Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10 Digital Camera

After watching the features grow and the prices come down I thought it was time to get a new camera, I did hours of research on what camera offered the most for a reasonable price, I own a Minolta Maxxum 5000i , that has worked flawlessly for over 10 years so Minolta was on the top of my search list. Though I also own a Kodak DC210 plus digital that has also worked without a hitch. I settled on the Z10 and I am floored at the quality this camera has. It is a 3.2 megapixel with an 8x zoom which comes out to a 290mm lens it does have 4 times digital zoom but like all the digital part of the zoom it lessens the picture quality. It is really easy to use, my fiance who has a Minolta APS camera, easily started the Z10 up and was taking pics in no time. It has so many features and abilities that I more than likely will not get to use half of them. The picture quality is awesome, I was going to look at something in the 4-5 megapixel range, but had a certain price point and really wanted at least an 8x zoom. I thought possibly it would take average quality pics, but wow I was surprised at the excellent pics the 3.2 megapixel delivers. For the average photographer this camera will deliver big time results. I added a 128 meg SD card with the purchase, 16 is not enough, seems most cameras only come with a 16 meg SD card, a larger card will be needed. I really can't say enough good about this camera. It has exceeded my expectations.
It starts up really quick, quicker than even my 5000i, the manual says 1/2 second and I believe it, just touch the on button and it is ready to take a picture. No waiting at all. Which is great when a photo-op presents itself. It starts up much faster than any camera I tried, some costing 100-200 dollars more.
The camera is plastic but it is made very rugged.
Some people do not like that SD card slot not having a cover, I actually like it makes taking the card out very easy.
To sum it all up, 10 out of 10. Never have I been so satisfied with a camera. Except maybe the 5000i which cost allot more. If fast start-up and fast zoom is on the top of your list than honestly for under 300 this camera is hard to beat.