press of the Shutter button (or a full press of the center of the Four Way Arrow pad confirms the area selection. Once chosen, the selected AF Area sensor position will be highlighted as an overlay on the LCD screen. Pressing and holding the center of the Four Way pad again returns you to the default wider-area focusing mode. (A minor design quibble here: The five spot-AF targets are all clustered rather closely in the center of the frame. A wider spacing would have been more useful in accommodating off-center subjects.)

In addition to the 4x optical zoom, the S414 also features a 2.2x digital zoom option (enabled through the settings menu). I always remind readers that digital zoom significantly compromises image quality because all it does is crop and enlarge the central portion of the CCD image. Digital zoom always results in decreased resolution, and therefore doesn't offer the same sharpness or clarity found with true optical zoom. It can be quite useful though, if you're only interested in shooting lower-resolution images for use in email or web applications.

A series of filter threads inside the lip of the lens barrel accommodates lens conversion kits, which are available as separate accessories. Thus, you can extend the wide-angle, telephoto, or macro shooting capabilities of the S414 through the use of add-on lenses. The filter threads are a rather odd size, 35.5mm according to the labeling on the front of the lens itself. You'll therefore most likely be constrained to using Minolta's own accessory lenses. I have to say that I'm also pretty surprised to find filter threads incorporated directly into the front element of a telescoping lens design. While nice for avoiding problems with the lens cap, you should exercise extreme caution when using them for auxiliary lenses, so as to not over-torque the delicate telescoping mechanism, nor overstress it by mounting a too-heavy accessory lens in this fashion.