Konica Minolta Dimage Z3

The Konica Minolta Dimage is a fair old model has a few good points like the many manual settings. I have shot some great photo's with it but you have to use 1 GB SD memory otherwise it won't work.

Konica Minolta Dimage Z3 - Yes, it is an excellent piece of kit. The 12x zoom is superb, and alone makes the asking price worthwhile. Battery life is good (I'm using 2500mAh rechargeable NiMh), and all features easy to use. Printout is top quality, but do beware some purple fringeing at top resolution. It's not enough to make a difference to printouts but is visible when viewing on a PC monitor.

In a nutshell, the only thing you need to decide upon here is whether you like how the Minolta Dimage Z3 looks. I like it, but I can appreciate how it wouldn't be to everyone's taste -- what is?

If you can get over your initial reaction to the somewhat futuristic style, you'll soon realise that there's functionality in there as well; flip on the viewfinder and you see that you never need to take the camera from your eye because of the perfect ergonomical positioning of the controls, such that each funtion button falls naturally under your fingers. This, combined with an intelligently designed display, means you soon get the hang of doing your adjustments as you frame your photo, without having to examine the display on the back of the camera. I am long-sighted, and I have to reach for my glasses to see a back-of-case display; the inclusion of a diopter on the viewfinder means I can shoot away without having to wear glasses at all! Nice one!

I wouldn't be worried about the 4M vs. 5M pixel argument here -- there's little or no "purple halo" stuff going on here, the effective quality is excellent, and in decent lighting more than good enough to achieve 8x10 prints.

The only reason I hesitated before purchase was that the mags hadn't reviewed many of the Z-series; I have no idea why this is. I've seen photos from the other brands in this price class, and the Z3 is way better than all of them!

Don't forget that this baby is also a handy video camera ... but you should really invest in a decent high-speed SD card before attempting anything you want to keep. I agree with another reviewer on this forum, the ByteStor cards on Amazon are excellent, work at high speed and have never given me a problem. Just be sure you use a USB2.0 reader though, as the camera only does USB1.1 and transferring movies at that speed is ridiculous.

Bettery life is good, but prepare to invest in a few sets of at least 2000mAH NiMH and a fast charger to not have to worry about whether or not you've got enough for that final shot ... but that goes for all digital cameras.

The 12x optical zoom is phenomenal. This thing is practially a telescope, except it's a telescope with an electronic stabilising system that makes sure that even at 12x (that's equivalent to putting a 420mm lens on your 35mm camera!) you can get shots that look pin sharp even on 8x10 prints.

The only other thing I can say is, this is the most camera I've ever gotten for the price. Of course there's a Z5 now I believe, but that will only make the Z3 even better value; but remember, the Z1 and Z2 did not have the anti-shake feature of the Z3 that makes all the difference in low light and at extreme zoom levels.

I bought my Minolta Dimage Z3 after reading good reviews in various places and I can honestly say they are not wrong. I have been into photography for about 15 years and I also own a Minolta Dynax 4 SLR which too is brilliant!

The features on the camera are too many to mention here and the quality of the printed pics is outstanding plus having anti-shake on a camera of this price is very good. The zoom is one of the highest around (12x) the macro funtction is brilliant.

My ony real gripe with the camera is the memory card is tiny when you buy it but I upgraded to a 256meg card for only £17 and rechargeable batteries are a must as this camera can use a lot of juice.

On the whole a superb camera with a design that fits snug in your hand.

Thanks Konica Minolta...

The Konica Minolta Dimage Z3 has the most amazing 12 times optical zoom lens. As a general camera for outside use it is very hard for me to fault. The zoom lens is backed up by a very competent anti shake/image stabiliser that cuts in when you press the shutter release button half way, also locking the focus at the same time. The stabiliser is a true marvel here. When using maximum zoom (optical, I don't use digital), holding the camera in hand and not on a tripod, the results are still 99 percent perfect. I have used a friends 10 times zoom in similar conditions but lost almost all the images due to shaking hands at high zoom. I bought this camera mainly for zoom use, so on that front it is absolutely on the mark. However it loses out on other uses when compared to my Optio s4. When used indoors, where available light is provided by electricity, the camera has some noticeable limitations. Use of the zoom indoors under such conditions results in the camera struggling to focus, sometimes failing altogether, coupled with the electronic viewfinders slow refresh rate indoors it can be an irritation that lets down the rest of the unit's greatness. But it has to be said, that those buying a 12 times optical zoom are probably not looking to use it for general pictures and party snaps. Battery life is also limited, but again, with such a huge lens, battery drain is an obvious trade off.

Consequently, I use the s4 for use indoors as it gives faster and better results indoors than the Dimage.

Outside though, in daylight conditions, the Dimage wins hands down, sporting events and the like are the Dimage's hunting ground where the zoom and stabiliser do exactly what's asked.

It also has to be said, that in the time I used the digital zoom for testing purposes, the anti shake coped even at the 48 times settings and provided shake free images.

If you buy this for the correct purpose it is an excellent choice. If however you are buying a general all rounder, then all the megazooms should be avoided, a 3 or perhaps 5 times zoom being more useful for general purpose/all round use.

Current cameras in regular use are a Pentax s4 and the Dimage Z3.