|
 |
| Clean-cut
looks: Smoke-colored
acrylic camouflages self-timer lamp, autofocus
windows, and viewfinder port. Electronic
flash pops up when camera is turned on,
is spring-loaded to absorb shock. Meter
port is close to lens for greater accuracy. |
Old
friends are a wonderful thing. We knew that about
people all along, of course, but cameras can prove
reliable companions too.
The
Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer dates back to
1994, when it was one of the very few zoom point-and-shoots
that had a focal length of 28mm on the wide
end.
The
field of 28-to-tele point-and-shoots has expanded
recently to more than a half-dozen (imagine!)
models, and we're happy to say an FZ Explorer
is still among them. A bit of a facelift, and
an upgrade here and there, make the 2001 version
into an Explorer EX.
Most
noticeable change is the très spiffé
two-tone silver-and-charcoal color scheme, which
makes the EX a far more eyecatching camera than
the very plain, all-black earlier model. The
lens now zooms a tad longer, to 75mm instead
of 70mm, but remains the still-innovative Quad
formula that uses only four elements (and as
many aspheric surfaces) for sharp images with
less glass.
The
Explorer EX has the sort of design that was
considered cutting-edge back in them thar '90s,
with rounded ends and lots of curved surfaces,
instead of today's industrial angularity. And
ya wanna know something? The Explorer's handling
is eminently comfy after all these years, just
the right size, with the front and rear circular
forms serving as very ergonomic finger and thumb
rests.
People
still try to yank on the front finger rest in
an attempt to open the clamshell cover, only
to discover it's not a clamshell at all, but
a porthole lens cover deployed by an on/off
button on the back of the camera. The view through
the real-image finder is fairly clear and undistorted,
although it has that all-too-familiar phenomenon
of real-image finders: the viewfinder image
will disappear if you don't keep your eye centered.
The
control layout is simple enough: one button
toggles through standard flash options (auto,
auto with anti-redeye preflash, flash on, flash
off), another button controls drive modes (self-timer,
continuous winding, remote control), and a third
accesses subject-specific program modes (closeup,
night flash, and infinity lock). It has none
of these newfangled dials or multiple menu arrays.
And ya wanna know something? The operation of
this "old fashioned"camera is simple
and straightforward, and all the buttons are
easy to press with normal-sized human fingers.
|
