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Casio Exilim EX-Z100

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By Rich Trenholm, CNET.co.uk
Apr 1, 2008

We first saw the Casio Exilim EX-Z100 at CES 2008. Even alongside the staggering EX-F1, the assortment of new Exilim cameras seemed on first impression to build on Casio's recent high caliber of compacts. The super-skinny EX-S10 bore that out, and we put the EX-Z100 through its paces to see if this would be another success for Casio.

Editors' note:

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.co.uk. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.

Design

To our eyes, the EX-Z100 looks fantastic. At the risk of overstating a fairly standard design, somehow the rounded-off edges, silver accents and, most of all, the ridge under the zoom rocker drip with understated class. However, the shiny parts are real fingerprint magnets.

The sturdy metal frame comes in pink, silver, blue and dark brown. It's pocket-friendly, but with a decent weight to it. The metal buttons are laid out in the standard pattern, although we remain unconvinced by Casio's policy of having separate playback and shooting button instead of one toggle.

We did like the dedicated video record button. This finally makes Casio's YouTube mode into a viable proposition as it gets rid of the menu-sifting required on older models.

The screen measures a large 69mm (2.7-inch) diagonally. The black bezel detracts from the size slightly, but we were impressed by the above-average 230,160 dots making up the onscreen image.

Features

The lens is the big draw with the Z100. It has a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 28mm at the wide angle. This is pleasingly wide for a compact camera. As well as being wider, the lens is also slightly longer than the average with a 4x optical zoom.

Face detection is augmented by smile detection, which we're not sold on, but some people may find it useful. The system also checks for motion blur and can snap an image when movement stops. When taking self-portraits, the camera can check for your face in the frame so you don't cut off your forehead or chin.

All the Casio scene modes are present. Known as Best Shot modes, they range from the useful--portrait, night mode and so on--to the impractical, like text and whiteboard. In auto Best Shot mode, the camera senses the environment and adjusts shooting settings accordingly. Although you don't get manual control, the onscreen Casio sidebar puts the main shooting options at your fingertips.

The YouTube mode benefits from the discrete button, which shoots H.264 video in 16:9 aspect ratio and can be easily uploaded to YouTube via the bundled uploader software, a regular Exilim feature.

 
Performace and Image Quality »