Casio Exilim EX-Z1000

Features
If you are a firm believer that "the more pixels there are, the merrier", then this 10.1-megapixel Exilim is tailored exactly to your needs. That said, if you've been following our Web site, you should have realized that the number of megapixels shouldn't be the only reason you want to buy a camera. A lot of it depends on what you're looking for and what you require from a digicam: If it must have the highest resolution and yet be pocketable, then yes, most likely you'd be looking at the Z1000. But if image quality is of utmost importance to you, you should be browsing for digital SLRs instead.

Another less significant advantage of having a high-resolution camera is pseudo zooming capabilities. If the 3x optical zoom doesn't get you close enough to your subject, you can take a picture at the highest resolution, crop out unwanted details and still end up with enough pixels to create a decent photo--just don't depend too much on it. On the same topic, but from another perspective, Casio claims that between the zoom range of 4.3x and 17.1x, there won't be any deterioration of image quality by enlarging a specific portion of the image, thus putting the 10 megapixels to good use.

The 2.8-inch monitor isn't entirely used for previewing and framing pictures. In fact, it's a 2.5-inch screen with the rest of the space being utilized to display the camera's menus. You can select from two different layouts: The Panel style where the most commonly accessed settings are arranged in a column on the right for quick navigation or the Normal option which shows the same information in all four corners of the screen.

It's not all about high resolution on this Exilim, and we see some neat features including the quick zoom function which provides a shortcut zoom from wide-angle to telephoto (3x optical zoom) with a single key press. There's also the Zoom Continuous mode which takes two images with different zoom settings concurrently.

• Most Popular

• Upcoming

What's Hot