Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EX-V8 8MP Digital Camera with 7x Anti-Shake Optical Zoom

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this to replace my old EX-Z750. I first tried the Lumix DMC-TZ3 but was really disappointed with it so decided to try the V8.

The feature set on the V8 blows my mind, but what's _really_ impressive is the quality. Don't expect it to perform like a digital SLR or an HD video recorder, expect instead to be amazed at how well it can take photos and record video while still fitting comfortably in your pocket.

Some highlights:
* The sound recording is amazing--it records stereo and captures a remarkable dynamic and tonal range.
* Optical zoom works while recording video
* 7X optical zoom with little noticeable distortion
* Long exposures no longer have the severe red-shift of old Exilims
* Video is recorded in Mac-compatible format (no special converters requied)

A few drawbacks:
* Low-light video has lots of compression artifacts
* As with all compacts, flash is harsh.

If what you need is a camera that you can use to capture the moment, this it because it fits in your pocket, performs well under an incredible range of conditions, and provides remarkable fidelity for the package. It's unlikely you'll win any awards, but you'll find you capture more.

This will not be the best camera. Nor will it be the best video cam. If you had a Casio Z750 or 850, the pictures are not as good. They are more grainy. It also seems that the video was a bit smoother on the V7 than on the V8, but both are better than the video on the Z750 or 850s.

That being said, this is the best overall camera that money can buy right now. By that I mean, if you want one pocket camera, that's small and will fit in your jeans, and can take decent photos and good video, this is it. DSLRs are generally useless. The reason is you won't bother bringing them. You will carry this camera around.

It's the only camera this small that lets you take a great deal of good quality video (on a 4GB card, about 1.2 hrs in wide screen 840x480ish (DVDish quality), and 3.25hrs in 640x480 normal mode) while zooming optically (at 7X no less) with stereo sound). You will likely end up videoing as much or more than you photograph with this tiny guy.

The only real let down is the battery life. It's good for about 2hrs of DVDish video recording, where the z850 was good for about 3.25hrs of VGA video recording. However, the 850 did not autofocus while videoing (it had a fixed pan position), and the 850 didn't let you actually zoom (just digital zoom), so it makes sense that the V8 doesn't have as much juice; it does more. That being said, I would take the 750/850 on a week long trip, and be good with a single charge. The V8, while better with battery life than the V7, requires that I bring the charger.

Build quality is still up in the air. The 750/850 was a tank. I dropped them on cobble stones several times, and even had their lenses mushed out of whack (and just smacked them back in place); they just kept on working. This seems to be tank-like too, but who knows until you have the inevitable drop. All in all, this is the first cam that has come out in a while that has actually replaced my Casio 850; it's now my goto camera.

I have set the camera settings to +2 saturation, +2 contrast, +2 Portrait (noise reduction), and +2 Dynamic (limits over/under exposure) and that seems to help with the photos. Even still, this camera produces way more noise than the 750, and more than the 850 as well. The colors indoors/darker places are not as rich as other larger cameras.

On the other hand, the 7X zoom works great. Now it's not DSLR great. But it is great for a tiny freak'n camera that fits in your pocket, and greater still for a tiny vid cam.

Image stabilization. It sucks compared to a big camera. But for a camera this small and this crammed with features it's not bad. Anyone that had a 750 (with no stabilization) will enjoy it and find it adds benefit. Anyone coming from a huge DSLR will find it crappy.

So overall, it's an issue of compromises. Is this camera perfect? Heck no! Does this camera have any one feature that other cameras can't top? Nope. That being said, I think Casio made great choices in what to include and compromise on (with the exception of the stupid dock; for crying out loud, everyone hates it in every version of the Exilim and they should just use a small USB connector). Yea, it would be great if it did everything well, but we live in the real world, and engineering realities only allow so much today.

And so, if you had to have just one cam, and you want it to take both photos and videos, and you want a cam that you would actually take with you and use, as of today, this is the "it" camera...at least for me.

I had read reviews on the EX-V7 saying the antishake was not perfected. I had hoped the V8 would have the fixes. From my experience, it has!

Very easy to use and, for my non-professional eye, does a great job with both stills and videos.

My only minor complaint is that I get more red eye with this camera than I did with my previous EX-Z4. But with software fix available, it is not a concern for me.

