Jenoptik JD 2100 z3 S - a great workhorse (Jenoptik Jendigital JD 2100 z3 S)

Member Name: collingridge

Product:	Jenoptik Jendigital JD 2100 z3 S
Date:	11/03/03 (1116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sharp images, long battery life, good control

Disadvantages: shocking red-eye, long shutter delay, Vague flash.

Strengths
Relatively compact. Good battery life, lasts long time if LCD is off & flash not used, however the flash drains the cells rapidly. Used to collect images of plants for teaching purposes, very sharp for this as long as there is good light. Seems very rugged & reliable after 6 months. Throw out the original CF card & put in a 128Mb and you'll get 208 best quality photos and nearly 1000 if you drop the size (superb for good web-shots). USB set-up works a dream with Win XP, though the battery seems to drain quite quickly whilst connected... odd really! Not too heavy, lasts well on 2000mA rechargeables. Buy a small camera case/bag to go with it. Use the default settings and you will get some excellent shots outside, but inside you'll need to practice & learn. Don't adjust the compression, all other settings ruin the results, if you want more photos, drop the size. Makes a great point & shoot if left turned on, but if you've shut it down the opportunity for a quick snap will be LONG gone. Great at A4, but A3 is pushing it!

Weaknesses
Depressingly slow to start up, takes forever with an annoying jingle, which, if turned off, prevents you from knowing if the photo has been taken! Delay between shooting & recording means you must seriously anticipate moving images. Flash is somewhat vague & occasionally washes out foreground objects, yet is not exciting indoors if there is no reflection off walls (stick to use outside). Occasionally shuts down if flash charge drains too much current

Would I buy another?
Kids use it without effort, download images & generally take control - they've not broken it yet and it's spent many nights away camping & climbing. Don't expect it to perform at all times like a Nikon, but it's less likely to get stolen and less worrying if it does. If they sorted the flash, or put an external socket for one, I'd be thrilled to get another. It's a work-horse tha
t needs no emotional attachment, is far from pretty and doesn't have a high-street name, if you want passion then pay the extra - this is the digital equivalent of the Zenit-E and does that superbly well.

Summary: