The DiMAGE Z1's visual style is likely to be one you'll either decide you like or dislike instantly. It is certainly radical looking, but we're not alone in noticing a distinct similarity to a much older camera. Unveiled at German photographic expo Photokina in 1966, the Minolta Electro-Zoom X might look familiar to some owners of Minolta's DiMAGE X-series cameras - the picture below of it appears in the user manual for some of those models. The Electro-Zoom X had a 30 - 120mm f/3.5 zoom lens and shot 20 images per roll of 16mm film. Only a handful of prototypes were ever made, and the camera never went on sale - but the round body with a triangular projection for the lens prism on top, and a hand grip that was visually separated from the camera body is somewhat mirrored by the DiMAGE Z1's design.

Minolta Electro-Zoom X	Minolta DiMAGE Z1

The Z1's visual design is not the only thing that's unusual, though. Perhaps one of the stranger features we've heard of on a digital camera, the Z1 features what Minolta is calling a "switch finder". Simply put, the electronic viewfinder and rear display panel on the camera are both powered by a single 1.5-inch, 113,000 pixel LCD display that apparently runs at an impressive 60 frames per second. A lever on the rear of the camera sets it to playback mode, or a choice of record mode on the rear panel or on the electronic viewfinder. Minolta is promoting this feature as advantageous because "photographers won’t need to worry about the color, contrast, and resolution difference between separate rear and viewfinder monitors. Because of the viewfinder’s large apparent angle of view, the monitor image is large and clear."

It may be true that the EVF image will appear larger than normal, but some potential disadvantages spring to mind as well. Obviously, there's the worry of moving parts - the more moving parts there are in a camera, the more likely it is that something will fail after regular use for a period of time. LCDs themselves can fail too, but then if the LCD panel fails in this camera, you lose both the viewfinder and the rear panel in one go.

Since the Z1 uses a full-sized LCD panel, power consumption when looking through the viewfinder will be significantly higher than a standard EVF. We don't know if there will be any power saving compared to using the camera's rear panel - there's the possibility that since the EVF doesn't have to compete with ambient light the backlight can be turned down to save power. The press materials don't actually say if the camera actually does this, though.

As for seeing the same thing on the viewfinder and rear LCD panel, that may be true in the right lighting conditions - but as ambient light varies, your perception of color likewise changes. Since when your eye is against the viewfinder, there's a lot less ambient light than when the camera is away from your face, depending on the lighting conditions, you'll still perceive different color from the same display. Nor are LCDs built into a camera really well-suited to judging color and contrast in the first place- which is why we like cameras with histograms so much. The camera LCD is not calibrated, and LCD panels have a tendency to give completely different renditions of color than what you'll get on a CRT or in print anyway.

Much as with the visual design of the camera, either you'll prefer the single LCD design of the Z1 - which presumably also helps save a little cost and puts a few dollars back into your pocket - or you'll find the potential disadvantages outweigh the advantages. That decision will come down to personal preference, and the camera has much else to recommend it. We'll reserve judgement until we've had a chance to try the Z1 in person, and we recommend readers do the same. ;)

So - what other features does the Z1 have? Sensor resolution is 3.3 megapixels, and this is coupled with a powerful 10x optical zoom lens - not the strongest we've seen, but certainly right up at the top. At F2.8 - 3.5, the lens is comparable to other 10x zoom or greater cameras from Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic and Toshiba in terms of brightness. It isn't an optically-stabilised lens, but the camera does feature a program mode that attempts to keep the shutter speed high enough to avoid camera blur dependent on the lens focal length. Power comes from four AA batteries, and images are stored on Secure Digital or MultiMediaCards.

Pricing and availability for the Minolta DiMAGE Z1 have not yet been announced. We are hoping to have our own images of the camera to replace the stock images shortly - unfortunately the announcement having gone ahead well before schedule meant that our photos haven't yet been completed. Full specifications and a "backgrounder" document courtesy of Minolta follow.

Our apologies to readers who've been waiting patiently for the last few hours for our coverage of this announcement. Unfortunately as noted in our coverage of the DiMAGE A1 announcement, the time we were given by Minolta did not match the correct announcement time.

