Digital Camera E Instruction Manual Minolta (UK) LTD. Photographie Division Precedent Drive, Rooksley, Milton Keynes, MK13 8HF, England Tel. 01 908 200 400 Fax. 01 908 208 334 Minolta (IRL) LTD. (Photopak Sales) 241 Western Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin 12, Ireland Tel. 01 45 66 400 Fax. 01 45 00 452 Minolta Portugal Lda Rua Afonso Lopes Vieira 55-B, P-1700 Lisboa, Portugal Tel. 01 793 10 06 Fax. 01 793 10 64 http://www.minolta.com http://www.minolta.de/europe © 1997 Minolta Co., Ltd.
Thank you for purchasing the Minolta Dimâge V. The Dimâge V is a compact, digital still camera equipped with the following features: Please take the time to read through this instruction manual, for it contains information that is important for the proper and safe use and care of your camera. • 1/3 inch in-line square CCD with RGB filter - produces VGA size, high quality, accurate colour images.
FOR PROPER AND SAVE USE STANDARD SYMBOLS SAFETY CAUTIONS Various symbols are used in the instruction manual and on the product to promote proper and safe use of this product. Read and understand each caution thoroughly before reading the instruction manual. Read and understand all cautions and warnings before using this product. EXAMPLES The outer triangle is for warning. The symbol inside illustrates what is being warned against. The example at left means beware of high temperature.
FOR PROPER AND SAFE USE SAFETY CAUTIONS CAUTION Do not lift or swing the camera by the cables (serial cable, lens extension cable). The camera may detach and fall causing damage or injury. Do not fire the flash near the eyes of people or animals, especially infants and young children. Maintain a distance of one meter (three feet) or greater. If the camera is dropped or subjected to an impact in which the interior is exposed, immediately remove the batteries and discontinue use. Do not dissemble.
FOR PROPER AND SAFE USE SAFETY AND HANDLING CAUTIONS FOR THE IMAGE MEMORY CARD RM-2S/RM-4S The SmartMedia image memory card included in the package is a solid-state floppy disk card (SSFDC). Careless handling may result in lost data. Please read and follow the cautions below. • Do not subject the image memory card to extreme humidity. • Never leave the image memory card where it may be subjected to extreme temperatures, such as the glove compartment of a car or in direct sunlight.
TABLE OF CONTENTS For Proper and Safe Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Before you begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 QUICK OPERATION Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
QUICK OPERATION PREPARATION + See page 20 and 29 for detailed information. Insert the batteries as shown. Insert the image memory card. RECORDING + See pages 30-34 for detailed information. Slide the record/play switch to REC. Turn the lens unit forward by 90° as shown. Frame the image in the LCD monitor, then press the shutter-release button. Select the image quality. Turn the camera on.
QUICK OPERATION PLAYING + See pages 48-54 for detailed information. DELETING IMAGES + See pages 58-59 for detailed information. Turn the camera on. Turn the camera on. Slide the record/play switch to PLAY. Slide the record/play switch to PLAY. Scroll through the images by pressing the + or – button. Display the image you want to delete by pressing the + button or – button. Press and hold the delete button for more than 1 second.
NAMES OF PARTS BODY Flash mode button Shutter-release button + button – button Delete button * Do not touch Display button Protect button Recod/Play swiitch Lens* LCD monitor Grip Image quality selector Back over Flash* Main switch Self-timer lamp Strap eyelet Lens unit Serial port Back cover - Outside Back cover - Inside DC terminal Lens unit release Zoom lever Image quality selector Self-timer button Card/Battery chamber cover Date button Clear/Format button Flash sensor* 14 15
NAMES OF PARTS LCD MONITOR Frame Counter Record mode Frame counter Mode area Record Mode - user decides whether the frame counter shows the number of frames remaining or the current frame number (the number of the frame about to be taken). Date/time area Warning area Play Mode - frame counter shows the number of the frame being displayed. Pressing the Display button will allow you to turn off the information display or change the LCD information bar. See page 36.
