Top 20 Epson PhotoPC 3000Z Digital Camera Questions & Answers

For XP, a device driver is not needed for the "mass storage" that the camera connects to it.

s I understand it from what I have seen on the Web, the 3000Z can operate in several modes: 1. Fully automatic (camera select both 2. Manual (user sets both aperture and shutter speed). 3. Aperture Priority mode - user sets aperture and camera chooses correct shutter speed to get a good exposure Apparently there is no Shutter Priority mode (user cannot set only the shutter er speed and allow the camera to set the aperature to get a good exposure). This option is available on the Epson 850Z camera and this seems like a silly ommision to make on a "high-end" camera like the 3000Z.

auto white balance should work OK. I was thinking maybe you had accidentally switched it to the Fixed setting. Hmm. You said you were using Normal and Landscape modes. Just to see how it works, I would suggest switching from Program mode to Full Auto. See if that fixes your purple skies. I don't know why it would, but it is something to try

The Movie Mode takes very low resolution frames and can be re-played frame-by-frame.

Use the Continuous Mode for resolutions 2,048x1,536 or 1,600x1,200 or 640x480 get more details than movie.

For higher frame rates, use 1,600x1,200 and you can get quite good photos.

I use kodak batteries and they are fine. the key is find good battewries with a high amp rating. I think the epsons are 1550.

I have tried a couple of external flashes on the 3000Z. It is my understanding from reading various Internet posts (and I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong) that, other than triggering the flash to go off, there is no communication between the external flash in the hot shoe of the 3000Z and the 3000Z itself. Settings need to be made manually in the manual mode to set the f-stop and the aperture to get good exposures. The Metz flashes are expensive. Most have opted to use less expensive flashes such as the Vivitar 283/383, or a Sunpak, or even a "Wal-mart" flash. I chose an inexpensive bounce flash with a secondary "fill-in" flash to get rid of the shadows sometimes seen with indoor bounce flash pics. I purchased the Phoenix 82ZBDA Multi-dedicated twin flash from Porter's Photo Catalogue for $37.95. This flash works fine, but is not that powerful (GN 79 ). If you need a more powerful flash, you might consider the Vivitar 383.

In addition to the "quirks" of the Landscape and Aperture Priority Modes (neither mode works as documented!)..... The camera also behaves differently in full Manual Mode (it changes the settings, whether you want it to or not to compensate for available light)... At lower Zoom Levels, the camera will adjust the Shutter Speed Only, to try and compensate for available light... For example: with the Camera preset to F5.6 Aperture, and 1/48 sec. shutter speed, the camera will adjust the shutter speed between a range of 1/30 to 1/291 sec, to try and "auto expose" the shot for lower or higher light levels, even though you're in manual mode. At an Aperture Setting of 2.8 and 1/48 of a second, the number of internal steps in shutter speed the camera is willing to take, increases dramatially - for example: shutter speeds up to 1/600 of a second, even though you have the shutter set to 1/48 in manual mode. The camera WILL NOT attempt to adjust the Aperture to compensate for proper exposure in available light (OR WILL IT??).... It depends on your Zoom settings! It won't if your're near to full wide angle, but IT WILL if you are using the Zoom. Once you cross some unknown zoom threshold (it doesn't have to be at full zoom), then the camera begins to change both the Aperture and Shutter speed to compensate for available light, even though you are in "Full Manual", versus Auto Exposure Mode. In Manual Mode, (as in Aperture Priority Mode), the amount of change the camera is willing to make to your settings, appears to be related to a preset number of internal steps, with the number of steps dependent on both Aperture and Zoom Settings, before it gives an EV Warning for Over or Under Exposure conditions.... The type (shutter speed only for wide angle, shutter and aperture for zoom) and amount (number of internal "steps" it takes to increase/decrease shutter speed and increase or decrease aperture), is dependent on the amount of zoom you are using for the current shot.

If you have a version of Image Expert from a different camera, printer, or other product, make sure you install the version of Image Expert included on your PhotoPC 3000Z Software CD-ROM and use it when you are connecting to your camera. The correct version is named Image Expert - PhotoPC 3000Z (version 1.8.7).

