Off on holiday , how many reviews might I get in!!
Off on holiday , how many reviews might I get in!!
Member since:03.12.2002
Reviews:207
Members who trust:117
I've had my old digital camera for a few years now, an old Fuji A101, which I bought quite a while ago in the States. It did what I wanted (just) but I thought now was the time to upgrade! So I was in Germany, and went into the local store (Saturn) to see what was around. This camera just stood out with its great looks and light weight.
*** What is it? ***
The camera I bought was a Konica Minolta Dimage Z10, I got this one, because it had the look of an SLR camera, but was really light, and to me looked really nice. It also felt really comfortable to hold.
*** What do you get with it? ***
The camera comes in a nice sturdy box, inside is the camera, a strap for it, a manual, a CD, 4 AA batteries, the 16MB SD card, and a USB cable for connecting camera to PC.
Oh yes! When I got the camera, all the menus were in
German, within a couple of minutes I had worked out using the menu system how to change the language. This is achieved by pressing the button marked "menu" and following the menus. Just above the menu button are the left, right, up & down & enter keys.
All the controls are located on the right hand side, and are easily accessed. The on/off button is located just below the viewer, this button also allows you to select viewing pictures, taking pictures, or selecting video, via a mode switch.
On the top of the camera, is the exposure mode dial, this allows you to select Auto (which is generally the setting I use), you can select movie (which also allows you record movie and sound!) or you can select various manual options.
To take a photo, just point at the subject, half depress the shutter release, this will then start the auto focus, once you are happy, fully depress the shutter release.
The camera has "red-eye" reduction, so if you are taking a photo of a person (or animal) there is a brief flash, prior to the main flash, I have found this feature to be really useful. Just behind the shutter release are the flash controls, this is where you can change the characteristics of the flash, just press the button, look at the viewfinder, it then scrolls through the various options. One thing I have found is that the camera can pick up quite a lot of background light, which means that sometimes if you are using the flash things can turn out far too light. I always take one of each, just to compare.
Just behind this are the buttons for zooming in/out, these are easily operated with you thumb. I find the zoom is really responsive, and only take a short time to focus on the subject.
If you want to delete any pictures, just scroll through to find the picture you want, then press the button with a picture of a bin on it, you then get confirmation if you want to delete the image.
The one down point for me is the manual, yes it is quite comprehensive, but there are many areas where you are pointed to a PDF file on the CD, fine if you have your PC with you! The PDF file has lots of good information, and certainly does detail how to use all the elements of this camera.
*** How much was it? ***
As mentioned I bought this in Saturn, who are a massive chain of shops in Germany, I guess you could compare them with Comet in the UK Anyway the camera cost me around £125. I also bought an extra 256M SD card (why do cameras only come with 16M? ), and a Lowe Alpine camera bag, the whole bill came to £161.
Just a point, if you do go to Germany, many shops do not take credit cards!!
*** Battery life ***
I bought this camera in April 05, and have used it certainly every week, I would say I had taken getting on for 1000 pictures with it before I had to replace the 4 AA batteries, I only ever use the display to see what I'm taking, rather than the "manual" view finder. A lot of the pictures I have taken involved zooming in, and many used the built in flash. So I would say battery life is excellent on this camera, obviously that would depend on the type of batteries (remember mine were the ones that came with it!) I don't use the cable for connecting the camera to the PC for downloading, as that will really eat the batteries. I haven't got round to getting myself re-chargeable batteries, but that is something I do need to consider - if nothing else to be environmentally friendly!
*** Getting the photos onto a PC ***
To get the SD card out is really easy, as it is located on the right hand side of the camera, just push the card in, and it pops out. To replace it, just reinsert it.
On my laptop, there are actually built in slots for reading various cards, so I just have to plug the SD card in, and copy the pictures to whichever directory I need them to go in. On the CD is an application called Dimage Viewer, this is basically a viewing application which allows you to sort the photos, rename etc. and if I'm totally honest, I actually prefer to use Windows, just go into the folder, my version XP Pro has every function I need. The camera does come with a USB lead for connecting to your PC, but I find if you use this option, it will eat camera batteries.
The photos taken I find are of really good quality, not at all grainy, that can happen with some lower resolution cameras.
*** Some techie things ***
Which are taken straight from the box.
32X Mega zoom, which gives a 35mm film lens equivalent of 36mm - 290mm (8X optical, 4X digital zoom) Rapid AF and Ultra-fast startup Fine 3.2 Megapixel images. Macro down to 1cm Energy efficient design for low power consumption Compatible with Windows 98/98SE/2000/ME/XP, and various MAC operating systems, V9 and 10
So there you have it, a really good quality, reasonably priced camera, which gives excellent picture quality (As I hope you will see from the photos below. The zoom examples were taken about 30 minutes after I bought the camera, so I could work it pretty well without consulting the comprehensive pdf manual!!)
Thanks for reading. The photos included are ones I have taken at various times during my ownership of this camera, also - any reviews since April would have had photos taken with this camera.
Larry
Pictures of Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10
Bridge in Roermond
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