I'm a sucker for a great (Epson) camera
Written: Apr 01 '02 (Updated Apr 11 '02)
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Pros: Fast,famous-quality lens,well-built, flash hot shoe, great menu system uses AA batteries
Cons: Limited manual focus, going to manual control to use external flash
The Bottom Line: A great deal for a great camera. The fast lens and the rugged body with the soft buttons make this a great camera to use.
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| roostrfsh's Full Review: Epson PhotoPC 3100Z Digital Camera |
I’m blessed. The Epson 3100z has got to be the best bargain digital camera currently selling and I am happy to own one. I know that is a tall claim but read on as I explain. Epson is very quiet about advertising this camera, I don’t know why, but you will see why I think this could be one of the best digital picture taker I have ever seen. Would I consider this a “sleeper camera”? Definitely! A great camera? Yes. A perfect camera? No.
Everyone knows Epson makes great printers but a lot of people do not know they make darn good digital cameras too.
The 3100z is a 3.3 megapixel camera that has excellent built in software to interpolate the image to 4.8 megapixels! Don’t let the word interpolate disappoint you. Backed by a great lens the camera produces super images. Interpolated pictures can be great depending on how well the software executes the interpolation. The software in this camera is good!
The 4.8 megapixel images are exceptional. The image is crisp, the resolution is the best and the contrast is well above average.
If you want a camera that fits in a pocket look for another cameras or get a bigger pocket. The Epson is big and hefty. Not gigantic or heavy but just bigger. The weight comes from the one-piece metal faceplate and a large, fast lens. The size and weight are to the camera’s advantage. Because of its chunky hand hold shape the camera is to hold onto. It is well balanced so it doesn’t feel too heavy while picture taking. The Epson is a little less than one-third the size larger than the Olympus C-2020 digital camera. The Epson weighs 529 grams and the C-2020 weighs 443 grams loaded with batteries, memory card and neck strap. For comparison of weight a Sony videotape, out of the package, weighs 185 grams.
On the nose of the camera is a 3 to 1 (6 to 1 with digital) zoom lens. It is a 7-21mm (34-102 lens on a 35mm camera) large aperature f/2.0 lens that has the sharpest and has the most contrast I have ever seen on a consumer level camera. The close focus is a commendable 2.36-inches. I tested it with my other, consumer level, cameras-the Olympus C-2020, Olympus D-510, Olympus C-460, Fuji Finepix 2400 and the Nikon Coolpix 800. Epson beat them all in image quality. The 3100z with the super lens combined with the great interpolation software is a dynamic duo.
The Epson lens is of outstanding quality and great for low light situations. The large aperture f/2.0 lens advantage is apparent when the photographing a dark scene. With a large light gathering lens the scene is still visible on the LCD screen. A smaller aperture lens like an f/2.8 or smaller will go dark under the same conditions.
Once you get used to using a camera with a fast lens in low light conditions the slower lens cameras are a pain to use. If you buy a camera go for one with a faster aperture. The lower the “f-number” the better. It is complicated to explain why but there are good, logical, reasons. I will also add that usually when buying a camera the larger the aperture of the camera the more expensive the camera is.
How well did the Epson image test stand up to the other cameras? At 640x480, email sized the image was mush. That was to be expected because the resolution and image is so small. 1600x1200 resolution the image easily firmed up to equal the best lenses of the 2.1-megapixel cameras. At 2048x1536 the 3.1 megapixel image was even crisper. And finally at 2544x1904, 4.8 megapixel, the image was, surprisingly, even sharper. The contrast remained the same high quality throughout the tests. I’m impressed with the quality of the 3100z images.
The fast speed of the lens allows me to keep on taking pictures when other cameras have long started using their flash. And to keep the flash off the Epson gives you the option of automatic or manual “film speed” control for speeds of 100, 200 or 400.
