The tests

Inside

The first test is a scene, always the same, indoors, under artificial light, reproducible and similar to natural light. A picture is taken with a tripod, at least twice, once using a flash and once without. We do this to observe if the flash distorts or saturates colors and to see if the digital camera is able to display more accurate colors and a good picture quality without the flash.



If the option is available (not on fully automatic versions), this scene is also shot at all the camera’s ISO settings.

Still indoors we evaluate the macro mode on a bouquet of flowers, the low light mode (by candle light), contrast, pictures taken against the light, the zoom efficiency with a test pattern, and last but not least, the video mode.


The video mode can now be taken more seriously. Many digital cameras have 640 x 480 pixel resolution (or better) and 30 fps. Without reaching the digital camcorder quality, the result is very nice on a big screen. Another advantage is that digital cameras are much easier to use than camcorder tapes. With camcorders you will wait to transfer and then convert the videos, the result being most of the time a pile of tapes on your desk. With digital cameras a simple copy / paste is enough. You can also edit your movie and add a sound reel with Studio 9, etc.

Outdoors

Five scenes are systematically photographed from a variety of subjects. They are always the same: a stone detail on a wall, a subway sign, a statue, a canal and a coliseum. Four of them are photographed twice, once with a wide angle and once with the maximum zoom, without a tripod. Digital cameras with a large zoom have to be efficient even if you don´t have a tripod to stabilize the camera.

Speed

Speed is often a neglected characteristic but still essential as every digital camera owner will agree. A camera can provide superb pictures, but if too slow, it’s quite annoying and tedious.
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Four operations are measured:
-Switching on the camera. The slowest of this test needed approximately 5 seconds.
-The time between pictures. The faster required one second, three times less than one of its competitors
-Time needed to auto focus in a daylight environment (some cameras take twice the amount of time).
-Focusing with little light (one even failed).

Ergonomics

Handling

The DX7590 corresponds perfectly to the bridge camera profile; handle on the right, numerical viewfinder, and all picture settings are accessible. It is, however, approximately 1 cm shorter than the Z3. This size difference between the lens and the handle doesn’t allow a good grip for the DX7590. The Konica Minolta camera is easier to carry thanks to this added space.
For both cameras the zoom is activated with the right thumb via a control knob.

Screens

The Kodak screen is 2.2” wide instead of 1.5” for the Konica Minolta and therefore, picture parameters are more visible. However, we preferred the Konica’s screen even if it is smaller, because screen quality was better for sharpness, reactivity and color.
In short, if you often take pictures in automatic mode, the Z3 screen is the right choice. If you are constantly adjusting light, sensitivity, aperture parameters, the larger Kodak screen would be preferable.

The DX7590’s electronic viewfinder seems blurred compared to the Z3’s. Its lack of reactivity shows a trail of light behind objects. Taking a picture of objects in motion is rather unpleasant.

Surfing the menu


Both cameras have the usual modes; Auto (fully automatic), P (a few adjustments are possible like sensitivity and exposure), A (means aperture), S (for speed adjustments) and M (every setting is manually adjustable including aperture and speed). Both cameras have an additional Scene mode optimised for different situations. Main Scene modes are night, sport, portrait, landscape and the macro mode can also be included. If the choice was based on the number of Scene modes, the Kodak would win with 16 different ones. However too many useless modes like “fireworks”, “museum”, “beach”, “snow”, and so on pollute a camera’s use

In terms of surfing the menu we give the advantage to Kodak. There is a control knob located under the right forefinger permitting quick adjustment of speed, aperture and sensitivity. To adjust the sensitivity on the Konica Minolta camera, you have to use you right thumb to activate the menu, choose the third tab, go right, choose the right level, and then validate with the central control.

Kodak definitively has the advantage for parameter adjustments.

Speed

Speed

The good news is that both cameras are quicker than the previous generation:



To put these figures in perspective here are the average response times of 32 cameras tested this year.


