Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EX-Z70 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Anti Shake Optical Zoom (Black)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I can't rave enough about this camera. It's simply the most simple camera I've ever had the pleasure of taking pictures with. I love the fact that it's about the size of a deck of cards. TINY! I think the "best shot" mode is a great idea. It takes all the fussiness out of taking anything other than a normal shot and it even makes taking routine shots a breeze. Turn the camera on and use the default automatic setting or hit the "best shot" button and you have a menu of options to tell the camera exactly what you're photographing. Examples: portrait, scenery, candlelight, sports, sundown, autumn leaves, etc. etc. etc. You just click on your choice and the camera adjusts to the optimal setting for your subject. The pictures that I have taken have been no less than remarkable. I'm a novice at taking digital photos so this model was a great choice for me because it takes out all the guesswork and difficult attempts to adjust settings that I don't even understand. The battery has a decent life span too! I would rate this a 10 out of 10.

I have had this camera for about a week now. I bought it to replace a camera that I loved, but which I decided was just too big for my pocket. The picture quality so far has been excellent. I have not seen any of the artifacts that I often saw with my 4 MP Kodak.

The size of the camera and the sleek black outer shell can;t be beat. It is exactly what I was looking for!

The only warning is related to the battery. I had it in my pocket (without a case), having recharged it fully before I went out. When I went to take a picture, the battery was dead. I must have touched something in my pocket that caused it to go on. I have since purchased a case, so I am hopeful that will not happen again.

One additional note - the only way to recharge the camera is to take the battery out and put it in a charger. This is not an optimal design. There apparently is a cradle available for the camera at the casio web site, but they are out of stock.

I can't begin to tell you how wonderful this little camera is. I am a graphic design student and all my teachers require us to take our own pictures to use in our projects. Before I had this camera, I had a Kodak 3.2 megapixel camera and although I loved that camera it just wasn't powerful enough to meet my needs. So after months of research, I decided that this would be the ideal camera to meet my needs. I'm proud to say I made a wise purchase.

Let's review the positives.

-It's slim and light weight!
-Anti-shake makes it impossible to blur up your pictures, trust me I've done the tests.
-It's extremely easy to use.
-Nice big view screen (a huge problem with my Kodak)
-Fast shutter speed (not the case with my Kodak)
-Various kinds of modes and flashes
-The most important feature is the photos are absolutely wonderful with this camera. If you are a professional photographer this camera would make you proud.

Now as with every product, there are always a few negatives and this camera isn't any different.

-It comes with minimal accessories and no case. Because this is a nice little camera, I recommend you also purchase a case so you don't hurt it.
-As with all digital cameras, the battery life is a little on the low side. You can get in a lot of shots but I recommend buying a back up just in case. I purshcased mine on ebay for a mere $8. If you are lucky you could get that deal as well.
-You do have to take the battery out to charge it and it's a pain. I would try to buy a cradle if you can but if you don't it's not a huge hassel, just less steps.
-You will need to upgrade to at least a 1GB memory card if you would like more than 100 pictures and I'm guessing you will.
-My biggest gripe about my camera is that you can not change the default settings on it and have them remain after you turn the camera off and back on again. It doesn't allow you a lot of control. The good part about this is eventually your figure it out and you can eliminate the problems when you find the right buttons. It just would be nice to change something and not have to keep resetting everytime you use the camera.
-Another thing that bugs me is that the default saving of pictures is 72 pixels. For all of you who don't no what that is, it's the resolution of your picture (how clear it is). Now the default for printing your pictures on a standard printer is between 140-240. Now the good thing about the camera is it takes huge pictures so you can trim them down in photoshop like I do and make them fit your needs. But for people who don't know a lot about this it can make it difficult to load pictures on the net and it might take forever to upload them. That is the one thing I enjoyed about my Kodak. It kept the default pixels at about 230 and the picture size was still large enough to work for you.
-And my last major gripe with this camera is that it's sometimes difficult to find the right mode to take some pictures. A good example of this is when I was at a function this year, they were putting on a show. With the show came backlights. It took me forever to find a mode that would take decent enough pictures. My Kodak came with a setting for this very problem and I used it all the time. I only wish this camera did the same.

