Minolta Vectis -  2000

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Ultra compact 2x zoom camera, completely encapsulate in a smooth aluminium case.

The VECTIS 2000 is featuring a wide 22.5mm - 45mm lens (approx. 28mm - 56mm in the 35mm format) with 2x zoom range. Precise focus is assured for off-centre subjects with Multi-beam AF that uses three LED beams. Compact and high-performance 4-element, 4-group zoom lens includes aspheric surfaces, providing superb image quality from infinity as close as 40cm.

"The Minolta Vectis 2000 takes full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Advanced Photo System to deliver an exceptionally small yet highly specified camera which will appeal as much to the fashion conscious as the demanding photographer. The high quality and stylish metal casing conceals sophisticated automatic systems which combine to make a camera that is desirable for many different reasons."
(Comment by the TIPA organization)

Vectis Ebay 200 2004/11/27 1.95USD (box), 2005/04/04 51AUD (20.88GBP), 2005/04/24 28USD (box), 2005/09/04 12.50GBP (box), 2005/09/13 12GBP (box), 2005/09/20 5.19GBP, 2005/09/23 2.21GBP (box), 2005/11/12 20.50EUR (box), 2006/02/06 33.01USD (box), 2007/01/14 9.15GBP (box), 2007/04/08 6.50GBP (box), 2007/04.08 6.50GBP (box)

Features

Art, Form, and Function, Combined
One look at the Vectis 2000 will tell you it is a camera unlike any other. Its sleek and stylish aluminium shell reflects an artful balance of form and function, protecting the sophisticated optics while offering a smart profile. Even its small, rounded size is designed to attract attention. The Vectis 2000 fits the palm of your hand as easily as it fits your lifestyle. 

New, Ultra-Compact Design for Outstanding Portability
Protecting and encapsulating the Vectis 2000’s high-quality optics and sophisticated technology is a satin-finish aluminium capsule shell. The Vectis 2000 is very easy to take wherever you go because the light, slim body shrinks to an even more compact pebble shape and neatly fits in a pocket, purse, or fanny pack. The capsule-type shell makes it nearly impossible to damage the optics, even without a camera case. 

2X, Quad-Element Aspheric Zoom Lens 
The Vectis 2000 uses Minolta’s exclusive four-element lens design with two double-sided aspheric surfaces, to minimize optical aberrations and create a new level of compactness. The zoom range starts from the wide-angle 22.5mm and stretches to 45mm (approx. 28mm - 56mm in the 35mm format). The wide 22.5mm focal length is ideal for landscape photography and large groups, while the 45mm range is perfect for candid and all-around, general photography.

Multi-Beam Autofocusing with Focus Lock
Unlike conventional compact zoom cameras that use a single infrared beam for autofocusing, the Vectis 2000 uses three precisely aligned LED beams and approximately 250 focusing steps to detect the subject and measure subject distance, regardless of contrast or lighting situations. As a result, even off-centre subjects are rendered in beautifully crisp clarity. Additionally, the focus can be locked by pressing the shutter-release button partway down, allowing the user to creatively position the subject anywhere in the viewfinder frame. 

Programmed Autoexposure
For accurate exposures under a wide range of lighting conditions, the Vectis 2000 features a centre-weighted metering system, and an automatic exposure program that uses shutter speeds from 8 seconds to 1/500 sec. Film speeds from ISO 25 - 3200 may be used.

Close-Up Photography
With the Vectis 2000, photographing miniature subjects produces pictures of precise detail. The close-up (macro) capability allows the user to focus on objects as near as 15.7 inches, at any focal length. The high-quality aspheric lens optics ensure razor-sharp images even at this close distance.

New Close-Framing Guide
The Vectis 2000 features an advanced close-framing guide, which most of today’s compact zoom cameras lack. With it, there is no need to worry about accidentally cutting off a subject’s head because of viewfinder/lens viewing discrepancies. Once the focus is locked, the close-framing guide automatically appears in the viewfinder LCD to direct the user to the proper picture re-composition.

Pop-Up, Multi-Mode Flash with Red-Eye Reduction
The built-in, pop-up flash features autoflash, autoflash with red-eye reduction, manual fill-flash, flash cancel, landscape/night view, and night portrait (slow shutter sync) modes.

Increased Lens-to-Flash Distance for Greater Red-Eye Reduction
When shooting, the Vectis 2000’s sleek, capsule-type body extends to reveal the lens and control pad, and provide a comfortable grip. The built-in flash pops-up to provide an increased lens-to-flash distance, which reduces the chance of the red-eye effect common in flash portraits. The pop-up design also prevents the flash from being accidentally covered by the user’s finger.

Automatic Soft Flash
To prevent a close subject from being overexposed and "washed out," the Vectis 2000 automatically sets a softer flash intensity for close-ups.

Night Portrait Mode
This mode is ideal for photographing a person in front of an illuminated night scene or at sunset. It sets the flash to manual fill with selectable red-eye reduction and allows a maximum shutter speed of 1 second, to balance the flash illumination on the subject with the ambient light in the background. Because of the slow shutter speed, a tripod is recommended to prevent blurring caused by hand-held camera shake.

Landscape/Night View Mode
Landscape/Night View mode sets the autofocus system to infinity and cancels the flash, to ensure the best photographs of scenic, famous landmarks, or night scenes.

