Vol 4 No 36 AUTUMN 2003 Dimage 7i photo by David Kilpatrick 10% off repairs and servicing for MI MEMBERSHIP IN FOR MA TION MA FOR MEMBERSHIP IN readers he Minolta Club Cam era may be able to take out an war- TCheck Scheme now runs Information on this page is printed in each ran ty on a cam era which has just all year round, taking the been repaired, or over hauled. seasonal load off the serviceClub issue for yourChecks benefi t – please use it. &The war ran ty is an op tion al department. We are now told ex ten sion of the usual six-month that Service will give Club Call 01908 200400 for service! repair guar an tee to a full two Checks ‘absolute priority’ years. This offer is ad min is tered and these will nor mal ly be digitalWarranties products There is a difference between and un der writ ten by Do mes tic accomplished with in 3-4 Club Check tests include the Club Check and a Service. & General In sur ance Com pa ny. days of receipt. This is great shut ter speed accuracy, ap- The check may show that your Some parts for older mod els are news but please be sure er ture ac cu ra cy, metering ac- shutter speeds and so on fall now no longer avail a ble, and to allow a little more time cu ra cy, and focusing accuracy. within ISO tolerances, but a Konica Minolta have to re strict – and please do not send They also include checks for Service may allow ad just ment these war ran ties to the list be- equip ment to the Club’s cor rect electronic operation, to better than ISO stand ards. It low. If your equip ment is more Kel so address. fi lm transport, AF operation, also allows lu bri ca tion, tightening re cent, but now out of war ran ty, As a Minolta Club member self timer, fl ash syn chro ni s- of screws, cleaning and adjust- call the Serv ice Dept for ad vice you have a per ma nent 10% a tion and all other key op er a - ments. on 01908 200400. If you wish to dis count off all repairs and tion al aspects of the camera. fi nd out more about the warranty serv ic ing if you deal directly External cleaning of camera Extended Warranty terms, ring Do mes tic & Gen er al’s with Konica Minolta Photo and lens is undertaken, along Hel pline on 0181 944 4944. Imaging (UK) Limited. with loose dust removal. The Minolta Extended War- Please note this is NOT the same The Service Address is: Equipment which passes the ran ty Scheme is available on number as for our Camera Equip ment Konica Minolta Photo tests will re ceive a Test Cer- new equipment. However, you Insurance facility, see p35. Imaging (UK) Ltd tifi cate and may qualify for the Service Department Ex tend ed War ran ty (right). If MINOLTA EXTENDED WAR RAN TY SCHEME – PRODUCT LIST Unit 7 Tanners Drive prob lems need ing repair are SLR BODY MD LENSES Scan Speed Blakelands found, you will be con tact ed Dynax 9, 7 and 5 MD 100/4 macro Scan Dual, II Milton Keynes MK14 5BU. with an es ti mate – the Club 800si, 700si, 600si MD 50/3.5 macro Quick Scan, Plus Tel 01908 200400 Check cost is deducted from 500si & Super MD 135/2.8 tele If you ask for the discount, the cost of the repair if you 505si Super MD 28/2.8 PHOTOMETERS your membership status will de cide to go ahead. You also 300si, 303si MS 100-300/5.6-6.7 Flash Meter V be checked and validated. get your 10% discount. See also 404si MD 35-70 Colour Meter II If this is disputed, you may new information about direct X-700, X-370S MD 70-210 Colour Meter IIIF ask the Service De part ment repairs, below. MD 50/1.7 Flash Meter III, IV also 220X fl ash Spotmeter F to check with us, and we will COMPACT Zoom 70, 70EX Spotmeter M confi rm your paid-up status Direct Repairs Zoom 90, 90EX VECTIS Autometer IV-F or enable you to renew your Zoom 105, 105EX Vectis 40, 300, 300L, Autometer III, IIIN subscription if has lapsed not If you know your gear needs Zoom 115 3000, 2000, 30, 25, Autometer III Flash more than six months ago. to be repaired, re mem ber Zoom 125 260, 200, 20, 100BF, Equipment under 1st year that a repair always includes Zoom 150 Weathermatic, GX-1, BINOCULARS warranty can be sent in di- a full service and a 6 month Zoom Pico GX-2, GX-3, GX-4. Activa: 8x42DWP, rect ly, accompanied by any guarantee on the whole item. AF-25, AF-35 Vectis S1, S-100, V 10x42WP, 7x35W, document showing the date If you have equip ment which F-25, F-35BF lenses 400RF, 22-80, 7x50, 8x40W, of