This camera takes great pictures and I love the Area Auto Focus that lets you tell the camera where to focus.

My major problem with it is that the selector dial sticks out and can turn when you put the camera in your pocket. This has happened several times and I think it damaged something because the focus stopped working after 4 months of ownership.

Other than that, it is very slow but takes great pictures.

i love the quality of the pictures, and it'sfun to use, but the motor broke beyond repair right after the warantee was over. wouldn't buy another one.

I have owned several cameras but this was my first (and last)Minolta and the worst camera in my experience. I really thought that the Minolta name implied a certain degree of high quality - I was wrong. What good are 4 Megapixels if the camera can't be used in normal circumstances. (Stick with Canon, Nikon, Olympus and even Kodak)
Pros
--Excellent clarity and true colors at close range (outdoors in good lighting only)
--Almost always excellent photo quality outdoors in daylight
--True flesh tones and colors

Cons
Battery life is horrible - Even with the expensive enclosed battery I operated the camera for about 30 pictures before wiping it out.I wound up buying 8 rechargable AA batteries (2100ma) and constantly had to change them out
--digital display had to be kept off in order to save battery life
--impossible to use in low light for subjects beyond 6 feet
--camera took over 10-15 seconds to adjust itself for dim indoor use - you will miss a lot of shots (People posing for these shots always wound up with a look of irritation that the shots were taking so long to take.)
--terrible photo quality (clarity and color) results indoors or outdoors in dim light. Camera can't focus and adjust beyond 6'
--The lens takes forever to telescope in and out when turning it on or shutting it down.
--Terrible preset adjustments don't improve performance - almost always make it worse
--Manual settings are very difficult to set due to the maze or menus you have to navigate through
--Anything above a 100 ISO setting produced so much noise thatthe pictures were rendered usless
-- very long refractory time between shots - takes forever for it to recharge itself between pics
-- takes a very long time to save each pic

This is a good camera for awesome still photos, but don't get too close; tend to be blurry. And even in macro mode, you have to be perfectly still (tripod) as well as your subject. The lens did get stuck once, but has worked fine since.
My biggest pet peeve is that the video only records in .mov format. Only RealOne can play that. I cannot use it with Windows Movie Maker, as only Macs can. I wish it could have an option to record in .avi or .mpg formats.
So, when my husband lost it a month ago, I was a bit upset, but glad that now I can get a camcorder that records in a Windows compatable format and that takes stills as well. I will not buy any Minoltas until they offer those formats. It is very important to me; I have 3 children that are growing fast.
And I also have one more pet peeve: everytime your batteries die or you remove them, you have to reset your date and time. VERY annoying! No memory battery to keep data you entered. This camera is good, but with a few minor improvements, it can be awesome.

This is my first digital camera. I have been a film guy for 30+ years and have lots of 35mm equipment.

The picture quality is better than I expected. I regularly do 8X10s, and if you don't compress the files, they look pretty good.

My only complaint is that the camera takes forever to turn on, turn off, focus and shoot. I'm used to getting candid and action shots "from the hip", and have missed many opportunities with this camera.

I have had no mechanical, electronic or optical problems.

I owned this camera and I used one at work. Both of them malfunctioned after about 1 year (lens extension motor stuck open). Also, battery life was terrible. Constantly changing out batteries even when using 2300 NiMHs. LCD viewfinder was useless outdoors.

The camera was great when it worked. However, the lens part stopped working twice. The first time the lens just stopped coming out. It cost about over $100 to get it fixed. According to the camera shop, it was some lens part they had to order from Minolta. And then about few months later, the camera was dropped on carpet flooring, and the lens stopped coming out again. That was when we stopped paying to get it fixed.

Other than that, the camera was wonderful. It took great photos, videos, and audios. It lasted about 2 years total. I got it when it first came out, so it was somewhere around $350-$400 dollars.

Pros:
- The camera is able to produce high resolution pictures.
- The control panel is easy to navigate.
- The structure is rigid.
Cons:
- The camera is power hungry. It is able to devour a standard NiMH rechargeable battery after a minor usage.
- The video capture is unable to go beyond 35s limit (the device is outdated).
Conclusion: Get a better & modern digital camera if you have money to spend. If you decide to get this gadget, don't forget to bring extra batteries.