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Minolta DiMAGE Z1
Number of effective pixels	3.2 million
CCD	1/2.7-type interline primary-color CCD Total pixels: 3.3 million
Camera sensitivity	Auto and 50,100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents
Focal length	5.8 - 58mm (35mm equivalent: 38 – 380mm)
Lens construction	10 elements in 7 groups (includes two elements with three aspheric surfaces)
Maximum aperture	f/2.8 – f/3.5
Minimum focus distance	Wide: 1.6ft. (0.5m) from front of lens Telephoto: 6.6ft. (2m) from front of lens Wide: 1.9ft. (0.57m) from CCD Telephoto: 6.8ft. (2.07m) from CCD
Minimum macro distance	� Super Macro Standard macro Focal length:� 9.7mm* Wide Telephoto From front of lens: 1.6 in. (4 cm) 3.9 in. (10cm) 47.2 in. (120cm) From CCD: 4.3 in. (11cm) 6.7in. (17cm) 50 in. (127cm) * at 9.7mm only
Maximum magnification	0.12x (1: 8.33) Equivalent to 0.79x (1: 1.27) in 35mm format
Area covered at maximum magnification	1.3 x 1.73 inches (33 x 44mm) �
LCD monitor	1.5 inch (3.8cm) low-temperature polysilicon TFT color with anti-reflection coating Total number of pixels: 113,000 Automatic monitor amplification
Field of view	Viewfinder: Approximately 98% LCD monitor: Approximately 100 %
Display-mode switch	Viewfinder display, LCD-monitor display Switch Finder system allows the monitor to be viewed directly or through the viewfinder.
Diopter control	– 3 ~ +1m-1
Eye relief	18.8mm
Shutter	CCD electronic shutter and mechanical shutter
Shutter speed range	4 - 1/1000 second in programmed-AE and aperture-priority modes. 15 - 1/1000 second in shutter-priority and manual exposure modes. 2 - 1/1000 second in auto-recording and Digital Subject Programs Bulb (maximum 30 seconds)
Autofocus system	Rapid AF: a combination of a passive AF sensor with the video AF system
Autofocus areas	Wide focus area Spot focus areas with Focus Area Selection
Focus modes	Single-shot AF, Full-time AF, Manual focus.
Focus lock	By pressing shutter-release button partway down.
Metering	Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
Multi-segment metering	256 segments
Exposure modes	Programmed AE, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual
Digital Subject Programs	Portrait, Sports action, Landscape, Sunset, Night portrait. Automatic and manual selection.
Exposure compensation	±2 EV in 1/3 increments
AE lock	By pressing shutter-release button partway down
Flash metering	Pre-flash TTL
Flash range	Wide: Approximately 0.8 – 20 ft. (0.23 – 6.1 m) from CCD Telephoto: Approximately 3.9 – 15.7 ft. (1.2 – 4.8 m) from CCD (Camera sensitivity: auto)
Flash modes	Autoflash, Autoflash with red-eye reduction, Fill flash, Slow-shutter sync. Autoflash not available with aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure modes. Flash cancel by pushing the built-in flash down.
Flash recycling time	Approximately 7 seconds
Flash compensation	± 2 EV in 1/3 increments
Flash-sync speeds	All shutter speeds
External flashes	Auto-flash metering with Program/Maxxum Flash 2500 (D), Program/Maxxum 3600HS (D), Program/Maxxum Flash 5600HS (D)
Continuous advance	UHS (Ultra High Speed) continuous advance: Approximately ten 1280x960 frames in one second �Standard continuous advance: Approximately 1.5 frames per second * Actual speed may vary depending upon the subject and camera settings. Approximate number of frames that can be captured at one time with the continuous-advance drive modes: UHS continuous advance (1280x960) Fine 10 frames Standard 10 frames Economy 10 frames Standard continuous advance � 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 1280 x 960 640 x 480 Fine 5 frames 8 frames 13 frames 42 frames Standard 10 frames 16 frames 24 frames 67 frames Economy 19 frames 30 frames 42 frames 94 frames * Actual number of images may vary depending upon the subject and camera settings.
Progressive Capture	Maximum number of images that can be recorded with the Progressive Capture mode: UHS: 10 frames Standard: 6 frames
Exposure bracketing	Three frame bracket in 1.0, 0.5, 0.3 EV increments
Self-timer	Approximately 10 seconds
Movie	Recording time dependent on memory card capacity, image size, and frame rate. Frame rate: 15 frames per second, 30 frames per second Fast forward and rewind control. With and without monaural audio with playback volume control. Jogging Movie frame capture Night movie (automatic selection or disabled)
White balance control	Automatic, Preset (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash), Custom
Digital Effects Control	Contrast compensation, Sharpness
Contrast compensation	Three levels (Low, Normal, High)
Sharpness settings	Three levels (Soft, Normal, Hard)
Color modes	Natural Color, Vivid Color, Black and White, Sepia
Noise reduction	User selectable dark noise reduction
Digital zoom	Maximum 4x in 0.1x increments
Copy function	To copy single or multiple images to the same or another memory card.
E-mail Copy function	Creates a compressed 640x480 or 160x120 JPEG image for transmission.
Date imprinting	Year / month / day (Format can be changed.) Imprinting can be disabled
Key customization	The function activated by the flash-mode button can be changed.
Image-quality modes	Fine, Standard, Economy
Number of recorded pixels (Still images)	2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480 1280 x 960 in UHS continuous-advance mode
Number of recorded pixels (Movie clips)	640x480, 320x240, 160x120
Storage capacity	Approximate storage capacity of a 16MB SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card: Still images � 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 � 1280 x 960 640 x 480 Fine 9 frames 14 frames 22 frames 69 frames Standard 17 frames 27 frames 39 frames 100 frames Economy 32 frames 47 frames 69 frames 150 frames Movie clips � 640 x 480 320 x 240 160 x 120 30 fps 13 seconds 21 seconds 1 minute 22 seconds 15 fps 26 seconds 41 seconds 2 minutes 30 seconds * Movie clips recorded with audio. * Actual number of images may vary depending upon the subject and memory card used.
File formats	JPEG, Motion JPEG (MOV) DCF 1.0-compliant DPOF-compliant (Supported by printing functions in version 1.1) Exif 2.2
Folder name formats	Standard, Date
Printing output control	Exif Print, PRINT Image Matching II
Recording media	SD (Secure Digital) Memory Cards, MultiMediaCards
Computer interface	Full-speed 12Mbps USB
Direct print	USB DIRECT-PRINT
AV output	NTSC, PAL (selected on the camera)
Batteries	Four AA batteries: Alkaline, Ni-MH
Battery performance (Playback)	Approximate continuous playback time: 300 min. with alkaline batteries.
Battery performance (Recording)	Approximate number of recorded images: 250 frames with alkaline batteries, LCD monitor on, Full-size images (2048x1536), Standard image quality, No instant playback, No full-time AF, Flash used with 50% of the frames.
External power source	6V DC with specified AC adapter (sold separately)
Dimensions (WxHxD)	4.31 x 3.05 x 3.15 inches (109.5 x 77.5 x 80mm)
Weight	Approximately 10.8oz. (305g) without batteries or recording media
Operating temperature	32-104°F� (0-40ºC)
Standard accessories	Neck Strap NS-DG5000, Lens Cap LF-242, Accessory Shoe Cap SC-1000, AV Cable AVC-200, 16MB SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card, USB Cable USB-500, DiMAGE Viewer, ArcSoft VideoImpression CD-ROM, Four AA Alkaline batteries
Optional accessories	AC Adapter AC-1L, Leather Neck Strap NS-DG1000, External High Power Battery Pack Kit EBP-100, Wide Converter Kit ZCW-100
More Photos
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New Minolta Single Lens Reflex (SLR)-type Digital Camera: The DiMAGE Z1

