Konica Minolta DImage Z5

Our new digital camera arrived a few weeks ago. After getting the "editor's choice" in the recent MacWorld, we chose to get the Konica Minolta DImage Z5. Our old camera had multiple problems: the battery compartment was cracked and the batteries were held in by rubber bands, it turned off at random times (the power switch was touchy), and there are about 40-50 dead pixels (very obvious in low light situations).

So what follows are my impressions of our new camera:

• Latency (time between pressing the shutter and taking the picture) is much better on the new camera. It still hesitates in low-light situations, but outdoors it is nearly instant.
• Big (2-inch) LCD very nice, 5 MP nice too, but my favorite upgraded spec is the 12X optical zoom. It provides more capabilities when taking pictures, and makes a very pleasant depth-of-field.
• The anti-shake feature works admirably with the large zoom. I took fully-zoomed (12x) pictures an an indoor sports arena with only a little smearing.
• The noise at higher ISO settings is noticeable. This is a little disappointing but only apparent for indoor pictures without a flash.
• It has several other features I have not tried much yet: movie mode with sound, and "progressive drive". Progressive drive mode will take 10 pictures per second (at a reduced resolution) for as long as you hold down the shutter. When you release the shutter, it will save the last 20 pictures taken. This is not good for indoor shots (the flash cannot fire that fast) but is intended for outdoor scenes when you don't know exactly when the picture-worthy event will occur.
• It uses regular AA batteries. the alkaline ones it came with have not been drained yet, but we'll obviously go for rechargeable ones. It will be our first experience with rechargeable AA's, so we'll see how they perform in the camera.