Lense Reviews

This is a medium quality lens in the Minolta line. It's user ratings are generally 3 out of 5 stars for clarity. I would consider it the lower end of the better range in the Minolta line. I've shot with it and been pleased. If you are buying a minolta camera for it's lens quality, this is the only lens I would buy from Amazon. If you are buying minolta because it's a value compared to other SLR's and just want something better than a point and shoot, you probably want one of the lower end lenses offered on Amazon.

Im sorry I would have to disagree with the last comments. I am a semi-professional photographer and unless you want to spend big on 2.8 lenses, this is one of the sharpest lenses around bar none!

The HTSi 35mm is my first SLR camera. Compared to the point and shoot Olympus which I've used over the past seven years the results are fabulous. Tremendously easy to use this camera incorporates more manual features than a novice would normal use. The bottom line though is that the end picture quality is tremendous. Where I used to regularly get 3-5 pictures on a 24 exposure film which were of poor quality (out of focus), with the Minolta I've averaged less than one per roll. The pictoral symbols on the camera are generally straight forward for standard settings (portraits, night shots, etc). For those who use manual settings on a casual basis, the combination function button/dial is a bit difficult to recall so plan on keeping your users guide close by.

Both lenses are excellent (as attested by the picture quality. The 28-80 is a solid general lens for landscapes. The 70-210 is perfect for the novice who wants portrait capabilities without the extra bulk of the 300mm lense. Users who are consumed with greater picture taking range might consider the 300mm zoom, but realize this comes with the tradeoff of needing a large camera bag to tout the SLR and the 300 zoom lens. Portrait taking with the 70-210 is excellent, this lense the SLR and the 28-80 can be easily carried in a small/mid size camera bag making it more portable if you're carrying it over any distance.

you show htsi but picture is an htsi plus body if i wanted to buy which body am i getting

The VF-58CPKS kit including a PL filter and an UV filter is supposed to support 58mm camera such as F717.
But in your introduction it's been changed to Wide angle and support the 37mm lens? Maybe it's a big mistake. Below is from Sony:

Circular Polarizing Filter Kit
VF-58CPKS
Use this circular polarizing filter to suppress unwanted reflections off glass and water and protects lens from dust and scratches at the same time. It fits a Sony 58 mm diameter lenses

58mm is the lens front diameter, and the 37mm is the focal length of the lens. These are somewhat independent values. Because of possible vegneting, particular polarizer filter can't be used with the whide angle lens, that has focal length lesser of certain minimal value (37mm in case of Sony VF58CPKS, as I get it).

Nice to only have to carry around one lens, but it is a rather heavy lens. Works great, though. To zoom with the lens, it just slides in and out, you don't rotate it like you normally would operate an SLR lens (at least any I've seen). Kind of weird to get used to sliding the whole lens instead of turning it. I much prefer the turning method for zooming.

I decided to give the 28mm - 300mm Series 1 Zoom a try since I also own a 25 year old Vivitar Series 1 90mm Macro lens for my old Minolta SRT-101. I have owned mostly Minolta branded (Rokkor) lenses so for me to purchase a non-Minolta lens, it had to be outstanding. You won't be disappointed. It is a sharp, well-built lens and gives me an all-around lens for virtually all situations. I agree with the other reviewer that this is not a heavy lens. Maybe I am old-fashioned but the push-pull zooming works just fine. I will still hang on to my Minolta 28mm-80mm Zoom that I got with the STsi but more as a back up. Vivitar does warn the user to not attach the included lens shade if you are using the camera's built-in flash in the wider angles as the lens shade may cast a shadow on your picture. I have used my built-in flash with this lens many times mostly for fill-in lighting with no problems. You have to remember to unlock the lens lock button when you turn your camera on but it really has not been a nuisance for me at all.

Run- don't walk to buy this lens if you are considering it. I found to work excellently and take razor sharp pictures. No offense to the reviewer above, but I found it to be a surprisingly light lense. Don't let weight keep you from buying it. 28-300 is worth a TON on convience. It sometimes is slow taking the picture working with AF with my Minolta 7xi, but that could just be my camera. Also I have a tad of trouble getting the lens cap on all the way (with a UV filter on). But these are minor and I HIGHLY recommend this lens.

Needed an inexpensive wide angle zoom, this fit the bill. I trust Vivitar products and this one hasn't let me down yet. Takes 77mm filters. Note: This lens is a true ultra-wide angle lens, and as such image quality will suffer if used with standard, inexpensive filters. When using filters, spend the extra money and get one of the ultra-thin models from Hoya or similar. Otherwise you will notice rounding at the corners on shots taken at 19mm caused by the overhang of the filters getting the way of the shot (called "vignetting"). Makes a neat effect if intentional, but can mess up your shot if not.