Minolta Corporation’s stylish new DiMAGE Z1 is the first in a series of easy-to-use powerful SLR-type digital cameras. The first Minolta digital camera to include Minolta’s new built-in 10x Mega-zoom lens, the DiMAGE Z1 possess advanced technology and the world’s fastest autofocusing among digital cameras with a built-in 10x or greater optical zoom.* Key features include:

• 3.2 Megapixels
• Minolta’s new Mega-Zoom lens (10x optical/4x digital zoom)
• Rapid Autofocus (AF)
• Progressive Capture
• High-Quality VGA Movie (640 x 480, 30 frames per second)
• Minolta’s CxProcess II
• Ultra High Speed (UHS) Continuous Advance (10 frames per second rapid fire)
• LCD and Eye-level Electronic Viewfinder

Main Features:

Minolta’s 10x Mega-zoom Lens
The new Minolta 10x Mega-zoom is a fast f2.8 – f3.5 lens allowing fast shutter speeds for sport or natural-light photography. The ten-element seven-group design employs two aspheric lenses to minimize aberrations and produce sharp images. With a focal range of 5.8mm to 58mm, it is equivalent to a 38 - 380mm 35mm camera lens. When combined with the seamless 4x digital zoom, it has an amazing 40x zoom range, equivalent to a 38 – 1520mm lens.

