Epson PhotoPC 3100Z 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom
By: Epson Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 14
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 On: 2003-07-17
This is truly a wonderful little camera.
I do a lot of web design where I aquire all my own images as well as family photos and other such nonsense. This camera offers excellent manual control and also delivers great results using the fully automatic features. Do yourself a favor and use an Epson Photo printer for the best printing results, and get familiar with an image editor like photoshop and the sky is the limit. Appearently the product has been discontinued and I am having a hard time finding optical accessories for it. Awesome!
On: 2003-04-11
This is my first digital camera. I did some research involving other 3 megapixel cameras including the highly advertised Nikon Coolpix. I found that this camera was just as good and very easy to use. I highly reccommend the 3100z!
On: 2002-07-16
It took me forever to finally settle on a digital camera. I wanted one I wouldnt regreat buying months down the line. And I found it! The 3100Z is a fantastic camera. Simple to use (complex if you want) with great image quality. I had an 8x10 printed by photoaccess.com (I prefer letting online services print my photos), and the quality was superb. The next test is an 11x14. Well see how that goes. My only complaint is that Epson didnt include the AC adaptor, but thats a minor issue. The battery life is good enough that I havent even needed it. I cant speak for the software, though. On my Mac (OSX) I just plugged it into the USB port and the OS handled the rest.I wont write more detail; all the other reviews are fairly dead-on about its features. If you can get this camera, do it. You wont be disappointed.
On: 2002-06-16
I love this camera! It is one of the few digitals I have used that actually has an easy-to-understand and LOGICAL setup/menuing system. Further, it just feels "right" in my hands - not too big and not too small. The rear LCD is clear and bright and the battery life seems reasonable. The instruction book is well written and complete. I also like the hot shoe which allows me to attach an additional flash unit. Many digital cameras with built in flashes suffer from a really short flash range. In other words, these litte built in units are underpowered for shooting at any distance over 3-4 feet. The 3100zs hot shoe solves that problem if you need longer range. One thing I wish it had was an automatic, built in lens cap. I hate fumbling with the cap but those that are automatic, are really far and few between and tend to be tiny cameras with tiny lens openings. Finally, the pictures it takes are FANTASTIC but be sure to buy at least a 96mb compact flash card. The camera comes with a 16mb card that holds just 12-15 hi quality images. Youll like this camera.
On: 2002-04-03
I cant stop to take a pictures of everythink... its so cool!
On: 2002-03-26
(4 1/2 stars) This camera (huh ... Epson makes a camera?) is probably the best bang for the buck in sub-$800 digital camera market. This 3.3 megapixel camera combines the best features of a heavy duty SLR camera with all the manual trimmings as well as decent automatic settings and bonus features that many cameras leave out. Some of the standouts for me are: --47mm lens adapter for adding additional professional macro/telephoto/wide angle lenses and filters --lots of manual capabilities (like the up to 8s shutter speed for night or even astrophotography ... something Id love to do) --Panorama shots - wide angle and 360 degree shots can be created by stitching together several shots. This camera provides a way to help align successive shots right in the LCD viewfinder as youre taking the pictures. --Continuous shot mode for action sequences --Interval mode - allows you to take shots at fixed intervals ranging from 1 second to 24 hours. The camera automatically turns itself off and on between shots to conserve power. --10 second timer --25 seconds of video. Always a nice feature that most digital cameras have, since we cant always lug a camcorder and camera everywhere we go. The quality is reasonable 320x200 (approximately that of VHS tape). --Audio annotation. You can annotate your pictures with audio snippets (up to 10 seconds) using the built-in microphone. --External flash hot shoe adapter (like professional 35mm cameras) as well as a built-in flash --Uses standard AA batteries. Definitely get yourself a set of NiMH rechargables however. Theres plenty more, including a print matching feature. Oh yes, and the clarity and colors of the pictures are stunning. The 3100Z is by no means a pocket camera, but I actually prefer the heaviness of it -- it allows for a steadier hand. Im only an amateur, but Im loving every minute with this camera, and it only makes we want to learn more and experiment with the manual settings. And, hey, its digital, so click away to your hearts content.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-01-06
I take photos for fun and am in no way a "pro". I love my Epson because it is so easy to use and takes exceptionally good pictures. I have the Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX printer and the combination of camera and printer results in amazing photos. I have a friend who is a professional photographer and just cant believe the photos I show her were taken and printed by me and my moderately priced camera and printer! Buy and enjoy!
