Home > Consumer Reviews > Remanufactured Minolta Dimage Z1 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

Well our first adventure into the digital world has been great thanks to the Minolta Dimage Z1. We've owned Minolta SLR cameras in the past which was our deciding factor here vs. the Olympus and we've been nothing but impressed. The zoom is absolutely incredible and the camera functionality as well as picture quality is superb. If you're on the fence..don't be--get the Z1

I got this cam for Xmas last year. The only problem I had was with the view selector not letting me switch to the viewfinder from the LCD screen. Minolta fixed it, and I got it back SOONER than they estimated!! Definitely get xtra memory cards, 16 MB just ain't enough. I got a 512 mb card for mine, now I can take up to 5,000 pics (yowza!)before having to empty the card!! This cam is packed with features ( 10X OPTICAL zoom!!) The black and white/ sepia tone modes are cool, and the software is very nice too. Picture quality is excellent. In my opinion, you can NOT go wrong with this camera. I don't see a need to upgrade anytime soon, but if and when I do, it'll be another Minolta. Invest in a set or two of NiMh batteries, a bigger memory card, and a card reader, and you're all set for some serious picture taking. Five stars all the way!

I bought this Minolta Dimage Z1 camera about 6 weeks ago, and I am very pleased with it! The zoom is more than awesome!! I find it very easy to handle! This is my second digital camera, first being an Olympus, which I had really considered again! This camera really caught my eye! As with all cameras, they each have flaws, I have not found one perfect camera for everyone! The zoom and the way it is design is what sold me on this one! The pictures are beautiful! This camera for the money is just hard to beat! I admit the battery compartment door is flimsy. Overall, I am very happy with my choice!

Got mine on Friday so far it's great. The pictures I took at night were impressive. The only think I have to pick at is that it shows the movies in quicktime which seemed to work well with this camera but I prefer realone or MS media player. (no good reason I just prefer it) Other than that it's pretty nice. The zoom is awesome. I used it to get the serial numbers off of an overhead transformer mounted on a 45 foot utility pole (those serial numbers are not much bigger than the print on this page). You wouldn't believe the clarity. I was going to hold out for something with more megapixels for the same money but I'm glad I didn't.

I've been using a very low quality digi-cam for years and really wanted to upgrade to something more serious. A camera pro shop recommended this one because of the incredible 10x zoom and the fast response time. However, within hours of having it home, I saw some problems:

1. It seems REALLY fragile and I just don't imagine the body or the lens holding up too long.
2. Once you stuff the batteries in (quite literally), the battery cover looks like it's going to pop off or break at any minute.
3. My husband and I both tried repeatedly to get clear shots, but with any zooming at all (even minimal), the picture was blurry. We tried multiple settings and various lighting conditions and the results were the same. What good is a 10x zoom if it takes you 8 shots just to get something remotely clear???

Turns out that the ultra fast response time (and it IS really fast) just isn't worth the trouble we had trying to get a stable picture, so we took the camera back. Instead, we opted for the Fuji Finepix (sp?) S5000, which also has a 10x zoom, was cheaper, had fantastic reviews here, and takes dependably clear shots (even using the zoom).

In my opinion, if you have your heart set on this cam, I'd hold out until they come up with a better model or test drive the Fuji.