To extend the versatility of the powerful 10x Mega-zoom, an optional 0.75x wide-converter is available. This lens attachment increases the lens’ angle of view giving it a maximum coverage approximately equal to a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera. The adapter ring supplied with the wide-converter allows 52mm filters to be used with the camera.

With such powerful optics, the affect of camera shake, a slight blurring of the image when the camera is handheld, can be a significant problem. Minolta engineers have developed an advanced program exposure line to maximize shutter speeds by controlling the aperture and camera sensitivity based on the subject program and focal length in use.

Rapid AF
Such powerful optics combined with a high-resolution 3.3 megapixel 1/2.7 interline primary-color CCD requires a powerful autofocus system. The Minolta DiMAGE Z1 employs Rapid AF to ensure sharp images with minimum delay. Rapid AF uses a passive AF sensor to instantly estimate the distance to the subject and the camera’s CCD to determine the precise focus point. A high-speed drive focuses the lens quickly and smoothly. The CCD uses a 60 frame per second sampling rate to determine the optimum focus, twice the rate of most digital cameras on the market today. All this translates into a 0.3 second focusing time at a focal length of 5.8mm and 0.4 seconds at 58mm, giving the Minolta DiMAGE Z1 the world’s fastest AF among digital cameras with a built-in 10x or greater optical zoom.*

Although the DiMAGE Z1 uses complex AF technology, focusing the camera couldn’t be easier. The user simply places the subject anywhere within the focus frames and the camera does the rest; an AF sensor is briefly displayed so the subject can be confirmed.

Minolta’s Progressive Capture
Minolta’s new drive mode, Progressive Capture, makes sure photographers never miss a shot. When the shutter-release button is pressed and held down, Progressive Capture begins saving images in the buffer memory. A user simply watches the action on the monitor and when it is over, releases the shutter button and the images in the buffer memory are saved to the memory card catching the moment. Six frames are saved when using standard continuous advance and 10 frames when using UHS continuous advance. Standard continuous advance records at approximately 1.5 frames per second at any image size or quality setting. Ultra High Speed (UHS) continuous advance records 1.2 megapixel images at 10 frames per second.

High Quality VGA Movie
The Minolta DiMAGE Z1 doesn’t just capture still images. High-quality VGA (640 x 480) movies at 30 frames per second can be recorded. Image size and frame rate can be selected to balance image quality with file size. Three image sizes are available: 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 160 x 120. Because of the high frame rate of the CCD, movies may be shot at 30 frames per second to create natural flicker-free images, or 15 frames per second to maximize recording time. The length of the movie is only limited by the memory card capacity, image size, and frame rate.

Because the Minolta DiMAGE Z1 can capture large, high-quality VGA (640 x 480) movies, image sharpness and brightness is very important. During recording the DiMAGE Z1 will continue to focus to provide the sharpest possible image. The night-movie mode can make color recordings under extreme low-light conditions.

Minolta’s CXProcess II
CxProcess II, Minolta’s new image-processing technology, is employed to bring out the best in the 3.3 megapixel 1/2.7 interline primary-color CCD. CxProcess II controls the essential image qualities of color, contrast, and sharpness while minimizing noise. Brilliant, saturated color remains vibrant without becoming unnatural or flat. Subtle contrast is rendered to retain the richness and depth of the subject while preserving details in the highlights and shadows. Sharpness is controlled by balancing resolution with acutance to show fine detail while minimizing hard, unnatural edges.

Unique LCD & Viewfinder
The DiMAGE Z1 is equipped with Minolta’s unique Switch Finder. This unique system allows the camera’s LCD monitor to be viewed directly or through the viewfinder. Since a single monitor is used, photographers won’t need to worry about the color, contrast, and resolution difference between separate rear and viewfinder monitors. Because of the viewfinder’s large apparent angle of view, the monitor image is large and clear.

