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| Date Reviewed: Sep 18, 2004 |
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Strengths: easy to use
extensive manual controls and able to figure out without manual
great low-light pictures with flash off
uses AA batteries
great value
Weaknesses: doesn't come with rechargable (NiMH) batteries or AC adapter
Summary: 2005-01-17 23:27:42 This is my first digital camera and I love it. I chose this one because of the 10x optical zoom, the extensive manual features, and its great value.
The 30fps video is very smooth, but the audio didn't line up so well the one time I tried it. Most features are incredibly easy to figure out without the manual. The manual is also easy to use and in depth. The software seems good and easy to use. SD memory is much cheaper than XD. I think AA format is better than Li-ion because they're easy to find and have extras. I have a compact charger for 4 NiMH rechargables--no wires, no mess.
The price for this camera seems unmatchable compared to similar cameras. I would have liked an included AC adapter to save batteries when loading images to PC.
So far, picture quality is excellent. I'm amazed at the ability to compensate for low-light with flash forced off. Noise-reduction seems to work great too. Focus is quick, will indicate if subject is or isn't focused, and will still force unfocused picture quickly if desired.
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 12, 2004 |
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Strengths: Great zoom & shudder speed when taking pictures (which is why we chose this camera). Awesome clarity & doesn't eat battery power too badly.
Weaknesses: Wish it had a Dock I could charge it on instead of AA batteries (but the camera is still worth it). Wish the lens cover was internal also (but yet again the camera is still worth it!)Can you tell we love the camera?
Summary: Overall it's an awesome camera great speed, clarity & zoom.
Plus if you shop around you can find the bigger memory cards pretty cheap. My hubby & I looked for over 6 months b/c he's soooo picky! We went to Wolf Camera & looked first but found if cheaper online. Anyhow we looked at it several times b/c we were trying to find something we might like better but we never did. The Z3 just came out but the image stabilizaion feature makes it slower than the Z2 so we still preferred this one. IT's AWESOME!
93% of People (55/59) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Oct 12, 2004 |
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Strengths: 10 X optical zoom
4MP resolution
good Movie quality with sound
Weaknesses: havent noticed any
Summary: 2004-10-22 12:36:03 I was looking for a camera with good optical zoom which would cost me lesser than 350$.Z2 seemed to be the best option. I have taken some test shots and it hasnt disappointed me so far.Picture quality is good.Movie recording is nice too.I was especially impressed with the sound quality during recording.I would definitely recommend this one.
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| Date Reviewed: Jun 13, 2004 |
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Strengths: High Quality Pictures
10X Optical Zoom
Intuitive Menu
Easy Movie Editing
30fps Viewfinder
Battery Life 250-300 pic
Comfortable Design
Full Manual or Auto Control
Single Priority Manual Control
Weaknesses: Flimsy Memory Card Slot Cover
Somewhat Large
Lens Cover (Included) is not Internal
Difficult to take indoor pictures without flash
Telephoto shots are often blurry with longer exposures
Summary: This is a great camera. At 4 megapixels with an excellent lens, it takes beautiful pictures. The 10X Optical Zoom is great with shorter exposures, but in darker situations the pictures often turn out blurry due to long exposure times.
The camera is large, but easy to hold, so the size only matters when you're carrying it around--it's hard to notice it while you're taking pictures!
The three point autofocus is okay and occasionally inaccurate; most pictures turn out focused and crisp, but a few come out blurry (1 in 20 maybe). But since we're using a digital camera, it's easy to get rid of them (when previewing pictures, you can zoom up to 6X and pan around to check if it's focused). It's only a problem when you have one chance to take a picture and something goes wrong.
It takes Secure Digital Cards, which are very common in PDA's, so its a good buy for Pocket PC or Palm users since your PDA likely takes SD cards. SD cards are also very small, so they're very portable and easy to store.
The menus are easy to use; my only problem is that on the four-directional buttons, the one that points left is sunk too low since it's next to the viewfinder; it can be hard to hit if you're not looking at it.
Overall, this is a great camera--one of the best in its price range. I bought mine for about $350 online. If you're looking for a high-quality camera that you can just point-and-click or one that you want to adjust manually (aperture, shutter speed, and focus), this is a great camera. It's easy enough for me to hand to a relative and get a good picture back but advanced enough that I learn more about taking near-profesional pictures each day. It's a great stepping stone into using manual modes since it offers the hybrid shutter speed/aperture priority mode. Soon I may go to full manual... My only reservation is the size. This is not a pocket camera, you WILL need a sizeable bag, but it's not too heavy and in a bag it's easy to take around with you. This is a great camera and I highly recommend it!
