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Minolta Dimage 7Hi

Minolta updates their revolutionary five-megapixel electronic SLR with an external flash sync connection, faster continuous mode, an "extra fine" JPEG option, and increased color space flexibility.

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Page 10:Image Storage & Interface

Review First Posted: 10/15/2002

Image Storage and Interface

The Dimage 7Hi uses CompactFlash Type I or Type II memory cards for image storage, and a 16MB card comes with the camera. Third-party upgrades are available separately to memory capacities as high as 1 GB using either Flash Memory the IBM MicroDrive. The CompactFlash slot is on the right side of the camera, covered by a hinged plastic door that opens easily and latches securely. The card inserts with the connector edge going in first, and the front of the card facing the front of the camera. A small button beside the slot ejects the card by popping it up slightly, letting you pull the card the rest of the way out (put the eject button into a vertical position first by pulling up on its bottom edge).

Although individual CompactFlash cards cannot be write-protected or locked against erasure or manipulation, the Dimage 7Hi lets you lock individual images or groups of images through the Playback menu. Once protected, images cannot be erased or manipulated in any way, except through card formatting. The Playback menu also lets you delete images shown in the LCD display, format the number of images in the Index display, create a custom slide show, set images up for printing on DPOF compliant printers, and copy images to camera memory or a new CF card.

Four image resolution settings are available: 2,560 x 1,920; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,280 x 960; and 640 x 480 pixels. Files may be saved in any one of three JPEG compression levels, as well as uncompressed TIFF (indicated on the camera LCD as "SuperFine"), and a compact RAW format. RAW format saves the data exactly as it comes from the CCD, before any processing has been done to it. It is losslessly compressed, which means that it holds all the information that a TIFF file would, but it's somewhat more compact. The downside of RAW files is that they are a proprietary format, and must be processed to JPEG or TIFF images on the computer before third-party applications can recognize them. The number of remaining images that can be stored on the memory card appears in the lower right corner of the status display panel, in addition to the selected Resolution and Compression settings.

The tables below summarize the compression ratios and number of images that can be stored on the included 16MB memory card with each Resolution / Quality (JPEG Compression) combination, as well as on a 128MB card, a more useful size with a camera of the D7Hi's resolution. (Note the large size of the 640x480 files: If you're planning on shooting small images for the web or email, you'll definitely want to re-save these at a higher JPEG compression ratio.)

Image Capacity vs
Resolution/Quality
16MB Memory Card
Raw
Uncompressed
(Super Fine)
Extra Fine
Fine
Standard
Full Resolution 2560x1920 Images 1 1 3
6
10
Approx.
Compression/KB		 1.4:1
10.6 MB		 1:1
14.7 MB		 3:1
5.1 MB
6:1
2.6 MB
10:1
1.5 MB
UXGA Resolution 1600x1200 Images
N/A
2
7
14
23
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
5.8 MB
3:1
2.1 MB
5:1
1.1 MB
9:1
675 KB
SXGA Resolution 1280x960
 Images
N/A
4
11
21
33
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
3.7 MB
3:1
1.4 MB
5:1
742 KB
8:1
477 KB
VGA Resolution 640x480
 Images
N/A
15
35
47
64
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
922 KB
2:1
432 KB
3:1
329 KB
4:1
250 KB

Image Capacity vs
Resolution/Quality
128MB Memory Card
Raw
Uncompressed
Extra Fine
Fine
Standard
Full Resolution 2560x1920 Images 12 8 25
49
83
Approx.
Compression/KB		 1.4:1
10.6 MB		 1:1
14.7 MB		 2:1
8 MB
5:1
3.2 MB
9:1
1.6 MB
UXGA Resolution 1600x1200 Images
N/A
21
62
117
189
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
5.8 MB
2.5:1
2.2 MB
5:1
1.1 KB
8:1
696 KB
SXGA Resolution 1280x960
 Images
N/A
33
94
172
268
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
3.7 MB
2.5:1
1.4 MB
5:1
762 KB
8:1
485 KB
VGA Resolution 640x480
 Images
N/A
122
296
389
499
Approx.
Compression/KB
N/A
1:1
922 KB
2:1
457 KB
3:1
340 KB
4:1
250 KB


A USB cable and interface software accompany the Dimage 7Hi for quick connection and image downloading to a PC or Macintosh computer. It appears as a "storage class" USB device, meaning that no driver software is needed for Mac OS versions 8.6 or later or for Windows Me, 2000, and XP. Given the 7Hi's speed at shooting (and therefore obviously powerful data processing circuitry), I was a little surprised to find that it wasn't very fast at all when downloading files to the computer. Connected to my 500MHz PowerMac G4, I measured its transfer rate at only 258 KB/second. This is less than half the speed of the fastest-downloading cameras I've tested in the past. (Given the 7Hi's voracious appetite for memory space, I'd highly recommend a fast card reader as an accessory item.)

Lost Images? - Download this image-recovery program so you'll have it when you need it...
Since we're talking about memory and image storage, this would be a good time to mention the following: I get a ton of email from readers who've lost photos due to a corrupted memory card. It's tragic when it happens, there are few things more precious than photo memories. Corrupted memory cards can happen with any card type and any camera manufacturer, nobody's immune. "Stuff happens," as they say. A surprising number of "lost" images can be recovered with an inexpensive, easy to use piece of software though. Given the amount of email I've gotten on the topic, I now include this paragraph in all my digicam reviews. The program you need is called PhotoRescue, by DataRescue SA. Read our review of it if you'd like, but download the program now, so you'll have it. It doesn't cost a penny until you need it, and even then it's only $29, with a money back guarantee. So download PhotoRescue for Windows or PhotoRescue for Mac while you're thinking of it. (While you're at it, download the PDF manual and quickstart guide as well.) Stash the file in a safe place and it'll be there when you need it. Trust me, needing this is not a matter of if, but when... PhotoRescue is about the best and easiest tool for recovering digital photos I've seen. (Disclosure: IR gets a small commission from sales of the product, but I'd highly recommend the program even if we didn't.) OK, now back to our regularly scheduled review...

 

 

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