Why NOT a minolta dimage Z3

[elsternwick]

Hi all,
Quick question from a bit of a novice here. Have done all the usual reading around prior to buying a camera and had decided on Minolta Dimage Z3. However some reviews have now put some doubts in my mind and am now considering possibly going for cannon powershot SI IS. Questions are:

1) Have users found issues with soft coluring in Z3 as mentioned in certain reviews?
2) Would users agree that picture quality with cannon SI is better? (ignoring megapixels.....not interested in large reprints)
3) Could anyone comment in detail on the quality of video mode in Z3 and how it compares to cannon SI.
4) How does the panasonic Z3 compare to minolta Z3 (ignoring megaqpixels)?

Would appreciate any feedback on above questions and if someone could convince me that Minolta Z3 is what I should buy as this is really at I want to buy :confused:

Thanks.

[salp]

Since the only real digital camera I have ever owned is the Dimage Z3, i can tell you this. for indorr picture quality, the 'auto' mode is not that great.... you will find you can take MUCH better pictures in selecting everything you possibly can.... i found that in auto the indoor pictures were most of the time either overexposed or fuzzy... but by changing the speed and ev and flash on manual, the pictures came out MUCH better.... it seems the camera sometimes doesnt realize it needs flash to when it does..

As for the video mode, i would have to say it is above par. In fact, i feel that the video on this camera takes beter video than some video cameras out there... but then again, i have never experienced many digital cameras. All i know is now i will not be buying a digital video camera after i have seen the video with this camera.

other than that, i think for what i paid that this is a great camera... . its not a digital slr, but it will do for now.

[speaklightly]

I have owned and extensively used both digital cameras:

Yes, the color on the Z-3 can be very neutral looking at times.

The Z-3's video capabilities are good, the Canon S-1's video is better, in my personal opinion. The Panasonic FZ-3 is less than the other 2 cameras

Z-3 digital images do tend to get soft at the edges, especially in low light conditions.

If your plan is to use the Z-3 in low level lighting conditions, the Canon would be the better choice, and the Panasonic FZ-3 even better.

Keep in mind that that as the Z-3 zooms out to the maximum of 12X optical zoom that the widest available aperture keeps being reduced to a point where you only have F 4.5 available at 12X, so this is not a good digital camera for high ISO numbers and very low lighting conditions.

I hope that helps.

Sarah Joyce

[ernieb]

Hi, I just bought the Z3 myself, and to tell you the truth, I was somewhat disappointed with pic quality. As mentioned, colors are not real stunning; greens are especially dull. Overall, I love everything about the camera--except the pics. Shutter lag is low, sports mode is nice, AF works fast & well (but ONLY in good light) Movies seem very good (though I haven't used this much) Battery life is excellent! LCD is small, but clear.
As with any EVF, it's hard to compose pictures in low light; I would much prefer an optical viewfinder. Pics are very noisy in any situation where lighting is less than optimal. Flash is powerful-it sometimes washes out lighter tones, but not a big prob., just stand a couple feet farther away and use that WONDERFUL 12X zoom! I should also say that the Auto mode rarely works well, no matter what the conditions, so if you want ANY good pics at all, you'll have to take the time to set everything yourself!
OK, the low down of all this is, I'm returning mine for either the Canon S1 IS or the Panasonic f-Z3. Sorry I can't encourage you more--I thought the same thing, I just wanted the z3 despite some questionable reviews, but now I'm having the same problems as others mentioned. Good Luck!
--Ernie

[boll]

Many forums are refering to the amount of noise Z3 produces. I made a small experiment - long(15s) exposure with lens covered and noise reduction turned off. During the test the camera was almost hot and it showed up magenta screen instead of dark one. When I repeated it with camera just switched on the difference was obvious - only few pixels were considered lighter.

Probably it means you need to keep it off until the last moment...

[portugalec]

Price matters....Z3 cheaper then FZ-3 and S1-IS. Have it 2 weeks, took many pics, so far so good, I am pretty satisfied. Noise - yes, but only with poor light. Pics with flash are outstanding - no red eyes problem. Video looks great on TV. I compared it with Canon A 85 (I mean pictures...), Z3 seems to have LESS(!!!) noise, and....20 out of 20 pics with A85 had red eyes problem.... Of course, depends on situation- bright sunny day and flash inside pics are great, the rest is average.
Video looks great on TV! Really worth...