The DX7590 replaces the notoriously slow DX6490. We noticed this disadvantage during our last 4-meapixels test, but Kodak made serious improvement in this area. The DX7590 is twice as fast to switch on, between two pictures and to focus. Now in this domain, the DX7590 equals most other cameras.

The Z2 was one of the fastest cameras and the Z3 is even faster! Two measurements (time between pictures and focus under good lighting conditions) were particularly interesting. They were almost twice as fast as most other cameras.

If you like to take pictures “quickly” and you are used to film cameras the Z3 is for you. You won’t miss a picture due to slow camera operation.

Sensitivity

Kodak DX7590

Konica Minolta Z3


The Kodak clearly wins this area of the test because of the Z3’s poor performance in this domain. Picture noise quickly increases with the Konica Minolta from 100 ISO onwards. From 200 ISO most pictures can’t be used because of a loss of details.
With the Kodak camera, picture noise increases progressively. It’s easily noticed at 200 ISO and is too strong at 400 ISO. Without providing an exceptional result, pictures obtained with a higher sensitivity are better.

We recommend avoiding the use of the Auto mode for the Z3, because the camera might set sensitivity at 100 ISO. It’s better to use the P mode and set sensitivity to 50 ISO.

Here is another obvious example of the noise issue with the Z3. This picture was taken in auto mode. The camera chooses the best settings possible according to a landscape’s brightness. Sensitivity was set at 50 ISO.

Konica Z3 : whole picture	Extract full size

On the left, the small picture is the full one resized at 250. On the right, the extract of the original picture (copy and paste of the original picture without any resizing). Even at 50 ISO and with good lighting conditions noise was still noticeable.

These results led us to compare the Z2 and Z3.

Konica Minolta Z2



Konica Minolta Z3



The Z2 provides the best results…
Conclusion: If lighting is reduced, it’s better to use the flash rather than adjust sensitivity. Actually it’s quite good news as you already know how difficult it is to change the sensitivity…

Side by side: indoors

Side by side: indoors

We included pictures from four cameras, the DX6590, DX7590, Z3 and Z2. Not only did we want to compare the DX7590 and the Z3 to each other but also to the previous camera generations. Three of these cameras are equipped with a 4 MP sensor and one with a 5 MP. Therefore, the original pictures (available in full size if you click on the left picture) have been resized to 8” x 12” 300 dpi with Photoshop. Resizing the pictures helps us to compare quality regardless of sensor size.

Kodak DX6490 : detail 1	detail 2

Kodak DX7590 : detail 1	detail 2

Konica Z3 : detail 1	detail 2

Konica Z2 : detail 1	detail 2

Kodak vs Kodak

Picture color quality is identical with both cameras and it seems they use the same processor. The two pictures are very similar but show a lack of sharpness. The DX7590’s better result is especially noticeable on the olive oil bottle (on the left, picture 1). The 5 MP letters appear sharper.

Konica Minolta vs Konica Minolta

During the previous 4 MP test we noticed a predominant red in the Z2 pictures and with the Z3 this problem seemed even stronger. With our 20 test pictures, however, we concluded that reds were equivalent to the Z2’s. Picture processing has changed. The Z3 picture is sharper than the Z2’s but has more noise. This result is logical in that increasing sharpness also accentuates parasite pixels.

DX7590 vs Z3

Kodak wins this portion of the test. Pictures show more detail, and colors are more accurate and less aggressive.

Side by side : indoors low light

Side to side : inside low light

We remind you (see precedent page) that the original pictures (available in full size if you click on the left picture) have been resized to 8” x 12” 300 dpi with Photoshop. Resizing the pictures helps us to compare quality regardless of sensor size.

Kodak DX6490 : detail 1	detail 2

Kodak DX7590 : detail 1	detail 2

Konica Z3 : detail 1	detail 2

Konica Z2 : detail 1	detail 2

Conclusions are more or less the same as with the previous test. Going from 4 to 5 MP increases the detail level. It’s interesting to notice that even with an equivalent sensor size of 1/2.5”, and with smaller photosites for the 5 MP, pictures noise hasn’t increased.
For the Konica Minolta cameras, the Z3 picture is sharper than the Z2’s, but like the previous test displays more noise.

