A thrifting tip led me to a 48 megapixel camera for less than a hundred dollars at Costco. Branded Minolta. My air quotes. Kanuka Minolta. Costco Minolta. It is not the real Minolta.
I am a Minolta guy from way back. I worked at Ritz Camera Centers from 1981 to 85. I used to borrow the X700 from the display at Seven Corners in Falls Church, Virginia for a quick roll. I own an SR7 and a Hi-Matic.
I bought the Costco camera knowing I would return it. Liberal return policy. I kept the box pristine for the reboxing. Maybe the first time in YouTube photography history.
Unboxing: plasticky as hell. Light. Tiny. Big Teemu feels. Slow power up, so no spontaneous street shooting. Zoom lens with telephoto and wide buttons. A selfie button. 4K video. Anti shake. A tiny battery. Battery life is four shots. An LED flash like a phone’s. The worst flash I have ever seen. Subjects close their eyes. The poor deer.
The kicker: the files are 6.93 megapixels. The 48 megapixels is interpolation, when they take an 8 or 12 megapixel image and upscale it. The operating system is identical to my kid’s fake Leica.
Samples straight out of camera, unedited. The low light deer: poor. The sunny fire hydrant, the candies, the store signs: not terrible. Colorful.
Side note: Elite Brands makes these. They also own Bell and Howell and Rokinon, which is Samyang. If you buy a Rokinon lens, it is made by the same company.
Who is it for? Not my serious photographer viewers. It is for a mom or dad or grandparent buying a first camera for a kid who cannot afford the inflated prices on ten to fifteen year old digicams. And I confess, I sold my own old digicams for hundreds, thousands. A broken S95 for 240 dollars. The screen was broken.
If it looks like 48 megapixels, then is perception not reality?
The Minolta name triggered me. The performance did not impress me. But for who I think they made it for, I think it is perfect. Back to Costco it goes.
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