Minolta DiMAGE Z20
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Minolta DiMAGE Z20
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z20 Review
By Movable Type Admin


Record Modes & Menu Options
Note that all onscreen images and overlay data can be displayed on the EVF or the color
LCD, just flip the display control switch located on the back.
The AUTO mode is a pure point-n-shoot fully automatic exposure mode with very few
options you can set (see menu below). Different from most other digicam's AUTO mode
is the Z20's Digital Subject Program (DSP) option - when enabled the camera will
automatically select either Program or the best pre-programmed scene (portrait, sports,
landscape, night portrait or
beach&surf) based on the frame content. The active DSP mode icon will be displayed
in the lower-left when selected.
The AUTO mode menu only allows you to change the Drive Mode, Image Size, Image Quality, Enable or Disable DSP or the Digital Zoom.
The Program AE, Shutter, Aperture and Manual modes give you access to the entire range
of exposure and camera settings - see the PASM menu below.
In Program AE mode the camera selects the best combination of both shutter speed
and aperture automatically. Icons indicate flash mode, image size and quality,
ISO speed if other than automatic, metering mode, drive mode, and # of pictures remaining.
Also shown here is the realtime image histogram.
In Shutter priority mode you set the shutter speed desired to freeze rapid action or
blur motion and the camera automatically selects the proper aperture setting.
In Aperture priority you set the desired aperture for control of depth of field and
the camera will automatically match the proper shutter speed.
In Manual mode you have control of both the shutter speed and aperture value.
In Macro mode the Z20 can cover 0.01 m (0.4 in) - 1.0 m (3.3 ft) at wide
angle and 0.6 m (2.0 ft) - 2.0 m (6.6 ft) at telephoto
You can also manually focus on you subject, just select the Manual focus
option in the record menu. You then use the "Up" and "Down" arrows on the 4-way
selector to adjust the focusing range. The center of the frame enlarges
to check for critical focus.
Record (PASM) mode menu:
Image Size - 2560x1920, 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 640x480 Quality - Fine, Standard, Economy White balance - Custom set/recall, Auto, Preset Key function - Assign function of 4-way left/right buttons
Focus mode - Single AF, Continuous AF or Manual
Sensitivity - Auto, 50, 100, 200, 320
In Movie mode you can record motion video without audio. The image size can be 640x480 at 15fps or 320x240 at either 15fps or 30fps. The length of a video clip is limited only by the amount of available memory on your SD card. Because no audio is recorded, you can use the zoom lens during recording.
Movies can be recorded in one of two modes:
Standard produces a normal movie clip, Night Movie uses higher sensitivity to
record in low-light so the image quality can be lower.
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Movie mode menu:
Frame rate - 15fps for 640, 30fps or 15fps for 320 White balance - Custom set/recall, Auto, Preset Movie mode - Standard or Night mode
SETUP menu options: LCDbrightness - Adjust the LCD brightness
File #memory - Sequentially number images
Reset default - Return all settings to factory default
Video output - NTSC or PAL format Transfer mode - Specify camera use with a computer or printer Self-Timer - Select duration of self-timer (2 or 10 sec.) |
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Playback Features
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