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The Dimage Z1: Minolta (almost) gets it right!
Date of Review: Nov 3, 2003
The Bottom Line: Want a digicam that focuses fast and offers a great zoom range and picture quality? Then the Z1 is for you!
I was searching for a camera to replace my Olympus C-730. While that camera was very good in terms of image quality, battery life and features, the sometimes very slow shutter lag (the amount of time between when you press the shutter button and when the shutter actually fires) proved to be a pain in places like Englishtown (For those who don't know, E-town has a dragstrip). So when I heard of the Dimage Z1 and the promised fast shutter response, I was thrilled. So I sold my C-730 on ebay (and took a huge loss) and ordered the Z1 from a reputable online vendor.
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First Impressions
Like 99% of people who order the Z1 having never seen it before, I opened the box and thought, "Man, this is small!" On top you have the flash hot shoe (but it's only for Minolta's flashes - Arrgh!), the mode dial (modes explained later), the flash mode button, and the macro mode selector. To the left is a sliding cover that opens to reveal the SD card slot and Minolta's own mini USB port, which is used for both the USB connection and video cable connection. Near the top is a dioper adjustment for the fiewfinder, to better accommodate eyeglass wearers. To the right is the nice, large handgrip which has the top controls I mentioned as well as the shutter button. The bottom of the Z1 houses the tripod socket and the battery opening, which resides in the handgrip.
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Heir to the throne? A whole new king!
Some people think the Z1 is the newer version of the Dimage 5 (D5 for short). However, as a previous owner of that camera, I can tell you that after spending a few minutes with the Z1, it is definitely is not a newer D5. It is a whole new camera. The major gripes the D5 had (really poor battery life, slooow autofocus) have been solved. Plus, the handgrip is much better, and unlike the D5, it doesn't get hot.
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Initial performance
When you turn the Z1 on, the lens extends into position, while the speaker blares out the Minolta jingle (no logo to slow things down). The first thing I decided to test the Autofocus lag. As promised by Minolta, it was very fast. Fastest I've seen so far in a digital camera, next to Ricoh's Caplio RR30 (keep in mind the RR30 has only a 3x optical Zoom and the images aren't that good). The menu was easy to navigate and controls are logically placed. And the video clips are near camcorder quality, a rarity in a digicam. Read on for more.
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Shooting speed/Shutter lag
One of the Z1's selling points is the fast shooting speed. Shot-to-shot times are very good (this is the time when after the camera takes the image, how long it will be before you can take another shot) at 1.5 seconds. The Z1 has two continuous speed shoot modes, the first being a standard 1.5 frames-per-second (fps), which is pretty much standard fare. The second is a "UHS" mode, which sets the resolution at 1280x960 and shoots at 10 frames per second (VERY fast!). Shutter lag, including autofocus, ranges from .3 to .7 seconds depending on light conditions. In poor light, the AF hunts a great deal, sometimes failing to achieve a lock on focus. This could have been helped a great deal if Minolta put an AF assist light on the Z1, but I guess if you want better low-light focusing, you have to get one of Minolta's external flashes that have an AF assist light.
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Image quality and size.
Of course, speed would not be an issue if the images aren't that good. Images are excellent for up to 8x10, with low noise even up to ISO 200. ISO 400 shots are a little noisy, but still respectable (Noise is random colored speckles where there should be a smooth tone). Overall color is great and skin tones are faithful. Image sizes are 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1280x960 or 640x480, all available at 3 quality settings: Fine, Standard, or Economy.
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Battery life
In my use so far the Z1 has really excellent battery life. I've taken more than 150 shots so far (about 2 thirds with flash) and still have a lot of juice on the supplied AA (Alkaline!) batteries. On a good set of NiMh rechargeables you can probably achieve about 350-400 shots.
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Zoom, flash and other stuff.
