My first digital camera, a Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart C30, had served me quite well since I first bought it way back in the last century (well, December 1999, to be precise) but I was beginning to hanker for something with a bit more power. Although adequate for general picture taking, the HP had some distinct limitations in its feature set, the most noticeable being the total lack of optical zoom which made taking distance shots quite frustrating. The resolution, which only just qualified for the 'megapixel' tag (1,004,544 pixels), was also another limitation given that the norm nowadays was for 3, 4 or even more megapixels. Another problem with the HP was its inability to focus close up to its subject; anything closer than about a foot was sure to have an attack of the fuzzies (as can be seen by these pictures of the Z3 which were taken using the C30).
So a replacement was sought. I had initially honed in on some of the Canon models which seemed to be getting good reviews but then I came across more than just a few references to problems with the zoom mechanism jamming. In one particular case Canon had accused the user of misuse despite evidence to the contrary. With customer service like that I decided to look elsewhere and, after considering alternatives such as the Olympus 765, came across the Konica Minolta DiMage Z series. The Z1 and Z2 were already established having been released in mid and late 2003 respectively. They both sported an impressive 10x zoom and the Z1 was 3.2 megapixel while the Z2 was a 4.0 megapixel device. However, the Z3 had also just been released and, while it retained the 4.0 megapixel CCD, it upped the optical zoom to 12x and added an Anti-Shake feature that had already been seen on the more expensive A series.
Several camera magazines reviewed the camera and, while not giving it absolute top-notch scores (which are usually reserved for the more expensive cameras), most rated it around 85%, a quite respectable mark. The Anti-Shake was deemed to be a significant addition as was the extra zoom capacity. A hunt around the local camera shops indicated that the Z3 could be picked up for around its recommended retail price of £350 so I investigated the online prices and came across Internet Cameras Direct who were offering it over £80 cheaper at £269! Taking advantage of one of their 'deals' which added extra items such as a much larger memory card (why do camera manufacturers put such piddling-sized cards with their products?), rechargeable batteries and a carrying case it was duly ordered on a Friday and was delivered the following Monday (albeit without the case which was marked 'to follow' and took another four weeks to arrive).