purchase, including credit you think needs repair, you can F 35ST Super 50 macro, 28-56, 25- 10x50W, 12x50W, 150, 56-170, 80-240, 7-15x35, 8-20x50, card statements etc, even if send it for a Club Check serv ice, AF FLASH SF-1 fl ash 8-22x27, 10- you have not returned your en clos ing your pay ment. 5600HS 30x27, Pocket guar an tee card. But you You can also send items 3600HS DIGITAL 8x25WP, Pocket should al ways com plete and di rect ly to the serv ice de- 5400HS Dimage 7, 5 10x12WP, 8x25FM, re turn war ran ty doc u ments part ment for repair es ti mates 1200AF Macro Dimage S304 10x25FM,12x25FM. after buying equip ment. outside this scheme. Konica Dimage E203 Standard: 7- Minolta Photo Imaging (UK) AF LENSES Dimage E201 15x35EZ, 8- Club Checks Limited will accept equip ment AF 100-300 (D) Dimage RD-3000 20x50EZ directly from readers and pro- AF 24-105 (D) Dimage RD-175 Classic II: 7 x 35W, Dimage 2330 7 x 50, 8 x 40W, 10 The cost of a Club Check, vide estimates, it is not neces- AF 75-300 (D) AF 28-80 (D) Dimage 2300 x 50W. in clu sive of VAT and return sary to go through a dealer. If the AF 35-70/3.5-4.5 Dimage V Compact II: 8x25, in sured carriage, is: estimate is not accepted then ACCESSORIES Dimage 1500EX 10x25. £18.68 for camera + lens a charge of £5.88 is payable for VC-600, VC-700, Scan Multi, II, Pro Pocket II: 8x22, £25.85 for all video and return. VC-7, VC-6, VC-9 Scan Elite, II 10x25. Î Minolta Image Autumn 2003 • 2 no36 autumn 2003 CONTENTS 2 Camera Check, Servicing & Repair Info 4 Who’s Who + Editorial 5 News and New Products Konica Minolta Photo Imaging (UK) Ltd – news of the merger between the two companies The A to Z of Digital – the new DiMAGE A1 and DiMAGE Z1 are very different cameras approaching electronic SLR viewing in very different ways 8 The Image Space More of your star pictures in our completely open gallery of Minolta Club work. We continue to have a problem with loads of fi lm to give away as prizes, and a big shift in entries to ����������� ����������� ������������������� digital… this may just become a digital contest soon! ���������������� 14 Test Report: Dynax 3L and Astia 100F MI #36. Birks of Roslin Glen, photographed in November 2002 Ailsa Kilpatrick travels with a lightweight combination of the by David Kilpatrick using a Tiffen Dynax 3L and new 28-100mm D lens, to test Fuji’s new Astia Redhancer fi lter on the Minolta 100F fi ne-grained, soft contrast slide fi lm. DiMage 7Hi camera. See feature, page 17, on enhancing autumn 18 Enhancing Autumn colours using fi lters and Photoshop. David Kilpatrick demonstrates some methods for boosting colours selectively using special fi lters or digital processing 20 Portfolio: Autumn by Steve Bright ARPS Steve Bright has been using Minoltas from manual system days onwards and has an eye for strongly composed and colourful slides. 22 Just Sliding Away… Eric Houlder talks about 40 years of slide presentations and his work in archaeological photography – a subject which offers audiences more than just a pictorial experience. 25 Make your own Digital Christmas Cards On-Line Paper pre-creased cards offer a quick way to inkjet greetings cards. 26 Camera Test: the DiMAGE A1’s Anti-Shake function David Kilpatrick thinks that the killer feature of the new A1 is the image stabilisation which permits exposures of 1/25th with 200mm telephoto setting to be sharp. He’s tested it to much more extreme limits with a fair success rate, as these results show. 30 Ray’s Way: a return to monochrome Ray Lea on the merits of black and white for winter photography in the coming months. 32 Quest Workshops – 2003/2004 Programme Colin Westgate introduces the tenth year of Minolta Club sponsored Quest events. 34 Club Events 35 Membership, Subscriptions & Website Information Don’t forget that your Photostore, Club Lens Hire, battery compatibility, special logo branded Minolta goods and similar ‘cut out and send’ type offers are all contained in your Offers Supplement. Minolta Image Autumn 2003 • 3 INTRO who’s Update FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM n my last editorial I ranted on about who? the problems we have with CDs, and KONICA MINOLTA PHOTO IMAGING (UK) LTD – that’s the name of the new II am happy to say that all the CDs company for the UK, following the merger of the two Japanese corporations.