The Z1 is equipped with a 10x optical zoom lens (38-380mm 35mm equiv.). In my use so far zooming in and out is smooth and fairly fast. There is no image stabilizer however so for telephoto it is best that you use a tripod. The lens appears to be of very good quality with very little optical distortion. Chromatic Aberration (aka purple fringing – the purple outline you sometimes see on things like trees against sky) is very well controlled.
The flash built on the Z1 is one of the most powerful flashes I've seen on a consumer digicam. This unit can reach well over 14 feet with good coverage. Of course, if you demand something more powerful, the flash hot shoe is there.
The mode dial and menu.
The Z1's mode dial has 5 preset scene modes plus automatic, shutter priority (you select the shutter speed and the camera selects the aperture), aperture priority (you select the aperture and the camera selects the shutter speed), priority shooting, and manual (you get to select aperture and shutter speed).
Here are the five scene modes:
Night Portrait: Marked on the Exposure Mode dial with an icon of a person with a star above them, this mode sets up the camera for capturing portraits in low-lit situations. Because the camera is using a slower shutter speed here, a tripod is recommended for the best results
Sunset: Indicated by a beach scene with a setting sun on the Exposure Mode dial, this mode adjusts the white balance system to preserve the the warm colors of a sunset without compensating for them. It also biases the exposure system to produce a slight underexposure, to prevent the sky colors from being washed out.
Landscape: This mode is indicated by an icon of a pair of mountains with a person in front on the Exposure Mode dial. Here, the camera uses a smaller lens aperture, so that both the background and foreground will be in sharp focus.
Sports Action: Marked on the Exposure Mode dial by an icon of a running person, this mode uses faster shutter speeds to "freeze" fast-paced action.
Portrait: An icon of a woman's head indicates this mode on the Exposure Mode dial. In Portrait mode, the camera employs a larger lens aperture setting, which decreases the depth of field. This produces a sharply focused image of the subject, in front of a slightly blurred background.
The Z1's menu system is easy to navigate and understand. All of the controls not found on the Z1 externally can be found here.
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Movie recording.
One of the Z1's other pluses is the movie recording. You can record video up to 640x480 at 30 fps, which is camcorder quality. You can bump the resolution down to 320x240 or 160x120, as well as change the frame rate to either 30 or 15 fps. However, movie recording at the highest setting takes up a lot of memory. I got Lexar's 256MB high-speed SD card, and I can only record less than 4 minutes on it! If you want to use this thing as a makeshift camcorder, better get a large card. About the only downside here is that you can't zoom if you're recording audio.
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Complaints/Concerns
There are only a few downsides to the Z1. First is the rattling lens. While this doesn't bother me, it can be a bit unnerving for some. Minolta says the lens is designed to rattle(?). Second, is the lack of an AF assist light. Fast AF is sorely welcome, but why just stop there? I guess Minolta figured that if people want better low-light performance, they can buy one of their Maxxum flashes (a shrewd financial move by Minolta. What's better? Spending $370 for the Z1 or spending that plus $170 for the flash?). The third is the highly proprietary USB and video out cables – if you lose it, you have to go to Minolta. Also Minolta should really look at decreasing noise at ISO 400 (It's no wonder why Minolta omitted ISO 800 on the Z1 – Look at the D7xx series).
The only real concern is the Z1's unusual Viewfinder system. A single internal LCD screen is projected on the rear viewfinder panel via a special shutter mirror. When you switch it to go to the top viewfinder, the mirror closes in front of the rear panel, projecting the image to the top panel. While this is certainly a "wiz-bang" feature, (certainly cool when you first see it), it might raise some reliability concerns. For most people, it hasn't been a problem yet.
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Who this camera is for….
If anyone wants a long zoom camera that doesn't take forever to focus, but doesn't want to spend $1000 on Canon's Digital Rebel, should snap this up. Easy to use even for novices, this digicam will also please more advanced users as well thanks to the fair bit of manual controls available. Very nice images for up to 8x10 adds to the pluses.
