Color (6.95)
The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 houses a 6 megapixel CCD and a CxProcess III image processor. While the image processor is what gathers the information from the CCD and organizes it into those lovely pictures, sometimes the processor has its own idea about what the color purple looks like. To see how close the Z6’s colors are to reality, we took several well lit and manually white balanced images and uploaded them into Imatest Imaging Software. The software program compared the digital camera’s output colors to the colors of an industry standard GretagMacbeth color chart.

Below is a color chart modified by Imatest. The inner rectangle is the original color of the GretagMacbeth chart. The outer square is the color produced by the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6. The inner square is the corrected version of the ideal, adjusted for luminance.

Natural Mode

The colors are compared once again in the graph below. The circles represent the colors produced by the Konica Minolta Z6 and the squares represent the 24 ideal colors from the GretagMacbeth chart. These shapes should be atop one another, but most are connected by a line that represents the error of the camera. The longer the line, the more inaccurate the Z6’s rendering of that particular color.

Natural Mode

Vivid Mode

The Konica Minolta Z6 received an average 6.95 overall color score with a disappointing 8.63 color error. This digital camera has two color modes, Natural (default) and Vivid, that produced very different tones. The Natural color mode under-saturated colors by about 15 percent, while the Vivid mode over-saturated by about 7 percent. In both modes, images became less accurate and less saturated as higher manual ISO ratings were selected, as could be expected. The Natural mode colors look very flat and drab overall, while the Vivid mode contained far more noise in each color tile. We reported scores from the Natural mode because it is the default, although the overall score of the Vivid mode isn’t much different at 6.87. Basically, both color modes have problems, but the lesser of the two evils is Natural mode. Saturation can easily be fixed in computer software, while noise is a lot more difficult to eradicate. However, if you’re looking for a quick snapshot of a vacation spot, the Vivid color mode will produce much a more flattering rendering directly from the camera. In the end, neither color mode is ideal, but having both modes available offers some flexibility and user control.

Still Life Scene
Below is a shot of our still life scene recorded with the Konica Minolta Z6.

Natural Mode

Vivid Mode

Click on the images above to view the full resolution files (CAUTION: the linked file is very large!)

Resolution / Sharpness (3.41)
Konica Minolta advertises 6 effective megapixels on its 1/2.5-inch interline primary color CCD. To check the Z6’s resolution, we shot several pictures of an industry standard resolution chart. We then uploaded those pictures into Imatest imaging software, which gave us some insight as to the resolution and sharpness of the images. Below is one of those images.

Click on the above res chart to view full size version

Imatest analyzed the image and output results in terms of LW/PH, which stands for ‘line widths per picture height.’ Most resolution measurements are reported as LP/PH or ‘line pairs per picture height’, but the LW/PH measurement allows standardization of different sized image sensors whereas the LP/PH does not. Basically, Imatest interpreted the figurative point where the Konica Minolta Z6 couldn’t tell the difference between very small lines on the resolution chart.

That point turned out to be 1597 LW/PH vertically and 1650 LW/PH horizontally. The best results were garnered from images taken at an aperture of f/3.5 and an 18.1mm focal length. These results give the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 an overall resolution score of 3.41. For comparison’s sake, the Canon PowerShot S2 IS read 1373 LW/PH vertically and 1490 LW/PH horizontally. The S2 has only 5.1 effective megapixels, so a smaller number is expected but this does indicate a substantial difference in potential resolution. Also for comparison’s sake, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 read 1835 LW/PH vertically and 1723 LW/PH horizontally. The H1 is also a 5.1 megapixel model. This places the 6 megapixel Z6 somewhere in-between the two models in terms of sharpness.

The Z6 oversharpened images by almost 5 percent, which is normal for digital cameras.

Noise - Auto ISO (3.47)
The amount of noise in a picture directly correlates with the ISO rating chosen. We tested the Z6 to see if it could automatically select appropriate ISO settings and keep noise levels low at the same time. Unfortunately, the Konica Minolta Z6 received an overall auto ISO noise score of 3.47. While this is better than the Z5’s 1.83 score, the images recorded under nearly 3,000 lux are still, unfortunately riddled with noise.

Noise - Manual ISO (4.07)
To see how well the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 handles noise at each of its manual ISO ratings, we analyzed the noise at the 50, 100, 200, and 320 settings available. Below is a chart showing the Z6’s manual ISO settings on the horizontal axis and their corresponding noise levels on the vertical axis. We tested the Z6 in both of its color modes to see the comparative noise present in each mode. The results are displayed in the graph below; the red line represents the noise levels in the Vivid color mode and the blue line represents noise in the Natural color mode.

The Z6 performed better when the ISO ratings were manually adjusted as it received a 4.07 overall manual ISO noise score. Still, with vivid colors comes more noise; the Natural color mode fared much better. Don’t expect gorgeous smooth pictures from this DiMAGE; images will look quite grainy and if set to Natural color, tones will also appear quite dull.

Low Light Performance (5.5)
We wanted to see how the DiMAGE Z6 would perform in low light, so we took several pictures at diminishing light levels of 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux. A smaller room with two soft table lamps offers roughly 60 lux of illumination, while a single 40-watt bulb gives off approximately 30 lux. The 15 and 5 lux levels are near total darkness. These shots were taken at the Z6’s highest sensitivity rating (ISO 320) without the use of the flash to determine how sensitive the camera’s imaging sensor is to light.

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

Even at 60 lux, the Konica Minolta Z6 had trouble focusing. The illumination in this lighting setup was decent, but the edges of the color tiles are blurry. There is noise present at 60 lux, which only worsens at 30 lux. The image gets steadily blurrier and noisier as the lighting gets darker and darker. This camera’s predecessor, the Z5, had trouble focusing at 5 lux. It is of sizable concern that the Z6 cannot focus even at 60 lux (note: this was our second test model of the Z6 – the first one appeared to be broken due to its lack of focusing ability). The illumination remains typical until it takes a dive around 5 lux, where images become dark and blurry due to the 4 second max shutter duration. Images at 60 lux are lighter, but still blurry. Overall, don’t expect usable pictures in low light without reliance on the flash.

Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot (6.7)
We thought the Z5 took forever with its 3.34-second startup time. Alas, the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 breaks the record for one of the longest start-up times. At 5.07 seconds, users could turn on the power and have a bite to eat before beginning the photo shoot. This is quite unfortunate for a pseudo-SLR-shaped compact digital camera and largely due to its slow and inaccurate autofocus.

Shot to Shot (9.35)
The Z6 did beat its predecessor with a faster burst mode. This DiMAGE averaged 0.65 seconds for 14 consecutive shots. But after that 14-shot burst, the camera stumbled and took shots at random intervals. We did this test with a Lexar SD card.

Shutter to Shot (7.76)
This digital camera takes awhile to focus and many times still does not succeed. The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 takes 0.62 seconds to take a shot. Expect a few blinked eyes in your photos.

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Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 Digital Camera Review Navigation
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