Customer Reviews

Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've had my Z2 for about a week and I am very impressed with it. This is my fifth digital still camera (the last was a Sony DSC-S75). Other reviewers have complained of poor image quality and noisy zooming during videos. It almost seems as if they are talking about a different camera. My Z2 has produced very sharp and colorful images (flesh tones are a bit oversaturated even at the "natural" color setting) and the zoom is COMPLETELY silent in the videos I've taken. One reviewer said the videos cannot be edited, but that is not true. The camera comes with Arcsoft software to do some crude editing on the Quicktime (*.mov) files, but it also allows you to save the video in other formats such as MPEG, AVI, and WMV. In those other formats the Windows XP Windows Movie Maker will do additional editing. I recommend you use the AVI version since it seems to introduce the fewest compression artifacts. But you have to download the camera's firmware update (version 1.02, posted 04/23/04) at http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPGProducts?cname=dig in order to get the sound to transfer along with the video. When you are at the site you have to navigate to the Z2 page and then select "software." Another virtue I've discovered -- the camera is efficient in its use of energy.

The deficiencies I've found have to do mainly with downloading images and dealing with them once they are in my computer. The Windows XP download wizard cannot rotate images that were taken in vertical format (as it was able to do with my Sony) unless I first rotate the image in the camera's playback display. Images come in as JPEGS, with perhaps a bit more compression than I would like in the "fine" mode - the file sizes for these 4-megapixel photos are about the same as they were with my 3-megapixel Sony. When I edit an image and then try to save it again as a jpeg, my Ulead PhotoImpact 6.0 software cannot compress the image as much as I may need. And my Printmaster 7.0 cannot see the image, though other JPEGS come in just fine. The workaround that I use is to save the Minolta's image as a Bitmap, close the bitmap file, then reopen it, and then save it as a JPEG at the desired level of compression -- and then Printmaster can see it. Perhaps Minolta has done something with the EXIF data that these software applications cannot deal with.

With a camera that generates such widely differing reviews it might be a good idea to buy it where you can return it easily. I got mine at WalMart (Circuit City was out of them) for something like $50 more than the Amazon price, just so I could bring it back quickly. But I'm keeping mine.

I have had the Z2 now for about a month. I have taken very many pictures low light, bright sun light, and about every other condition. It has performed very well. I pick this camera for myself because of price and the video function is the best but video is good only for those quick shots. Needs lots of memory. 512mb will get you about 5 minutes in high res.

When using zoom near its peak you must have a steady hand. I usually brace my elbows but I have tripod as well. Outdoor light this camera is at its best. I think it out performs any in its price range. The video is perfect in this situation as well and I have not notice any zooming noise in my camera.

With night pictures it is little harder to point an shoot. If you are automatic mode, it obivously more delay. It takes little more time to get a picture and video doesn't look very well. Night pictures can be performed well but with some time figuring out your controls.

Cloudy days the camera still does very well.

I have had no problems with using it with XP. I haven't tried it with a MAC. The flash is one of the brightest that I have seen on a digital camera in this price range. Lights up average size living room with no problem.

I do a lot of wildlife photography and I must say that with the zoom I have been very pleased. I have also purchased addition lens but haven't try them in normal settings. The Z2 works very well outdoors with video and pictures. I do a lot of croping and my standard size is a 5x7. It has done better than I expected.

Considering features and price, it is very good package and one the best camera in its range and is very lite.

I tested for color hazing and it has a little, but it is not noticable to any professional that I talked too. However, this is not professional camera but you get some professional pictures out of it.

Dimage Z2 feels good in your hands. The grip handle has well spaced and placed buttons. The neat LCD screen/viewfinder switcher option is very handy. The LCD screen does not fold out for odd-angle viewing. This camera will not fit into a pocket, but is surprisingly light.
The controls are pretty intuitive, but also extensive. They're a lot easier to understand than most VCR's. Of course, this might be faint praise...
Pictures look fine on my 17 inch laptop screen. Since I do not print out my pictures much, 4MP is more than enough. At half the price of the digital Rebel (and the like), I can live with half the megapixels of digital SLR's. The 16meg SD card that it comes with is completely inadequate. My 512 SD card might seem like overkill, unless you want to film movies. Then, the 512 seems just adequate.
The movie-mode is the best I've seen on a camera. If you pick your spots carefully, you can film a wedding in both still and movie modes, and be pleased by both results. However, the motor on the lense is very loud when employed during filming, and will be noticably picked up. In other words, DON'T zoom while filming. The 10X optical lense will make you forget the digital zoom. If you must go for the digital gusto, unless you've got nerves of steel and hands of granite, use a monopod. Z2's focus lock option allows you to properly compose your picture with your subject off center. The focus is fast (if not quiet) and pretty responsive. The flash is powerful (red-eye reduction), and there is a hot-shoe for a larger flash unit.
The 2 AA battery (with AC power option) allows a lot of flexibility. An optional battery unit is available that pretty much provides enough juice to run a small Irish village (excluding the pub).
If you can accept that it is what it is (a consumer camera with lots of neat features in a well-thought-out package), then Z2 deserves its 5 stars.

