Casio Exilim EX-Z1

Casio Exilim EX-Z1 Review:

The latest edition in Casio Exilim range is the EX-Z1 featuring a 10.1 Mega Pixel Sensor and a 3x optical zoom and a stylish design. The camera comes in a range of different colours and feels sturdy and well made. The back of the camera features a 2.7 inch LCD screen which unfortunately does not leave a lot of room for manual controls, but as with most compact digital cameras this is a regular design trend.

As with a lot of compact digital cameras it will take users a while to get used to the manual controls on this camera. As mentioned above the rear of the camera is dominated by a large wide screen LCD, which has left little room for the manual controls. The manual controls consist of a small D Pad used to navigate through various menu options, however using these controls can be a bit painful. Mainly due to their small size, which resulted in lots of accidental mistakes.

The camera has 23 scene programs although it does lack some of the common features of compact cameras such as an ‘auto shutter system’ or an image stabilizer. However it does have an auto ISO boost which helps counter balance camera shake by increasing the shutter speed.

Another good feature on the EX-Z1 is its face recognition system that performed quite well, the camera does not have an HD video mode but allows for a good if not standard video capture. Coupled with the camera is software that allows users to upload directly to You Tube which was pretty handy.

For cameras within its price range it does out put decent images most of which has to be credited to the cameras lens. We found images produced had good corner to corner sharpness, exposure was brilliant and the colour reproduction was vibrant and detailed.

For users looking for a simple compact camera to just point shoot this is an ideal camera as it has some great features, and doesn’t have an abundance of features that would leave some users confused.

Pros

• Stylish design
• Great corner to corner sharpness
• Slim body
• Very light weight camera only 100 grams

Cons

• Average picture quality
• Low resolution LCD Screen
• Poor low light performance