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Looking ahead: what Minolta should do for the next model.
Add an AF assist lamp and increase the resolution to 4.0 megapixels. Decrease higher ISO noise.
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Sam's summery
Minolta (nearly) hit the bull's eye with the Z1. Fast AF, great pictures, easy to use, super battery life, and that zoom. Check it out!
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Specs
Number of effective pixels: 3.2 million
Camera sensitivity: Auto and 50, 100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents
Focal length: 5.8 - 58mm (35mm equivalent: 38 – 380mm)
Lens construction: 10 elements in 7 groups (includes two elements with three aspheric surfaces)
Maximum aperture: f/2.8 – f/3.5
Exposure compensation: ?2 EV in 1/3 increments
Flash range: Wide: Approximately 0.8 – 20 ft. (0.23 – 6.1 m) from CCD. Telephoto: Approximately 3.9 – 15.7 ft. (1.2 – 4.8 m) from CCD (Camera sensitivity: auto)
Flash modes: Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye reduction, Fill flash, Slow-shutter sync. Autoflash not available with aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure modes. Flash cancel by pushing the built-in flash down.
Flash recycling time: Approximately 7 seconds
Flash compensation: ? 2 EV in 1/3 increments
Flash-sync speeds: All shutter speeds
External flashes: auto-flash metering with Program/Maxxum Flash 2500 (D), Program/Maxxum 3600HS (D), Program/Maxxum Flash 5600HS (D)
White balance control: Automatic, Preset (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash), Custom
Digital Effects control: Contrast compensation, Sharpness
Contrast compensation: Three levels (Low, Normal, High)
Sharpness: settings: Three levels (Soft, Normal, Hard)
Color modes: Natural Color, Vivid Color, Black and White, Sepia
Noise reduction: User selectable dark noise reduction
Digital zoom: Maximum 4x in 0.1x increments
Copy function: To copy single or multiple images to the same or another memory card.
E-mail Copy function: Creates a compressed 640x480 or 160x120 JPEG image for transmission.
Date imprinting: Year/month/day (Format can be changed.)
Imprinting can be disabled
Key customization: The function activated by the flash-mode button can be changed.
Image-quality modes: Fine, Standard, Economy
Number of recorded pixels (Still images): 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480. 1280 x 960 in UHS continuous-advance mode
Number of recorded pixels (Movie clips): 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 160 x 120
File formats: JPEG, Motion JPEG (MOV)
DCF 1.0-compliant
DPOF-compliant (Supported by printing functions in version 1.1) Exif 2.2
Folder name formats: Standard, Date
Printing output control: Exif Print, PRINT Image Matching II
Recording media: SD (Secure Digital) Memory Cards, MultiMediaCards
Computer interface: Full-speed 12Mbps USB
Direct print: USB DIRECT-PRINT
AV output: NTSC, PAL (selected on the camera)
Batteries: Four AA batteries: Alkaline, Ni-MH
Battery performance: (Playback) Approximate continuous playback time: 300 min. with alkaline batteries.
Battery
performance (Recording): Approximate number of recorded images: 250 frames with alkaline batteries, LCD monitor on, Full-size images (2048x1536), Standard image quality, No instant playback, No full-time AF, Flash used with 50% of the frames.
External power source: 6V DC with specified AC adapter (sold separately)
Dimensions
(WxHxD)
4.31 x 3.05 x 3.15 inches (109.5 x 77.5 x 80mm)
Weight: Approximately 10.8oz. (305g) without batteries or recording media
Operating temperature: 32-104?F (0-40?C)
Standard accessories: Neck Strap NS-DG5000, Lens Cap LF-242, Accessory Shoe Cap SC-1000, AV Cable AVC-200, 16MB SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card, USB Cable USB-500, DiMAGE Viewer, ArcSoft VideoImpression CD-ROM, Four AA Alkaline batteries
