Minolta Dimage 7HiMinolta 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.<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 10/15/2002 |
Exposure
The Dimage 7Hi offers excellent exposure control, with very fine-grained adjustment of such image attributes as sharpness, contrast, and color saturation. While I found the camera's user interface a little confusing at first, with its myriad buttons, dials, and switches, I liked it a lot once I got the hang of it. (The combined use of functional dials, selection buttons, and the rotating command wheel is similar to the design of Minolta's film cameras, and very reminiscent of the earlier Sony DSC-D770, a camera that developed a significant "cult" following. While something of a departure for the digicam market, this interface has proven very popular with users of both Minolta's film cameras, and the (much) earlier Sony camera.)
The Mode dial on top of the camera selects the basic operating mode: Record, Playback, Movie, Setup, or Data Transfer. Within Record mode, you have several exposure options: Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, and a handful of preset recording modes that I'll describe in just a bit. These first four are all accessed by turning the Function dial on the left side of the camera to the PASM position, holding down the button in the middle of that control, and rotating the Control dial just to the right of the Shutter button. It's definitely a two-handed process, but quick to execute once you become familiar with the system.
In Program AE mode, the camera determines the best exposure for the current shooting situation, setting both the shutter speed and lens aperture automatically. Aperture Priority mode lets you select the lens aperture setting, from f/2.8 to f/9.5 depending on zoom, while the camera selects the most appropriate corresponding shutter speed. In Shutter Priority mode, the user selects the shutter speed, from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds, while the camera chooses the best corresponding aperture setting. Switching to Manual mode gives you control over both shutter speed and aperture, with a Bulb setting available for longer exposures. Bulb exposure is determined by how long you hold down the Shutter button, up to a maximum of 30 seconds. The Program Auto button, located on the top panel just above the Mode dial, is a handy feature, instantly returning the camera to all of its default settings and the Program AE exposure mode (especially helpful if you've set a number of functions and are looking for a quick way to get back to the default settings).
The Dimage 7Hi's maximum shutter speed requires a little explanation. Like many shutter systems, the minimum shutter-open time is somewhat dependent on the aperture setting of the lens, with the shortest exposures only available when the lens is stopped down a bit. On the 7Hi, the maximum shutter speed of 1/4,000 of a second is only available when the lens is stopped down to f/8 or smaller. (Although it also appears to be attainable with an aperture as large as f/5.6, for some zoom settings.) You thus can't select it in Shutter Priority mode, since the aperture there is under control of the exposure system. I'd expect to be able to access the 1/4,000 speed in Manual mode, if I had a sufficiently small aperture selected, but this seems not to be the case. The 1/4,000 speed is only available when the camera is controlling the shutter speed itself, and when the aperture is set to a high enough f-stop. In Program AE mode, this happens automatically in bright enough conditions. In Aperture Priority mode, the camera will select the 1/4,000 speed if the conditions are bright enough, and you've manually selected a small enough aperture.
The Dimage 7Hi's default metering mode is a 300-segment evaluative system, which takes readings throughout the image to determine exposure. Center-Weighted and Spot metering options are also available via the Function Dial. Spot metering is useful for high-contrast subjects, as it bases the exposure reading on the very center of the image, letting you set the exposure based on a small portion of your subject. Center-Weighted metering also bases the exposure on the center of the image, but the camera takes its readings from a much larger area in the middle of the frame. You can also hold or lock the exposure reading for a particular part of the image by pressing the Spot (AE / AF Lock) button on the back panel. This control can be set to control either exposure alone or focus and exposure together. It can also be programmed to act as either a "hold" or "toggle" control. "Hold" mode does just that, it holds the current setting until you release the Spot button again. Toggle mode locks and releases the exposure/focus setting with successive actuations of the Spot button. Halfway pressing the Shutter button also locks exposure and focus, but only in autofocus mode. When the camera is in manual focus mode, half-pressing the Shutter button obviously doesn't affect focus, but (strangely) it doesn't seem to lock exposure either.
The Dimage 7Hi's light sensitivity can be set to Auto, or ISO equivalents of 100, 200, 400, or 800. As with other consumer and prosumer digicams that sport ISO 800 options though, I didn't find the ISO 800 setting to be particularly useful, as the image noise level was so high. Exposure compensation is adjustable from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third-step increments, and an auto-bracketing option can snap three shots in rapid succession, varying the exposure between each in steps of 0.3, 0.5, or 1.0 EV units. Exposure compensation is adjusted using the DEC (Digital Effects Controller), while auto bracketing is activated by rotating the Function Dial to the Drive position, pressing the center, and then rotating the Control Dial until the auto bracketing icon appears in the LCD or EVF display. Exposure step size for auto bracketing is set via the Custom 2 submenu of the record-mode menu system.
