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Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1050
by milly234
I have this camera in pink and have had it for a few years now. I bought it for £125 a few years ago but about 2 years ago I bought the silver one for my boyfriend in offer in Asda for only £67. For a 10.1 Megapixel camera, I think that's pretty good.
This review is not intended to be extremely technical but just my opinions ... on a camera I use to make quick videos, and generally document my student life out and about.
The camera takes an SD card which is one of the reasons I bought it as these are very common now, easy to get cheaply and in big sizes, and my laptop also has a hole for this card, so does my printer, so a winner all round.
The camera has a big, approx 2.5 inch diameter (diagonally) LCD screen and there are only a few buttons on the back and top of the camera, making it really easy to use. It has an obvious play or shoot section with 2 little buttons, this is good as it means pretty much anyone can take the camera and work out how to use it. The other buttons; menu, display, BS (best shot) and flash/delete are easily labelled making it good for my mum etc to learn how to use easily and quickly. On the top are the power button, and the zoom, and the real take photo button. Pushing this down halfway focuses the shot, then fully down takes the picture.
When I bought this, it came with a little leather case, and a strap which you can slip on which is to go over your wrist. I have subsequently lost both of these, but I have just replaced the strap with a piece of ribbon, which just kind of adds to the girlyness of the camera.
The camera doesn't have a viewfinder, you have to point and shoot, or just use the LCD screen. This is fine but it means taking pictures in very bright light can be a bit of a problem due to the reflectance.
The menus on this are really ways to use and it has most of the standard functions such as self timer, flash, red eye flash, best shot, videos etc. It is also easy to scroll through the pictures and the information on these menus using the handy arrow sort of tools.
As with a lot of gadgets now, this is pink although I think it also came in black and silver. The pinky colour of this is really nice, it is subdued and cute, and it is not too in your face as some of the pink things I have seen can be.
The battery fits in well and has a little thing to hold the battery in, I think it's like spring loaded, although mine has now broken off. The card also goes in near the battery and it is a push in push out kind of thing, as most cameras are. These are both covered with a sliding cover.
On the bottom of the camera there is also a screw hole for a tripod to screw on to. The camera is easy to charge; you just take the battery out so if you have a spare battery, you don't need to hold up the camera while the other one charges.
Overall I really like this. It is compact, it fits in my pocket and my evening bag, and it is easy to use. Read the complete review |
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Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z600
by cannibalwombat
I have owned this camera for about 3 years now and, so far, I have had a great experience with it. When looking for a camera, I was surprised to learn (in my amateur experience) that a watch-manufacturer made cameras! This one had been well rated, so I decided to dig into my pockets and get it.
At the time it was a very ... high-spec camera. High-resolution, large LCD screen and fast optical zoom. It may now be a little behind, but mine still takes excellent stills. That really is the selling point of this camera, photo quality is fantastic, even in dim conditions when the flash is in use. At slightly longer ranges, pictures can be shadowed and unclear, but largely it performs well. The UI is simple to navigate once you get the hang of it and ISO, contrast, saturation etc. are very simple to customise and subsequent photos are well adapted to different environments - saying that, auto-mode copes perfectly well! Images are also saved very quickly and the flash recharges in a, well, flash! It is also highly compact and seamless to store.
So, the advantages so far are excellent picture quality, usability and quality screen. However, nothing is perfect.
The first is the power button. It is tiny and difficult to press, being set somewhat deep within the frame - a problem for people like me with chubby fingers! I don't understand why they designed it like this, it is simply an annoyance.
Secondly data-transfer can be very slow when through the dock (which, unless you have an sd reader, is a necessity). It can get ridiculously laboured, whether this be because of my OS or the camera itself, but either way it is not up to today's standards.
Thirdly, the build quality is somewhat dubious. Though it looks beautiful and is pretty scratch resistant, I have lost a couple of tiny screws from the casing just through general use, and it now feels very flimsy. That the entire structure should depend on such small screws seems odd to me.
Finally, the sound quality in video is not the best. The microphone seems very feeble and playback quality leaves a lot to be desired. There is also a quiet 'click' throughout video playback, but this may be a hardware fault with my camera, I cannot tell.
However, overall I have been very pleased with this camera. It has never let me down in taking beautiful pictures when it matters, which is what cameras are for. I would probably look for something different now, but this is a very affordable alternative for a casual photographer, and a good-looking camera all round.
FEATURES:
* 6-Megapixel effective CCD imager, 3x optical zoom w/auto macro
* Stylish, durable and light-weight aluminum body
* Large 2.7-inch TFT color LCD, three times as bright as EX-Z500
* Anti Shake provides higher sensitivity, faster shutter speed prevents image blurring to hand or subject movement
* High-speed start-up enables shooting approximately 1.4 seconds after power up.
* Release time lag of only 0.002 seconds after the shutter is pressed.
* Rapid Flash, 3 high speed flash photos in one second
* Continuous shutter function enables photos to be taken in 0.9 seconds intervals.
* 33 "BEST SHOT" scene modes set the camera for easy to difficult situations.
* Attach up to 30-second audio memos to still images at capture or later.
* Record voice-only audio, approx. 25 minutes on internal memory.
* MPEG-4, VGA(640×480 pixels), 30 frames/second high quality movies
* Movie Best Shot, Past Movie, Short Movie and in-camera movie editing.
* 9-point autofocus system with selectable AF modes: Multi or Spot AF.
* ISO sensitivity from 50 to 400, ISO 800 with Anti Shake.
* Built-in flash with Red Eye Reduction and Flash-assist function.
* USB data transfer to PC or Mac computers.
* Super-Life Li-ion rechargeable battery for up to 550 shots.
* 8.3 Megabytes of internal memory and SD card slot for memory expansion.
* ExifPrint, PRINT Image Matching III, USB Direct-Print, and PictBridge compatible. Read the complete review |
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Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z60
by adamp84
I've had this camera for a good couple of years now and i'm happy to say its still going strong.
What prompted me to buy this over some other cameras on the market at the time was the features you got for the price, the Casio was significantly cheaper than some of the other brands and i was advised that the quality of the ... camera itself and photos were equally good if not superior to some other major brands. I'm happy to say i've not been dissapointed. The picture quality is excellent for a compact camera.
The main thing i like about this camera is its design. The sliver metal finish looks fantastic and hasnt aged or tarnished at all. Its slim case makes it easy to carry around in a pocket - great for quick snaps on holidays.
The camera itself has a 3x optical zoom which was pretty standard at the time, and the 4x digital zoom (which i'm not particualrly a fan of on any camera). The 6.0 megapixel resolution is more than adequate for everyday photos. The camera has video capture functionality with a built in microphone - the sound isnt great as you would expect but it is a feature i've used quite a few times. There are also a variety of settings in the menu for you to choose which best represents the picture you are trying to take, its called 'Best Shot' - there is also a shortcut button. There are quite a number of options, i typically use the 'scene/landscape' ones or 'gallery' settings.
The camera itself is easy to use. The large screen on the back is excellent. The controls on the rear of the camera are focussed around a central 'select' button with buttons around it - not dis-similar to navigating around a menu on a games console. There's a button for the timer, one to adjust the flash settings and another to use the 'best shot' feature.
This camera is an excellent pick for anyone looking for a simple, easy to use, stylish compact camera. Read the complete review |