The four megapixel three times zoom Minolta DiMAGE F100 was announced at on 13th March 2002 at CeBIT. It's aim is as a direct competitor to Canon's PowerShot S40 as well as a range of other compact four megapixel digital cameras. Size wise it's about the same size as the S40 and Sony's DSC-P9. The F100 is powered by two AA batteries (NiMH's recommended) and stores its images on SD or MMC cards. From a design standpoint it's probably the sleakest Minolta to date but still isn't as stylish as Canon's S40.

Compared

Below you will find a table summarizing some of the feature / specifications of similar and competitive cameras compared to the DiMAGE F100. As you can see the F100 is definitely well specified, with at least as many features as the other cameras here (apart from AF assist) an in some cases even more flexibility (ISO 800, Tracking AF, Bulb exposures etc.).

  Minolta
DiMAGE F100		 Canon
PowerShot S40*		 Pentax
Optio 430		 Sony
DSC-P9
 
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Street $700 $650 $700 $600
Sensor 4.1 mp 4.1 mp 4.1 mp 4.1 mp
Effective 3.9 mp 3.9 mp 3.8 mp 3.9 mp
Output 2272 x 1704 2272 x 1704 2240 x 1680 2272 x 1704
Others 1600 x 1200
1280 x 960
640 x 480		 1600 x 1200
1024 x 768
640 x 480		 1120 x 850
640 x 480		 1600 x 1200
1280 x 960
640 x 480
ISO sens. Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800 Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400 100, 200 Auto, 100, 200, 400
Lens equiv. 3x (38 - 114 mm) 3x (35 - 105 mm) 3x (37 - 111 mm) 3x (39 - 117 mm)
Lens aperture F2.8 - F4.7 F2.8 - F4.9 F2.6 - F4.8 F2.8 - F5.6
Min. shutter 4 sec + Bulb (15 sec) 15 sec 2 sec 2 sec
Max. shutter 1/1000 sec 1/1500 sec 1/2000 sec 1/1000 sec
Metering Multi-segment, Spot Evaluative, CW, Spot Multi-area, CW, Spot Multi-segment, Spot
Auto focus 5-point, Single AF, Tracking AF 3-point, Selectable Wide AF, Spot AF 3-point auto, Center point
AF assist lamp No Yes No Yes
Min. focus Normal: 50 cm
Macro: 20 cm		 Normal: 80 cm
Macro: 10 cm		 Normal: 40 cm
Macro: 14 cm		 Normal: 50 cm
Macro: 10 cm
Manual focus Yes, magnified and distance readout Yes, magnified loupe and distance readout Yes, ruler (no units) Yes, 5 steps
White balance 5 position & manual 6 position & manual 5 position & manual 5 position
Aperture priority Yes Yes No No
Shutter priority Yes Yes No No
Manual exp. Yes Yes Yes No
Movie clips Yes, 35 sec Yes, 30 / 120 sec Yes, 30 sec Yes, unlimited
Movie audio Yes Yes No Yes
Remote control Yes (option) No Yes No
Storage SD/MMC card CF Type I CF Type I Memory Stick
Image format TIFF, JPEG RAW, JPEG JPEG JPEG
LCD monitor 1.5" 1.8" 1.6" 1.5"
Power 2 x AA batteries Canon Lithium-Ion Pentax Lithium-Ion Sony Lithium-Ion
Charging No Out of camera Out of camera In camera
Weight (inc.) 241 g (8.5 oz) 323 g (11.4 oz) 240 g (8.5 oz) 203 g (7.2 oz)
Dimensions 111 x 52 x 32 mm
(4.4 x 2 x 1.3 in)		 112 x 58 x 42 mm
(4.4 x 2.3 x 1.7 in)		 92 x 59 x 31 mm
(3.6 x 2.3 x 1.2 in)		 113 x 53 x 36 mm
(4.5 x 2.1 x 1.4 in)

* Note that since starting this review Canon Europe and Asia have announced the updated PowerShot S45, although at yet we don't have any indications as to when the S45 will be officially introduced into the USA. Image quality comparisons towards the end of this review are based on an S45.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.

We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X, Y, and Z and ideally A, B, and C.

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