	Below is a message from Minolta regarding the dim possibility of them
releasing the protocols for their newer cameras. In short, the official line
is to buy a flash reader when not using a supported system.




Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 15:42:42 "GMT"
From: MinoltaUSA <dphotoinfo@minolta.com>
To: Customer Service <hartmann@cs.wisc.edu>
Subject: FAQs

Dear Customer, 

The FAQ you submitted on 12/28/00 has been resolved.

Question: 
        Hello,

        Approximately eighteen months ago, I contacted Minolta for
information regarding the serial transfer protocol for the Dimage V,
with the intent of writing a program that would work under Linux and
other Unix variants. Minolta was kind enough to provide this to me,
after I had signed an NDA, but was told that I could &#34;share this
information freely with the Linux community&#34;. Since then, I have written
more than one program to access the camera, and my code has since been
included in a very popular Linux program called gphoto, which aims to
support cameras from many different vendors. More information on gphoto
is available at http://www.gphoto.org/ .

        As I am the only developer currently supporting a Minolta driver
for gphoto, I am often contacted regarding the newer Minolta cameras.
The most common question I receive is if the same serial driver will
work on the newer models as on the Dimage V. I don not believe this to
be the case, but would be interested in finding out an official answer.
        Additionally, would Minolta be willing to release the serial and
USB image transfer specifications for any of the other camera models,
with the same caveats and conditions as before?

        Thanks,
        Gus

Answer: 
We recommend the use of Compact Flash Card Readers for acquiring images from
all of our newer digital cameras on incompatible systems.
