Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EXZ750 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I have been giving less and less credibility to the so-called digital camera reviewing websites lately as digital cameras get past the gee-whiz-gadget stage and become true instruments of photography. The review sites are ok when they talk about their interpretations of published specs but they leave me cold when it comes to how good a digital camera is at making a memorable photograph. Yes, things like start-up time, internal memory capacity, and battery life are good to know because if a camera scores really badly on certain specs it can become a chore to use. But how well a digital camera helps create a photograph is still the most important thing that needs to be considered.

I have preached the mantra that "more megapixels doesn't mean a better picture" for years and I still believe it, but I also believe that some of the newer high megapixel cameras are also now giving us better lenses and processors, which are the two main things that make one digital camera better than another. And I've resisted getting suckered into the hype about some manufacturers putting exotic-sounding names on their lenses. All that really means is that they paid to license the lens name, it doesn't mean each lens is hand made in the Black Forest by old bearded craftsmen.

The same review sites mentioned above seem to kiss the feet of anything with the name Canon on it to the point of putting their independent review status in severe jeopardy. Yes, Canon makes some good cameras but they really don't have any more real experience in the business than most other DIGITAL brands and in my estimation they consistently fall just slightly short of the mark. Yeah, most people buy them, but then again most people eat at McDonalds.

So what do I think is the very best all around consumer digital camera on the market regardless of price? To me it's the Nikon D70S - priced right, near perfect design, and slightly more accurate at capturing images than the Canon counterpart. But I don't want to lug a huge camera and a bag of lenses around with me all the time, that's why I was so excited when high-quality pocket-size digital cameras were invented, so I could leave my old Nikon SLR on the shelf and be prepared to make good photographs wherever I happened to go.

Since I put the old film cameras into semi-retirement, I have had digital cameras from Panasonic, Canon, Olympus and HP and they were all adequate but suffered from that "chore" syndrome mentioned above with their horrendous shutter lag, dismal startup time and wretched battery life. This time around I wanted a camera I could truly carry in my pants pocket, yet has a good (no make that great) lens, excellent battery life, as many manual features as I could get in a tiny package, and something that didn't feel like a plastic toy.

I considered Panasonic Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Sony. The other brands I looked at had some good stuff but didn't seem to fill my desire for a true photographer's quality instrument. Sony got booted off the list fairly fast. They are such a fine company, why can't they make a camera that actually takes a great picture?

I am intrigued by Lumix, the quality of the pictures seems first-class, I love the image stabilizer, and they are very feature-rich, but most of the pocket-size models feel just a little cheesy. Canon makes pocket cameras that take good pictures, but I feel Canon is resting on their reputation instead of trying to build a product that's worth the asking price.

And Nikon would have come in a strong second, just missing first place because of weak ergonomics. I never seriously considered Casio, ok maybe for a watch or calculator, but I asked myself what they would know about photography. Turns out they know a lot. They've actually been making digital cameras longer than almost anyone, and when it comes to the right buttons in the right place they are geniuses. I'll go further than that, the whole concept of the Exilim EX-Z750 is genius. It you total up all it offers I would have to give it the honor of being the only perfect pocket-size digital camera on the market.

As soon as I touched on I was impressed by its quality. It feels like it's machined out of block of solid aluminum (its not). The controls give you nearly everything you will every want using buttons that make sense and don't require you to go many levels deep in the menu. I love the HUGE 2.5" LCD screen but no LCD screen is fully useful in direct sunlight no matter what anyone says, so Casio thoughtfully brought back the optical viewfinder.

It seems 9 out of 10 reviewers who mention the optical viewfinder say they hate it because it's so tiny. Who cares? It's there when you need it, and it's sharp and clear. If it makes the difference between getting a priceless picture or missing it, I'll take a tiny viewfinder instead of none anytime.

The EX-Z750 starts up and is ready to shoot by the time I get my finger from the off/on switch to the shutter release. Can't be any faster than that. I have still not found any instance where shutter lag has caused me to miss what I wanted to capture, in other words there really isn't any shutter lag in real life.

Rather than go into every detail of the camera, I'll mention a few of the biggest high points that sets this camera apart from every other one in the category.