White Balance & Color Control
The Dimage 7Hi offers unusually flexible control over white balance, color rendition, and tonal range. Its white balance system offers a total of seven options, including Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, two Fluorescent settings (new to the Dimage 7Hi), Cloudy, and Custom, which is the manual setting. The Custom Set mode determines white balance by snapping a picture of a white card. The camera then adjusts its color balance to render the white card with a neutral hue, and saves the setting as the Custom option. As many as three Custom settings can be saved, very useful if you need to switch back and forth between different lighting conditions quickly.
Contrast and Color Saturation controls on the Dimage 7Hi provide a great deal of flexibility. Both of these parameters are adjustable in seven steps across a fairly broad range of settings, using the Digital Effects dial on the camera's left side in conjunction with the Control Dial next to the Shutter button (the same controls used for Exposure Compensation). To make adjustments, you rotate the Effects dial to the parameter you're interested in changing, press the button at its center, and then rotate the Control dial to choose the desired setting. The large number of steps in both of these settings make them really practical for fine-tuning the camera to match your shooting preferences. If you'd like a bit less contrast, or a bit more color saturation (my preference in both cases), it's easy to dial that in using these controls.
In addition to these subtle color and tonal adjustments, the Dimage 7Hi also offers a handy new Filter setting on the Effects dial. Depending on the color mode selected through the Custom Settings menu, the Filter option adjusts the overall color cast of the image, again in seven steps. The color range here varies from rather blue to rather yellow, exactly the color axis that you'd want to adjust to compensate for different color temperatures in your lighting. When Natural or Vivid Color modes are in use, the Filter effect adjusts from -3 to +3. Positive adjustments warm the image, while negative adjustments produce a cooler color balance. In Black and White mode, the Filter effect tones the image in eleven steps, cycling from neutral to red, green, magenta, blue, and back to neutral (zero position).
New to the Dimage 7Hi is the ability to select its working color space, through the Color Mode option of the record menu. The Dimage 7Hi offers the Natural and Vivid sRGB color modes mentioned above, as well as an Adobe RGB setting, Black and White mode, and a Solarization mode. Adobe RGB color space has a much broader gamut or range of reproducible colors than does sRGB, the color space used by most digital cameras and computer monitors. Adobe RGB images will look rather dull when displayed on monitors tuned to the sRGB standard, but when used in a color-managed work environment, they can capture and reproduce a much greater range of colors. For its part, Solarization partially reverses the tones in an image, and the Exposure Compensation adjustment controls the intensity of the effect. You can also choose, through the camera's Setup menu, whether or not to embed the selected color profile as images are recorded. The record menu also offers a Sharpness adjustment, for controlling the amount of in-camera sharpening applied to an image.
Subject Program Modes
The Dimage 7Hi provides five preset exposure modes, including Portrait, Sports, Sunset, Night Portrait, and Text, accessed by pressing the Mode Select button next to the small status display panel on top of the camera (an indicator highlights each mode as it's selected). Portrait mode produces better-looking people shots by enhancing skin tones and decreasing the depth of field (to create a slightly blurred background). Sports mode provides faster shutter speeds to freeze action, and maintains focus on quickly moving subjects. In Sunset mode, the camera employs slightly slower shutter speeds to let in more of the ambient light, and lets you record the warm colors of the scene without compensating for them in the white balance system. In Night Portrait mode, the camera also uses a slower shutter speed to allow more ambient light into the image, however it also records true black values and preserves the bright colors of artificial lighting. The final preset mode is Text mode, which optimizes the camera for capturing black text on a white background, keeping the contrast level high so the camera doesn't expose for neutral gray.
Continuous Mode
The Dimage 7Hi features a range of continuous shooting modes, all accessed via the "Drive" setting on the left-side Function dial. In addition to the standard Continuous Advance mode, the Dimage 7Hi also offers Interval, High-Speed Continuous, and UHS Continuous Advance modes. (Note that the Drive setting also access the Self-Timer and Auto Exposure Bracketing modes.) In standard Continuous Advance, the Dimage 7Hi captures approximately two frames per second, for as long as the Shutter button is held down (numbers are for small/basic images). Depending on the resolution and quality settings, as well as the amount of memory card space, the maximum number of frames and the frame rate will vary. (It's good for three shots in rapid succession in large/super fine mode, or five to seven shots at the large/extra fine setting.)