I've had this camera for a little over a month and so far, I love it. It's got the full-auto (point-and-shoot) mode for the casual photographer/beginner, but it also has a variety of manual modes and advanced features like aperture priority, shutter priority, program mode, and full manual, as well as manual white balance for those interested in learning the art of (digital) photography.

The two built in macro modes (close and *really* close) allow for excellent close-up shots. Despite having almost no experience in photography beyond point-and-shoot cameras, I was taking pretty good macro shots my first day with it (at least that's what mom said ;). The 10x zoom is great for the long shots. The 16MB SD card is useless (pick up at least 256MB). I still carry the 16 for a spare, but at the highest image resolution, I doubt I could fit 10 pictures on it.

Do yourself a favor and buy the lens adapter ring and a UV filter for the camera. The UV filter can be had pretty cheap, won't affect picture quality, and will keep your built-in lens safe from scratches, dirt, and UV rays (evidently pretty damaging to camera equipment). And having the adapter, you'll be able to attach other filters as your need/skill grow. Oh, and get a couple of sets of rechargeable NIMH batteries too. They'll save you a lot of money. I briefly looked into the Konika-Minolta LI battery pack that's made for the camera, but being more than half the price of the camera, decided it was more expensive than I needed. At least for now.

So far, my only complaints are: the battery cover door seems pretty flimsy. I'd like to see something more substantial. And, I'm not sure the idea of the mechanical mirror used to select the view through the eyepiece or on the display screen is wise. It just seems like more mechanical parts to fail in the future. Also, the use of the eyepiece won't prolong battery life as it would in most digital cameras.

So, it's few faults aside, I give the KM Z2 a solid 5 star rating.

I've been holding off buying a digital camera as I love my Olympus SLR camera but, whilst looking around my local camera store in February, I was introduced to the Z1 and was told that I should probably wait as new cameras were coming out soon. Well, the Z2 came out and I pre-ordered on the strength of what I'd seen from the Z1.
The Z2 has surpassed my expectations - I have some very good quality print outs of my first few images. I even managed to get an excellent close up shot first time that I'd previously wasted at least 2 films trying to get on my regular SLR. Focus is fast and accurate and the camera is light and very comfortable to hold. Definitely recommended.

This is the third digital camera I've gotten, to replace an aging 1 Megapixel Sony Mavica with a 16X optical zoom. I am VERY pleased with the results, having taken 1800+ pictures in the past three months with only a few minor glitches.

The pros:
- This is the first digital camera I've used that can take a sunset picture equal to any film camera I've ever used.
- Very speedy
- Awesome zoom.
- Good battery lifespan (Using Duracell Rechargable ACCU batteries w/ 1 hour recharger)
- Fairly light

The Cons:
- The camera has difficulties focusing if you use the zoom out on the water (if you go on a whale watch, don't use the zoom, or ignore the focus warnings - whales move much faster than you think!)
- A tendency to focus in on the 'wrong' things - like a background when you're trying to capture a small thing (such as a bird) in the foreground.
-The battery door is awkward to use - especially if you're rushing to change out batteries. Once the batteries are in place and the door is put back, it is solid. The best solution of course is to start out with fresh batteries.

Tips
-I have found that most of the 'jiggle' problems reported go away if you use the eyepiece - of course the further the zoom goes out, the harder it is to keep stable. The digital zoom portion of it, like most digital cameras, is not very good, so try not to use it unless there is no other option.
- I have gotten a 256 MB SD card for this - it can hold 200 images, although if you're taking pictures along the seashore, you can get 300 images.
- Keep in mind that this is good for outdoors - indoors, a smaller camera with a wide-angle lens does better (I still tote my 2MP Canon Powershot A40 around when I'm our on a 'major' photo shoot to get the wider shots)

If you're looking for a camera with a great zoom I would have to say this is one of the best currently on the market at an affordable price.

