Have been away a loooooong time... see what marriage does to you? Now 2 years on, I'm back!
Have been away a loooooong time... see what marriage does to you? Now 2 years on, I'm back!
Member since:09.06.2004
Reviews:24
Members who trust:19
This little gem of a Minolta Z1 was bought for me last year as a Christmas present so I was lucky to get something of this calibre, never expected it at all. It came in a small box, but I can tell you I've found it to be a very large package!
WHY GET ONE?
I know some people are really attached to their old SLR's, and with good reason. But the truth is, this camera combines so many of the SLR features with digital efficiency, there's no reason why not to get one even if just to use for certain shots, or to save money. By getting your photos from camera to pc in seconds, you avoid the processing fees and can just print out what you want, how and when you want it. Join the modern age and get a digital camera, you won't look back and you'll still appreciate your SLR!
WHAT'S IN THE BOX???
In my blue chunky box I got the following goodies:
- Camera - Mains Cable - Chunky Manual - Camera Strap - Camera Lens - 16Mb Memory Card - CD's
and leaflets
SEXY LOOKS
Combining the look of a standard SLR camera but the inner features of a digital camera, this one caught my eye long before I knew it's be winging it's way to me as a present. Slinky, silver casing, it looks simple and effective before you even start to use it. The LCD is excellent and pales in comparison to those some of my friends have on their digital cameras. Sharp, bright colours and only some loss when in really bright sunlight, which as with any other digital camera can be avoided by shading the LCD in some way. You can even buy stick-on 'hoods' for these although I don't want to deface my camera with such a thing...
USAGE
Not only does this fancy camera look good, for the beginner or the experienced user it is easy to use and produces great results. I have used it time and time again in the last 6 months and have no hesitations in recommending it, or a newer version in this series.
The controls are easily understood, and when you're taking a shot it's easy to reach the other controls whilst still looking through the viewfinder. It becomes second nature after just a few shots.
The batteries to run out quickly but this will depend if you're always leaving it on (it does switch itself off though after not being used for a while), or you switch it on and off alot, or if you film movies. This can be solved by investing in a good set of rechargeable batteries, again, see E-Bay for cheap options.
FEATURES
MEMORY > You can change the size of photos as well as the quality, these 2 areas can save you a bundle of space meaning that you can take hundreds of photos even on a 64Mb card (like yours truly here). As standard you will probably get a little 16MB card, bless it's little cotton socks, which you can then simply upgrade, keeping your smaller card for emergencies and 'just in case'. It will still feel needed then...
PHOTO TYPES > With the Minolta Z1 you can take photos in sepia, black and white, enhanced colours... which is great when you know straight-off you want a shot of that sort, no need for editing later or additional costs in processing.
ZOOM > Once you have taken a photo, you can zoom into it and get really close-up detail which is a fantastic feature I could not do without. You can then navigate left, right, up and down whilst zoomed in and really see all the detail in the shot, fantastic stuff.
PHOTO MODES > ou are spoilt for choice with several modes to film in/take photos - Manual, Exposure, Automatic, Filming, Motion, Sunset, Panoramic, Close-up, Night-time, Shutter speed. Each of these can be customised to your exact settings which is great but I am a beginner-medium so I don't know how to even begin getting the most of my shots under these settings, I'm lazy and mostly use the automatic settings rather than the manual customisable ones. My loss, and I will take more time with it so I can learn!
FOCUS > Focus is fantastic, offering an excellent infrared focus which hones in on the area you choose, by simply clicking the shot button halfway before taking the photo. When you're happy and it's in focus, the camera's light is green and you can press the button fullly down. You don't know how much my photos have improved with this little item of techno-wizardry.
> FILMING - This camera also offers the added bonus of being able to film things when you want to get more out of the moment. This way, you can film a dolphin frolicking around in the water, then later on get stills from it, rather than try to get snapshopts of the cheeky thing flitting out of the water and ending up with a blue blur! Besides, a piece of film really does capture a moment and you don't need to film for long. Once you're happy with it, you can play it back at the press of a button, and then pause to select a still and save it to the memory card as a photo.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
The camera is fine on it's own, but I have bought an adaptor as well as a UV lens (to protect against harsh sunlight rays and against scratching the lens more importantly) and also a polarising lens (to enhance blues), making results look even better and enhancing the camera too - I found these very cheap on E-Bay as opposed to paying high prices from Jessops. Plus these make me feel special as everyone admires the camera even more now...
MINOLTA SUPPORT
The Minolta website is good for support, ideas, projects, hints and tips for photo taking if you need them. www.minoltaphotoworld.com.
SUMMARY
I love it to bits, as I have not found much else I need in it. I think a 3 part grid would be nice to teach me the 'thirds' rule but I can do that myself now anyway.
Uncomplicated usage, great LCD in harsh sunlight compared to other cameras of the same or lesser value, the fact you can zoom into images you have already taken (FANTASTIC feature to use when you are not sure if you were blinking or not in the photo), and offering easy usage but lots of depth at the same time. Not to mention the oodles of money I have saved in processing fees! My poor old APS camera hasn't been touched in months...
Enjoy & comments most welcome!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I got a pretty good Nikon APS zoom camera for my gap year 4 years ago, but have had major probs (can no longer take all 3 picture sizes - kind of defeats the purpose of it!!). I have been quite tempted to get a digital for a while, as I always take tonnes of photos when travelling, and half come out pants, but I do like having a full photo album to flick through: is printing from the card quite expensive? and do you print less than you would with a normal camera as you can just put them on a computer/website? Cheers. Katie
TheChocolateLady 29.06.2004 14:34
I debated between H and VH but decided that since I just turned you blue, you should get the VH to keep you there. Actually, that's not why. I think this is a good review that came close to H because you might have said something about downloading the pictures as well as batter life (the bane of any digital camera these days). That I think it looks crappy and you think it looks sexy is irrelevant!
mouette 28.06.2004 11:08
Definitely much improved, though it would be good to know what one would cost. Nick
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Advantages: Very cute design, easy to use, great picture quality, fantastic value for money. Disadvantages: Batteries don't last as long as they could, quite a big camera
Neftoon_Zamora 12.11.2008 (12.11.2008)
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