KONICA MINOLTA DELIVERS THE DiMAGE X50 DIGITAL CAMERA

New compact and stylish 5.0 megapixel camera features
a large 2.0-inch LCD screen, enhanced speed and other design improvements

Las Vegas, NV (January 3, 2005) – Konica Minolta is now shipping the new DiMAGE X50 5-megapixel digital camera that takes the DiMAGE X series’ concept of “thin, fast and stylish” and adds increased speed. Compact and lightweight enough to take anywhere and stylish enough to show everyone, the DiMAGE X50 adds the fastest-in-class* startup time, 2.8x non-protruding optical zoom, 5-megapixel CCD, and large 2-inch LCD, to a high quality digital camera in a sleek, compact package.

“The idea behind the design of the new DiMAGE X50 digital camera is to make it fast, easy and fun for anyone to take beautiful, high-quality pictures anywhere, anytime,” said Todd Schrader, vice president of marketing for Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A., Inc. “The camera’s 5 megapixel resolution ensures that even amateur photographers can share their casual snapshots as great enlargements.”

With its non-protruding zooms lens, the compact Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 fits neatly in a shirt pocket and is ready in an instant—thanks to the approximately 0.5-second startup time—to take those spur-of-the-moment shots and ensure that users never miss a photo opportunity. The camera’s Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection automatically selects the optimum-shooting mode for the subject at hand, allowing photographers to take beautiful photos that match the needs of the particular photographic scene.

The DiMAGE X50’s 5-megapixel CCD and proprietary Konica Minolta CxProcess™ II image processing technology combine to provide photographers with high quality images— pictures that reproduce the natural colors as faithfully as they see them with their own eyes. The camera’s zoom lens range covers everything from wide-angle shots to close-ups that are clearly focused as near as 4 inches from the subject, without the need to switch to macro mode. If a photographer needs to get even closer, the DiMAGE X50 also features a Super Macro mode to take extreme close-ups as near as 2.4 inches.

While still as thin and light as previous X-series Konica Minolta cameras, the new DiMAGE X50 incorporates a larger 2-inch LCD screen with easy-to-view menus for greater ease of operation. And the camera’s new sliding cover protects the lens, so there’s no need to worry about putting the camera inside a pocket or purse. The DiMAGE X50 is currently shipping. Street price is $399.

For more information, please visit http://konicaminolta.com/products/co...camera/dimage/

* As of April 2004, for 3x optical zoom digital cameras.