Film Chamber Lock
This unique Vectis feature prevents the film chamber door from being opened accidentally when there is usable film in the chamber.

LCD Data Panel
The large, easy to read LCD data panel displays title marks, date/time, ISO, format, battery condition, remote control, frame counter, self-timer, film cassette loaded, and flash modes.

Optional Remote Control
The optional, card-shaped infrared remote control RC-3 provides greater convenience and versatility by allowing the photographer more time to get into the picture than a self-timer. The RC-3 has a working range of approximately 16 feet, and provides either immediate shutter release when pressed, or a 2-second delay before shutter release.

Self-Timer
The convenient self-timer delays shutter release for approximately 10 seconds and allows the user to set up the shot then appear in the photo.

Drop-In Film Loading
With Minolta’s Vectis 2000, film loading is completely mistake free. Simply open the film chamber door on the bottom of the camera and drop in the film cassette. There are no guides to find or film leaders to stretch. Just pop it in, close the film chamber door, and the film will automatically thread itself and advance to the next frame after each shot. At the end of the roll, the film rewinds automatically. Additionally, the power rewind function can be activated at any time.

Three Selectable Print Aspect Ratios
The Vectis 2000 allows the user to select C (Classic 2:3), H (High Definition TV 9:16), or P (Panorama 1:3) print formats, for greater creativity in picture compositions. Pressing the format button causes the viewfinder’s image frame to switch to the appropriate format framing. The format can be selected before shooting, and even changed when ordering reprints. A single roll of film can contain mixed formats.

Double Exposure Prevention
This feature optically detects if an exposed film cassette has been inserted into the camera, and prevents the film from being unintentionally exposed again.

Select Title and Date/Time Imprinting 
This feature is ideal for cataloguing photographs or keeping photo records of important events such as birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc. Any of up to 100 different titles can be imprinted, in 12 different languages. Date/time imprinting is available in year, month, date (mth., dt., yr./dt., mth., yr.)/Hour, minute/No front imprinting formats.

IX Print Quality Improvement
The Vectis 2000 magnetically records filmstrip title, frame title, date & time, print format, film orientation, flash fire, scene brightness value, artificial illumination, and magnification onto the edge of the film for automatic communication to the photofinishing equipment. With this information provided, the equipment can produce better-looking prints. 

Negatives Returned in the Film Cassette
The Advanced Photo System eliminates the need to handle and sort negatives. After developing, the negatives are returned to the user in the original film cassette, for safe storage and easy retrieval.

Index Print
Along with the prints, a handy index print is provided which shows all the photos on the roll, for quick reference. The index print, individual prints, and film cassette containing the negatives share the same identification number, to make ordering reprints or enlargements a snap.

Specifications

Type:

Advanced Photo System (IX 240) lens-shutter camera.

Film:

Advanced Photo System (IX 240) film cassette

Lens:

22.5 - 45mm zoom (approx. 28 - 56mm in the 35mm format); f/5.4 - 6.6; 4 elements in 4 groups (including two double-sided aspheric surfaces)

Focusing:

Three-beam, active infrared AF system

Focusing Range:

C / H: 15.7 in. - infinity; P: Wide: 15.7 in. - infinity; Tele: 3.28 ft. - infinity

Focus Lock:

Activated by pressing the shutter-release button partway down

Exposure System:

Programmed AE with center-weighted metering

Metering Range (ISO 200):

EV4 - 17

Shutter Speed Range:

8 - 1/500 sec

ISO Setting:

Automatic for ISO 25 - 3200 in 1/3EV increments

Film Transport:

Drop-in loading; automatic rewinding / manual rewinding possible

Film Chamber Lock:

Yes

DEP:

Optical Double Exposure Prevention

Flash:

Built-in, retractable type with electronic flash-matic light-intensity control

Modes:

Autoflash, autoflash with red-eye reduction, fill-flash, flash cancel, Night Portrait (with red-eye reduction), Landscape/Night View

Flash Range (ISO 200):

Wide: 15.7 in. – 11.8 ft.; Tele: 15.7 in. – 9.5 ft.

Recycling Time:

Approx. 0.6 - 6.0 sec.

Self-Timer:

Approx. 10 sec. shutter-release delay

Remote Control (optional):

Immediate shutter release / two-second delayed shutter release possible

Viewfinder:

Real-image zoom type (with LCD display)

Field of View:

85% (for subject at 9.8 ft., H format)

Magnification:

0.32 - 0.57X

Diopter:

–1 diopter (for subject at 9.8 ft.)

IX (Information Exchange):

Magnetic IX

Triple Format Selection:

Externally selectable, using IX

Date/Time Imprinting (Front & Back):

Front: Year, month, date (m., d., yr./d., m., yr.) / hour, minute / no imprinting; Back: year, month, day (m., d., yr./d., m., yr.), hour, minute; by magnetic IX

Title Imprinting:

User-select title imprinting in 12 languages each (following the system standards), by magnetic IX

PQI:

Print Quality Improvement, by magnetic IX data

Power:

One 3V lithium (CR2) battery

Battery Condition:

3-stage indication

Battery Performance:

Approx. 11 rolls (based on Minolta's standard test method using 25-exposure film with flash on 50% of exposures)

Dimensions:

4 x 2.2 x 1.1 in.

Weight (without battery):

5.3 oz. (without battery)

 


Last Updated on 12th April 2007