Hands-on with Motorola's ZN5 Cameraphone with Kodak Imaging

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Yesterday while getting briefed on Motorola's ROKR E8, we took the opportunity to check out Motorola's MOTOZINE ZN5, a 5 megapixel cameraphone that it jointly developed with Kodak. The device we saw was a prototype, but the ZN5 should go on sale next month in China in order to take advantage of some of the Summer Olympics fever that is taking place there at the moment.

The first thing we noticed about the ZN5 is that it shares the same basic design language that we have seen on other recent Motorola devices like the RAZR2, the Z9, and the previously mentioned ROKR E8. This includes both the parallelogram profile with the slanted top and bottom edges as well as the raised dots on the otherwise flat keypad. Some of the ZN5's unique design touches include the use of purple on the dual-stage camera shutter button and the Kodak branding on the active sliding rear lens cover.

The thing that most impressed us, though, were the very large prints that Motorola had on hand. We took a very close look at the 16" x 20" photos and found that the image quality coming out of the ZN5's camera is really top notch. Some over sharpening was evident when viewing the prints, but there was little to no chromatic distortion or purple fringing in high contrast scenes or else anything unpleasant. The ZN5 appears to be a "real" camera, plain and simple. True it lacks a zoom, but this is a camera that can produce keepers when it comes to snapshots.

So take a look at the photos we have posted here and get ready for the MOTOZINE ZN5 to land here in the U.S. in the not too distant future.

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5