Customer Reviews
6 Months and Screen Already Broken 
2008-09-27
I bought this camera and within 6 months the screen broke. I would not recommend buying this camera, the company does not have a warranty and there is nothing to do once it is broken.
Konica Minolta DiMage ultra compact digital zoom camera 
2007-10-19
I have found this camera to be one of the very best of its type. The operating system is ultra quick, fastest of any digital camera I have ever seen so you can grab that quick picture you might otherwise miss. The pictures are ultra sharp and can easily be enlarged to 11X14. The zoom feature is easy to use and there are more features then most people could ever use. The rechargeable battery lasts a very long time even when heavly using the flash. An added bonus is it has a real viewfinder that makes it easy to use in bright sun. It is easily pocketable, pants or shirt. Its one weakness is the viewscreen, which can be easily broken if the camera is accidently dropped on its edge. The camera is tough enough to keep working, but you'll have to wait to down load your SD card onto your computer to view your shots if you were unluckly enough to break the screen. In general, this is a tough little camera. Too bad Konica Minolta got out of the camera business and too bad Kodak or some other company didn't pick up this model or the X60 and continue manufacturing it. It would take a digital SLR to take better quality pictures.
Incredible camera, incredibly inept warranty service! They broke my camera! 
2007-06-26
The X50 is the ultra ultracompact! But mine had a very common problem. After weeks of normal use and NO DROPPING the LCD got stuck in the ultra high contrast mode! You can see "ghosts" on the screen when you turn it a certain way and you can read some of the menu items. I even used the included A/V cable to see the menus on my TV and adjust the contrast - no luck. So I did the online customer service request for a warranty repair and received the RMA. There was NO DAMAGE to the LCD, it just wouldn't display properly. My X50 still took wonderful pictures, I would just use the button to turn off the barely-functioning display. There were no other problems with my camera. Weeks later I was told by Sony/Konica/Minolta service that my camera (just a few weeks old) suffered from corruption and that they would CHARGE ME for the covered repair. I didn't pay, they sent it back totally BROKEN. No power, no pics, & no recourse for me. They refu$e to return it to the working condition it was in. THEY are CORRUPT!
Good camera, after two years autofocus fails, but fixable 
2007-06-05
In case your autofocus stops working (which mine did after attempting to zoom). Power cycling, reseting to factory default, lens cleaning did not help, but after several zoom outs and ins, the autofocus came back. Apparently, the zoom mechanicism some how interfered with the autofocus. Typically, I do not use the zoom feature and will avoid it in the future. Otherwise, for 2+ years, this has been a very good camera.
Very Good Camera 2007-04-10
This camera has met and exceeded all my expectations for portability and quality. However after 2 years of use, the screen stopped working, and with Konica Minolta no longer in operation, locating repair service has been troublesome.
A great little camera 2007-01-09
The Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 is handy enough to take anywhere and stylish enough to show everyone. Add the fastest-in-class startup time, 2.8X non-protruding optical zoom, 5-megapixel CCD, and large 2-inch LCD, and you've got a high quality digital camera in a sleek, compact package.The 5-megapixel DiMAGE X50 digital camera takes the DiMAGE X series' concept of "thin, fast and stylish" and adds even more speed.With its non-protruding zooms lens, the DiMAGE X50 fits neatly in a breast pocket and is ready when you are-thanks to the approx. 0.5-second startup time - to take those spur-of-the-moment shots and ensure that you never miss a photo opportunity. Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection automatically selects the optimum shooting mode for the subject at hand, allowing you to take beautiful photos that match the needs of the particular scene. In short, the DiMAGE X50 makes it fast and easy for anyone to take beautiful, high-quality pictures anytime.The DiMAGE X50's 5-megapixel CCD and proprietary CxProcess II image processing technology combine to give superb quality images - pictures that reproduce the natural colors as faithfully as you see them with your own eyes. The zoom range gives everything from wide-angle shots to close-ups that are clearly focused as near as 10 cm from the subject, without the need to switch to macro mode. If you need to get even closer, the Super Macro mode based on Konica Minolta's newly developed optics system gives amazing close-ups as near as 6 cm.The DiMAGE X50 has a large 2-inch LCD screen whose easy-to-view menus equal greater ease of operation. And the slide cover protects the lens, so there's no need to worry about putting the camera inside a pocket or purse.
Better than you might think for it's intended purpose 2006-08-23
I have read a few bad reviews for the X50, but most of them point out that they bought lemons. I think this has to do with the camera's size and intrinsic frailness if it is not assembled right. So, be sure you buy it someplace that will replace it or refund your money, so you will have recourse if you have this experience.
With that caveat, I have to say that I am impressed very much with this sporty little camera. And it IS sporty. I've taken it out and not missed those interesting city street scenes I've always wanted to capture, when before I had been really frustrated by my slow and bulky fully manual camera. It's not just a point and shoot. It's a really fun camera to take out on the town and catch action shots with. That's not to say it doesn't have features that go beyond point and shoot that a lot of people just don't want to learn about or practice getting right It's not fully manual, OK, but I already have one of those and it is too bulky to take into the city and take great and interesting pictures of street scenes. This is the intended purpose for the X50 IMO.
