Introduction
This summer we conducted a 4MP digital camera test. Of all cameras, two of them, the Kodak DX6490 and Konica Minolta Dimage Z2, had excellent reviews thanks to their numerous functions.. These two 4MP digital cameras have a powerful digital zoom and provide nice to excellent pictures, amongst other qualities.
Four months later, these cameras are still on the market but both manufacturers have released newer versions. Even if they have good capabilities, these cameras can be improved. Sensor size is very important and they use a 1/2.5" sensor smaller than the Canon A80’s 1/1.8". It’s smaller and therefore less accurate. Also one of the main problems of the DX6490, despite good picture quality, is its slow camera speed. As for the Z2, we didn’t like the cheap camera body and also noticed the lack of sharpness of pictures at 200 ISO. This setting was used most of the time in automatic mode.
With new improvements on the DX7590 and Z3 they have the opportunity to become the ideal camera for Christmas shoppers.
Camera Characteristics
Areas underlined in yellow represent the cameras’ strong points.
The Kodak features a 5 MP sensor, while Konica Minolta answered with a more powerful zoom which includes a stabilizing device. We know that the 5 MP sensor format is still 1/2.5” (like the Konica Minolta 4 MP), so if we had to make a decision based solely on characteristics we would choose the Z3. On the other hand, the Kodak has a Lithium-Ion battery less bulky and lighter than the Z3’s.
Compared to the DX6490, the DX7590 has a bigger sensor. The video mode changed from 320 x 240 to 640 x 480 (finally!) and the internal memory size was doubled.
Z3 innovations compared to the Z2 are:
- A new camera body. The quality is there but it’s still not perfect (the plastic handle snaps under finger pressure)
- A 640 x 480 30 fps video only mode. The 800 x 600 15 fps unfortunately isn’t included in the new version.
- A zoom with a stabilizing device. This zoom is a 35 – 420 mm (35 mm equivalence) instead of 38 – 380 mm for the previous generation.