One reason I wanted this camera was to have the use of the wide range (7X)optical zoom to shoot movie clips. I gave the camera a pretty good test on a recent trip to Hawaii, and I found, surprisingly, that that feature was more useful for snapshots than movies. The stills came out quite good; always in focus and well exposed. But the movies, while better than with previous Casios, were somewhat disappointing. For one thing, the anti-shake stabilization that they tout was not very useful; in fact, it may have produced a jerkier picture when panning than when it was turned off. It may however, have helped on long zoom still shots.

Secondly, the movies default to Quicktime format for playback. Even with the latest version, while the resolution was good, the picture tended to tear when the camera was panned, at least on the Windows computers I tried it on. This didn't happen if I opened the clip in Windows Media Player, but that was a nuisance, and the picture was darker than it should have been.

Overall, because of the quality of the stills, the long zoom range, and the fact that the lens stays within the camera at all times, I did like the camera. If the problem with the tearing could be addressed, I would like it even better.

I bought it based on Ken Rockwell's recommendation. It seemed too good to be true: 7x zoom, no protruding lens, vibration reduction, innovative video modes in a pocket-sized package. Alas, it was (too good to be true that is). Bottom line, the still images indoors were not up to snuff. Outdoor images were fine; indoors white balance was randomly disastrous and pictures were grainy often with poor focus. I had to return it and go for a more traditional product--the Canon digital elph SD750 since most of my reason to get this was for candid indoor people shots. I'm much happier with my follow-up purchase despite the loss of zoom range.

I'm very pleased with this camera. I started out looking for a new camcorder to replace my bulky old 8mm model. What I soon realized was that the camcorders hadn't gotten much smaller, and I probably would only have it with me for planned filming occasions. So I changed my strategy, and looked far and wide for a compact digital camera that took decent pictures AND allowed you to zoom when shooting a video. Videos without zoom are kinda limited, and most of the manufacturers disable the analog zoom while filming. Along comes Casio, who not only allow the zoom during video, but give you a 7X Analog zoom. What a combination! So, I've been snapping pictures and shooting vids like crazy, and I'm really impressed. The stereo sound on the videos is unbelievably good, and I can fit 90 mins of high quality video on my 4GB SD card! So, you CAN have it all, but it's not perfect. There's a fair amount of barrel distortion on close up shots, the autofocus has a decent amount of lag when zooming in during video, and of course, there's the stupid dock. Come on, Casio, put a mini-USB connector on there! Even so, I'm giving it 5 stars because the combination of functionality that this camera offers IS perfect!

There is no doubt the EX-V8 an incredible camera and I'm happy to see such great reviews for it. I think a lot of people overlook it because they crave those huge manly zoom lenses with "authentic-sounding" labels emblazoned on them like Schneider, Leica, Zeiss, etc. Maybe it's not cool to have a camera with a wimpy looking flat front?

I have owned a Casio EX-Z750 which I reviewed here a few years ago and have loved it. Casio has been in the digital camera business for a long time and they make rock-solid cameras that take excellent pictures. I can't count the times I didn't want to lug my DSLR or I felt it attracted too much attention but yet I needed something that would produce a decent photograph and the Z750 was perfect. A few weeks ago I was at a Renaissance Faire with my Z750 and wished I had two features the camera lacked ... a more powerful zoom, and Image Stabilization like my DSLR. The first one that I could seriously consider is the brand-new Panasonic DMC-TZ5. With a 10x zoom and IS it seems like an excellent camera, but when I went to look at one I was disappointed how big it is, and that's before the huge lens is zoomed all the way. I reviewed every other camera and found just one that had a decent zoom, IS, and the other features I wanted and was small enough to take everywhere and that was the V8. As soon as I picked one up I was convinced.

Like many Casio cameras this thing feel like it is carved from a solid brick of aluminum (it's not). Mine is called "black" though it really is a very rich gunmetal gray. Every button feels solid and works with a reassuring click. Despite having a 7X lens the overall size is almost identical to my Z750, which is accomplished by having the entire lens built into the camera body. The LCD screen is the same size but even sharper and brighter than my previous camera. Let me spend a little more time on the lens because it is one of the major reasons I bought the camera.

