Aplux Reviews

I bought the HTsi+, Minolta 28-80 and 70-210 and the 5400HS flash. It is a wonderful combination. The camera is the perfect combination of sophistication and simplicity. I have not yet had a bad photo or incorrect exposure. If all you want is a "point and shoot", it'll do that. If you want absolute control of the camera, you can do that. In between are enough modes and settings to keep a very advanced amateur satisfied. The flash is amazing. It has a guide number of 152. It follows every movement of the lens, zooming instantly. It can also be used off the camera and is triggered by the HTsi's built-in fill flash. I was a little worried about the heavy use of plastics in the camera. I have pleasantly surprised - plastics have come a long way. I do not hesitate to recommend this camera.

My choice came down to Minolta HTSi Plus or Canon EOS Rebel X or 2000. Features are VERY similar. I preferred the HTSi Plus' feel and viewer displays, so I choice Minolta's body. (FYI, I worked with the 28-80 lens for 3 weeks, then decided to upgrade to a 28-200mm for more flexibility.) The features allow tons of growth/learning by the photographer, while still taking great shots right out of the box. It's designed so that the photographer can take as much control over the shot as they want, with the onboard computer handling whatever the photographer doesn't feel comfortable with: From focus to aperture and fstop settings. Variety of optional presets allow immediate creativity while the photographer learns more about lighting, angles, film, and composition with each shot. No, I don't work for Minolta. I just love their camera.

I wasn't sure what I would receive when I order this item as there is no description about what is included in this "kit." In addition to the pictured case, the kit includes a one year warranty extension and a skylight filter for the camera. The case is not very good quality and I already had the filter. Think twice about this one!

then this might be for you. I received this as a freebee with my QTsi. You can store your camera in it, and that's about it. The mesh pockets are too small for anything other than a filterr two (in small protective cases), a roll of film and batteries. I upgraded immediately, but I also needed the space for accessories I needed. If you want to store a camera, this will do it. Don't count on much space left over, however.

I needed a camera bag and didn't know where to start. I like the bag; it's soft sided, fits my camera, has good handles and holds a couple extra rolls of film. Don't expect extras from the kit... but if you need a bag... this one is nice.

I have a mixed review of this camera since i bought it about 8 months ago. Over all the technology for the price you get in this camera is great, with the exception of the Auto Focus (AF). When used in manual, you can get great pictures with this camera, but then you can get good pictures with any camera that works in manual, if you know what your doing. So the real issue is how good the AF works, which is how you end up taking 80% of your shots anyways. The AF on the Minolta HTsi Plus has some problems. One, it is a little slow to focus. I tried the Canon Rebel in the camera shop after I bought this camera and found the AF to be much faster. Two, this camera seems to have some serious exposure problems in AF. It never quite gets the exposure right. For example outside shots look bleached out more often then not, even when you try to light meter off the brightest spot first. Also, the contrast in color seems to always come out weak with this camera. I am not sure how much of this is the camera's fault or lens's fault as film also plays a role here, but pictures defiantly come out color poor. I have used a number of different films with this and they all come out color poor.

Over all the technology in this Camera is good -AF so if you always use manual, this camera is good for that. But if you think you are going to do some percentage of point and shot with this camera, I would look elsewhere. If i had to do it over, I would have spent a little more and got the Canon Rebel.

I went from a point and shoot camera to this one and I love it! In plain English, I can set the f-stop, set how long the shutter stays open, take two pictures in the same frame, take continuous shots, and exposure bracketing lets me set the meter then it takes three shots: the one I set, 1/2 stop under and 1/2 stop over. Plus, in the five program modes I just press a button to select which mode (macro, night, landscape, etc.) and it automatically knows where to focus for the kind of picture I want. Just about all the features of a full manual camera, yet I just press the P button and it goes right back to full-auto point and shoot mode. With 400 speed film I've taken excellent pictures in almost no light in the night mode.

As far as I can tell it lacks only two features: it doesn't time-date stamp and there is no panoramic mode. Also, the infra-red sensor on the front of the camera is apparently for the auto-focus, not for a remote/remote shutter capability, as I was told when I bought it. A remote shutter release cord is available for this camera... (Minolta part # RC1000L for the 16ft and RC1000S for the 15in.)

I bought my HTsi Plus in a camera shop and paid... more for it, so you can't go wrong getting it here.

I purchased a Minolta HTsi Plus camera in October 2000 and have shot an average of two rolls of film per week with this camera since then. I have nothing but praise for this camera. The HTsi Plus has never failed me in any way. I suggest you buy the body only. Don't spend money on a 28-80 lens that may come in some camera kits; rather put that money into a lens that gives you much more flexibility, like a 28-200 lens. I use Sigma 28-200 and 70-300 auto focus lenses, and I can report nothing but satisfaction, reliability, and ease of use. I had considered purchasing a more expensive SLR camera, but today I am pleased I did not, for this camera is perfect for me, an experienced but amateur photographer. I have had loads of fun with this camera and taken hundreds of wonderful photos. I recommend the Minolta HTsi Plus without hesitation or qualification.

I bought Plus for XP, recently, then I installed it. I was expecting a Microsoft Plus that added great features like Plus 98. But, it was nothing like that. First, there was 4 measily little themes. And the fish screen saver, which if you want more fish, you'd have to pay for it. Well what was the $...for anyway? And the games! For heavens sake. Why put a stinkin lite edition into a $...collection of programs. And there are other programs that I might not fool with anyway.

For those who are looking to buy this, please note that you at least need a 500 megahertz computer, 64MB of RAM, and a 3D video card with 16, I repeat 16MB of video memory.