Overall, all the cons out weighted the bad and I love my purchase. I think this would be a wonderful find for anyone who enjoys digital photography or is a graphic desinger such as myself.

A non-standard USB port means there is one extra cable I need to carry around on trips. Also, the USB cable blocks the battery and memory card compartment door, so you cannot open it without disconnecting the USB cable first. You also cannot charge the battery while it is in the camera -- you have to take it out every time. Forget about charging through the USB cable.

Most settings are accessible only through menus, and the camera does not remember any of them when you turn it off. This includes EV, ISO speed, and white balance. You can choose one of these to be adjustable with the left and right directional keys, but only one.

The "Anti Shake" feature is a joke. Do not be misled -- this is not an optical feature equivalent to Image Stabilization on Canon cameras or Vibration Reduction on Nikon cameras. It just increases the ISO speed; Not only does this increase the already bad image noise, but it can be done on almost any other camera.

The images turn out very noisy at anything above ISO 100.

Now, the good: The interface and menu system is well thought out. The camera is very responsive. It feels very solid, with good build quality. The relatively small form factor is very convenient -- the main reason I got this camera. The battery life has been very good so far. Although the images are very noisy, 7 megapixels allows some room to "recover" quality by shrinking them.

I love:
How quick and responsive it is.
How tiny it is (without being "I lost it again" tiny).
I'm surprised it's sub $200, seems like a camera worth much more than that.
The photos it takes are gorgeous.
The video it takes is surprising good quality.
The battery lasts quite an impressively long time, and recharges quickly.
Screen is gorgeous.
Menu navigation is easy.

Only downsides:
(This is minor) focusing takes a tiny bit of getting used to. It'll shoot without you focusing properly if you get trigger happy.

It feels a bit fragile - like an iPod (although I've already dropped it and it survived fine) so you'll want a decent case for it.

Camera has a fatal design flaw - the zoom lens assembly is fragile, locks up and malfunctions easily. If camera is out of warranty repair costs $119. I am on my second repair, when the zoom lens breaks the third time I'll be ready for a new camera from a different manuafacturer.

Bought this as a present for my wife. Quite nice. I used it from time to time too just to check it out. She uses it too, so I'm happy.

What I like about it:
- switches on very quickly
- easy to use
- not a whole lot of buttons
- very small and light
- durable metal housing
- good batteries
- appearance
- flash seems quite strong

What I don't like so much:
- image on display freezes while focusing
- image quality is not up to what I expected from 7.2 MP
- low light - loads of noise in the pic
- maybe i haven't figured this out yet, but the way the pix are organized on the harddisk after download is quite annoying (puts the pix in folders that are named after the date the pic was taken (how can I ever archive that?)
- poor low light focusing (i guess just like any other camera with af)

Would buy it again for that price (under $200).

This camera is great. I am particularly happy with the shutter speed and the way the camera captures action shots. It fits nicely in my jean pocket and is easy to use. The LCD screen is large. The battery life is good. The charger is a bit bulky but this would not stop me from getting the camera. I've recommended this camera to many friends and they are all happy with it.

This Casio Exilim EX-270 is as good as it could get. The fast clicking to take the picture eliminates the hand shake, hence the Anti Shake feature. The reason I gave it a 4 star only, is that this product does not come with a flash card (optional), that means the shipped product have a cpacity of about 7 pictures. Too bad!

I have taken about 300 exposure with my Casio Exilim EX-Z70 camera. I purchased it so as to have a quality camera on me at all times, especially when I did not want to carry my DSLR. Considering the cost and size of this "pocket camera", I am quite pleased with my purchase. The photos are crisp and the colors very pleasing and realistic.

One must keep in mind when comparing this camera to a DSLR that the sensor is substantially smaller than in the DSLR. This means that, even though the megapixels are slightly greater than the DSLR, because of the smaller sensor, noise becomes a more significant factor. The only strong dislike I have for the camera is the lack of an optical viewfinder. I know of no other camera this small and in this price range that has an optical viewfinder. I find it quite difficult to hold the camera still while also holding it so I can see the LCD viewfinder, which is good and bright.

While "Anti-Shake" is built in, I have not experienced any great steadiness from that feature.

The 3:1 optical zoom lens provides a very sharp and crisp image. If I had to do it over, I would still purchase this same camera.