ATTACHING THE HAND STRAP Insert the smaller loop of the strap through the strap eyelet. BEFORE RECORDING 18 Put the other end of the strap through the small loop as shown.
INSERTING BATTERIES This camera requires 4 AA size batteries. Either Alkaline or Nicad batteries can be used. • Nicad batteries must be fully charged in the appropriate charger, as indicated in the battery instruction manual. • Do not mix battery types. Open the card/battery chamber cover as shown. Insert the batteries as indicated in the +/– diagram on the camera. • Insert (1) and (2) first, making sure the contacts are touching. Then firmly push the batteries into the cabinet.
ADJUSTING THE LCD BRIGHTNESS SETTING DATE/TIME The Dimâge V is equipped with a quick-responding LCD monitor that has an excellent range of viewing angles. The LCD monitor brightness can be adjusted to compensate for varying lighting conditions and viewing angles. To set the current date or time follow, the procedure below. • To change the date/time display format only, follow steps 1, 2, 3 and 10. Press the main switch to turn the camera on. Press the main switch to turn the camera on.
SETTING DATE/TIME Press the protect button ( ) to select either the 12 or 24 hour display. Press the display button to highlight the time information to be changed. • The selection will change from left to right. Press the display button to highlight the date information to be changed. • The selection will change from left to right. • If you don't want to correct the date skip to step . Press the + or – buttons to change the date. • Repeat steps and date is correct.
SETTING DATE/TIME Once all the settings are correct, reselect the date format by pressing the protect button ( ) • The formats will appear in the following sequence: YY MM DD ↓ MM DD YY ↓ DD MM YY ↓ AM/PM (12 hour clock) ↓ Military (24 hour clock) Press the date button to exit the Set Date/Time menu. STANDARD LENS POSITION Turn the lens unit forward by 90° as shown. This position will be referred to as the "standard lens position" throughout this manual. • Rotate the unit as far as it will go.
INSERTING IMAGE MEMORY CARDS Turn the camera off. Always turn off the camera before inserting an image memory card! Data on the card will be lost or damaged if it is inserted while the camera is on. RECORDING IMAGES Open the card/battery chamber cover. Insert the image memory card into the card slot. The SmartMedia™ card included in this package and other standard-accessory cards are already formatted and ready for use. SmartMedia™ cards purchased separately need to be formatted before use.
SELECTING IMAGE QUALITY BASIC RECORDING Press the main switch to turn the camera on. Storing uncompressed still-image files normally requires a large amount of disk space. This usually results in small recording capacity on the image memory cards. The Dimâge V uses JPEG compression (an international standard) to compress the image data before it is recorded on the image memory card. Compression Mode Capacity (2MB SmartMedia™) Fine Mode (Priority - image quality) 16 images (aprox.
BASIC RECORDING Place the lens unit in the standard lens position • If the lens unit is not in the standard position, the flash will not fire and will blink in the LCD monitor. While looking at the LCD monitor, adjust the zoom lever to frame the image. • Move the lever toward W to zoom out (shorter focal length). Move the lever toward T to zoom in (longer focal length). Frame the image in the LCD monitor, then press the shutter-release button.
FLASH MODES REMOVING IMAGE MEMORY CARDS In addition to Auto Flash mode ( ) the Dimâge V has Manual Fill Flash mode ( ) and Flash Cancel mode ( ). Auto Flash The flash will fire in low light or backlit situations. Use this mode for general photographic situations. Manual Fill Flash Flash Cancel The flash will fire every time the shutter-release button is pressed, regardless of lighting conditions. Use this mode when there are harsh shadows on the subject.
CHANGING LCD DATA DISPLAY Change the information displayed on the monitor by pressing the display button. The monitor will change as shown in the sequence below. • The diagram at left shows the sequence displayed in record mode. See page 48 for the sequence displayed in play mode. • The self-timer mark ( ) will appear on the monitor when the selftimer function is activated, even when "No Data" is selected. • To change the date or time format see pages 23-26.