To me there are two ways to take pictures ... either with a DSLR with a great lens in which you carefully compose your photograph and manually set the camera to capture exactly the essence of the moment; or with a pocket point-and-shoot camera in which you want to draw as little attention to yourself so you can capture your subject in their most candid moments. The V8 excels at this because there is no whirring zoom lens that thrusts out toward your subject. It is hard to be natural when a lens is zooming in on you. With the V8 you can zoom in very discretely without alarming your subject. The design of the on/off switch adds to this by simply sliding the lens cover to one side to turn it on. This also offers far more protection to the lens than those flimsy metal leafs that most cameras use. I have seen more of those get smashed than I can count. The V8's door has enough resistance that under most conditions it won't accidentally slide open in your pocket. Another feature that adds to the ability to zoom in on a subject without making them anxious is the placement of the zoom lever. Instead of the obvious place around the shutter release like many cameras, it is operated by sliding a small bar on the back of the camera with your thumb. It feels much more natural to me. Here is a short summary:

PROS: rock solid construction; fully internal 7X zoom lens; 4-way Image Stabilization; amazing wide-format movie mode with superb compression; stereo sound with video; excellent LCD screen; amazing range of features and controls

CONS: I prefer a lens that zooms just a little wider

If you like capturing candid "people" photos that are as natural as possible the V8 may be one of the most ideal cameras ever made. Here's a summary of why:

1. It looks like an extremely simple fixed lens point-and-shoot camera yet you can unobtrusively zoom in for very nice candid shots.
2. The dark grey case does not call attention to itself.
3. The very effective anti-shake means you don't have to have a lot of light to make a good picture.
4. The rear-mounted zoom slider doesn't reveal to the subject that you are zooming in and out.
5. When the electronic sounds are turned off, there is absolutely no whirring zoom and focus sounds like on almost every other camera. This camera is absolutely silent. You could take candids at a funeral and not disturb anyone.
6. If you did need to use flash, let's say at a cocktail party, you can set it to a very low power that gives you enough light without blinding your subject.

Bottom line: Picture quality is important but it's not everything ... I ran side-by side test shots with my Z750, which I thought made excellent photographs. The V8 was consistently superior in every way, especially the dynamic range. With the sole exception of the reds being a little too orange, the V8 is in the league of the very best point-and-shoots made. When considering a camera of this type, size is a major factor, as is ruggedness. Perhaps most important is "am I going to be able to capture a once-in-a-lifetime memory and share it with family and friends?" Remember, a point-and-shoot should be just that, not a replacement for a high-quality DSLR.

Any digital camera is a sophisticated piece of electronics and should be given reasonable care which means getting a good carrying case, not tossing it in a pocket or purse with your keys. Regardless of brand, buy from a reputable dealer and despite anything you believe a digital camera is one of the best reasons to pay the extra 20 bucks for a performance protection plan.

If you're a dad like me that enjoys taking pictures and video of the family, this camera may just be for you. In the past, I carried a digital camera and a camcorder. It was a hassle at times, and I tended to leave one behind in the interest of mobility. But the Casio Exilim V8 fixed that for me. It is a very nice point and shoot camera with very capable video added to the mix. If you are a camera or video connoisseur, then stick with two separate devices. However, the Exilim V8 enables you to take pictures for mom's scrapbook or video for the DVD to send to the grandparents. Low light performance is a tad weak, but still quality. And it all fits into your pocket.

To sum this device up, it provided what I needed: compact, convenient, easy, quality, and multi-use.

If you can afford it, i would recommend highly getting a high speed SD card like the SanDisk 2 GB SDSDX3-2048-901 Extreme III SD Memory Card (Retail Package). The camera really makes excellent use of the card and will record about 44 minutes of high quality video. With slower cards, the video is limited to shorter duration video at high quality or you have to rachet down the video quality to let the card keep up.

I absolutely LOVE this camera. There are so many different things that it can do. The camera combines manual and automatic features to let you play around and get the shot that you want. The best shot modes are helpful and when I play around some more with the camera, I will post another review. So far so good!

I purchased this camera to have an easy to use, versatile camera that I could carry hiking and bicycling. The camera is awesome. The battery lasts many days for those backpacking trips. The size is perfect for carrying with me at all times. It takes movies or still shots. There are functions to use automatic or manual exposure control. The picture quality is excellent. The lens is fixed so there is nothing moving when the camera starts. The zoom feature is great and allows me to take amazing close up shots. The zoom is so powerful that a tripod is required to hold the camera steady when zoomed to capacity. The image stabilization is excellent at less than full zoom. It is easy to turn on and off with a quick slide of the front cover - no hunting buttons or holding them down waiting.
The only 2 negatives were: The function selection knob turns too easily so I have to check to make sure I have the correct function (movie, photo, auto, manual, etc) each time the camera is taken out to use. I have not found a function that allows a delayed shutter activation so I could get into the photo using my tripod.
There is some picture quality you sacrifice using these optics, but the ease of use, size, and lack of moving parts more than make up for that in my application.
I would recommend this camera for anyone who wants a simple to operate, fast, reliable camera.