Casio Exilim EX Z3 Review

Overall Rating

☺ Size!
☺ Portability!
☺ Screen size!
☺ Real-time Histogram!
☺ Battery life!
☺ Photo quality?
☺ Speed!
☺ Compatibility?
☺ Ease of Use!
☺ Wow factor! (drool factor)

☻ In video mode, because the unit is sooo small and I think because the mic is just next to the zoom mechanism, on playback of movies, you can hear the motor when you zoom in/out

☻ Charges only from the docking station. Makes life a bit tougher when travelling (you gotta bring the whole lot of stuff). First it does not have AA batteries (i guess cannot - won't fit chassis) then they had to have an integrated adaptor, charger, docking station module

☻ Speaker? Would have been nice to put in a small speaker to at least monitor video recordings

☻ I thought the most important button (the shoot button) was a tad loose. Overall its build, form and functionality is really XXX good!

☺ Size! Nothing hurt more than a big bulky device that you'll never want to bring around! Think of your mobile phone, who carries a big chunky one these days?

☺ Portability! Its a part of my life now, I go around with it hanging around my neck! It's so light and very wearable that I bring it everywhere!

☺ Screen size! Many wonder how Casio managed to squeeze a 2inch screen into a form factor so small! Rivals many other cams! Not many cameras even have anything more than 1.5inches! Let alone 2! The Pentax is just about the same form factor, but only sports a 1.2inch screen.

☺ Real-time Histogram! Great so that you can immediate guesstimate if it will be over/under exposed - helps teach other family members on the "finer" points in photography

☺ Battery life! I wonder if the machine runs on solar somewhere. On a full charge, realistically, I shot more than 120 pix mix w/w/o flash. DP review notes that it can shoot over 200 shots, but it has a very detailed methodology around it, not very real life situation

☺ Photo quality? Soon to be updated, not yet sent to the printers yet. Have had it for only 4 days! And have shot over 250 pix! Its nice to have something small that doesn't bother you.

☺ Speed! Unlike many other cameras I've used and reviewed before, I love the speed of the Z3! There is no lag when in playback mode. The only lag in preview mode is a half a second delay then its all the way (many other cameras will have an hour glass)

☺ Compatibility? I dunno what to call this, but I love it when I can replace the SD card from my iPaq into this without the iPaq or my Casio asking me to format the media! I works straight off! Many cameras I've tried have this problem. Perfect for me cos if I ever run out of Megs I just plonk in my MP3-laden SD from my iPaq and go off shooting again. Vice-versa, if I need more music to groove to, I do otherwise!

☺ Ease of Use! Some cameras make it very difficult to delete and manage photos, but in the Casio, its very easy, no need to scroll through too many menus just to delete just the next photo. Its so easy that I have to "fight" with family if they see that I'm not using it.

☺ Wow factor! I love it when my friends see that its such a nifty camera. What I like most is when I whip out my credit card and compare its size to it! With a little skill, you can almost always show that the camera is smaller than the card. Of course, many Pentax users out there might say "but the Pentax is smaller!" but until then...

I love my Z3! Darn. Wish it wasn't just a Casio, but a beemer!! Love it. Period.

Ps. Its little wonder why it was sold out on the first day it launched in Singapore during some PC show some 3 months back.

Deenosaur
(5 June, 03)