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| Date Reviewed: May 1, 2004 |
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Strengths: 10x zoom and very quick AF, easy menu, wide and clear LCD screen
Weaknesses: kinda bulky (because of the 10x zoom, flip side of the #1 strength...), not the best in low-light conditions
Summary: I had tried the Z1 few months ago and was quite satisfied. I decided to buy this one since its price is now what the Z1's was 6 months ago.
I think they improved the AF speed and also the "rattling" from the zoom (I felt for the Z1 that the zoom was shaking quite a bit in the body...). I was surprised by the clarity of the shot of the license plate of the car parked in the street from the 5th floor. At full (optical+electronic) zoom (10x4), with good daylight, the shot was clear and focused, even despite the normal shaking due to the high mag.
The menu is very clear and the camera has all the settings of a semi-pro SLR (all manual settings, bracketting... )
It is true that the zoom is heard in movie mode but it's one of the few cameras where the zoom is even usable in movie mode and it is ONLY a "bonus" feature. To shoot real videos, buy a real videocamera...
The plastic body is OK but that makes it lighter than the super small Canon S410 (which has a metal body) and all doors (battery, mem card) are fine as long as you don't TRY to break them. The design is ... futuristic, I am not sure whether I like it or not yet.
The low-light shots are a little "purple-ish" as they were with the Z1. There should be some settings to correct that I think (white balance...). I've only had it for a week, I will need some more time to try all the features.
88% of People (56/64) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Jun 15, 2004 |
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Strengths: Feature-packed. Powerful zoom. Excellent value.
Weaknesses: Power switch easy to bump ON. No integrated lens cap. Maybe too complicated for novices.
Summary: My first digital camera bought two years ago was a simple, point&shoot, 2MP, no optical zoom, and my wife has grown very comfortable with it. This Z2 is my new "super-duper toy" with features comparable to my SLR, and, thus far, I am very pleased with its capabilities. While I have been thrilled to try out this new feature or that, my wife is a bit intimidated by all the choices, so it is probably not a good starter. The styling is very cool, but it is a bit bulky (can'y slip in your pocket). I wished there were a creative lens cap/protection, instead of an old-fashioned cap. Lastly, did I really need 4MP? Well, for 4x6, 2MP is sufficient.
87% of People (62/71) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: May 12, 2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent zoom capability.
Weaknesses: Jury out on performance with NiMH batteries. Bulkier than most. Manual flash operation (must flip it open to fire).
Summary: While the Konica-Minolta Z2 is bulkier than most digital still cameras, the zoom function is downright phenomenal. I've used it for both still and action photography. In sports mode, the zoom catches things I didn't think possible with anything but an analog camera with a >= 200mm telephoto. I immediately bought a 256mb SD card - the provided 16mb card won't get you very far on your first photo shoot in high resolution mode. The camera menu's and dials are intuitive. You do need to flip up the flash to use it - don't expect it pop up automatically in a low light situation. I've not done any macro photography yet so I can't comment on that.
81% of People (34/42) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: May 11, 2004 |
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Strengths: this camera has a great feel in your hands. it takes AA batteries (nimh are best)so you can get batteries anywhere if yours are shot. i picked this camera up and started using it right away! awesome!
Weaknesses: i haven't found any yet. it has sooo many options, etc., that i just can't say enough about this camera.
Summary: this camera is the greatest. 4mp with 10x optical zoom, AA batteries, shoots great video (and more than just 30 sec. videos!) it feels sturdy, has a great hold for the right hand, will flip pictures in the viewfinder so you don't have to keep turning your head. tells you how much time you can video. the sound is great. EVERYTHING can be adjusted, if you read the manual. it's just the best, especially for the money. don't know what else to say. this is my second digital camera and i just love it. i did much research before buying, and this one is tops!
79% of People (31/39) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Jul 4, 2004 |
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Strengths: power zoom, rapid autofocus, ease of use, cool design,...