The spot meter area is small because I have photographed 2 people side by side many times, focused on ones chest then found that the "spot" had slipped into the little space between them, the bad focus not really showing up when I checked the LCD. (My eyes are old and so are my glasses.) Got home and found useless pictures. Sometimes I was outdoors in the sun and couldnt check the LCD. Some of the threads say the focus spot is "off center" with no acccurate way of finding it when using the viewfinder. I take some beautiful, wonderful pictures but these errors really tear me up. I've got to get the LCD box viewer with the 2x lens viewer I guess. All those years as a 35mm Canon F1 user I would long for a spot meter almost daily. Now I see that a matrix meter AND a spot is the real choice. I hope eventually to learn to outwit my 3000Z because it does give me such excellent pictures. Sometimes there is noise on a face, sometimes it is the focus and at functions it is so embarassing to ask a principal subject to wait because the *** or ***H procedures take so long. A wedding, other than the reception, would be near impossible in *** or higher. Good Luck, Dav.

Yes. You pick the apature (the 3000 keeps it aorund the setting you pick) and then it automaticly adjusts the speed for you.

You may need to use the flash. Make sure the setting is not flash off. If you're using the flash, make sure your subject is within the range of 14 feet for wide angle shots or 11 feet for telephoto shots. Use Image Expert to adjust the picture's brightness and contrast. Try adjusting the camera's exposure or sensitivity settings (use the Manual user mode). If you're taking pictures in the Manual user mode, look for the EV! warning that appears on your LCD screen when you are taking pictures out of the ideal exposure range. If you have trouble setting both the aperture and shutter speed manually, try adjusting the aperture and letting the camera choose the shutter speed with Aperture Priority mode. If you're using the macro mode to take a close-up photo, be sure to provide adequate lighting for your subject. If you're taking a picture at night and you want to light up the background as well as your subject, use the camera's slow synchronized flash mode. If you need more light, attach an optional external flash to the camera's hot shoe.

You also may have a faulty hot shoe adapter or pc cord. Check them with an ohm meter, or with an old 35 mm camera. Or just short out the hot shoe contacts with a piece of metal and see if the strobes flash.

bought the Metz 32 Z-2 that was recommended by Epson. I did a great deal of searching/researching on the web, and eventually came to the conclusion (my personal conclusion...YMMV..as well as others) that it was worth the price. I've also had two (non-digitial) pros hold the metz name in very high regard. I like it so far although I haven't used it much for nice portraiture. I did use it at the beach one night in the *dark* from 10 meters (couldn't see *anything* on the LCD when snapping the picture) and a few turned out really nice. Some were not in complete focus, but hey, it was dark. I will say it is much larger than I expected. When mounted on the 850 it felt nice. But with the 3000 being a little smaller, it is rather large. With a teleconverter lens and the flash mounted together, the whole ensemble feels rather nice. I'd recommend finding one in person first. It does have about all the features one could want tho...

This camera stores EXIF in similar standards of its competitors and can be viewed by most image software. However, there's some fields of proprietary design for each brand so it is better to use the original software bundled with the camera.

If you are thinking you need to get to minimum aperture to maximize depth of field, keep in mind that the depth of field is determined by the PHYSICAL size of the iris, not the RELATIVE value (which is what the f-stop measures) -- for example, on a 35 mm camera, a 28 mm lens at f5.6 will have much greater dof than a 200mm lens at f5.6 - because the actual iris opening is effectively 5 mm on the wideangle, but almost 36 mm on the telephoto. The physical apertures on digital cams, with their MUCH shorter real (not 35mm equiv) focal lengths, range from effectively about 7 mm at max telephoto wide open to *less than 1mm* at wide angle stopped all the way down. The issue with digicams is not that you have too little dof, but that it is a real pain in the a$$ to try and not have too much dof for portraits and such. I'm guessing the Epson firmware deliberately tries to avoid the max aperture for two reasons - to avoid camera shake at slow shutter speeds (are you shooting at telephoto zoom lengths?) and to avoid essentially turning the camera into a pinhole Brownie, with the inherent edge distortion that will occur. You seem to have written off the epson and are looking (really hard, IMO) for reasons to make sure that you've made the right decision. If you are unhappy with it, it will be hard to swing the pendulum in the other direction (speaking from personal experience after I bought a Kodak 240 and decided I wanted something "more"). You might as well return it and move on to the next contestant.