Minolta Z3 (1 Viewer)

I am thinking of buying a Minolta Z3. The small size, light weight and 12x zoom are especially appealing. I have read the previous posts on this camera and was wondering if anyone else could add any other opinions, either for or against.

Many thanks,

Steve

Well it's been superceded by the Z5, which is £279(ish) it has 5MP compared to 4MP and a 2in monitor instead of 1.5in. I believe the autofocus & predictive autofocus are improved?

If you think the extra £80 is worth it or not is the question - I believe the Z3 is avaible at £199 though a net search will surely beat Argos price.

http://www.dcviews.com/_minolta/z3.htm

Locate a review on the above site

Steve

Hi Quacker. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I take your points although I'm not sure that the difference between 4MP & 5MP would be noticeable on "normal" sized photographs. To me, the spec on the Z3 seems quite high for a comparitively low cost. I was wondering why. What would I lose out on compared to a similar spec camera costing twice as much?
Having said that, by the time you add on the cost of case, rechargeable batteries, charger and a decent size memory card the cost soon escalates!

Steve

extras

bristolbirder said:

Hi Quacker. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I take your points although I'm not sure that the difference between 4MP & 5MP would be noticeable on "normal" sized photographs. To me, the spec on the Z3 seems quite high for a comparitively low cost. I was wondering why. What would I lose out on compared to a similar spec camera costing twice as much?
Having said that, by the time you add on the cost of case, rechargeable batteries, charger and a decent size memory card the cost soon escalates!

Steve

Click to expand...

What are the neccessary extras when purchasing a digital camera? I,m still trying to decide what to choose. Is there much noticable diffrence in 10 or 12x mag.,and what ones can take a tele converter? Oh ma heid.

Henry B said:

What are the neccessary extras when purchasing a digital camera? I,m still trying to decide what to choose. Is there much noticable diffrence in 10 or 12x mag.,and what ones can take a tele converter? Oh ma heid.

Click to expand...

The important thing is that when it says 10x magnification you have to ask 10x what? If it starts from a very wide angle then 10x may not get you as close as you would like. The 12x magnification on the Z3 takes it up to 420mm which is about the equivalent of 8x binoculars. Also, at these levels you should look for a camera that has image stabilisation to ensure a sharp image.

The one essential extra that you will always need is a bigger memory card as, often, the one supplied is so miniscule as to be useless.

Steve

Hello steve

Read elsewhere, I bought the new Z5.

The 12x zoom is equivalent to 35-420mm on an slr camera, which will be bigger than the 8x magnification of binoculars. The reaon it will look smaller is the small size viewfinder or LCD. Your pics on a TV/monito/photo will look much larger.

At the risk of being shot down in flames, there's not TOO much difference between the Z5 and Z3 specs if you can't justify the price difference. A larger memory card(s) are essential as are extra Ni-Mh's, but I have them in bulk anyway for all my gadgets;-)

It does not have a converter.

Out of interest, when I used mine for the first time, I used the 12x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom - 48x combined to see the "quality" (or lack of) with the digital zoom. Again in the viewfinder it looked ok for the Dunnock I was photographing, but the actual shot when viewed made said Dunnock look like a Quail skulking around! - so although it looked small in the LCD monitor, it was grossly oversized in reality - now to photograph them Gateshead Red Kites at somewhere between 12-48x

Steve

Steve,

I bought the Z3 about 6 months ago and am very pleased with it. The 12x zoom is definately the highlight. The image stablizer make it possible to take long zoom pics without a tripod.

Ive put a few sample resized pics here

http://photobucket.com/albums/y173/...ent=babymonkey2.jpg&slideshow=true&interval=3

You can use filters and adapters with it if you get the converter to allow 52mm threads. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/202-6978778-5565441

If you have any specific questions please let me know

Regards

John

Thanks for the reply John.

Since my last posting I have bought the Z3 and, like you, am very pleased with it. Very versatile, good quality and excellent battery life! The 12X zoom is excellent and even drifting into the digital zoom still gives good quality photos.

Steve