Minolta's larger APS zoom compact — 30-90mm aspherical 3x zoom, infrared AF, four subject programs.
The Minolta Vectis 30 was a compact zoom camera in Minolta's Vectis series of point-and-shoots for the Advanced Photo System, arriving after the original April 1996 launch quartet of Vectis 20, 25, 40 and UC. It was manufactured in Malaysia, and its body is roughly the size of an average 35mm compact, making it one of the larger APS compacts.
It carries a Minolta Aspherical 30-90mm 3x zoom lens with infrared autofocus and fully automatic exposure, plus four subject programs for close subjects, portraits, night scenes and landscapes. The built-in flash offers off, on, auto and red-eye-reduction modes, and date and title can be stored on the APS film's magnetic coating. Settings are controlled through a small rear LCD and push-buttons, the front sliding door switches the camera on, and the film chamber opens electrically after motorised rewind.
It suits point-and-shoot users who wanted a usefully long zoom with genuinely simple operation; everything beyond framing is menu-button driven, and the zoom finder adjusts its frame to the chosen APS print format. The larger body gives more to hold than the tiny Vectis 20, at the cost of pocketability.
APS film was discontinued in 2011, so the Vectis 30 shoots only expired cartridges and many are sold for display or parts. The camera is entirely battery-dependent: confirm the sliding front door wakes it, the electric film door and motor wind cycle, the flash charges, and the rear LCD has no missing segments or bleed before paying shooter money.