easy enough for the amateur photographer

Author's Rating:

Pros: user friendly, zoom, grip ensures a steady hand, long battery life, auto shut off

Cons: lens cover not attached, no sound on video

The Bottom Line: 
This is the best camera for it's features and price range. You won't be disappointed with your choice.

Author's Review
I love to take pictures. I have gone through at least 20 different cameras in my life, but by no means am I a pro, an I can't even say I know a thing or two about a camera. Especially a digital one.

I was in the market for a digital camera after a friend gave me a hand me down Sony DSC-P1 and fell in love with the fact I could see my photos right away. I love instant gratification. That was pretty much all I knew about digital cameras in general. I did know that I wanted one with a big zoom feature.

Last Valentine's Day, my husband's gift to me was a digital camera...the only catch was that I had to pick it out and buy it. I went to Best Buy, BJ's, and Circuit City. Initially I was looking for a Canon Elph like my friend had. Her photos always looked great and the camera was so small. For some reason when I held them and practiced with them, I felt like I was going to drop the camera or there was just 'something' that I didn't like about the camera. Honestly, I must have looked at 30 different cameras. On a whim I went to Walmart to see what they had to offer. The Konica Minolta immediately caught my eye. It looked...I hate to use this word...cool. But it was big. I picked it up and it immediately felt great in my hand. Though it was a little bulky, it was lighter than it looked. I asked the lady working in the camera dept. what she knew about it and all she could say was, "not a whole lot" but "it's a nice looking camera."

It felt right, had an awesome 8x zoom and the price was in my range- $189.00, so I bought it. As soon as I got home I went to epinions and checked out the reviews. I was so psyched to see that it got great reviews in general. I felt like I made a good choice.

I knew I had made a good choice when I took my first photo 3 minutes after taking in out of the box. It came with batteries! I hadn't even read the instruction manual at that point. It really is just a user friendly camera.

I liked that it had a big viewfinder as well as a monitor. The view through the viewfinder is somewhat hazy though.

The first time I used it in public (Chuck E. Cheese with my son) 2 people commented on the camera. One person said, "That's a nice looking camera" and another person asked where I got it. Since then I have gotten countless comments from friends, family and strangers when I am taking pictures.
About the pictures- they come out great, but it does depend on where you get them developed. I was a little disappointed when I took them to a Kodak instant digital photo printing machine...the colors didn't look great... the pictures seemed to have a purple tint to them. When I had them developed by Walgreens one hour service they came out better. I recently discovered Snapfish.com and using a matte finish, some of the photos look AMAZING. Some, depending on if I used the zoom, or if the battery was low at that point don't look so great at all.

Things I like about the camera- I love the look of it. It really is more eye catching than those little ones that everyone seems to have. I feel like people think I know what I'm doing when I'm taking a picture, even if I really don't. I know, that's just an ego thing.
I am very happy with the battery life. It does depend on what type you use though. Walgreens brand doesn't last very long at all, but you can get 200 photos plus viewback from Duracell or another high quality battery. I did buy rechargable batteries and a recharger but I have found it easier to just buy batteries considering good ones have such a long life.
It has an automatic shut off after about a minute to ensure battery life.
Also, I bought a 256MB card and can get more than 300 photos on it.

Things I don't like about the camera-

When you zoom in on a subject the picture tends to come out blurry. Often times the eyes will have a silver tint to them as well when the photos are developed.

Also, the lens cap is not attached to the camera. I don't know how many times I have left the cap somewhere and had to search for it.
Another thing, the SD card is on the OUTSIDE of the camera. You just slide it right into the camera. The first time I took it out, it popped out and fell on the ground as I was putting it in. I have since gotten the hang of it, and now find that feature handy.
Because it is so big, if I want to put it in my purse, I always put it in a plastic ziplock. If I don't, then I lose the lens cap.

All in all, I am very happy with my choice. I think that if you are not a professional and you are considering buying this particular camera you will be making a great choice and you won't be disappointed.