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY The Macro Photography function allows you to fill the frame with a business-card size object. The minimum focus distance in Macro mode is 5cm (2 in). Slide the zoom lever to MACRO until it clicks into place. ADVANCED OPERATION Frame the image in the LCD monitor, then press the shutter-release button. • The focus range is from approximately 5cm - 9.5cm (2 in - 3.7 in). . Set the flash mode to Flash Cancel when shooting in macro mode.
SELF-TIMER EXPOSURE COMPENSATION Secure the camera on a tripod. Open the back cover, then press the selftimer button • The self-timer mark ( ) will appear on the monitor. Frame the image in the LCD monitor, then press the shutter-release button. • The self-timer lamp on the front of the camera will start blinking. A countdown indicator will appear on the monitor. • The shutter will release approximately 10 seconds after the shutter-release button is pressed.
PHOTOGRAPHING YOURSELF LENS EXTENSION CABLE The Dimâge V lens unit rotates from +90° to -90°. This function allows you to photograph yourself while looking at the LCD monitor. With the Lens Extension Cable LS-V100 the lens unit can be detached from the camera and used to photograph from a variety of angles. Turn the camera off before attaching or detaching the lens unit. Rotate the lens unit 90° backwards until it stops.
LENS EXTENSION CABLE Push the connector of the lens extension cable down until it clicks. To record images with the lens extension cable attached, follow the instructions in Basic Recording on pages 31-33. Point the lens at the subject while looking at the LCD monitor and press the shutterrelease button to record. The flash can be used with the lens extension cable attached. Turn the cable connector that is attached to the camera all the way forward 90°.
LENS EXTENSION CABLE DETACHING THE LENS EXTENSION CABLE Slide the release lever on the lens extension cable's connector until it clicks. Next, slide the connector up and then left as shown. Slide the lens unit release in the direction indicated until it clicks. Next, slide the lens unit up and to the left as shown. PLAYBACK OF RECORDED IMAGES REATTACHING THE LENS UNIT Match-up the three notches on the lens unit with the three notches on the camera body. Gently put them together.
PLAYBACK SINGLE FRAME DISPLAY There are two options available in Play mode; viewing one image at a time (Single Frame Display) or viewing 9 images at once (Index Display). Pressing the display button in Play mode will change the display in the following sequence. Single Frame Display allows recorded images to be viewed individually with or without the image information. Insert an image memory card into the camera, following the instructions on page 29, if one is not in the camera already.
SINGLE FRAME DISPLAY INDEX DISPLAY When the image on the screen is the last-recorded image (last frame) and the + button is pressed, the frame that will appear is the first-recorded image (first frame). When the first frame is on the screen and the – button is pressed the last frame will appear. The LCD can display an index of nine frames. Using the Index Display allows you to quickly search for an image.
INDEX DISPLAY Press either the + or – button to select an image. Press the display button when the desired image is selected with the cursor. • The + button moves the cursor to the next frame. The – moves the cursor to the previous frame. • Press and hold the button to continually scroll the cursor. • When the cursor reaches the bottom-right frame and the + button is pressed, the next nine images will appear.
INDEX DISPLAY One index display screen holds nine images (one "page"). When changing from Single Image Display to Index Display, the page containing the image that was last viewed will appear. In the example below: Image number 7 is on the monitor when the display button is pressed. The screen changes to the index display and the page with image 7 appears on the screen.
FRAME COUNTER This section explains how to remove images from the image memory card. There are three types of image removal: DELETE - removes a singe, selected image (page 58). CLEAR - removes all unprotected images on the card (page 60). FORMAT - initializes the card and removes all the images (page 64). When images are removed there will be changes in the frame counter. The remaining images shift positions after an image is removed and the frame counter changes accordingly.