Although the lens only says “Epson Digital Camera Lens” on the nose rumor has it that this lens is, in reality, a legendary Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens. The Zeiss company is famous for making quality medium format film camera lens in the price range of “if you have to ask the price then you can’t afford it”. See this great web site for more information on the lens:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/epsonphotopc3000z/
The firmware running the camera is unique in operation. While the camera does have the usual LCD display on top to give you functioning information it is the view screen with the options display that is “where the action is”. The upper LCD does have a nice display that tells what quality picture you are on using a star system. On the right and lower side of the screen display is a row of button with no markings or words printed on them. These are soft buttons, buttons that change their use depending on what mode you are using. How very novel! As you switch modes the button names on the screen change to show what options are available. Once you get used to this you’ll wonder why you have to wade through menus other digital camera have. For instance just push the button to bump up the film speed. In playback mode the same button would do a playback trick. Great idea Epson.
The camera has both automatic and manual/aperture/shutter priority controls and all functions work well.
How does this for a nice extra? An external flash is an option on this camera. On top of the camera is a hot shoe to put a more powerful flash or move the flash away from the lens to prevent “red-eye” coming from people’s eyes. Nice idea Epson.
Other extras include a movie option with sound and a playback speaker. An interval picture taking mode. I have tried these modes and they work will but I don’t have a use for them. It is nice to know the modes are there.
The build of the camera is rugged and well thought out. The lens has a large metal armor shield around it that protects the lens well. The camera just has a strong feel to it. It might be the large and comfortable hand grip, the weight, the metal casing, the balance or a combination of all the above but it feels like an expensive camera.
The CompactFlash memory card is easy to replace when the camera is on a tripod because the card is on the side of the camera. This is a much better design than the bottom of the camera like some other companies have on their cameras.
The tripod socket is directly beneath the lens so panoramic photography, which is does, is easy because the camera pivots on the lens focal point and prevents shifted pictures.
The viewfinder diopter control for people that wear eyeglasses really works. Epson includes a lens filter/sun shade adapter that will fit a common 49mm filter. The battery door hinge is made of metal. That was a nice extra Epson. A camera case with arm strap and a pocket in the case for an extra memory card is included. And in an age when digital camera companies are using proprietary batteries (read expensive camera shop batteries) the Epson uses AA batteries. These are nice extras and great thinking Epson.
Is the camera perfect? No, but the problems are minor. The zoom, while quiet, is slow. The lens cap fits the lens snugly will not fit the filter adapter at all. Epson, why didn’t you include two lens caps so I could keep the lens shade on? The external flash can only be used in manual mode. That idea sure slows down a photo shot to set the camera to manual mode. The zoom control is right where I put my thumb to hold the camera. I don’t’ know how many times I have gripped the camera to take a picture and the camera starts zooming in! The power switch is next to the handgrip shutter button. I learned the hard way to not press the power down button when I wanted to take a picture. The manual focus has limited settings but the automatic focus has lots of settings. There are only three manual focus settings, I believe. Why can’t I have more manual focus settings? Lastly I don’t like the rubber cover over the USB port. It is tacky looking.
When the camera interpolates a 4.8 megapixel image you must wait and wait for the camera to finish before you take another picture. Considering the camera has to rebuild the entire image to a larger size the 15 second wait is not too bad. On smaller image quality modes the recording time is very fast.
The camera seem a bit slow when it comes to taking pictures (shutter lag) but I simply set the camera to sequence mode and capture lots of pictures then sort out what I like later.
If I had a wish list it would simply be four little things digital cameras manufacturers skimp on. A bigger CompactFlash card than the standard 16mb Epson gives you would be nice. Two others would be NiMH rechargeable batteries and a charger. And finally a wireless remote like my C-2020 would be nice.
This is an unknown camera that no one would know takes first-class pictures. It is a 3.3 megapixel camera with great 4.8 interpolated pictures. A fast f/2.0 lens made by Zeiss. Intuitive software programmed buttons to ease your selection of options. A hot shoe. It is a durably built, classy looking camera.
Epson does not really “push” this camera to the public but Epson uses it’s advertising budget to sell printers instead. My guess there is more profit in selling printers that always need, profit making, ink cartridges than a single-sell digital camera.
The Epson 3100z digital camera will stand up to the other great cameras from Olympus, Nikon and Canon. Don’t underestimate the power that this little precision camera has. I don’t think Epson really knows how good a camera is has made! Good job Epson!
I couldn’t help myself. As soon as I heard of this camera I had to have it. I became a happy Epson digital camera sucker!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 518
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Epinions.com ID:
roostrfsh
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Location: Stockton, CA, USA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
STILL living in and loving California.
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