Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
(Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D in the USA)
Review Date: October 20th 2005
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Features
The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D has a 6.3 megapixel , 23.5mm x 15.7mm interline interlace CCD with a primary colour filter that delivers 6.1 effective megapixels. It features Konica Minolta's unique CCD-shift anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras (Konica Minolta claims 2 EV ~ 3 EV decrease in shutter speed) There are 3 image size settings (3008 x 2000, 2256 x 1496 and 1504 x 1000 pixels) and three levels of compression (Extra Fine, Fine, Standard), which are recorded as JPEGs (8 bit). RAW format is also available, giving an image size of 3008 x 2000 pixels. A Konica Minolta AF DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 (D) lens, equivalent to 27-105mm on a 35mm camera, is supplied as part of the standard kit. The camera supports Type I and Type II CompactFlash Cards and Microdrive memory cards. The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D uses the Minolta A-type bayonet mount.
The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D offers four advanced exposure modes - Program AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual - and 5 different scene modes (Portrait, Sports Action, Landscape, Sunset, and Night Portrait), plus a fully automatic Auto mode. Exposure compensation can be set up to +/- 2 EV in 0.3 EV steps and exposure bracketing is available for 3 frames with 0.3 EV or 0.7 EV increments. There is also a dedicated auto-exposure and AF lock function. The maximum aperture of the supplied lens is f3.5 at wide-angle and f5.6 at telephoto and the shutter speed range is 1/4000 - 30 sec with a Bulb option also available. The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D has an electronically controlled vertical-traverse focal plane shutter. There are 7 ISO speeds ranging from 80 to 3200.
For focusing the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D uses a TTL phase-detection system 9-point autofocus system. There are 3 different focusing functions available (Wide AF area, Spot AF area, and Focus Area Selection) and 4 focusing modes (Single-shot, Direct Manual Focus, Automatic and Continuous). 3 metering modes are on offer - Multi-segment, Centre-weighted and Spot. The camera has 9 autofocus points which can be selected automatically or manually. An AF assist lamp is offered via the built-in flash. There are 6 different White Balance presets to choose from (Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash) plus Custom and Automatic settings. The color temperature can also be set (2500 ~ 9900K with 19-step Magenta / Green compensation).
The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D offers single and continuous shooting modes with a maximum shooting speed of 3 fps for up to 5 frames in RAW mode, 3 fps for up to 3 frames in RAW+JPEG mode and 3fps for up to 10 frames in Large/Fine JPEG mode. The camera has a 10 or 2 second self-timer mode and offers both single-frame advance bracketing and continuous-advance bracketing. There are a wide range of colour options (Natural, Natural Plus, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, Night Portrait, Black & White, Adobe RGB, Embedded Adobe RGB), and sharpness, contrast and saturation can be set in 5 steps. Depth of field preview is also available and noise reduction can be set for shutter speeds longer than 1 second.
The built-in flash offers a range of different modes; Fill Flash, Red-eye reduction (via pre-flash), Rear Sync flash, (Wireless / Remote off-camera flash, High-speed sync available with Program Flash 5600HS(D) / 3600HS(D)) and Slow sync. It has a guide number of 12 at ISO 100, takes 3 seconds to recycle and has a sync speed of 1/160 s (with Anti-Shake off), 1/125 s (with Anti-Shake on). The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D has a hotshoe that accepts dedicated flashguns, either auto or manual. Flash compensation can be set �2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
To compose your images you use the optical viewfinder monitor (fixed eye-level system with roof mirror type pentaprism). The Konica Minolta Dynax 5D offers 95% scene coverage and 0.83X magnification. The viewfinder has built-in diopter adjustment of -2.5 ~ +1.0 m-1 diopters and a Spherical Acute Matte focusing screen. To playback your images, the camera has a 2.5 inch TFT colour LCD screen with 115,000 pixels. PictBridge support allows direct printing with compatible printers, and the DPOF and PRINT Image Matching III features allow you to configure options for printing your images.
The camera's dimensions are 130.5(W) x 92.5(H) x 66.5(D)mm, and it weighs 590g without the battery and storage card fitted. The camera is powered by a Lithium-ion battery NP-400 battery and approximately 550 frames can be taken before the battery runs out. An optional AC adapter is also available which can be connected via the DC-in jack. The camera can be connected to a television using either the NTSC or PAL video signal outputs. USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED) allows for fast connection to a computer. There is a metal tripod mount in the bottom-centre of the camera in line with the lens mount.
Finally, the box kit that I reviewed contains a Konica Minolta Dynax 5D body, Konica Minolta AF DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 (D) lens, USB cable, video cable, 1 Lithium-ion battery NP-400 battery, battery recharger, shoulder strap and a software CD-ROM containing DiMAGE Master Lite and DiMAGE Master. You will need to budget for a some memory cards (at least 512Mb in size), as there is no card supplied or internal memory, which is typical of most DSLR cameras.
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PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.