DELETING A SINGLE IMAGE Below is the procedure to delete a single, unprotected image from the SmartMedia™ in the camera (see page 62 for information on protecting images). • To delete the image that was just taken, start at . • To delete an image while viewing in play mode, start at . Press the main switch to turn the camera on. Slide the record/play switch to PLAY. • The last-recorded image will appear in the LCD monitor. Press and hold the delete button for more than one second.
CLEARING UNPROTECTED IMAGES Clearing removes all unprotected images from the SmartMedia in the camera (see page 62 for information on protecting images). Press the main switch to turn the camera on. Slide the record/play switch to PLAY. • While the camera is clearing the unprotected images, the percentage completed is indicated on the monitor. "COMPLETE" will appear on the monitor when all the unprotected images are cleared. • The last-recorded image will appear in the LCD monitor.
PROTECTING IMAGES Important images can be write-protected to guard them from accidental deleting. Protected images cannot be removed from the image memory card by using the Delete or Clear functions. CAUTION: Protected images will be removed when the FORMAT function is used. Press the main switch to turn the camera on. Slide the record/play switch to PLAY Press the protect button ( ) when the image to be protected appears on the monitor.
FORMATTING MEMORY CARDS Formatting the image memory card removes all protected and unprotected images from the card. The standard accessory image memory cards come formatted. SmartMedia™ cards purchased separately need to be formatted before using them for the first time. Insert the image memory card. Follow the procedure on page 29. Turn the camera on. Press the shutter-release button. • While the camera is formatting the card, the percentage completed is indicated on the monitor.
FORMATTING MEMORY CARDS If the display on the left appears, the formatting operation has failed. Press the shutter-release button to retry. If the display appears a second time, press the clear/format button to quit the format operation. Then, turn the camera off and contact a Minolta Service Facility listed on the front cover of the manual.
WARNING ICONS Various symbols are designed to appear on the monitor when the following situations occur. This section explains what the symbols mean and describes the action to be taken when the symbol appears. The mark represents a blinking icon. Low Battery Battery power is low. + Replace all 4 batteries with new ones as soon as possible (page 20) or use the AC Adapter AC-V1. Flash Cannot Fire - Lens Unit Problem The lens unit is not in the standard lens position.
WARNING ICONS Card Error Appears when the camera is turned on: There is no image memory card in the card slot. + Turn the camera off. Insert an image memory card following the instructions on page 29. Card Error Appears while recording, playing, or formatting: An error has occurred. + Follow the steps below. 1. Turn the camera off. 2. Take out the image memory card. 3. Wait a few minutes, then reinsert the image memory card and close the card/battery chamber cover. 4. Turn the camera on.
TROUBLESHOOTING Refer to these pages to determine the cause of a problem you are experiencing with your camera. If the information does not cover the problem which you are experiencing or the condition continues, contact your nearest Minolta Service Facility. No image appears in the LCD monitor. • The camera is turned off. - Press the main switch to turn the camera on. • The batteries are exhausted. - Replace all the batteries with new ones. • There is no image memory card in the camera.
CARE AND STORAGE CLEANING BEFORE IMPORTANT EVENTS • If the camera or lens unit is dirty, gently wipe it with a soft, clean, dry cloth. If the camera or lens comes in contact with sand, gently blow away loose particles, wiping may scratch the surface. • To clean the lens surface, first brush away any dust or blow away sand then, if necessary, moisten a lens tissue with lens cleaning fluid and gently wipe the lens. • Never use organic solvents to clean the camera.
TECHNICAL DETAILS RECORDING OTHER Image Sensor: 1/3 inch CCD, 350,000 pixels (330,000 effective pixels), square pixels, full frame transfer, suited for VGA display Recording Media: SmartMedia™ (SSFDC image memory cards) File Format: EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) Compression: JPEG Storage Capacity: 2MB SmartMedia™ cards (standard accessory): Fine mode - approx. 16 Standard mode - approx.
