Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Aug 31, 2005 - By Patrick Singleton
The FinePix Z1 is Fujifilm's impressive entry into the sleek, aesthetically-driven region of the digital camera market. At 3.5 x 2.2 x 0.7 inches and 5.3 ounces with battery and xD-Picture Card, the camera condenses into a small, easily portable package at the expense of control spacing and handling. The compact design houses 5.1 megapixels of resolution and a 3x zoom lens, both pretty common specs among other similarly styled models; however, the Z1 squeezes it all (including its non-extending lens) into a durable monocoque body, and achieves above average image quality while doing it.
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Front (7.5)
The front of the Z1 has a black, satiny aluminum sliding cover that is also used to power on the camera. In the closed position, the slider covers and protect the lens and flash. The thin, rectangular body of the Z1 is smooth across the surface of the front and offers no bumps or grips to facilitate opening or closing the slider. When the slider is open it reveals the small Fujinon zoom lens in the upper right corner of the camera. Written in tiny, white letters below the lens is, “Fujinon Zoom Lens,” with the lens’ capabilities printed below: “3x 6.1-18.3 mm 1:3.5-4.2.” At the bottom right corner of the front “Super CCD” is embossed, with “5.1 MEGA” printed below. In the top left corner, Fujifilm’s logo is printed and to the right of the logo, in the top center of the camera, is the flash and self-timer light.

Back (7.5)
The back of the Z1 is filled mostly by the camera’s 2.5-inch LCD screen. The screen has a glossy black frame, with “FinePix” printed in white at the bottom. The LCD sits to the left of the controls which are crammed into the right third of the back. In the upper right corner is the zoom toggle, an ovoid button with a “W” on the left separated from a “T” on the right by a divot in the middle that serves as a place to rest your thumb and as a tactile differentiation between the two sides. Below the toggle are three round, rubber circles that serve as a grip. The leftmost circle also doubles as the camera’s indicator lamp which blinks when the camera is busy reading or writing an image.

Below the indicator lamp/rubber grip are two buttons; the left button has a playback icon and the right button has the letter “F” printed on. The left button serves to toggle the camera between playback and shooting modes and the right button is Fuji’s photo mode button that lets you pick image quality, exposure, and image effects (refer to the Image Parameters section for further elaboration). Underneath the two buttons lies the navigational dial, consisting of a menu/OK button surrounded by a ring. The ring has arrows pointing in each direction and an icon to the side indicating which function can be activated by pressing in that direction. The top of the ring has a sun icon and a trashcan to indicate the LCD brightness function and the delete function in playback. The right side of the ring has a flash icon; the left side has a flower icon, for the macro mode; and the bottom has a self-timer icon. Below and slightly to the left of the navigational dial is a small, circular button labeled “DISP/BACK” which is used to switch through the various display and information overlay modes on the LCD screen.

Left Side (8.5)
The left side of the Z1 is flat and smooth and free from any features except for a wrist strap eyelet and what appears to be an infrared sensor, although no mention of it is made in the camera’s instruction manual.

Right Side (8.5)
The right side is flat and smooth except for four small slits over the camera’s speaker.

Top (8.5)
In line with the cameras’ sleek design, the top of the Z1 is functionally and aesthetically simplified. The satiny metal top has “FinePix Z1” printed in the middle of it, in small white letters. The round, silver shutter button is on the left of the top and next to it sits a slider that switches between still and video capture modes, which are designated by still and movie camera icons. On the right side of the top are three round holes that cover the camera’s microphone.

Bottom (2.0)
The bottom of the camera, like the top, is sleek and relatively free from any clutter. There is a port that connects the camera to its charging dock in the middle and on the left is the door that covers the battery and xD card slot. However, there is no tripod socket build into the camera body. Users looking to apply the camera to a tripod will have to use the accompanying dock, which includes the socket.

Testing / Performance Page 3 of 12 Components
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