Minolta dimage7 User Manual

1

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Thank you for purchasing the Minolta DiMAGE 7 upgrade. This manual contains information specific
to the upgraded model. To make full use of the camera’s advanced features, read both the DiMAGE 7
manual and this upgrade manual.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Upgrade list ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Real-time histogram .............................................................................................................................. 5

Image-file size and CompactFlash card capacity ................................................................................. 6

Manual exposure - M ............................................................................................................................ 6

Continuous advance.............................................................................................................................. 7

Interval time-lapse movies .................................................................................................................... 7

UHS continuous advance...................................................................................................................... 8

UHS continuous-advance movies ......................................................................................................... 8

Flash metering ...................................................................................................................................... 9

Flash compensation .............................................................................................................................. 9

Electronic keyboard............................................................................................................................. 10

Enlarged playback............................................................................................................................... 11

Night movie ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Date-format folder ............................................................................................................................... 13

Display mode .................................................................................................................................... 14

Direct manual focus............................................................................................................................. 14

Menu list ..................................................................................................................................... 15

DiMAGE 7
UPGRADE
SOFTWARE

9224-6766-11 H-A206

2

UPGRADE LIST

UPGRADED PERFORMANCE

Autofocus
performance

Autofocus speed and sensitivity is increased up to approxi­mately 1.5 times depending on the subject and focal length in
use. Continuous AF performance in the movie recording
mode is improved.

––

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Image quality

Image quality in playback is improved.

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RECORDING MODE

Real-time
histogram*

Real-time histogram is displayed by pressing the display-infor­mation button.

533

* New feature

Quick View

Enlarged playback and scrolling between histogram displays
(left/right controller keys) are added to Quick View.

–34

File size and
card capacity

Image-file size and CompactFlash card capacity is changed.

645

Manual
exposure

Monitor image can be amplified so that image evaluation is
easier in low light.

650

Drive modes

Drive mode remains selected when the camera is turned off
and on (except for the self-timer and interval modes).

–51

Continuous
advance

The maximum rate of capture is improved. The maximum
number of images that can be captured is changed.

752

Exposure
bracketing

The exposure bracket can be adjusted between 1/2 or 1 stop
increments in the basic section of the recording-mode menu.

–

54
80

Interval time­lapse movies*

A movie file can be created in the interval drive mode. The
movie is played back at 4 frames per second.

756

UHS
continuous
advance*

A series of 1280 X 960 images can be captured at a rate of
approximate 5 frames per second.

8–

UHS continu­ous-advance
movies*

A movie can be created from images captured in the UHS
continuous-advance drive mode. The movie is played back at
5 frames per second.

8–

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Manual focus

Focus position is stored during auto power save as long as
the lens zoom position is not changed.

–71

Camera
sensitivity

Noise-reduction for bulb exposures.

–61

Bulb
exposures

The monitors will be blank for a period equal to the exposure
time while noise-reduction processing is applied to the image.

–92

Flash meter­ing

Manual flash control for the built-in flash is added.

975

Flash
compensation

Set by the Digital Effects Controller instead of the recording­mode menu.

978

Electronic
keyboard

Characters with European accents are added.

1088

Instant
playback

Pressing the display-information button during instant play­back hides the upper and lower guidance bars in the display;
pressing the button again shows the bars.

–89

Shutter­release button
operation in
single-frame
advance.

After pressing the shutter-release button all the way down to
take a picture, the focus and exposure will remain locked if
the shutter button is returned to the partway down position
and not released. The next picture can then be taken with the
same settings.

––

PLAYBACK MODE

Histogram
display

The left/right keys of the controller can be used to scroll
between histogram displays.

–94

Enlarged
playback

Images can be magnified in 0.4X increments. Images are
enlarged with the up/down key of the controller.

11100

Compatibility
with a non­upgraded
model

Images captured with an upgraded model cannot be played
back using a non-upgraded DiMAGE 7.

––

Movie
recording

The approximate total recording time with a 16MB
CompactFlash card is 73 seconds. The capacity of other size
cards changes accordingly.

–91

4

File format

Movie files are saved in the motion JPEG MOV format instead
of the AVI format. The MOV file extension is used.

–130

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Night movie*

Black and white movies can be recorded under low light lev­els.

12–

MOVIE MODE

SETUP MODE

Folder
organization

The standard folder names on a CompactFlash card are
changed from “xxxMLT03” to “xxxMLT14”.

–130

Date format
folder*

Images can be placed in a folder indicated by the date of
recording.

13–

Display
mode*

The displays controlled by the display-information button can
be changed. Six displays are available.

14–

Direct manual
focus*

Manual adjustments can be made after the AF system has
locked onto the subject.

14–

* New feature

DATA -TRANSFER MODE

USB connec­tion system
requirements

Expanded to include the following operating systems:
Windows XP
Mac OS 9.1 - 9.2.2, Mac OS X 10.1 - 10.1.4

–123

DiMAGE
Image Viewer
Utility

Images captured with upgraded model cannot be opened
using the DiMAGE Image Viewer Utility ver.1.11 or earlier.
Ver. 1.20 or the DiMAGE Viewer can be used.

–123

OTHERS

Scrolling on
the menus

Scrolling is continuous on the menus. (ex. If down key is
pressed when the lowest menu option is highlighted, the cur­sor moves to the top of the menu.)

––

PC Flash
Adapter
PCT-100

The camera does not need to be updated with the PC Flash
Adapter CD-ROM to use this accessory.

––

5

REAL-TIME HISTOGRAM

In the center of the display switch, the display-information button controls what
information is displayed with the live image. Each time the button is pressed,
the display cycles to the next format: standard display, focus frame, real-time
histogram, and live image only. The number of screens and their formats can
be changed in the custom 1 section of the setup menu (p. 14 of this manual).

Standard display Focus frame

Live image only Real-time histogram

The real-time histogram shows the approximate luminance distribution of the live image. This his­togram will not be accurate when the monitor image is amplified (p. 6 of this manual and p. 72 of the
DiMAGE 7 manual), or the built-in or a compatible Minolta flash unit is used.The histogram of a
recorded image may not have the same distribution as the real-time histogram.