Good, but not spectacular zoom. Very good sharpness when the aperture is closed to 8, or smaller vallues. Metal mount, plastic body. Worth the spent money.

I am an amateur photographer (read: take lots of pictures at parties, of the dog, on vacation etc.). Until I bought this lens, I had a 28-80mm (came with my Minolta XTsi) and a 70-210mm (bought when got camera) but I always wanted a wide-angle lens. Problem is that most wide-angle lenses are *very* expensive. (For instance, I searched for other wide-angle lenses when I bought this and the next closest one was $300!)

This 19-35mm AF zoom lens is perefect and works with Minolta and many other cameras. If you are not a professional you will NEVER notice the difference between this and a $300 wide-angle lens, so why bother spending more than you need to?

If you do buy this, pick up a basic UV filter (77mm thread) for it. Might as well protect your investment.

Love this camera. Portable, easy, moron proof. But, you better never use the flash to photograph your kids. You will see the most amazing red eye, even using the red eye reduction. I just wish I had bought it from Amazon. Then at least it would have given me devil eyes for 100 bucks less.

this is my second Pentex. This particular camera is a little more advanced than my first but incredibly easy to operate and load. The photographs are bright and crisp and always clear.As you can tell this is my favorite!

I've had this camera since it was introduced by Pentax (1997) and it's been a total pleasure to use. I have an APS and a manual 35mm SLR but this is the one I use when I MUST get the shot right. Like having Derek Jeter come up to bat just when you need him.

At the time I bought this camera, it was the least expensive 2 MP digital I could find. It took clear crisp pictures and was easy to use until it stopped working exactly one year after I purchased it. The LCD screen went blank and it wouldn't snap any pictures even with fresh batteries. I called the customer service, told them that my 12 month warranty has just expired and they told me to send it to them anyway. I'll wait and see what happens.

With 2.11 megapixels this camera is a good value for the money. At the highest resolution you should be able to blow a print up to 8x10. Camera is easy to use, basically just point & shoot. Push shutter button halfway for auto focus. Altho with default setting you can only get about 10-12 pictures on the 8MB internal memory, if you change the setting to 800 x 600 you can get 40 pictures instead, which I prefer because these pics won't take up as much room on your hard drive. (and this size looks great when I blow up the picture to use as a background on my computer!) With a 32 MB CF card you can get up to 180!! The red eye works very well. I've found with other cameras I always had a problem with red eye when taking pictures of my dog, but with this one I haven't had that problem. The software that comes with this camera is very user friendly. The closeup function works pretty well, you just have to watch the lighting with that to get good quality pics. The camera uses up batteries fast, but all of them do when you use the LCD display alot, which I do.

Hello,
I use this camera everyday for work. I am an independent automotive inspector for many aftermarket warranty companies. When they send me on an assignment, they expect lots of photos of all the failed parts of the car and uploaded the same day. I was truly impressed with the ViviCam 3615!!!Being my first digital camera (although not my first Vivitar Product), I really didn't know what to expect. But, I found this camera very easy to use with outstanding photo results. It comes complete with user-friendly software and all the cables (USB and video cables for t.v. viewing) at an awesome price. I take lots of close up shots of vehicle ID's and the smallest print comes out crystal clear (at 1600 x 1200). If lighting is a problem (as is the case in many repair shops I visit), either the built-in flash or the enhance mode on the software can be used for adjustment. Definately invest in the Flash Card for added memory, especially if planning on taking a lot pix before uploading. A 32MB Flash Card increases the capacity up to 347 pix at 600 X 800 "good quality" resolution or 85 pix 1600 x 1200 "good quality" resolution. Except when shooting Vehicle ID #'s, I usually keep the setting at 600 x 800 "best quality" and can easily shoot 60-75 pix with no hassles. My biggest and only gripe-it goes through alkaline batteries like crazy and I am looking to switch to a compatible rechargeable set. Other cameras I shopped were more expensive and did not come with cables or the freedom to use AA batteries. Overall, EXCELLENT PRODUCT AT AN EXCELLENT PRICE...I definately recommend it. If anyone wants to see samples of pix I take on a daily basis, ...Good Luck!!!

