One of the tiniest and lightest advanced 35mm compact cameras around, the Minolta Freedom Zoom 125 packs a lot of excellent features into its stylish, streamlined aluminum shell (with plastic backing). The fully automatic Freedom Zoom 125 boasts a 37.5-125mm zoom lens for wide angles and excellent close-ups (sharp as close as 1.97 feet), along with a multi autofocus system, (so people standing apart, for example, will still be in focus), and a three-segment light metering system with a highly accurate AE sensor for great exposures under most conditions. Also included is a remote with a working range of approximately 16.4 feet. It provides two shutter release modes: standard mode triggers the shutter as soon as the button on the remote control is pressed, while the delayed mode takes the exposure two seconds after the button is pressed. Now you can include yourself in the shot without racing against the self-timer. And, so you'll never again have to wonder when you took those pictures, the Freedom Zoom 125 comes with a time/date stamp.
Minolta used state-of-the-art 3-D CAD design technology to incorporate so many great features into such an ultracompact body. They also developed special optics for this camera that use a low number of double-sided aspheric lenses able to achieve high-quality pictures while not taking up much space. A trigonal roof prism allows for a shorter viewfinder optical system, too. All in all, this is an excellent camera if you want something that fits in most pockets, yet takes high-quality photos to match those of most larger compact cameras. One last feature Minolta is proud of for its uniqueness: the film-chamber lock prevents the back of the camera from being opened when there is an active roll of film inside--the back won't open until the roll of film has been fully rewound.