Casio Exilim EX Z3

I'm a bit of a detective when it comes to gadgets. I trawl through tons of info before chooing the right one. The Casio Exilim EX Z3 camera was no different. I have owned the camera for about 18 months and can't really find fault with it for the type of machine it is.

It has a good start up time so no waiting ages and the shot has gone. It feels nice and solid and the controls are positive. Obviously it does not compare with much higher spec machines but it only cost me £170.00 at the time and I have taken 1000's of pics with it. The battery is amazing and in all this time has never let me down.

I am about to join the DSLR brigade (once i've found the right one) but I know for a fact that the wee Casio will still be in the bag or pocket for that impromptue shot. Can't praise it enough.

The Casio Exilim EX Z3 is an excellent camera, compact with no irregular lumps means it sits easily in a pocket and gets used regularly.

The viewing screen is BIG and also crystal clear. The zoom works really well and it is jam packed with features.

The best little camera I have ever had.

The Casio Exilim EX Z3 is a classy camera, metal bodied, pentax lens and optics, huge TFT screen, top-quality feel to the controls leave you feeling smug and happy in a 'newly opened present on Christmas Day' kind of way! It's small, functional and tries hard to do its very best whenever you turn it on. Picture quality is admirable, more than sufficient for holiday and lifestyle piccies, close ups on macro mode show awesome detail. Make sure the camera is held still though, its little and light which means camera shake is possible. I use the included wrist strap (a) so I don't drop it and (b) to steady my hand when taking a shot.

For £200 you should be able to find one of these beauties, don't worry, you won't be disappointed with your purchase, money well spent!

I love the Casio Exilim EX Z3 camera - good quality and fantasic pictures with a nice zoom. And the size is amazing!

I also love the design. If you want a good but small camera this is the one to go for. (or the Z4 if course :)

The BEST digital camera in the real world. Small enough to 'wear' in your shirt pocket, so has a chance of being actually USED regularly as it's so easy to carry about ready. The big rear screen outshines virtually all its much clumsier competitors, and the charging/downloading docking cradle makes it possible for technoidiots like me to use. The quality of the pictures, especially where AUTO means 95% can be taken without further fiddling, is excellent for up to A4 size prints at least, which again is more than good enough for most people. I think if you need more features than this, you're probably a bit sad!

I love this camera. I've taken near a 1,000 pictures with it and my hit or miss ratio is far better than several of my film cameras. Even if a shot doesn't turn out perfect, it's not like you paid for it. Plus, you can usually tell right away and try again. It uses Secure Digital Media, which i love. They are small, fast, and very economical. Avoid SanDisk and go with Lexar media for reliability. I've had this camera in my pocket for 2 straight weeks, dropped it 3 times, and used it to take pictures at my sister's wedding. Very Pleased. Definatly the perfect sidekick, but not a replacement for the professional [i use a Nikon N90]. If you are a weekend vacationer, real estate agent, hobbiest [great macro mode], or just a shutterbug that hates to say "i wish i had a camera with me right now" then THIS IS THE CAMERA for you! Comprable cameras include: Pentax Optio S, Canon PowerShot S400/S230.

This has to be the gadget of the year. It's wicked. Small enough to take anywhere. Unless you are a true professional photographer, then the picture quality that this little thing generates will be more than adequate. The only slight difficulty i've found is getting it to auto focus in really dark places, like nightclubs. It takes SD cards which is excellent, on a 256mb SD card you can take over 2000 images at the lowest quality. The video capture capability is excellent, true it's not a proper video camera so don't go hoping for top video quality but to capture the moment at birthday's, nights-out or whereever, it's really handy! The only thing that would be good is if it could charge directly from the wall and not through the cradle. However, i think they do a separate battery charging unit. I rate this camera as 10/10.

☺ 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)

The screen cracked. Not sure how but the size of the screen may put too much tension on it. Either that or it is too fragile. Unlike other cameras that have a solid cover for the screen.

My wish list in order of priority to me was as follows;

This camera does all that and then some !!!

and the lcd screen on the back is just massive, nearly takes up the whole rear, great for seeing the pics youve taken properly before keeping / deleting them

Overall a stunning camera for the money, Im chuffed with it and highly recommend it !!!!