Yes, it takes great pictures, but there are several things I'd change about it. First, don't trust the wrist strap to hold the camera. My broke in a matter of days and the camera plummeted to the ground. It's extremely flimsy for and $800 camera. Second, there is a one-second delay between the time you push the shutter button and the time the camera takes the picture. This is extremely annoying for users of traditional cameras that respond the instant you activate the shutter. It makes candid shots nearly impossible. Third, the camera is ridiculously clumsy to hold. It's not built to fit the human hand at all. The user's thumb naturally lands on the LCD screen, which is very difficult to clean after ; the camera fall over too easily when standing on its base; it's very easy to drop. Fourth, the LCD screen is hyped as a great feature: well, what Kodak fails to tell you is that using the LCD screen while the camera's running on batteries causes the batteries to overheat and freeze the camera until the batteries return to normal temperature. Yes, the camera takes great pictures, but you'll probably be disappointed by everything else wrong with it.

i has read a review of someone talking about "the great" software interface...
yes, i think its great when do you dont use the letter that the software assign to the camera!!! i was instaled the cam, and later, plug a new HD and installed programs there... then, is very hard to uninstall/reinstall all programs cause a new HD letter assignament, then... i try to move the camera letter...
I CANT!! and kodak, have a solution... MOVE YOUR HD LETTER.
im now reinstalling programs like "websphere studio", "MS VC++ 6" and other heavy disk load :(

I have taken over 2,200 pictures with this camera and I am amazed of the quality. Even pictures that I didn't think would come up due to poor lighting come out excellent. The medium resolution is my favorite. It gives the best balance between picture size and storage.

The USB interface allows you to drag the photos from the camera to your computer. You just highlight all the pictures and drag them to the folder you want to store them in. It transfered each image fast but there is a long pause between each picture. I purchased a USB card reader and it copies about 15 times faster.

Basically don't think that the USB interface for the Kodak means fast downloads, it will be just as slow as serial (or even slower).

I had Dynax 7000i for quite some time, and since the body developed cracks, I replaced that first with Maxxum 4. But that particular piece would occasionally turn off immediately after being turned on. So I returned that and bought Maxxum 5, with Vectis-1 flash. I am sorry to day that I got results worse that Maxxum4, and both were not comparable to what I got with my old rusty trusty Dynax 7000i. The advantagea are its light weight and small size. I didnot fancy the eye start very much, as I use it mostly in manual mode. To use the D lens's strength, you need to have D flashes, which are not cheap. There is absolutely no vignetting. If you shoot in burst mode, then it doesn't disappoint you.
I am still a bit far from the final verdict, but I am not quite impressed.
Hope this helps you..!

I love my Minolta Maxxum 5. The auto features make this camera easy to use and easy to get great pictures as a novice. Being able to switch individual features to manual also make it easy to learn how to use a 35mm SLR. My camera goes everywhere with me and has held up well. This camera is a lot of fun to use.

I've had a series of minolta SLRs (5xi, 500si, etc), most recently the Maxxum 5. They've all been great and have all done very well for me. Features, sharpness, exposure, automatic and manual modes all just what I need.

When considering the maxxum 5 I was initially worried about the comments about the size and whether my somewhat-large hands would be able to use it comfortably, so I checked it out thoroughly at a local camera shop before buying. no problem. It's light and relatively comfortable, and definitely feature packed, and most features are easy to learn and are accessible.

I have a 28-80mm lens made by quantum that is also light and does well on this body. Also a straight 50mm for low-light and close-up, though the zoom actually does well enough to handle almost all situations I need, even some floral close-ups.

FWIW, I'd probably be classed as an advance amateur.
I've taken photos for many years now.

I had Dynax 7000i for quite some time, and since the body developed cracks, I replaced that first with Maxxum 4. But that particular piece would occasionally turn off immediately after being turned on. So I returned that and bought Maxxum 5, with Vectis-1 flash. I am sorry to day that I got results worse that Maxxum4, and both were not comparable to what I got with my old rusty trusty Dynax 7000i. The advantagea are its light weight and small size. I didnot fancy the eye start very much, as I use it mostly in manual mode. To use the D lens's strength, you need to have D flashes, which are not cheap. There is absolutely no vignetting. If you shoot in burst mode, then it doesn't disappoint you.
I am still a bit far from the final verdict, but I am not quite impressed.
Hope this helps you..!

I love my Minolta Maxxum 5. The auto features make this camera easy to use and easy to get great pictures as a novice. Being able to switch individual features to manual also make it easy to learn how to use a 35mm SLR. My camera goes everywhere with me and has held up well. This camera is a lot of fun to use.

I've had a series of minolta SLRs (5xi, 500si, etc), most recently the Maxxum 5. They've all been great and have all done very well for me. Features, sharpness, exposure, automatic and manual modes all just what I need.

When considering the maxxum 5 I was initially worried about the comments about the size and whether my somewhat-large hands would be able to use it comfortably, so I checked it out thoroughly at a local camera shop before buying. no problem. It's light and relatively comfortable, and definitely feature packed, and most features are easy to learn and are accessible.

I have a 28-80mm lens made by quantum that is also light and does well on this body. Also a straight 50mm for low-light and close-up, though the zoom actually does well enough to handle almost all situations I need, even some floral close-ups.

FWIW, I'd probably be classed as an advance amateur.
I've taken photos for many years now.