Comdex Spring: Removable lenses go digital

Digital cameras made quite a showing on the Comdex showroom floor. Minolta showed its Dimage EX 1500 line. This 1.5-megapixel camera sells for around $700 (£420). Nothing special there. But the removable/interchangeable lens makes it interesting. Two lenses are available, zoom and wide. Each additional lens costs about $450.

The camera supports a maximum burst mode of seven frames per second. Its optical technology supports 300 lines per millimetre, at a 7mm focal length. Images are stored on CompactFlash. It feels nice, and the additional flexibility of removable lenses makes it even better.

Minolta does not support standard AE/1 removable lenses ahich can be used with Minolta's much higher priced, $5,000 camera. It stitches together two 1.5-megapixel CCDs to create a 2.75-megapixel image. The camera accepts most standard lenses, and it gives the photographer complete control of aperture, f-stop, and other settings. It's ideal for the professional that wants to go digital, but certainly not for the consumer.

Take me to the Spring Comdex special