How do you make a good camera even better? With more pixels and more power. Think of Minolta's DiMAGE S404 as a "souped up" S304--there's a new 4-megapixel sensor, plus a faster processor for improved performance, but otherwise, it's virtually the same as their nicely designed 3-megapixel point-and-shoot.
An all-glass 7.15-28mm lens (35-140mm in 35mm equivalents) with 4x optical zoom offers more power than the 3x lenses found in most digital cameras. An anomalous dispersion element and twin double-sided aspheric elements work together to minimize chromatic aberrations and reduce curvilinear distortion, giving you crisp, accurate, edge-to-edge imaging. In addition to the optical zoom, the camera includes an additional 2.2x digital zoom. This feature merely crops the edges off your picture and blows up the remaining image, enlarging your picture at the expense of image quality. Most photo-editing software will let you do the same thing to your picture once you've transferred it to your home computer, so it's a camera feature that's not often used. To compose images, watch the 1.8-inch, 122,000-pixel color LCD monitor, or use the optical viewfinder for traditional image composition.
For professional results with the point-and-shoot operation of the S404, you can choose from five preset modes: macro, portrait, landscape, night portrait, and text. For more creative shooting, use a wide variety of adjustable features, including manual focus, selectable ISO, custom white-balance controls, exposure compensation and bracketing, and a digital-effects control that allows adjustment of color saturation, contrast, and sharpening. There's also a histogram function, a feature still found primarily on high-end digital cameras. A histogram is a graph displayed on the screen indicating the relative proportions of different levels of brightness in a shot you've taken, instantly letting you know if you've captured your shot with the correct exposure. A movable focus point allows for off-center compositions. Multisegment metering technology helps to provide accurate exposures. Four resolution modes cover the range from film-quality photographs to images for e-mail. Movie mode allows 60 seconds of live action and a voice-memo feature helps identify your work.
Four AA batteries power the camera (an optional AC adapter is also available if you're planning to do lots of studio photography). The benefit to using standard AA batteries instead of a custom proprietary battery is that AA batteries are widely available, so missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot due to dead batteries won't be an issue. The downside is that a digital camera will kill a set of alkaline batteries extremely quickly, especially if you're using the camera's LCD display. If you're an occasional photographer, you can get by with high-power disposables, but if you plan to take more than a handful of photos a month, a set of rechargeable batteries (scroll up to the Accessories section) is a virtual necessity.
For improved performance, the S404 has a 32 MB internal buffer for temporary storage of images. This improves shot-to-shot speeds and performance in continuous shooting mode.
The DiMAGE S404 comes complete with 16 MB CompactFlash card, A/V cable, USB cable, Minolta Image Viewer Utility CD-ROM, four AA alkaline batteries, lens cap, and neck strap.
Pros:
- 4-megapixel sensor captures filmlike detail in your photos
- Advanced features like shutter- and aperture-priority, plus histograms for more advanced photographers
Cons:
- No connection for external flash
- Included alkaline batteries are only a short-term solution
From the Manufacturer
The stylish and easy to use DiMAGE S404 features 4.0 million pixels for clear sharp pictures and enlargements, a 4x optical zoom, the large 32MB SDRAM buffer memory for faster shooting, built-in flash, video recording capability, USB interface and Compact Flash card compatibility. In addition, the DiMAGE S404 inherits some advantages from the award-winning Minolta DiMAGE 7 digital camera such as superior GT LENS technology, clear and natural CxProcessTM imaging and a high speed LSI.
Features:
High Resolution CCD
The new DiMAGE S404 is equipped with a high-quality 1/1.8 inch-type CCD with 4.0 million effective pixels (total of 4.1 million) for high-resolution images. At this resolution, prints of approximately 11 x 14 inches at 150 dpi can be produced.
High Performance all-glass 4x zoom Minolta GT LENS
The DiMAGE S404 features a Minolta GT LENS, a high performance lens class for digital cameras. It is a high-resolution, all-glass apochromat lens featuring both an AD (anomalous dispersion) element and two double-sided aspheric elements to ensure clear, sharp, and detailed images with minimum chromatic aberration at all focal lengths.
CxProcess: Minolta’s Image Processing Technology
The DiMAGE S404 features Minolta’s proprietary CxProcess, a new image processing technology that provides clear and natural images. In image processing, too much emphasis on natural color produces flat color pictures. Overemphasizing the color range creates an unnatural color scheme. CxProcess balances both extremes by controlling sharpness, color reproduction, tonal gradation and noise to produce pleasing photographs.
12-bit A/D Conversion
The digital camera has a 12-bit A/D conversion that can provide a fine tonal gradation with deep shadows, brilliant highlights and millions of colors, up to 4,096 levels in each RGB channel, with more than 68 billion colors. Minolta’s 12-bit A/D conversion provides exquisite details in portraiture: smooth complexion, rich shadows and luminous highlights, as opposed to the standard 10-bit A/D conversion with its limited 1,024 levels per RGB channel.
High 4x Optical Zoom Ratio
The new DiMAGE S404 has a high power 4x optical zoom lens – a range equivalent to a 35mm-140mm zoom lens on a 35mm camera – that has the flexibility to capture pictures ranging from wide-angle landscapes to intimate portraits.
The One-Touch 2.2x digital zoom gives the Minolta DiMAGE S404 a zoom ratio of up to a 308mm focal length on a 35mm camera. The macro setting on the camera produces sharp close-up images of subjects as near 3.9 inches from the lens.
Highly Responsive Operation
A higher pixel count generally means slower operation. However, the DiMAGE S404’s high speed LSI with a 32-bit RISC CPU and the 32 MB SDRAM buffer memory ensures responsive and effortless operation.
The S404 is fast. The image capturing interval time of 0.8 second and brisk continuous advance speed of 1.3 frames per second with up to 7 frames (with full-size - 2272 x 1704 pixels – images in the fine image-quality mode) can transform a passing moment into a priceless memory. With a playback loading time of 0.2 second, images are previewed quickly.
High Performance Autofocus and Autoexposure
Using a wide focus area, the cross-hair main autofocus control accurately and quickly determines subject distance, regardless of the horizontal or vertical subject contrast. Focus Area Selection is a flexible tool that singles out a specific subject in the image area by selecting from five spot focus areas. With Minolta’s Focus Area Selection, photographers can move the focusing point to single out a specific subject from a number of objects at varying distances.
Users have the option of full-time autofocus, which continually adjusts the focus to keep the subject on the monitor sharp and reduce autofocusing time.
The multi-segment metering technology in the camera uses both light values and color information to accurately calculate the exposure. The DiMAGE S404 uses 270 segments for natural and well-exposed images. Spot-metering is also available for precise exposure control.
Easy-to-Use Control Layout
The camera’s controls are positioned and designed with a four-way controller and easy-to-read menu for ease of use. The mode dial allows the user to switch instantly between fully automatic recording and multi-function recording for more creative control. A shutter sound effect indicates the shutter has been released.
Sophisticated Design
The S404’s compact design features a lightweight aluminum body, and is designed to feel comfortable in the hands, making it the perfect choice for people on the go.
Diverse Functions
To give photographers the control they want, the Minolta DiMAGE S404 offers a variety of settings and functions. They include:
DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility Software
The DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility Software allows users to manipulate images using a simple graphics interface. It enables corrections to color, contrast, sharpness and more. The effect of the image controls can be displayed as a ring-around in the variation palette. Correction settings can be saved and applied to different images. The color matching is compatible with most image processing software for accurate reproduction. The software also shows image information such as date, size, file name, focal length in 35mm equivalent, white balance and exposure settings.