The camera’s Real Motion LCD monitor uses a 60 frames per second frame rate. This Real Motion frame rate brings the live image to life by the ability to show action smoothly compared to the slower 30 frames per second rate of conventional monitors.

Performance and Design
Minolta engineers have pushed every aspect of the DiMAGE Z1’s performance to the limit. Startup time is 2 seconds and shutdown time is 2.4 seconds. After focus has been locked in, the shutter-release time lag is 0.06 second, comparable to an SLR film camera. The camera will be ready to capture another image in 1.2 seconds after the exposure.

The DiMAGE Z1 incorporates Minolta’s most powerful flash built into a digital camera yet. With a guide number of 39 (feet), the built-in flash can illuminate a subject up to approximately 20 feet when used at the wide-angle position with autoexposure and auto camera sensitivity.

The DiMAGE Z1 design reflects the sophistication and future of digital technology. Significantly smaller than a compact 35mm SLR camera with a built-in flash and zoom lens, this powerful imaging system can easily slip into a fanny pack or hip bag. And weighing only 11 ounces, it will not be a burden. Easy-to-find AA batteries power the DiMAGE Z1. Easy-to-find alkaline or rechargeable Ni-MH can be used.

Intuitive Controls
The controls and dials are laid out for clear, intuitive operation. The large exposure mode dial and zoom lever are located on the top of the camera grip for quick changes to camera settings to meet changing shooting conditions. The controller, placed on the back of the camera, is a straightforward five-way array used to control many of the camera’s advanced features, functions, and menus. The large grip gives the DiMAGE Z1 secure, comfortable handling. When handholding the camera in low-light conditions or when using long focal lengths, nothing is more important than a well-balanced grip to keep the camera steady.

In the past, photographers always had to make time-consuming manual adjustments as the subject and shooting environment changed. The DiMAGE Z1’s Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection analyzes the shooting conditions and selects among five subject programs (portrait, sports action, landscape, sunset, and night portrait) and programmed autoexposure (AE) to optimize the camera’s exposure, white-balance, and image-processing controls.

When working in less than ideal lighting conditions, precisely framing an image on the monitor is difficult. Automatic monitor amplification brightens the monitor under low light so the live image is always visible.

Operations can be tailored to meet the photographer’s needs. The function set using the flash-mode button can be customized to control the flash mode, white balance, drive mode, focusing mode, or color mode. Images can be rotated to orient them correctly so users don’t need to twist their head to the left or right when playing back vertically composed shots.

Dark noise, an ever-present problem in electronic systems, manifests itself by giving a grainy or sandy appearance to images taken with long exposures. The DiMAGE Z1 combats this with a selectable noise-reduction function, which automatically activates for exposures of one second or longer.

Four exposure modes are available: program, aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual. 30-second bulb exposures can be made in manual exposure. The DiMAGE Z1 has three metering modes: multi-segment, center-weighted, and spot. Multi-segment metering uses 256 segments to determine exposure.

As well as Natural Color and black and white, the DiMAGE Z1 has two color modes for creative control: Vivid color and Sepia. Vivid Color increases the saturation to produce vibrant color images. Sepia creates the feel of antique photographs with its warm tone.

White balance controls how the camera interprets the color of the ambient lighting. Auto white balance compensates for changes in lighting automatically. Five preset white-balance settings, daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, and flash, can be selected for specific light sources. And for critical control over color, the custom setting allows the camera to be calibrated to the lighting conditions at the scene.

Being able to see the images that have been taken immediately enhances the excitement of digital photography. With the flick of a switch, users can access their recorded images. And playback is fluid from frame to frame.

Accessory Flash Compatibility
The DiMAGE Z1 is compatible with the Minolta Program/Maxxum Flash 3600HS (D) or 5600HS (D) units as well as the latest addition to the Minolta accessory flash line, the Program/Maxxum Flash 2500 (D). These powerful flash units can be used directly on the camera. The 3600HS (D) and 5600HS (D) have a zoom head that automatically adjust as the camera’s lens is zoomed in and out, and their heads can be tilted for bounce illumination. The 5600HS (D) also has a swivel head and the flash output can be controlled with power ratios. The new 2500 (D) is a compact, automatic flash unit with a tilting head and an affordable price tag.

* As of July 1st, 2003.

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