Cheap compact camera. (Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z75)

Member Name: f1ndl0w

Product:	Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z75
Date:	01/06/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good battery life, comes with all accessories.

Disadvantages: Awful quality in anything but broad daylight.

My opinions of this camera seem to be somewhat different to those of most people, I purchased from Amazon for just under £100 expecting something fairly decent - as all reviews had described it. Upon opening the box I was impressed with the quality, everything was well built and all the accessories that you would expect would be included.

My first bad impressions of this camera came along when I took a few pictures indoors, and copied them onto my computer to see how they had turned out. Due to it being a dull day the flash had been fired, and this left the pictures looking very un-natural. Faces seemed washed out with no "life" to them, and the duller parts were full of "noise" - making them unclear and very unpleasing when zoomed in. Despite this the camera works fairly well outdoors in sunlight, it just seems to be in low light that this camera doesn't perform very well.

The modes on this camera are called "best shot", with a variety of different settings for most circumstances. These are accessed via an onscreen menu in a grid format, which is ok although it is very difficult to find the setting you are after quickly, compared to something like a dial wheel.

Another let down for me on this camera is the screen, despite being large it appears to be lacking in clarity, it is a bit hard to explain, but to me it looks as though every other pixel is missing - giving it a look of older lesser quality LCD screens. The camera also lacks an optical viewfinder, meaning that on sunny days when the screen is difficult to see you have to just "point and shoot", hoping that the picture will turn out as intended.

Despite other downfalls, the build quality of this camera seems excellent. Even after thousand's of photos it is still as rugged as when new, the lens doesn't make a horrible grinding noise, and the battery cover still feels secure. The camera also looks pretty good to, being a slim model means that it is very portable, the only thing that seems to have been overlooked is that the LCD display is not recessed, meaning that if you lay it "back down" it can become scratched quite easily.

Having a lithium rechargeable battery means that it lasts ages, and charges pretty quick too. I don't know an exact number, but have used this for weeks at a time without recharging. The only downside to this is that you cannot use the camera whilst it is being charged, as you would be able to with those that accept standard AA/similar sized batteries.

Since this camera has been around for a few years now you may be able to get it very cheaply, so would be good for children if you want to give them something not too expensive, although, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who wants to take photo's in anything other than daylight - as it then becomes evident that the camera isn't really up to the job.

Summary: Only buy if you are on a strict budget and can see no alternatives.

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