Epson PhotoPC 3100Z reviewed!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 01:22 EDT)
Epson's 3.3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom digicam gets the in-depth IR review treatment...
Epson is best known for their excellent inkjet printers (stay tuned for a series of IR reviews of them!), but they've also made some very nice digicams. We liked their PhotoPC 3000Z when we reviewed last year, and liked the updated 3100Z every bit as well. Color and resolution are both good but the most unique aspect is its user interface. With no less than 8 "soft keys" surrounding the LCD, we found the user interface unusually fast and easy to navigate, but it's definitely different than most of the other digicams out there.
The 3100Z also incorporates Epson's PRINT Image Matching for much-improved prints when the images are output on a compatible printer. We tested this with Epson's own Stylus Photo 785EPX, and found that skin tones were much improved, as well as some bright colors outside the normal computer-screen color gamut. Overall, the 3100Z is a great digicam with excellent controls and plenty of features for the enthusiast.
Because they don't have a full line of cameras, Epson has been ignored by most of the mass-market retailers, but the 3100Z is a great camera, deserving much more attention than it's likely to get in the marketplace. Check it out! When you're done, you can get a second opinion from the folks at Steve's Digicams...
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