Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 is the replacement for the popular DiMAGE Z3 digital camera and is currently Konica Minolta's highest-specced ultra-zoom digital camera. The Konica Minolta Z5 offers a 5 megapixel CCD sensor and a 12x zoom lens that is ...

Verdict: The Konica MinoltaDiMAGE Z5 is almost twice the price of the Konica MinoltaDiMAGE Z20 that I reviewed last week, but is it twice the camera? The Z5 has several key features that differentiate it from the cheaper Z20. The 12x zoom offers an increased ...

Review summary: The Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, is available for around £267 - and is a 5 megapixel digital camera, with an impressive 12x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 35-420mm on a 35mm camera), and a large 2" TFT screen. The camera is enclosed in a silver or ...

Pros: 12x Optical Zoom Lens Anti-Shake CCD Technology is very good Quick turn-on, continuous shots, focus etc Very good movie mode (VGA/30fps with zoom and sound) Good image quality (very good colour, good saturation and detail) Excellent super macro mode 2 ...

Cons: High noise (noise visible at ISO50, and unusable at ISO320!) Slightly soft images Manual pop-up flash 4-way controller / middle 'OK' button has no labels

Verdict: The Konica Minolta Dimage Z5 has improved compared to the Z3 it replaces, they have replaced the screen with a much better 2" screen, and improved the slightly confusing on/off switch that was on the Z3, however, the upgrade to a 5 megapixel sensor ...

Review summary: Our current Editors' Choice in the 5-megapixel digital camera market. The Dimage Z5 takes great pictures, and adds a 12x zoom lens and image stabilization. And if you like macro photography or want the flexibility to capture decent video without ...

Pros: Very good image quality ; antishake feature ; 12x optical zoom ; great macro mode ; electronic viewfinder ; live histogram ; very good video quality

Cons: Noisy images ; no TIFF or RAW support (JPEG only)

Verdict: The 12x optical zoom in the Z5 is a standout in this class, and can focus to an intimate 0.4 inches in Super Macro mode, perfect for budding entomologists (I only wish it had a twistable LCD for shooting at odd angles). The Z5 is one of a handful of ...

Pros: Very good image quality.superb 12X zoom.Very effective stabilization.Superlative macro mode.No chromatic aberration.Good ergonomic design.

Cons: Low resolution EVF.EVF freeze while shooting.Slight under exposure bias.No uncompressed format.

Review summary: Konica Minolta released the DiMAGE Z5 at the Photo Marketing Association trade show in Orlando in February 2005. This digital camera aims for intermediate users that have grown out of compact cameras, but are not quite ready to make the jump to ...

Pros: image stabilization on 12x optical zoom lens ,external flash shoe with cover ,perhaps the best movie mode seen on a digital camera ,10 frame per second progressive mode

Cons: the lens takes too long to focus ,slow continuous shooting mode ,viewfinder diopter is stiff ,eats through batteries

Verdict: Konica Minolta updated its Z3 with one more megapixel and a larger LCD screen and released it as the DiMAGE Z5. Nevertheless, they'll be available for about the same price, retailing for $499.