[gary_hendricks]

Hi all,
Quick question from a bit of a novice here. Have done all the usual reading around prior to buying a camera and had decided on Minolta Dimage Z3. However some reviews have now put some doubts in my mind and am now considering possibly going for cannon powershot SI IS. Questions are:

1) Have users found issues with soft coluring in Z3 as mentioned in certain reviews?
2) Would users agree that picture quality with cannon SI is better? (ignoring megapixels.....not interested in large reprints)
3) Could anyone comment in detail on the quality of video mode in Z3 and how it compares to cannon SI.
4) How does the panasonic Z3 compare to minolta Z3 (ignoring megaqpixels)?

Would appreciate any feedback on above questions and if someone could convince me that Minolta Z3 is what I should buy as this is really at I want to buy :confused:

Thanks.


I do know that the Minolta Z3 takes bad indoor shots under low light.

[jdmcguire]

I just got this camera and am very impressed with it. Yes there is alot of noise in low light and the color can be kind of dull, but it really is a functional camera. Video is great and the zoom is awesome. I learned alot about this camera on a trip to the southwest. I took 1600 pics in 2 weeks. I used it in all kinds of situations from sunsets to sports and it worked great. If you get this camera invest in a noise reduction software and any pics that are noisy look alot better. I have been using NeatImage and it helped alot. Hope I could help.

[goofey_knight]

:confused: every1 love it apart from me! i h8 it it looks rubbish and cheep the controls are bog!

[rprovines]

It may take some time but the camera can be set to help compensate for most of the aforementioned issues. Especially the indoors colors and noise from same.

At long lens length in low light it has some noise, but I knew that from the review here and was willing to sacrifice that for the extra zoom over other cameras.

Photoshop helps out with that..... ;)

[rprovines]

Actually the biggest problem that I do have with the camera is that I didn't read the review carefully enough evidently. I thought I could purchase a remote control for it and come to find out..... :mad:

[StarChaser]

Hi all, this is my first post in these forums so go easy on me. ;)

I've had a Z3 since January and I am extremely pleased with it. However, since it is my first digital camera, my opinion shouldn’t way to much - (actually the Z3 is my first worth wile camera mentioning, other then the cheap mechanical piece of plastic that I carried around for 8 years) Anyway, as far as I can tell the Z3 has performed exceptionally well (IMHO), especially in outdoor environments. Oh and don’t get me started with the zoom... WoW. As far as indoor environments are concerned I tend to ‘somewhat’ agree with the general opinion in that area. Yes- indoor pictures do tend to have some problems, however they are not that bad either. Like (rprovines) said, “Photoshop helps out with that..... ;)” Oh, and one thing that I noticed while I did my camera research, was that most digital cameras out there (in the same price range) have the same indoor problems anyway.

– A question – I just noticed that when I turn on my Z3, I can hear a very slight ticking sound. It may have been there before, but I’m reasonably sure that I would have noticed it. Is it developing a problem? Does your Z3 produce a similar sound? Thanks! :cool:

[Daci]

I've had my Z3 for 2 years now. I've used it for family photos until recently when I started to get really into taking pictures(wildlife and landscapes).
Like everybody stated here it has some problems but nothing that can not be fixed. Indoors the pics are coming out yeallowish but I fixed that by getting an external flash which is more powerfull then the built in one.
Auto mode I did not use almost at all , so I can not express my self on that but I've been using P mode and if you learn how to use it it does a great job.
Now the bigest problem is low light conditions; a lot of noise and it does not focus right.
Recently I bought some lenses (wide angle and telephoto) and let me tell you I take pictures now like a pro. I started to learn how to properlly use the S,A and M mode( F stop, shutter speeds... etc.). If you learn how to use this camera it can give some beautifull pictures. Plus whatever doesn't come out right PS can fix it.
Overall this camera is not the best but it is a good camera, especially for beginers.