Minolta DiMAGE F300 (2003)

The Minolta DiMAGE F300 was announced on January 8, 2003, at CES in Las Vegas. It was a five-megapixel compact that Minolta positioned as the successor to the DiMAGE F100, which had launched less than a year earlier. The F300 kept the slim body concept of the F100 but stepped up to a 5.3-megapixel 1/1.8-type interline primary-color CCD (5.0 million effective pixels). It retained the same 3x optical zoom Minolta GT lens, which Minolta credited for color accuracy.

The body is metal, finished in silver. The mode dial offers Auto-recording, Multi-function recording, Playback, Movie-recording, Setup, and Audio recording modes. Movie and audio recording were notable inclusions for a compact of this era. The camera also has Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection, white balance with automatic and preset options, spot metering, manual focus, and subject AF tracking. The instruction manual runs 128 pages and describes the camera as "a sophisticated optical instrument." The lens retracts when the camera is turned off. A data panel on the body displays frame counter, exposure/flash-compensation indicators, camera sensitivity, spot-metering, battery condition, white balance, flash mode, manual-focus, image-size, and image-quality indicators.

Power comes from the supplied CR-V3 battery. When the CR-V3 is exhausted, Minolta recommended two AA-size Ni-MH batteries as a replacement. It explicitly did not recommend Alkaline or Lithium AAs. The AC Adapter AC-6 allowed household-outlet power. The camera could record to either SD or Memory Stick media, per Kamerastore. That is an unusual dual-format setup. A 5-megapixel shot measured 2560 × 1920 pixels, and the maximum ISO was 400.

Period press was mixed but respectful. PCMag UK found the F300 "slow, with pokey boot and recycle times" but noted burst mode was "reasonably fast," and gave it "top honors for the best pixel transition among the cameras we tested." An iXBT Labs review was more measured, observing that "the first thing catching the eye is a larger resolution, but later it turns out that it's not so important." That same source noted the sensor's active diagonal was not the full 1/1.8-type (14.1 mm) but roughly two-thirds of that, about 8.89 mm.

No original retail price, production run length, or detailed specifications (lens focal length, aperture range, shutter speeds, LCD size, weight) have surfaced in the record. A used listing on the Moscow marketplace Avito showed one at 3,800 rubles, but that's a single data point and says little about collectible value.

- Announced: January 8, 2003 (CES)

- Sensor: 5.3-megapixel 1/1.8-type interline primary-color CCD (5.0M effective)

- Lens: 3x optical zoom Minolta GT Lens

- Media: SD or Memory Stick

- Battery: CR-V3 (supplied); AA Ni-MH recommended as replacement

- Modes: Auto, Multi-function, Playback, Movie, Setup, Audio recording