Compared to...

Below you will find a studio comparison between the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 and the similarly specified Panasonic DMC-FZ5. We have included samples for the lowest and highest ISO settings for each camera (DiMAGE Z5: 50 and 320, DMC-FZ5: 80 and 400).

Studio scene comparison (DiMAGE Z5 @ ISO 50, Panasonic FZ5 @ ISO 80)

• Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5: Manual mode, ISO 50, Default Image Parameters,
  Custom white balance.

• Panasonic DMC-FZ5: Aperture Priority mode, ISO 80, Default Image Parameters,
  Manual white balance, +0.7 EV compensation
   
• Lighting: Six 18W Full Spectrum (>98 CRI) fluorescent tubes

Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5	Panasonic DMC-FZ5
ISO 50, 1/60 sec, F5.0	ISO 80, 1/80 sec, F5.0
1,894 KB JPEG	1,610 KB JPEG
Noise, std dev: 3.0	Noise, std dev: 3.2

Although the overall results from these two very similar cameras are superficially similar, there are important differences. For one thing the Panasonic's lens is capturing a little more fine detail - though there's not a lot in it. The Konica Minolta Z5 image has less luminance noise, but there is some visible chroma noise (see next page), and the stronger noise reduction has resulted in a slight blurring of fine detail. To my eyes the Konica Minolta shot also looks a fraction over-sharpened compared to the Panasonic shot.

Overall both cameras - but especially the Panasonic - are producing admirably detailed results with an excellent tonal range, accurate colors and no serious problems.