What a great camera! I compared this to a Cannon Elph, and this camera blew it out of the water. It's real easy to use, it's light, and the auto focus is quick. From the time you press the shutter button to the time the camera takes the picture is lightning fast. The Cannon Elph was a lot slower, causing me to miss action shots. The picture quality is great!

I've owned this camera for a few months now, and I must say, I am very pleased with the results from this camera. The picture quality is just fabulous; they're high quality, and the colors are very accurate. Even the simplest pictures taken have a professional aura to them.
I love the zoom function on this camera. It's very fast, in the past with other cameras I have always seemed to have trouble finding a camera with a fast zoom--but this camera has pleased me beyond words as far as zooming goes. Not only is the zoom fast, but it is very silent. A silent zoom always seemed like an important part of a camera, and I highly applaud this camera for that.
There's not much to complain about with this camera--however, there are a few things that I am going to have to complain about...

The batteries? You need four AA batteries! It's not so much that this bothers me because it makes the camera heavier--because the camera is so well built that you hardly notice the added battery weight--but what does bother me is that this means you have a lot more batteries that you have to carry around with you. Although, since the camera has so many features, four batteries is hardly a bad thing.

After months of owning this camera, and trying out every feature on it, I have only found two flaws. The first one I noticed was the battery door. I read plenty of reviews by other customers about the battery door being flimsy, but never did I think that it would be this flimsy! The battery door feels as if it's going to break in my hands if handled improperly. However, if you take caution while opening and closing the door, it should be just fine.
The second flaw I noticed, was much more conflicting. The positioning of the flash seems to be a little out of place. You won't be able to notice this camera defect unless you are taking a close up macro shot. When you take a shot too close, you will find that while the camera does take a stunningly clear photo--if you use a flash, a shadow from the lens will be left on your photo area. Even if you don't use any additional lenses or filters the original lens with the camera will still be in the way of the flash.
This flaw only occurs, though, when you are taking a Super Macro shot. Regular Macro will work just splendidly. It really is a shame, though, since the camera will allow for really close shots to be taken and still come out clear--it's just the shadow that appears when using a flash that ruins it.

Those were the only complaints I had about this camera, other than that, I am very much pleased. It's a great camera for the more advanced beginner to the intermediate photographer. The picture quality never ceases to amaze me--it's just brilliant to see the photos that this camera takes. Just splendid.

I've only had my camera a few weeks, but so far I love it. Bought mine at a camera store. When I first got it I was a little intimidated by it, but quickly learned how to navigate through the menus. It's great! I've been able to take some excellent photos with it, and folks have commented what great photos they are. It has a fast shutter speed even without using the sports mode. My wife took some photos of kids playing ball and it caught them swinging the bat and the ball in mid air. I thought that was pretty good. She has took some excellent photos the first time she picked the camera up. It's easy to use. I really like the progressive and continuous capture modes. This makes taking photos of events that are occurring easy. I love the 10x optical zoom, plus I don't have digital zoom unless I turn it on. The only down side I've found so far is the photo software included is still a little intimidating to me. I really haven't learned to use it yet. That's not really a problem as I chose to use a different photo program that was included with my computer. This digital photography is great. No messing with film! All in all I'm very happy with my camera and am really enjoying it.

I have had many digital cameras throughout the past few years and none compare with this one. The design of it is easy to work and very easy to handle. At first it looks like there is a lot to learn, but with a quick review of the instructions I had things pretty well figured out.

The quality of the pictures both on the computer and when printed are excellent. The colors are bright and very sharp! I do a lot of traveling and this camera has yet to fail me. I bought it in the beginning of June and have taken it everywhere with me.

The zoom feature is remarkable! I can be standing far away from a subject and the photo is still as clear and detailed as if I was two inches away. One particular detail I notice is when I am taking a photo of water or the splashing of water, it catches each drop in detail no matter how far away I may be. I've even caught a detailed photo of a hummingbird!

Before purchasing this camera I did A LOT of research and it appears that this is the best professional camera out there for its price range. I would suggest it to anyone. I actually chose this camera over the thousand dollar models because it appears to be easier to take care of, but with just as many features.

The memory card that comes with it does not hold many photos, of course. I purchased an additional 32 mb card and that did me fine until there was a sale for the 128 mb cards. I am using the 128 mb card now and get up to 280+ photos at the best quality setting. Which is enough to cover an entire vacation if you ask me.

If you're looking for a really good "almost professional" camera at a really good price, this is the one for you!