On: 2001-12-07
I own a different make of digital camera which was fine for its time and purpose. I researched ALL of the major makes and none of them, it seems, could match the features of the Epson 3100Z. Any that do come close are priced at least $200 higher and still dont have features I insisted on: FAST 2.0 lens; hot shoe flash; ability to use different lenses and filters; NON-PROPRIETARY batteries!!!!!; EASY to use!!; complete manual control if I wish; STANDARD Compact Flash memory; MORE than 2X optical zoom and GREAT Epson images. Well Im not disappointed!!! This camera is fantastic. I have tested it under many different light conditions including a COMPLETELY dark room with the internal flash only and was AMAZED at the image. The menus are intuitive enough that you can start taking pictures immediately using automatic settings--which under most normal conditions are all youll ever use. The 3X optical zoom is terrific and the digital 3X zoom is stepped in 1/10th increments for a total of 30 steps! And having bought the Epson 780EXP printer a month ago (its GREAT too!) (...). The more I use it-the more I love it! The great MEGAPIXEL race is on. Ask yourself how large an image are you EVER going to print? Probably a 5x7 once in a while, an 8x10 once a year? Most will be snapshots but THIS camera will do all of those even without using the hardware interpolation which will give you 4.8 megapixels. More than you will EVER need. I expect this to be my last camera!!
On: 2001-11-02
The lens that Epson uses on the 3100Z is a Carl Zeiss lens(F2-8). This is one of the reasons that the Epson is such a great camera. The menus are easily used, so advanced photographers can do their work and neophites can just point and shoot. The media card needs to be upgraded to at least a 64 card, I prefer a 128. The camera can easily handle a 256, so if you are going on a long trip it can take several hundred mid grade pictures. The panorama feature is really neat, as is the pixel computer shift to over 4mgs. It is a very well made camera, by a very service orientated manufacturer. Great camera Epson!
On: 2001-10-31
I researched, read magazine and on line product reviews, and tried several digital cameras before purchasing the Epson 3100Z. It has a Zeiss lens(F2.0), even though it is not printed on the lens or technical reports put out by Epson. It can be easy to use, or as complex as your abilities allow you to be. The camera comes with an adapter ring for additional lenses or 49mm filters. The compact flash memory card needs to increased(it can handle a 256), so I purchased the 128 Viking from Amazon. It uses AA batteries, but unfortunately does not come with a charger or AC adapter. These can also be purchased from Amazon or other sources at very resonable prices. It does everything I want it to do, and is very well made. It is also backed by Epson which I have found to provide excellent service when an Epson printer I had went bad after three years of use.One review had the Epson in second place, one point behind the first place camera, but to me it is number one! The camera and accessories fit perfectly in the LowePro 50 camera bag.
 On: 2001-10-17
I own both...but LOVE the colors and simplicity of the EPSON.
The Kodak does include one feature I want on my wish-list
for the EPSON...a date/time stamp (option)on the photo. I have
no idea when the photo was "shot" unless I use the EPSON supplied
software, right-click on the photo for the "info" of the photo.
