Konica Minolta Dimage Z5 > Reviews > Konica Minolta Dimage Z5

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Excellent
Range & Quality of Features	Excellent
Ease of Use	Awkward
Overall Look & Design	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Top Performance;Good Value for money
Disadvantages:	Not that easy to use

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Reminiscent of those tower blocks where the lift shafts are in a separate building linked by walkways, this futuristic looking camera is keenly priced.

Build Quality

Konica Minolta is enjoying much success with its Dimage Z series. The range is designed to give users an affordable super zoom in one compact body design. The Z5 is the latest incarnation and sticks to the same space age look that makes these camera so eye catching. There’s hardly a straight line to be seen on the z5s curvaceous plastic body, while the elongated hand grip fitted with all the important controls, provides excellent handling.

Features

This camera’s star trek looks are partly designed to conceal the vast array of optics carefully packed into the Z5. With a 35 – 420 mm F2.8 – 4.5 optical zoom lens, this camera is ideal for budding wildlife photographers. However, wildlife can be found close up too and the Z5’s two macro modes allow you to capture subjects just 1cm from the lens. The Z5 is fitted with Konica Minoltas anti shake technology and this model has a larger two inch LCD screen than that seen on previous Z series cameras. There’s also an electronic viewfinder which can make composing and manually focusing on macro subjects tricky.

Memory and Power

Konica Minolta has stuck to the four AA cell solution seen on earlier models, and it’s possible to fire off up to 300 shots using lithium ion rechargeable batteries. Shots are recorded in JPEG format and saved on SD/MMC memory card.

Performance

This is a camera happy in almost any shooting situation. Shots taken display plenty of detail and the lens focuses on macro subjects with aplomb. Noise becomes apparent at ISO settings of 160 and above but selecting ISO50 results in detail being over processed and soft looking. This latest dimage is a solid budget all rounder. Macro is impressive, but noise is a headache at higher ISO settings.

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