Konica Digital Revio KD-220Z

.../> I have owned my Konica Digital Revio KD-220z for about 6 months now.I've had no problems with it at all, and the pictures are of good quality for a low pixel count camera, sitting in the lower end of the digital camera price brackets.

It boasts 2.0 Megapxels (effective) resolution with a 3x optical Zoom AF lens. Has a focal length of 5.2 - 15.6 mm and focus range of 3.94 in. To infinity/15.75 in. To infinity
The aperture ...
...Height=63mm

The Konica Revio requires you have at least a Pentium 166 or higher processor, be running Windows 98/98 SE/Me/2000/XP with a minimum of 32MB RAM and at least 128 MB free hard disk space. You will also need a CD-ROM and USB port, and a colour monitor supporting a minimum 800x600 24-bit. Macintosh owners need a G3/G4 PowerPC with OS 8.6 or later. I found that under windows 98 you need to install the drivers that come with ... more

As the second person to make an opinion on this camera, I will try to answer the question raised on the previous opinion.

I have owned my Konica Digital Revio KD-220z for about 6 months now.I've had no problems with it at all, and the pictures are of good quality for a low pixel count camera, sitting in the lower end of the digital camera price brackets.

It boasts 2.0 Megapxels (effective) resolution with a 3x optical Zoom AF lens. Has a focal length of 5.2 - 15.6 mm and focus range of 3.94 in. To infinity/15.75 in. To infinity
The aperture range is f2.8/f4.8 - shutter speed 1/10 - 1/1000 sec
There is a 1.6" Colour TFT LCD display positioned on the bottom left at the back of the camera, with function & zoom buttons positioned within easy reach of your right thumb (when holding to shoot). On the top of the camera there are flash & picture option buttons, a small but informative LCD display just to the right, the main function 'wheel' is next with set/movie/view/auto/manual settings, the obligatory 'shoot' button, and to the very right is the power switch. The camera has a built in flash, with red-eye & night scene options. The overall feel of this camera makes you think your holding a regular 35mm, although slightly heavier (150 grammes). It fits snug in your hands, and is compact enough (but definatly not microsmall) to carry around with you.
Dimensions - Depth=42mm Width=105mm Height=63mm

The Konica Revio requires you have at least a Pentium 166 or higher processor, be running Windows 98/98 SE/Me/2000/XP with a minimum of 32MB RAM and at least 128 MB free hard disk space. You will also need a CD-ROM and USB port, and a colour monitor supporting a minimum 800x600 24-bit. Macintosh owners need a G3/G4 PowerPC with OS 8.6 or later. I found that under windows 98 you need to install the drivers that come with the camera, but under win XP home you simply need to plug in & power up. Windows XP recognises the camera as a removable storage device & allows you to open the folder straight after plugging in. More on the PC connection & picture transfers further down.

When switching the camera on for the very first time you need to set the default language (choice of English/french/German/Spanish/Italian/Chinese/Japanese) and set the current date & time. Then you are ready to take some pictures. There are two resolution settings, both with three quality settings. These, depending on which type selected, will give you varied amounts of available picture storage, before the onboard memory is consumed. You can use optional 8MB SD memory cards, but none are supplied with the camera.
The resolutions are 1600x1200 and 800x600 with the pictures being stored as jpeg format. I found it strange that no resolutions between 800x & 1600x are offered?. I think 1024x768 would have been a more useful resolution to work with.
Both have quality (compression) settings of :
Super Fine (8:1 compression - 10 pictures max @ 1600x1200 - 40 pictures max @ 800x600)
Fine (12:1 compression - 15 pictures max @ 1600x1200 - 60 pictures max @ 800x600)
Normal (16:1 compression - 20 pictures max @ 1600x1200 - 80 pictures max @ 800x600)
The actual picture capacity varies according to the shooting conditions and settings used.

I find that I personally keep the settings on Super Fine 800x600, as most of my pictures are used for email attachments, so the file sizes are not too bulky for someone to download on 56k connection. I suggest switching to 1600x1200 when taking pictures for printing on glossy paper.

When taking a picture, you can use the conventional viewfinder, or use the built in screen to compose your subject. The latter option does drain the battery's considerably quicker, so I would suggest keeping to the conventional method, unless you are taking close-up pictures (or have a bag of batteries to spare).
The camera 'shoot' button has two stages, when you
lightly press down on the button the camera will set up the focus & contrast settings, then when you get a green light you can press the button fully & the image will capture. After you take your picture, you can instantly view the image on the colour display by using the quick playback button.
Another function this camera offers is the ability to record short video clips, and save them as mpeg. Unfortunatly the camera has no audio record, so unless your into creating short silent movies then this feature is useless. These movies record at a low resolution of 320x240, and a maximum recording time of just over 1 Min, depending on memory available.

When you are ready to transfer your images to your PC, plug in the supplied USB lead and if in windows 98, locate the removable drive & open it, or if in windows XP select open folder from the auto-popup window. The camera stores the images as jpeg and keep them in a folder marked 'Camera' under the removable storage device that appears when you plug it to the PC. You will need to copy (or cut if you want to delete them from the camera at the same time) and paste them to a folder of your choice on your PC.
Alternatively you can plug the camera into a television via a supplied cable, and view your images right on your TV, but I found that when viewing direct to TV the pictures tend to look very murky and of poor quality, probably down to the shift down in resolution.

You can also use the camera as a mini storage device and save images & files onto the camera from your PC. This has its problems though, as the images/files DO NOT show on the cameras display, so although the camera may say the memory is empty, if you have saved data on the camera it will not show up. So you can only delete this by either running a media format (completely wipes memory) from the camera or by connecting to a PC again.

Batteries - 2xAA/R6. I found the camera to be a slight battery eater. Even using Duracell batteries I found I could only get around 20 Minutes snap time before they fizzled out.
I soon discovered the benefits of using high capacity (i use uniross 1700 mAh Ni-MH) rechargable batteries, and even when using the display screen I can get 50-60 Minutes before changing them over.

The camera comes complete with soft case, wriststrap, USB cable, video cable, Quick guide & batteries (that will last 20 mins)

To sum up, the Revio KD220z is a relatively simple level entry digital camera, not bad picture quality for such a cheap camera - great for fun & party snappers - overall very good value for money. Big resolution seekers - stay away.

 

...less