MINOLTA INTRODUCES THE NEW 5.0 MEGAPIXEL DiMAGE G500
Sleek and stylish compact digital camera provides high quality images and dual memory-card slots for increased memory capacity
New York, NY (August 7, 2003) - Minolta Corporation introduces the new DiMAGE G500 - a responsive, easy-to-use digital camera that provides high-quality 5 megapixel images. In spite of the small size of this stylish compact camera, the DiMAGE G500 packs powerful imaging controls for beautiful pictures and a dual memory-card slot for flexible storage solutions.
"This new digital camera is a high quality image maker in a sleek, metal wrapper," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing, Minolta Corporation's Consumer Products Group. "The easy-to-use DiMAGE G500 is the perfect companion for any photographic occasion."
The new Minolta DiMAGE G500 can produce 5 megapixel high-resolution images. The pixel resolution of the CCD will produce 13" x 17" 150dpi prints or 6.5" x 8.5" photo-quality prints.
The DiMAGE G500 uses a high-quality 3x aspheric zoom lens employing seven elements in six groups to provide sharp, contrasty images. The zoom range is equivalent to a 39 - 117mm lens on a 35mm camera. This range is perfect for wide-angle landscape photography and telephoto portraits.
With a fast 1.3-second startup time, The DiMAGE G500 can capture the action at a moment's notice. The ergonomic control layout makes making settings quick and simple. The three most used controls are conveniently placed on the top of the body.
Despite its small size, the Minolta DiMAGE G500 is packed with creative image-making features. Exposures can be set manually. The color saturation, contrast, and sharpness of an image can easily be controlled by the user to create the pictures they want. And the color balance function allows creative users to change the relative proportions of the red, green, and blue channels to shift the overall color of an image.
The Minolta DiMAGE G500 has a dual card-slot system for flexible image storage. Both Memory Sticks and SecureDigital (SD) Cards can be used alone or in combination. When both memory card types are used with the camera at the same time, up 640MB of data can be saved depending on the capacity of the cards. This eliminates the worries of running out of memory.
Dressed in an elegantly styled metal case, the Minolta DiMAGE G500 measures only 3.7 x 2.2 x 1.2 inches and weighing a mere 7 ounces, and can be easily slipped into a pocket or bag.
Minolta Corporation
Minolta Corporation, headquartered in Ramsey, New Jersey, is
the largest subsidiary of Minolta Co. Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, a
leading manufacturer of cameras, business equipment, radiometric
instruments and planetariums. Minolta Corporation's Consumer
Products Group (CPG) markets 35mm film and Advanced Photo System
cameras, digital cameras, binoculars, accessory lenses, photographic
light meters, 35mm and Advanced Photo System film scanners and
other consumer products.
The corporation's Business Products Group (BPG) markets digital and analog office equipment. Products include black-and-white copiers, digital black and white printer/copiers, plain-paper laser facsimile machines, digital color printer/copiers, micrographic systems, document management software, and related office equipment.
For more information, visit Minolta's Web site located at www.minoltausa.com or access Minolta's PHOTOFAX at 800-528-4767.
Number of effective pixels 5.0 million
CCD 1/1.76-type interline primary-color CCDTotal pixels: 5.36
million
Camera sensitivity Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400 equivalents
Focal length 8 - 24mm (35mm equivalent: 39 - 117mm)
Lens construction 7 elements in 6 groups
Maximum aperture f/2.8 - f/4.9
Minimum focus distance Wide: 1.6 ft. (0.5m)from front of lensTelephoto:
2.6 ft. (0.8m) from front of lens
Minimum macro distance Wide: 2.4 in. (6cm) from front of lens
Telephoto: 19.7 in. (50cm) from front of lens
Viewfinder type Optical real-image zoom viewfinder
Monitor LCD 1.5 inch (3.8cm) TFT color monitorTotal number of
pixels: 117,000
Shutter CCD electronic shutter and mechanical shutter
Shutter speed range Programmed AE: 1 - 1/2000 secondManual exposure
mode: 15 - 1/1000 second
Autofocus system Video AF
Metering Center-weighted, Spot
Exposure modes Programmed AE, manual exposure
Exposure compensation ±1.5 EV in 0.3 increments
Flash range Wide: Approximately 1.6 - 11.5 ft. (0.5 - 3.5m) Telephoto:
Approximately 1.6 - 6.6 ft. (0.5 - 2.0m)
Flash/Shooting modes Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye reduction,
Fill-in, Off, Slow-sync, Macro-photo, Distant view, Self-timer,
Fixed focus
Continuous advance Available
Self-timer Approximately 10 seconds, 3 seconds
Movie recording Recording time: Maximum 30 seconds with monaural
audioFrame rate: 15frames per second
Audio recording Maximum 30 seconds of audio can be recorded with
and without an image. Audio can be recorded and attached to a
playback image. Monaural audio only.