High-Speed Continuous mode captures approximately three frames per second, much faster than on the previous Dimage 7i, which captured around two frames per second.
UHS Continuous Advance mode captures a much more rapid burst of images, though resolution is automatically forced to 1,280 x 960 pixels. Images are captured at a maximum of seven frames per second (7.14 fps in my own tests), though again, quality settings and available memory space may limit the speed and number of images in the series. If the UHS Movie function is activated in the record menu, the camera also records a 640 x 480 movie clip, with audio, simultaneous with the 1,280 x 960 image series. I did notice one quirk with the UHS Movie mode, in that images were prone to streaking if they included very bright objects. - This looks like a charge transfer efficiency problem in the CCD, when run in this high-speed mode. I didn't see this behavior in any of the Dimage 7Hi's other modes.
Interval mode captures a series of images at specific intervals over time, providing a built-in time-lapse capability. The Dimage 7Hi captures a maximum of 99 images in the sequence, with frame intervals ranging from one to 60 minutes.
As I mentioned, the Drive setting also accesses the Self-Timer and Auto Exposure Bracketing modes. The Self-Timer counts down from 10 seconds between the time the Shutter button is fully pressed and the shutter actually fires. An LED lamp on the front of the camera blinks to indicate the time. Auto Exposure Bracketing mode captures a series of three images (one at the metered exposure, one underexposed, and one overexposed). You can set the exposure variation between exposures to 0.3, 0.5, or 1.0 EV. The Effects dial must be turned to the Exposure Compensation position for an exposure series. If the dial is set to Filter, Contrast, or Color Saturation, the Bracketing series will bracket the effect selected. (Another slick capability.)
Movie and Sound Recording
The Dimage 7Hi has a Movie mode that records moving images with sound, for as long as 60 seconds per movie. The amount of recording time appears in the LCD or EVF monitor display. Movies are recorded at 320 x 240-pixel resolution. Through the Record menu, you can set the movie mode to Auto, Standard, or Night. Night mode records black and white movies in low lighting situations. The Auto setting tells the camera to automatically decide between Standard and Night modes, based on the exposure conditions.
A Voice Memo mode records either five or 15 seconds of audio to accompany still images. The mode must be enabled before image capture. A microphone icon appears in the LCD/EVF display. Immediately after image capture, the camera begins recording audio for the specified time.
Flash
The Dimage 7Hi features a built-in, pop-up flash, which operates in either Fill-Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Rear Flash sync, or Wireless modes. (Wireless flash sync is a new option on the Dimage 7Hi.) To release the flash from its compartment, pull on the two small tabs on either side of the casing and lift up the flash head. The Flash mode is changed through the Record settings menu. In Fill-Flash mode, the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of lighting conditions. Red-Eye Reduction fires a series of small pre-flashes before firing the flash at full power for the exposure itself. This makes your subjects' pupils contract and reduces the occurrence of the redeye effect. The Rear Flash Sync mode fires the flash at the end of the shutter time, rather than the beginning. If you have moving objects in a relatively brightly lit environment, this will produce a sharp image of your subject, with a "motion trail" following behind it. The flash is in the Off position when it's closed. The Wireless mode lets the camera work with wireless remote flash units, with four channels available through the settings menu, so different camera/flash setups working in the same area won't interfere with each other. (Minolta makes two flash units that support the D7Hi's wireless capability, the Program Flash 5600HS [D] and 3600HS [D].)
The Dimage 7Hi is also unusual in that it offers two methods of flash metering. Its default mode is called ADI, which stands for Advanced Distance Integration. In this mode, it apparently bases its flash exposure on the lens aperture and feedback from the autofocus system, as well as on the light reflected back from a pre-flash. By determining how far away the target subject is, the camera knows how much flash power is required to illuminate it. As a fallback, a Pre-Flash TTL (through the lens) method bases the exposure determination solely on a small metering flash before the main exposure. Used in conjunction with the spot autofocus option mentioned earlier, the ADI flash metering should be much more accurate with small subjects against a different colored background than the pre-flash method.
For use with studio strobes and conventional slave triggers, the Dimage 7Hi has a manual flash power option. This lets you set the flash power to Full, 1/4, or 1/16 power manually. In this mode, the flash fires only once, at the moment of exposure. The single flash prevents false triggering when working with conventional slave triggers.