If Microsoft had added such things as an Antivirus to the program, more desktop themes, FULL EDITION Games, and less steep requirements, then I'd recommend this to everyone.

So if your at the store, leave this on the shelf!!!

PS - This program is a prime example of Bloatware.

Just bought it not worth the hassle

Its not very functional without tonnes of MS downloads so dont buy it if you have a 56kb modem like me. I dont want to have to download a tonne of updates, I want functional out of the box.

Product Activation should not be on products this cheap, its a waste of my time. I have no problem with activation on Windows and Office because theyre high value products and at least you get to try them out before activating... This though is a hassle.

The digital music converion program only converts to WMA, I expect at least one alternative format such as WAV or MP3. Bad software in a pretty box.

I don't really use most of the programs in this package...except Photo Story. Photo Story is incredible! I have done video CDs for my parents' wedding anniversary, seniors graduating from high school (we have two seniors in our private school and will use the stories at graduation), a teacher appreciation banquet, etc. Just hook your DVD player to a projector, and voila! You're ready to go. The ability to add music really makes the stories moving. My only complaint is that you are limited to one music track, so if the story is long, the song just repeats itself over and over. Hopefully, with the next upgrade, they'll add the ability to use more than one music track. That's the only improvement I see that it needs. Great for creating memories for your family and friends!

I bought Plus for XP, recently, then I installed it. I was expecting a Microsoft Plus that added great features like Plus 98. But, it was nothing like that. First, there was 4 measily little themes. And the fish screen saver, which if you want more fish, you'd have to pay for it. Well what was the $...for anyway? And the games! For heavens sake. Why put a stinkin lite edition into a $...collection of programs. And there are other programs that I might not fool with anyway.

For those who are looking to buy this, please note that you at least need a 500 megahertz computer, 64MB of RAM, and a 3D video card with 16, I repeat 16MB of video memory.

If Microsoft had added such things as an Antivirus to the program, more desktop themes, FULL EDITION Games, and less steep requirements, then I'd recommend this to everyone.

So if your at the store, leave this on the shelf!!!

PS - This program is a prime example of Bloatware.

Just bought it not worth the hassle

Its not very functional without tonnes of MS downloads so dont buy it if you have a 56kb modem like me. I dont want to have to download a tonne of updates, I want functional out of the box.

Product Activation should not be on products this cheap, its a waste of my time. I have no problem with activation on Windows and Office because theyre high value products and at least you get to try them out before activating... This though is a hassle.

The digital music converion program only converts to WMA, I expect at least one alternative format such as WAV or MP3. Bad software in a pretty box.

I don't really use most of the programs in this package...except Photo Story. Photo Story is incredible! I have done video CDs for my parents' wedding anniversary, seniors graduating from high school (we have two seniors in our private school and will use the stories at graduation), a teacher appreciation banquet, etc. Just hook your DVD player to a projector, and voila! You're ready to go. The ability to add music really makes the stories moving. My only complaint is that you are limited to one music track, so if the story is long, the song just repeats itself over and over. Hopefully, with the next upgrade, they'll add the ability to use more than one music track. That's the only improvement I see that it needs. Great for creating memories for your family and friends!

I just bought a kodak 3.2 megapixel camera at walmart for $88.
this is VERY overpriced, It looks like it should cost $25 or less

With this camera I was able to making high quality pictures only outside. Inside of any house or room pictures are ugly. They are in very bad red-light or orange-red color. I do not use this camera as I expected and I can't return because package was opened. Of course, I opened to see how this camera work. But requirements for returns by mail does not aloud to return this useless camera back to their place :-(

If you are a user who's hard drive is busting at the seams with pictures and clip art, you might want to take a look at this software. Using Media Center Plus, you will be able to organize your multimedia into collections for easy viewing. And you will also be able to create HTML pages of your pictures... Without the HTML pages, however, nobody without this software on their PC will be able to view your pictures, and the HTML pages are HUGE, so you will not be able to fit a lot of them on a limited server anyway.

For me (I have a medium sized collection), I have found it easier and more economical to organize my collections by folders, or even ZIP files. Basically accomplishes the same thing, don't pay a dime for the added functionality!

When I bought this software, I paid $.01 for it (because I bought it with Paint Shop Pro). That is what this software is worth to me. Does the job, but is it a job you really need done? And, is it really worth the money? I have found that the answer to both questions is NO.

This software is good for one thing and one thing only. It's simple and easy to use. However, its strength is never really publicized. I have 100 pictures that I need to print - How do I do it? Media Center. By default the page is setup for thumbnails but in a second I can set it up for Full Page, with comments and file name displayed and print 100 photos. Awesome! There is no other program that can do this with the same attention to detail as Media Center. All the other things it does are just icing.

If you buy the Anniversary Edition of "Paint Shop Pro" you also get Media Center and Animation workshop - this is the best buy of any Graphics package anywhere.

Jasc Media Center is Excellent -

Media 3d-animator Artist like myself need software like media center to allow me and other artist in our studio to visually see hundreds of media pictures and textures. Without Jasc Media Center, you would have to open every individual media file just to remember what the texture or picture looks like. Just the same way an Artist uses a Paint Palette with swatches to paint. A Media artist needs to see textures, pictures in Jpeg, bump, html, tag, gif, etc.,. -- in front of them while creating graphic art. Jasc Media Center successfully searches and finds all graphic software and translates format to incorporate into Media center. I can now keep all my media files in one central server or directory and media center can visually organize them for everyone in my group see and use.