Konica Revio KD-100 Review

Overall Rating

Cheap, and it does the job.
LCD screen on top.

Picture quality is what you'd expect from a £99 camera - which is a shame.
SD cards aren't as popular as other alternatives, so they're more expensive.

Although Konica are a well known brand, they still have a long way to go before they can compare with the likes of Olympus and Kodak. The KD-100 digital camera is their entry level offering, and while the price is good at £99 there are many things you need to consider before buying this camera.

The first thing to mention is the picture quality. Although essentially this is a £99 camera, the standard of pictures it produces is far short of professional quality. On solid blocks of colour noise is clearly visible, and detail is a little blurred. On a positive note, photos of far away objects and scenic shots come out well.

Being a 1.3 megapixel camera, the Konica KD-100 produces images of max. resolution 1280 x 960 - the minimum any novice user should need. When taking pictures they can be quickly accepted or rejected using the quick preview feature that this camera includes. All this is made possible by the 1.5 inch LCD screen on the back of the camera - something that only mid-range to high end cameras usually have. Another useful feature is the 2x digital zoom, which helps get closer in on the action.

In conclusion, the Konica KD-100 is a solid, well built camera ideal for the novice digital photographer. However, if you're planning on using the photographs for anything other than personal use go for a better known brand.

Members' Comments onShaolyen.'s Review

• Geoff. on 14th Sep 2002

  Any advice welcome on how to operate the 2xzoom on the konica revio kd100

• Gendy. on 29th Oct 2002

  What about the supplied software.Trying to download the drivers from the supplied CDROM completely corrupted Windows 98 on my PC necessitating a rebuild (twice!!!). What USB version does this camera operate on and is it compatible to Windows 98 operating USB 1.1? I think not. In effect the camera is poorly described as to its characteristics .

• Tvoburner. on 17th Dec 2002

  The guy who is complaining about the drivers messing up his Win 98 should look at his own setup as I`m running 98 and have had no problems at all. I think it`s a brilliant little camera for the money.

• smurkin gherkin. on 20th Jan 2003

  I have windows 98 se....and no probs....once you figure out it works as a removable drive and you don't need to boot to plug it in and make it work. I have a feeling the conflicts/problems are more to do with the mobos compatibility with usb and the os..certainly no probs here.

• pamela. on 30th Jan 2003

  Hello, I just bought the camera and i can't download the images to my computer. I installed the drivers without problems but after that when i try to "get" them from the camera i can't do anything. Any advice? Cheers

• smurkin gherkin. on 31st Jan 2003

  Just switch on the computer with the supplied silver usb plugged into the back. Don't plug the camera in yet. When boot up is complete, plug the camera into the miniusb connection on the silver lead. The camera screen should light up (if not hit the camera power button) giving two options...choose removable disk drive (the top option - not the webcam option) by using the arrow button to select then press the enter/select key on the camera (2nd from the bottom on the cameras back...from memory). Now double click on my computer...the camera should be visible as an extra "removable" hard drive. Go into this by double clicking and copy the files you find in the folders there onto your desktop....and voila. You may want a photoeditor. There are loads of free ones available. I use corel printhouse magic. Best adivice...go buy a pc magazine with a free photoeditor on the coverdisk.
  
  Good Luck.

• Peter. on 5th Feb 2003

  I've just bought one of these. The camera works but the software doesn't. I followed the instructions as suggested by the previous commenter but as soon as I press enter/select after connecting the camera I just get a fatal exception in Windows. That's not much good is it. This is really infuriating. Anyone got any good ideas?

• overpedro. on 12th Feb 2003

  Hello, I just bought the camera and i have no probs to put my photos on the compputer but i really don't know how to use it as a webcam. I installed all drivers but is there another special driver i have to download ?; or does it work as a webcam only with Windows XP?.Any advice? Thanks ;-)

• Dave. on 25th Feb 2003

  The web cam does work OK in Windows 98SE. I cannot comment on your problem as it worked first time - sorry. However, I cannot get the disk icon in 'my computer' for accessing photos. I have tried every combination of starting up and reloading the drivers - any ideas?

• Peter. on 27th Feb 2003

  Dave, You may have read my comments left on 5th Feb. I had exactly the same trouble. The Konica support people responded quickly to my email. Their first suggestion, however, just caused a fatal exception in Windows every time I connected to the camera. They then sent me a patch for some other software on my PC which was causing a conflict. I rather warily applied the patch and I'm pleased to say it cured the problem. I now get the removable disc icon and everything works fine.

• hirenbacker. on 10th Jun 2003

  to geoff, to operate digital zoom, either the third or fourth button down will have 2x next to it, press it to operate, with or without the screen on, though its not a good zoom.