Labs

The Dimage X1 is a peculiar-looking camera. The front is almost featureless, and the lens remains flush with the 20mm-deep body of the camera at all times. Somehow, Konica Minolta has managed to fit a 3x optical zoom inside.

The button layout is a little unorthodox too, but shouldn't take too much getting used to. However, six seconds' wait between shots is too long, and

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the auto-focus sometimes spent three seconds ambling around its range before settling down and letting us take a shot. Nearly all settings are lost on power-down, which can be frustrating, and we found ourselves constantly having to switch off the flash after powering up. Onscreen previews tended to be jerky, especially in low light, and there's no optical viewfinder to rely on.

Image quality is variable. The lens can focus on subjects just 1cm away, which, combined with the 8-megapixel sensor and digital image stabilisation, produced stunning macro shots. However, the auto-focus was often way off in macro mode. Outdoor high-contrast shots looked gorgeous, but elsewhere the auto white balance often gave unrealistic colours, even in natural light. Fortunately, the various other white balance presets usually fixed the problem.

If form is just as important as function then the Dimage X1 is a decent choice, but it's just a bit too weird for our liking.