20 Most Recent Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 Digital Camera Questions & Answers

when it switches to B&W, it's showing you that what you're framing is in a low light condition. perfectly normal behavior as described in the manual

In short, no. Spares are generally no longer available and expensive when they are.

But there are huge numbers of broken A1's and A2's which sell for near-nothing on auction websites which may be purchases as spares donors. The viewfinder lenses on both models are identical, although the actual electronic EVF display is different. Ask the right questions and buy wisely and you'll also end up with spare batteries and all the body covers which might have been lost from yours for no extra cost.

Then check the battery contacts inside the camera are clean.

If that fails then replace the batteries as they do not last forever. Genuine Minolta replacements maintain their performance far longer than cheap generic ones (which often claim to have a larger capacity), but genuines are very expensive and cheapos are, well... cheap, and will need replacing far more often.

Camera Only Shows "Err" on Screen:
1. Press the camera's "Power" button to turn it off. The "Err" message will disappear from the screen while the camera is off.
2. Place the camera in a cool location, out of direct sunlight, for at least 30 minutes. Leave the camera off during this time period.
3. Press the camera's "Power" button to turn it back on. If the "Err" message does not show up again, the camera was simply overheated.
4. Turn off the camera, open the battery door and remove the battery from the camera. Plug the power cord into the camera and turn it on again to see if the error message appears again.
5. Replace the power cord if the message shows up while it is plugged in. Replace only the battery if the message does not display with the battery removed and the power cord plugged in

If this not solve, I suggest call Minolta/Sony for help and tell us what they say: http://esupport.sony.com/
http://eservice.sony.com/webrma/web/index.do
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=120®ion_id=1

Konica Minolta Technical support phone numbers will remain unchanged.
Film Product Support: 1-877-646-6582
Digital Product Support: 1-877-462-4464


Keep us updated.

I looked up the model on dpreview.com - it says the cable you're looking for is a USB-500 cable.
Amazon.com lists the cable with other models that it supports: http://www.amazon.com/Minolta-USB-500-Dimage-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0000A4GKN/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306808957&sr=8-2
I haven't purchased from that vendor, but figured it would be useful for the other models at least. Please comment with any other additional questions you may have, thanks.

Two methods:-

1. Use the slider switch on the left of the camera to set it to MF (manual focus). The focus ring is an electronic one rather than a physical control like the zoom ring, so the response can seem slow.

2 Go into the camera menu and enable DMF (Direct Manual Focus). This allows you to override the autofocus simply by adjusting the focus control, but it does not work if the slider switch is set to the AF C setting (continuous autofocus), it only work in the AF-S (AF only activates once when the shutter is half pressed).

Hi,

The Err message displayed on the Camera screen when the Camera is hot or kept in a hot environment.
To resolve the issue turn off the Camera and allow it to cool, If the Err message displays again, then remove the battery and kept the Camera in cool condition for 1 to 2 hours to cool down the Camera. Remove the power cord if connected to the Camera.
This should resolve the issue.

Thanks for contacting FixYa.

RAW quality will always be at least as good as JPEG quality. The reason your JPEGs are coming out sharper is that the camera is actually doing post-processing on the RAW data, performing sharpening, white balance, contrast and brightness adjustment, etc., before saving the JPEG. The RAW data, as the name implies, is taken straight from the sensor, without the sharpening and other post-processing applied to it.

It's a known issue with both the A1 and the A2, and is caused by very poor design of the strain relief to the flexible circuit board which eventually cracks. If you open the EVF you'll see a small piece of blue or yellow tape on the pcb just where the damage occurs: this was clearly Minolta's pathetic attempt to prevent the problem.

There is effectively no fix for this as the only way ro repair it is to replace the pcb and to keep costs down Minolta made the EVF flexi pcb an integral part of the entire pcb which snakes it's way deep into the camera. If only they'd redesigned it as a separate replaceable section then things would have been easier. You'll notice that Minolta omitted the tilting EVF from the successor to the A2, the closely related Dimage A200.

The best you can attempt to do is to peel off the rubber eyecup (it has a tendency to tear, so be very careful) and then remove the two screws from the underside of the EVF. You'll then see part of the EVF pcb. Note that there are actually two pcbs layered together, one does have a joint in it, but sadly it's not the one which has broken. You'll see a red and a black wire connecting to a plug which attaches to a socket mounted on a side spur of the broken pcb. The blue or yellow tape I mentioned earlier will be stuck to this spur (ignore the second piece of tape right near the EVF lens). Now set the selection switch to the EVF position and turn on the camera. By carefully and gently manipulating the broken area (the break is usually microscopic, so don't expect to see the damage) you can usually achieve a position where the EVF lights up. You may need to apply more tape or some folded paper packing beneath the pcb to get the EVF to remain illuminated, and usually will need to give it umpteen attempts so be patient. When it stays illuminated, reassemble and gently fold the EVF back down. You'll often find that you have to repeat the job a few more times as the action of moving the EVF back down upsets the "repair". Once it's down, and the fix appears to be stable (i.e. it doesn't black) out or blink every time you touch the camera) then carefully glue the eyecup back on and use your preferred method to stick the EVF in it's parked position. I use thin double-sided adhesive foam jointing tape: if you live near a modelling shop or know a radio control modeller, ask for a piece of thin servo tape.

The bad news is that this repair will not last and that you'll have to either learn to love the LCD panel or resign yourself to regular re-fixes, but eventually the damage progresses until beyond repair. For the same reason, if you replace it with a used example, go for the A200 instead. It has the same lens and many of the same features as the A2, although ditches many of the useful manual switches in favour of menu-driven settings.

If you are lucky enough to actually obtain a complete and unused flexible pcb then expect three things: 1. it will cost more than the camera is worth; 2. it will cost far more than that to have it fitted; 3. it WILL fail unless you stick the EVF down permanently as Minolta never revised the design. You probably won't find the part though as Minolta pretty well exhausted the spares supply whilst making repairs under warranty.

The same fault occurs to pretty much all cameras which have articulated displays, whether EVF or LCD and is why top-spec cameras aimed at professional users omit this feature. Pro's want reliability and give their gear a hard time, so articulated gadgetry is a liability.

It's a real shame as the A2 was otherwise my near-perfect all-rounder. In my case I only encountered the problem after buying a broken A2 for spares (just for the rubber eyecup and a few minor parts) and just a few weeks after investing in the rare, expensive and vital BP-200 battery grip. I've stopped using mine altogether now as I simply cannot get to grips with composing on an LCD panel.

Sorry this isn't all good news, but hopefully you'll find my posting to be of use and will be one of the lucky ones whose DIY fix lasts. Feel free to ask me for further advice and please don't forget to rate my answer.

Have you formatted the cards in the camera or in the computer?

Hi.

If you already tried several memory cards, then it looks like the problem is the camera.

To ensure you can go to a camera shop and ask them to test it, but if you already tried several new cards (ensure size of card is within specs).

All you can try is blowing some canned air into the card holder.

If that does not fix the problem , then the card holder may have a broken contact.

In that case I suggest calling the phone number listed on the owners manual to arrange repair.

Regards.

I suggest to take a look in its menu to see that should be a battery kind choise....alkaline ...and another kind...I can not remember ...and maybe its set on the other type beside the ones you are using .....in the end ..try with normal not rechargeable batteries..if you can find some that will fit...until you will be able to try replaceing this ones...