Weaknesses: big size
Summary: Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 is the best digital camera around! Compared to most compact digital cameras, its portability is not good. Considering the 10X power zoom, it can't be small, though. Except its size, I just love this camera!! I usually take pictures of my 3 year old son, and its surprisingly rapid autofocus is so good! It's like 35mm film camera!! And the 10x zoom is the best. I don't even need a tripod! I would definitely recommend Z2~!!!
79% of People (27/34) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Aug 30, 2004 |
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Strengths: clarity of picture quality, zoom, weight (very lightweight), handability, user friendly
Weaknesses: small LCD viewing screen
Summary: Excellent usability, very light weight, and extremely easy to use. I've owned a Kodak, and this Dimage is light-years ahead of the pack. Good pricing for a 10X optical zoom also. I love the camera.
78% of People (14/18) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Nov 4, 2004 |
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Strengths: Pretty light, AA batteries, incredible zoom
Weaknesses: I prefer compact flash over SD cards; only 4MB
Summary: If you need high resolution pics, this is probably not your best choice. But I found that with 4MB I can make pretty decent prints, even of 20"x30", so I'm good. The zoon is absolutely fantastic, there's 800x600 movies, and the pictures quality is very crisp. It's a very good camera and it costs peanuts.
64% of People (7/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Jun 16, 2004 |
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 This camera is very good in every way except the f ... Strengths: Excellent feature set. Very fast startup, good manual controls, good battery life from 4 AA's.
Weaknesses: Poor image quality. Noisy in all but the best light and pictures are never very sharp. Auto focus struggles most of the time.
Summary: This camera is very good in every way except the final result. Performance, control, ease of use are all good. Ergonmics are good and apart from the battery cover it feels OK despite the plastic construction. However, my jaw dropped when I first looked at the pictures on my PC. In some pictures it's hard to find what it actually focussed on; there is simply no sharpness and in anything other than the brightest light there is very bad noise. Given that I bought it for the zoom and manual controls it turns out to be a huge disappointment. Maybe I got a lemon so any prospective buyer should check it out before buying.
I returned it to Minolta who said they saw no problem but wouldn't even compare it to another example much less replace it.
58% of People (19/33) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: May 23, 2004 |
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Strengths: 10x Opt, excellent.
Weaknesses: The shape is a little ugly.
Summary: At this price level, we are lucky to be able to afford this kind of digital camera. There are so many settings that we can make, which is so convenient that we can take clear photos under all kind of environment.
52% of People (13/25) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: Jul 17, 2004 |
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I purchased this camera, an adapter, an UV fil ...
Strengths: 1. Ease of use
2. Documentation
3. Zoom
4. Flash setup and the hot shoe
5. Macro is awesome even with wide angle lens
Weaknesses: 1. Photo quality!!!
2. Night shots
3. Feels cheap
4. Flash with wide angle is worthless and creates shadows.
Summary:
I purchased this camera, an adapter, an UV filter and a wide-angle lens in one swoop. I received the package and began playing with it immediately. After several days and a wedding that I went to I just couldn't get over the terrible fuzzy and noisy pictures this camera took. This is my second camera and my first one Toshiba PDR-3300 (I rated it) performed way better than this camera primarily in picture quality (By the way that old Toshiba is working great still). This camera is just way too unstable for me and I thus returned it to purchase a HP 945 in the future.
About DC Resource positives:
I agree with all of them except that I never use the video modes in my cameras because I have a digital camcorder.
About DC Resource negatives:
Everything is on point here especially about the fuzzy pictures. Also the purple fringing would be great to see if I could get a night shot that was not blurry to begin with.
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| Date Reviewed: Apr 26, 2004 |
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RIZ KHAN
- Member Since:
Apr 2004
View Member's:
Reviews
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 this is my 4th digital camra.A nice camra with lot ... Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: can`t count.
Summary: this is my 4th digital camra.A nice camra with lot of faults.frist picture quality is very bad and Bluer as compare to my last camera Olympus C-740 .U can not edit movie with sound. In movie recording if U use zoom the sound of lense motor comes in recording. Power button turn on easily accidently . I call customer services to ask the speed of camera read/write they have no idea they just said its compatible . In market there is 512md SD card available at different speed.Memory card cover can be break any time so cheap . Same as battery cover. battery life very is good.features are very easy and good.
bottom line picture quality barak my heart.good for biggners & point & shoot. nice grip feel very good in hand.
soon I am thinking for olympus C-770.
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