The
Dimage 7Hi also includes a top-mounted hot shoe for attaching an external flash
unit. The shoe design and contact arrangement are set up for Minolta's own dedicated
flash units, but I imagine that compatible models are available from the major
third-party flash manufacturers (Sunpak et. al.). Minolta's own Program Flash
models 3600HS(D) and 5600HS(D) both work with the Dimage 7Hi, and two macro
flashes (Macro Twin Flash 2400 and Macro Ring Flash 1200) will work with an
accessory macro flash controller.
New on the Dimage 7Hi is an external flash sync terminal (the so-called "PC" style), which accommodates just about any third-party flash unit. This makes the Dimage 7Hi much more appealing to photographers who already have an existing strobe system for the studio.
I had a chance to play a bit with a couple of Minolta's dedicated flash units while I was testing the Dimage 7Hi, and must say I was impressed. I only shot with the 5600 model (a conventional hot-shoe mounted unit, but with the added capability of wireless control) in a fairly small area, so didn't test the maximum range over which the wireless TTL control would work with the D7Hi. (I'm sure it has some maximum range over which it's effective, but don't know what that is.) That said though, the camera/flash combination worked exceptionally well. Very slick, given that no extra controller or other hardware is needed to establish the wireless link between the flash and the camera. This has to be one of the neatest flash arrangements I've seen yet on a digicam.
For closeup work, the T2400 macro twin flash is a very capable setup too. - A large ring mounts to the front of the lens, and serves as a support mount for a pair of tiny flash heads. The little flash heads are powered by a flash controller that looks just like a normal hot-shoe flash unit, but has two sockets on its front instead of the flash tube. The ring has multiple mounting points around it for the little flash heads, so you can direct the light to come from top, bottom, or either side with equal ease. The flash controller also lets you set the power ratio between the two heads, so you can have a "main" and "fill" light on your macro subject. Very flexible, very slick (if not a little odd-looking). Highly recommended if you intend to do any really extensive macro work. (This should be a great solution for people selling tiny objects (coins, jewelry?) on eBay, looks like a sure winner for dentists looking to document their work, entomologists wanting really good bug pictures, etc, etc.)
Color Space
This is probably as good a place as any to talk about the Dimage 7Hi's color space. The original Dimage 7 used a proprietary color space with a much wider color gamut than the sRGB space used by most digicams. (As well as by most computer monitors, consumer-grade printers, etc.) The result was it could capture a much broader range of colors than other cameras, but this also meant that the raw JPEGs straight out of the camera looked rather flat and dull when viewed on a typical computer monitor. To get the full color to appear, you needed to run the image files through Minolta's Dimage Viewer software utility, and convert their color space back to sRGB. (Or whatever other working space you wanted to use. - Many graphics professionals work in the so-called "Adobe RGB" space popularized by Photoshop(tm), which is supported by many graphics programs and printers, and also offers an expanded color gamut.)
While the expanded color gamut was a real boon to graphics professionals and others interested in breaking free of the constraints of sRGB, for the average amateur it amounted to just one more step to go through before they could fully enjoy their photos. Worse, if someone wasn't aware of the color space issue, they'd probably write off the Dimage 7 as having rather flat, undersaturated color.
With the Dimage 7i, Minolta stepped back closer to the mainstream in the color space department, adopting a color space that was much closer to sRGB, to the point that files from the 7i could be used in an sRGB environment without special processing.
With the Dimage 7Hi, Minolta has further moved to embrace standard color space definitions, but this time they've also included an option for a space with a larger color gamut than that supported by sRGB. The 7Hi has three color space options (plus black & white and sepia), two based on sRGB, the third being the broader-gamut "Adobe RGB" space. The two sRGB spaces are the default one, with normal color rendering, and a "vivid" sRGB option, which boosts color saturation a fair bit.
This increased color-space flexibility will come as a welcome addition for many pros and advanced amateurs who want to use their cameras in a color-managed environment. The Adobe RGB space avoids many of the color limitations of the sRGB space, which are most evident in highly-saturated reds. Working in Adobe RGB lets you maintain detail in bright reds and greens that can't be properly represented in sRGB space. Switching to Adobe RGB for your photography does involve a fair degree of commitment though, as you'll need to set up your entire workflow to support it, including both screen rendering on your computer's CRT or LCD, and printing to your printer. - Computer monitors are built to the sRGB standard, and require software support (as in Adobe Photoshop or other high-end image manipulation package) to portray Adobe RGB images properly. Likewise, most consumer-grade photo printers assume sRGB as the starting point, again needing color management to properly output Adobe RGB files. (Many professional photo printers are set up to work in Adobe RGB by default though, so check to see what your printer's default color space is.)
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