On: 2001-09-15
Ive been a traditional film photographer for years, and have been looking for the right digital camera. My parents have the Sony Mavica, which has not impressed me because of the crummy picture quality. A friend had the older Epson, and the picture quality was surprisingly sharp. I never would have considered Epson, and was actually interested in the Canon Digital Elph. I had no idea how great this camera would be. I was surprised to find that it has aperture settings and allows me to adjust exposure on the fly, just like my film camera. But you can see the results in the LCD display, and erase it if its not right. I also take a lot of flower pictures, so the built-in macro and digital zoom are great...take a picture from a couple of inches away? Unheard of! I also do the QuickTime Virtual Reality movies, and have found that this camera does a wonderful job for QTVR. It has a setting to allow "overlap" while taking pictures in sequence for "stitching" to make panoramic pictures. Epsons stitching software even works on a Mac. (But I use Apples QuickTime VR toolkit for movies...) I highly recommend a 160MB CompactFlash Card, but that allows 974 pictures in a low resolution (I prefer the "two star" resolution...still 500+ pictures with better picture quality). Also get the PCMCIA adapter card (Lexar Medias PC Card Adapter), so you can simply plug it into your computer to transfer pictures and save battery life (I dont have USB on my computer, so the PC card option works well...it was only $10). Outstanding camera!!! I havent picked up my film camera for weeks...its a little more expensive than some of the others, but well worth it. Ill save more than this in film and developing costs in a year.
On: 2001-07-07
I was, and still am very impressed with the Epson 3100Z. I am adding this to my original review as a cautionary note. It seems all digital cameras suffer from the same inherent problem: difficulty in getting the white balance correct- some of them have more accurate white balance than others. Why is this important?- If the white balance is not correct, all colors in the photo are "off". I took a lot more samples - the Epson 3100Z against the Nikon coolpix 990, and the Nikon was better in this area- often, the white balance setting on the Epson 3100Z was close, but not correct. Manual white balance on the Epson works well, but is a hassle to constantly set- just be aware this is a potential problem. It still does not change my original reveiw- I am keeping the Epson as my camera of choice- it has so many user-freindly features over the Nikon, it is a no-brainer. The Epson is much easier to use in every day situations. And the Epson has a hot shoe for flash, which I believe all digital cameras seem to need- I had given up taking pictures with the Nikon built in flash- too weak. Hope this helps!
On: 2001-06-27
Great Camera!- I have always liked to take pictures although I am an amatuer at best... I have a Nikon N70 film camera and swear by it as a great all around camera.- Being that I have the Nikon, I had to wait a while for digital cameras to mature before buying. I had first bought a Sony FD90 (?), and it was ok, but the resolution was too low to print nice photos.- later on, I bought the Nikon CoolPix 990, as it was the best among the 3megapix cameras (or was..)- The Nikon solved the resolution problem, but created another. It seems the hardest thing about digital cameras is to actually print out the picture... I have 100s of photos waiting to be printed, but is a hassle to use the computer. Now, we have a new standard starting to appear in some cameras, called DPOF, which basically allows a printer with a slot for the flash mem card to print out the pictures without even using a computer at all. Now, I can veiw, mark for print, and print my photos right on the printer. Then later I can put the photos on the computer to archive them. -- This solves the hardest thing about digital photos- printing them easily. Also, by the way, Epson also has a special color matching technology built into this camera that works directly with certain new Epson printers to give even better results.Also, I have compared the Epson 3100Z to the Nikon 990, and the pictures are virtually IDENTICAL. Also, the Epson has a control layout that is MUCH easier to use than the Nikon system of menus.- I can change settings faster on the Epson.- The only thing I give up on the Epson is some of the real fancy features that I rarely used on the Nikon anyway.- Overall, the Epson is easier and more friendly to use. Very well thought out. One comment tho- the camera body is small, and a little awkward to hold in my hands. It is shaped like a 35mm, but shrunk down. And it does not have the general "feel of quality" that the Nikon does. The Epson also has an AWESOME "stitching" mode to put together panorama shots with ease- I was blown away with this feature. Bottom line? The Epson is the winner, as for everyday use, it is much easier to use, and takes great pictures which are very easy to print out on paper. I am selling the Nikon.- hope this helps.
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