Side by side : macro

Side by side : macro

Kodak DX6490	Kodak DX7590

Konica Minolta Z2	Konica Minolta Z3

Don’t let your eyes fool you. None of these pictures were made with a flash. Once more the Z3 picture is the worst of all four. There is still too much noise! The DX7590 picture is shocking. Florent (a member of our team) hates these “Barbie colors”. Over exposed, with maximum color saturation, and captured at a slow speed (1/8s instead of 1/20s for all other cameras), this picture is really disappointing.

Side by side : outdoor zoom

Side by side : outdoor zoom

The below picture extracts are the originals. They were simply copied and pasted.

Kodak DX6490	Kodak DX7590

Konica Minolta Z2	Konica Minolta Z3

On the left is the previous generation, and on the right the new.
The Z3 has a 12X zoom instead of the Z2 10X.The DX7590 like the DX6490 is equipped with a 10 X zoom but has a 5 MP sensor. So the picture size changes from 2304 x 1728 to 2576 x 1932. Size increases approximately 25%. This result is equivalent to a 4 MP equipped with a 12.5X zoom (10 +25%)
This is the reason why the Z3 and DX7590 enlargements are almost similar.

With this test photo, we didn’t notice the lack of a stabilizing device. Lighting was good and picture speed was high; 1/100s for the Z3 and 1/400 for the DX7590. Differences were noticed when brightness was reduced or if we worked with low speeds (on purpose). It would seem difficult to use a speed below 1/30s with the Kodak (even for video, the screen shakes too much), but the Konica Minolta provides excellent results even with a speed three times slower. The following pictures have been made in S mode (manual choice of speed), indoors, and without a tripod.

Konica Z3, used LCD screen to aim and shoot, 1/8 s	Konica Z3, electronic aiming device, camera close to eye, 1/4 s

Under 1/4s pictures were blurred.

Side by side : video mode

Side by side : video full screen (1024 x 768)

Videos were made at the highest possible resolution and framerate. We took an image and resized it in 1024 x 768 to simulate a full screen display on a computer.

Kodak DX6490	Kodak DX7590

Konica Minolta Z2	Konica Minolta Z3

The DX7590 video mode improved compared to the DX6490 and there is a reason for that. Video resolution increased from 320 x 240 to 640 x 480 pixels. The Z3’s picture (640 x 480), however, was reduced compared to the Z2’s (800 x 600) but it’s still possible to use the Z3’s zoom when shooting video. Filming and zooming remains exceptional for current digital cameras.

The Z3 wins this portion of the test.

Conclusion

Conclusion

The previous generation is cheaper than these new cameras. The price gap varies from one retailer to another but is on average $100. Is this additional $100 worth it?


For the Kodak the answer is YES. The new camera body is definitively better than the previous one. It more pleasant to use, more accurate, and it includes twice as much internal memory. Pictures made with the DX7590 are equivalent or better (bigger and more detail) than the DX6490. And most of all, the DX7590 is clearly faster than the DX6490. Speed was the biggest disadvantage of this camera.

Choosing between the Z2 and Z3 is much more difficult. The Z3 has a nicer more refined body, a bigger zoom and a very efficient stabilizing device. With the zoom you will be able to take pictures that you would miss with most cameras including the Z2. With the stabilizing device also comes a new processor. We don’t like it very much as the accentuation effect increases sharpness but also the noise level at all sensitivities.
Along with the change in processor, Konica Minolta has also apparently changed the color processing. The new one is different… but not better. Pictures are still too warm.
Unless you use the maximum zoom most of the time, we prefer the Z2.

Z2 or DX7590 ?

With a better macro mode and LCD screen reactivity the Z2 is $100 les expensive than the DX7590. On the other hand, the Kodak screen and sensor are bigger and the camera body quality higher. All in all, the DX7590 wins this test but just by a few points.