White-balance control Automatic, Preset (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten,
Fluorescent)
Contrast compensation Five levels
Color saturation compensation Five levels
Sharpness settings Five levels
Color balance Five levels for each RGB channel
Color modes Color, Black and white, Sepia
Digital zoom 2x, 3x
Copy function To copy images and audio between the camera memory
and memory card, or between the memory cards.
Resize To VGA (640x480) from 2592x1944, 2048x1536, or 1600x1200
size images for transmission.To QVGA (320x240) from 2592x1944,
2048x1536, 1600x1200, or 640x480 for transmission.
Compression modes Fine, Normal
Number of recorded pixels (Still images) 2592 x 1944, 2048 x
1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480
Number of recorded pixels (Movie clips) 320 x 240
Storage capacity Approximate storage capacity of a 16MB SD (Secure
Digital) Memory Card: 2592x1944 2048x1536 1600x1200 640x480Fine:
6 frames 12 frames 20 frames 70 framesNormal: 11 frames 18 frames
35 frames 140 framesMovie clip: Three 30-second clips* Movie
clips recorded with audio.* Actual number of images may vary
depending upon the subject and memory card.
File format JPEG, Motion JPEG (AVI), WAVEDCF-compliantDPOF-compliant
(Supported by printing functions in version 1.1)Exif 2.2
Printing output control Exif Print
Camera memory 2MB of non-volatile flash memory
Recording media SD (Secure Digital) Memory Cards, MultiMediaCards,
Memory Stick
Computer interface Full-speed 12Mbps USB
Battery One NP-500 lithium-ion battery
Battery performance (Playback) Approximate continuous playback
time: 90 minutes
Battery performance (Recording) Approximate number of recorded
images: 100 frames with LCD monitor on and flash used with 50%
of the frames.
External power source 4.2 V DC with specified AC adapter (sold
separately)
Dimensions (WxHxD) 3.7 x 2.2 x 1.16 inches (94 x 56 x 29.5mm)
Weight Approximately 7.1 oz. (200g) without batteries or recording
media
Operating temperature 32-122°F (0-50ºC)
Standard accessories Hand strap, USB cable USB-800, 16MB SD (Secure
Digital) Memory Card, Lithium-ion Battery NP-500, Lithium-ion
Battery Charger BC-500U, DiMAGE Viewer CD-ROM
Optional accessories AC Adapter AC-8U
Minimum System Requirements
IBM PC/AT compatibles:
Computers: IBM PC/AT compatible computers
with pre-installed Windows XP Home, Windows XP,
Professional, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows
98*, or Windows 98 Second Edition*
and with a USB port as standard interface.
RAM: 16MB of RAM (32MB or more recommended)
Monitor: 640x480 monitor capable of displaying 32,000 colors
Others: CD-ROM drive
Apple Macintosh Computers:
Computers: Apple Macintosh computers with pre-installed Mac OS
9.0, 9.1, 9.2, and Mac OS X v.
10.0.4-10.2 and with a USB port as standard interface.
CPU: PowerPC
RAM: 16MB of RAM (32MB or more recommended)
Monitor: 640x480 monitor capable of displaying 32,000 colors
Others: CD-ROM drive
o The computer and operating system
must be guaranteed by their manufacturers to support USB interface.
o Problems may be encountered depending on what other USB devices
are being used in parallel with this product.
o Only a built-in USB port is supported. Problems may be encountered
when the camera is connected to a USB hub.
o Normal operation may not be possible even when all the system
requirements are met.
* Users with Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition operating
systems must install dedicated driver software included in the
DiMAGE G500 package.
Specifications, accessories, and system requirements are subject to change without notice.
Minolta and DiMAGE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Minolta Co., Ltd. Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Macintosh is a trademark or registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
