The Minolta Dimage S414 is an upgrade of last year's S404. In appearance
and in most respects, the S414 is indistinguishable from the S404.
Differences
between the S404 and the S414 are few overall, and the additions to this
new updated version are mostly features ported over from the Dimage 7Hi.
The new features that the S414 brings to the S404 design are internal
— by way of a firmware update — and because of this, portions
of this review in the Ergonomics and Characteristics
sections are essentially similar to those available in the S404 review.
The Subject-Program button — the small silver button on the
right of the top display — is used to select the camera's built-in
scene programs when the Auto Mode is in use. Pressing the button
cycles through the subject-programs and the selection is indicated by
a cursor below each icon:
Macro:
sets the lens to the macro position, near the mid-point of the camera's
focal range, and locks the zoom there.
Portrait:
softens skin tones and slightly defocuses the background.
Landscape:
sets the flash to Off, and optimises sharpness and colour.
Night
Portrait:
Balances the flash illumination on the subject with the background
ambient light. The flash can also be forced off to record night scenes
(max. 4 sec exposure).
Text:
records a black and white image.
Text
& Macro:
combines a black and white image and the macro mode.
The Mode Dial has 7 positions, including those for Off,
and Setup:
Auto
Recording Mode: the camera is fully automatic, and limits the
functions that can be addressed through the menu.
Multi-Function
Recording Mode: allows greater control including control over
autofocus and adjustments to the way the image is recorded. The
Multi-function mode is also the access to the Program, Aperture
Priority and Manual modes.
Playback:
for viewing pictures, and histograms; viewing movies, and deleting
images.
Movie
mode: to record movie with sound.
USB
Connection Mode: to connect and download images to a computer.
Although the Mode Dial is easy to use, it turns rather readily, and
can do so as the camera is slipped into a pouch, causing the lens to
extend unexpectedly.
Flash
Modes: Auto flash, Fill-Flash, Flash Cancel, Auto Flash with Red-eye
Reduction, Fill-Flash with Red-eye reduction. In Playback this
button also serves to magnify the image being displayed on the screen
(up to 3.5X in JPEG only). New with the S414, the flash has ADI
(Advanced Distance Integration) to improve the accuracy of the flash
metering.
Drive
Mode:Single Frame Advance; Self-Timer (10 sec.
delay); Remote Control (RC-3 Remote control sold separately);
Continuous Advance for 6 Fine JPEG images at approximately
1.6 fps; Exposure Bracketing, 3 frames over ± 2EV with
a selectable
increment
from 0.3EV to 1.0EV.
Exposure
Compensation: used in conjunction with the right and left arrows
of the controller. (±2EV in 0.3EV increments).
The
Controller,
placed at the upper right of the 1.8 inch LCD screen, serves to control
the zoom with the up and down arrows, while the right and left arrows
can be used for exposure compensation, or aperture and shutter speed selection
in the Manual mode. With the menu on-screen, pressing the Controller in
the centre acts like an "enter" button, confirming selections
while the arrows are used for navigation.
Beside
the large controller, the S414 has three more buttons. The first is the
Menu button, and below is the Quick View/Delete
button. The QV function is to show the last captured photo without having
to switch to the Playback mode.
Last is the Screen button ,
which is used to turn the LCD screen on or off, or remove the information
overlay from the screen. In Playback, the Screen button is also capable
of displaying thumbnails of the images on the card, 9 at a time.
One
of the new features of the S414 is an additional function for the Screen
button. Once enabled in the Setup menu, the button can be used to choose
any one of three additional overlays: a black line composition grid, a
scale, or a real-time histogram.
The real time histogram indicates the brightness of the scene, and is
reliable once the camera has focused. Should the histogram indicate that
the image may be a bit too dark or bright, exposure compensation can be
used to improve the image, and the histogram will take the correction
into account and provide an accurate graph of the image brightness.
The
Dimage S414 is equipped with two AF modes, a Wide Area focus, and
Spot focus, either of which can use Full-time AF, or Single
AF.
With the Wide Area focus, the default, the camera automatically determines
the subject from any one of three horizontal points contained within the
focus brackets. When a focus point is selected, the camera briefly flashes
its position on the screen.
The user-selected Spot AF mode is engaged by holding the controller in
at the centre for a couple of seconds.
Once
all five possible focus points are displayed, the controller is then used
to select a specific point, and a light touch of the shutter release selects
it. The position of the focus point will be retained until changed, even
if the S414 is turned off.
Still, in view of the fact that the S414 is presented as a "new"
camera, it is regrettable that no improvements were made to the S404 design.
For example, the addition of a soft rubber trim to the optical viewfinder
would have been nice.
The Subject-Program button — the small silver button on the
right of the top display — is used to select the camera's built-in
scene programs when the Auto Mode is in use. Pressing the button
cycles through the subject-programs and the selection is indicated by
a cursor below each icon:
,
which is used to turn the LCD screen on or off, or remove the information
overlay from the screen. In Playback, the Screen button is also capable
of displaying thumbnails of the images on the card, 9 at a time. 
