Minolta DiMAGE 5 3.3 Megapixel

I'm selling one right now, but it's just because I want a smaller camera. This one is a little bulky. But it really packs a lot of features in. I love the flash. If you push it up, it will flash, if its down, it will not. There's no no unessesary buttons to mess with for that. Focus is manual or automatic with flexible focal points for autofocus so you can frame your shot first, and place a cursor on the spot to focus on. The manual focus is done just like on an SLR with the focus ring. Zoom is done just like an SLR zoom lens, and the zooming is 7x (equivalent of 28-250mm or so). It takes compact flash cards which have huge capacity and are relatively cheap. It takes AA batteries so you can buy some from a corner store in a pinch. Even the viewfinder has a focus adjustment so if you have bad eyes you can correct that (within reason) so you can use the camera without glasses. The viewfinder also pops up so you can get comfortable while you shoot, plus it will detect when your eye is there and shut off the LCD to save on batteries (which it tends to eat). It uses standard 49mm lens filters, it allows for very tight control over both shutter speed (bulb to 1/2000s) and f-stop (2.8 - 8.0). The camera includes a lens shade also, which is a very nice feature. There are other advanced features like contrast, light, and color compensation, manual white balancing (or with presets for specific lighting types). My favorite thing about the camera is the controls. Almost everything can be done without going through digital menus on the LCD. There are dials and knobs and buttons everywhere that allow you to do just about everything. There's also room for a hotshoe flash and a remote shutter control. Great camera, great value. I don't think minolta still rules the prosumer digital camera world, but they certainly did for a short time.

I purchased one of these for my son (23 years old) who greatly admired the Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi I received for Christmas.
This camera possese about 85% (?) of the features of the 7Hi model but at a reduced price!
The great 7x manually zoomed lens is very sharp and possese the equivalent 35mm focal lengths of 35mm through 250mm (wide to telephoto range).
One little appreciated "benefit" of lower resolution cameras (3mp vs 5mp or more) is that you can get more images onto any given storage card, sometimes speed rate of multiple shots is faster, and most lower resolution cameras are going at vastly reduced prices compred to their higher resolution "descendants"!
If you're someone looking for a great "exploratory" digital camera then this is a very cost effective unit to start with. Also, unlike it's higher resolution bretheren - the DiMAGE 7i, 7Hi, A1 and A2 this camera didn't suffer from the CCD sensor malfunctions that plagued some of these 5mp models.
One thing my son liked so much about the DiMAGE 5 vs. his Nikon Coolpix 5000 was the use of external dials to change various settings rather than the confusing menu systems.
Be advised, if you want to use the video features of a digital camera this model has a slow frame rate and no audio capabililty. Otherwise it does well.
Battery life can be an issue - they'll deplete quickly - but you're using readily available AA batteries - use NIMH rechargables (cheap with a charger at big-box stores!) so get some extras and shoot away!
These cameras also use the CF type cards - a little pricier than equivalent SD cards.
Good luck!

Wonderful camera, amazing pictures. Capturing our important moments in life was never easier than this, and the quality? To die for. Truly a great buy.