I've noticed that there is a lot of [positive] commentary on the Olympuses and the Nikon, and I've been considering purchasing either the Oly 600 or 400 or possibly the Nikon 900. However, I've just noticed the Minolta 1500 and am wondering why more hasn't been said of it?...it looks fabulous! Does anybody know how this camera compares to the Olympus and Nikon? Are there any significant negatives to the Minolta?

-- Heather Snow (heather.snow@vuw.ac.nz), February 25, 1999

Answers

This camera looks like a true winner that hasn't gotten adequate attention. The image quality is stellar in my opinion. It did just get the best of show award at PMA.

Complaints have been: a slow refresh LCD like kodaks, small buttons, ugly/plain appearance, storage card in battery compartment. All of which sound very tolerable to me in light of what you do get.

The image quality looks as good as Sony 700/Canon 70 to me, but the price is half as much.

-- Benoit (foo@bar.com), February 25, 1999.

oh yeah, it has the same CCD as in the Sony 700.

-- Benoit (foo@bar.com), February 25, 1999.

I tend to agree with Benoit that the EX1500 Zoom hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. People on the 'net have noted and railed against it's barrel distortion in wide-angle mode, but frankly, most zoom lenses have at least some barrel at their wide-angle end, and I don't think this is that big an issue for normal usage. (Maybe for architectural photographers, but I don't think you'd notice it in most casual shots, particularly of things like landscapes, etc.) Another minor limitation is that it's manual focus in macro mode, albeit with feedback on-screen showing when you've got it focused properly. All in all though, it takes great pictures, with excellent color and resolution... (Check the sample images on this site, and you can compare them with those from the other cameras you mentioned, using our "Comparometer(tm)", at http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

Hope this helps, good luck!

-- Dave Etchells (hotnews@imaging-resource.com), March 05, 1999.