I had a Minolta G530, but I dropped it in some coffee and I've been without a small camera for a while. At first, I thought the G530 was better than the X50, but I am coming around to thinking the X50 will be just as good once I get better at quickly working some of the controls that are a layer or two down. The bright idea of Minolta, though, was to give you the ability to bring the function you think will be the most important for the current shooting situation to the first level of control. If you are in changing light with bright sun alternating with thick clouds, then bring the exposure compensation up to the first layer of control. You can do this with ISO sensitivity, quality settings (i.e., fine, normal, etc.) white balance, exposure compensation, metering mode, color mode, and the ability to change the 2" LCD's brightness. It takes excellent outdoors night shots, and I plan on taking it out with a tripod this weekend to see what it can really do with the 2.8 zoom. under city lights It seems like not much, but I think it will be able to use some of the digital zoom with the tripod. I will give my report afterwards. (I know, what's the point of a small camera if you are going to use a tripod? The thing is, I have a half size tripod that I can collapse and carry in a backpack, or even in my jacket pocket.) I will also take some shots without the tripod. I've already done this with great results.
As far as overall picture quality goes, it is quite good if you keep the ISO down. I have heard that if you make prints up to 8X10 they come out really well. On the computer screen, I have noticed a little noise, but it is almost not noticeable. There was no noise at all with the night shots.
It also has some presets, but the only one I have used so far is the macro.
I can only tell you my experience with the battery. I took it for a 4-hour walk yesterday and took about 100 shots on a 1-gig card. I had the power save on 1 min and the camera shut itself down dutifully and powered back up as soon as I touched the shutter button. I used the LCD for every shot and I still had some juice in the battery when I got home, although not much. Even so, I would recommend an extra battery, since you can't always be sure you will start out with a full charge on the one you have loaded into the camera. The battery charger is actually about the same size of the camera, so it would be no problem to carry it a jacket pocket if you were staying at a hotel, or visiting someone. It also has a changeable cable for the outlet, so when you travel to a foreign county, you can just pick up a local cord there.
The internal zoom is a good feature too. Makes it faster to get it up and running - remember, I said "sporty." There is another advantage to this, which is there is no external barrel to worry about. It also makes the camera that much sexier.
I give it a 5,because I really like its smallness, which makes it quick with the ability to get those street scenes you would miss otherwise. If you want to use it for your kid's birthday party, then buy something else. You'll have to really work at overcoming the problems this camera has with contrasts with indoor scenes, like a boy or girl about to blow out the candles on the birthday cake in a low lit room. Size and sportiness might get you noticed by the other moms and dads there, but it's the pictures you really should care about - so buy a camera that is made for those situations. There are plenty of good ones to choose from.
That's my take on the X50. Maybe they should have called it the X-15.
Excellent camera for the price 2006-05-03
I spent almost 2 months searching the internet for a camera, when a friend recommened Konica Minolta. They had previously bought another model and loved it. I looked on the Minolta sight and saw this camera. However, I looked at the price range, and it was very far out of my budget. This seemed like the ideal camera for me, except for the price. It was small and very travel-friendly. I scanned ebay, and I found a great deal, for $100, new! I was delighted, and when it came, I tested it out, and it was perfect. I love this camera because of the size, the picture quality, and it's EXCELLET super macro mode. I had high expectations, and it met all of them. The only reason that I didn't give it a 5 star rating is because the internal optical zoom is a bit loud, and the battery life is questionable. But so far this has been a great camera for a beginner, like me, and I highly recommend it. If you are thinking of buying this camera, I would recommend you by a protective case for traveling and a screen protector.
Too unpredictable, fragile and unreliable for the money 
2006-03-12
I bought this camera because of the size, the "decent" zoom and mostly the 5.0 megaPix, but I was very disappointed in no time. The reason I say unpredictable, because when it comes to taking pictures with the zoom and or the flash feature, you never know what you will get. I'm a modest with digital cameras and photography but still, when I use the zoom, 6 out of 10 pics come out so extremely fuzzy I end up deleting them. This goes for the so call "macro" feature as well, which was the main reason I needed the camera in the first place. The flash is so unreliable even in the proper background. I waste too much precious time having to fiddle and praying the pic comes out ok, due to the poor focus lens. This brings me to say, I also think the response time is too slow when trying to get a quick shot. You would think for all the features the camera offers the response would be a little faster. I think partly because it has such a poor focus lens that it takes precious time trying to - focus. By the time it "clicks" it's too late and yet it still comes out fuzzy.
The worse part, I bought the camera exactly a year ago and in Jan/2006 I had to send it away while it was still under warranty because the display just went out on me without warning, and for no reason. I take very good care of all my electronics, so I'm perplexed.
However, out of fairness I could say it can be a fairly decent camera if you have patience and no high expectations. I do like the video feature, it did come in handy a few times, but don't rely on the zoom in feature on that either, even just one notch of zoom, you never know what you might get.
Great pictures, flimsy casing, lousy customer service 2005-11-23
As a loyal customer of Minolta, I purchased the x50 with confidence. While the camera has some of the high-quality expectations and features of a Minolta, as previous customers have noted, the casing and the battery cover are extremely flimsy and not the expected Minolta quality. After using the camera only 6 months, the LCD screen displayed a red line and then days later multiple colored lines, rendering the screen useless. After not receiving contact from the repair center for over a month, I contacted them. Their response was the infamous "impact damage" which was not covered by the warranty and the repair cost was their infamous $148. I talked with numerous customer (dis)service representatives and managers in an effort to determine how impact damage can happen during just normal usage. They said that "if you carry your camera in your pocket and get even a slight bump that can cause impact damage". Seems like a flimsy excuse for a flimsy camera!