1. The EX-Z750 remembers the zoom position when you turn it off and back on again. I have dreamt of a feature like this! There are so many times I have had the camera all set up and had to turn it off to wait for something to be ready, only to have to turn a camera back on and make several readjustments. With the EX-Z750 I can turn it back on and EVERYTHING is set exactly the way I left it.

2. Some cameras have some limited function to remember other favorite settings, the EX-Z750 seems to have the ability to remember nearly everything without having to commit it to a special "favorites" position on a switch or dial. So if I like -1 saturation (and this camera is slightly oversaturated in its default position) I can leave it at -1 forever.

3. You can turn the camera on and off with the on/off switch, or you can turn it on and off using the "record" "play" buttons to go directly to that mode. How cool is that?

4. The EX button makes it possible to very quickly adjust four of the most important shooting parameters without ever going into the menu mode.

5. The movie mode is incredible, and offers several unique features including a unique pre-movie that's already recording before you push the record button ... kinda like the way TIVO works ... it's weird and insanely brilliant. After seeing the quality I wonder who in their right mind would lug along a camcorder no matter how small it is on those trips to Disneyland when the EX-Z750 can take outstanding still pictures AND decent video in a camera you can hide in the palm of your hand.

6. Live RGB histogram? On a camera the size of a deck of cards (smaller actually)? WOW!

7. Battery life is one of the best in the industry.

8. 30 scene modes! Yeah I know I said I wanted something to take professional quality photographs and I wanted manual overrides, but sometimes you don't want to spend 10 minutes setting the camera like when the sun is setting in 30 seconds. I can't believe how versatile the scene modes are.

Last but not least, the picture quality is shocking. I compared two pictures taken at the same time of the same scene with the EX-Z750 and the $1300 Nikon D70S. I showed them side-by-side to several people who should have been able to tell the difference. Nobody could.

The negative side? Slight oversaturation as it comes out of the box. For snapshots it may help most people make a blah picture look a little more exciting. For someone more critical, just set the new default to -1 and you've got yourself a low-price, pocket-size D70S. To the reviewers who can't figure that out, get over it and go get a job at McDonalds.

The other small negative is that I love panorama assist. I take a lot of panorama pictures and I can't figure out how Casio missed putting in this one obvious feature. Must be some fear they have of absolute total perfection ;-) I rate the Casio EX-Z750 a 10 out of 10

Footnote: I've had the EX-Z50 for a week now. I've taken it on a trip and taken a variety of photographs and even submitted a few to be judged. The sharpness of the lens on this little pocket camera is unbelievable. The realism of colors is uncanny. Overall I can say photographs taken with this camera are so far beyond my expectations I would call them thrilling. I'm still going to buy a digital SLR but I'm in less of a hurry now that I see what I can do with my pocketable Casio.

As other reviewers have already noted, the EX-Z750 is nearly unbeatable in terms of its design and feature set. It is the only subcompact camera to offer such a comprehensive amount of control in such a small package. However, my experience indicates some troubling quality control issues that potential buyers should be aware of. First, however, pros and cons of the camera.

Pros:
--Excellent battery life.
--Excellent menu system and ergonomics.
--Very, very fast and responsive both in playback and record modes.
--Small size, all-metal construction.
--Included docking station.
--Good movie mode.
--Large LCD screen.
--Good flash performance.

Cons:
--Default saturation is really too high. I suggest setting it to -1 in the menu. Even with this corrected, though, I tend to prefer the colors produced by Canon and Fuji. That, however, is a personal preference.
--Images are slightly noisy. (Not enough to mar reasonably-sized prints, however)
--The zoom has relatively few steps between wide-angle and telephoto. Not a big problem, certainly not an uncommon one in point-and-shoot digitals.

Having said that, however, I should mention that my unit was defective. The autofocus system missed consistently (If I had to guess, I'd say that 75% of the shots were blown). Also, mine had a completely bizarre sensor problem; the images were blocky and pixelated even at full resolution and full quality, appearing as though they were of much lower resolution. I took these images to my local camera store and had this impression confirmed.

Anyway, it turns out that I am not alone, especially with the autofocus problems. A not-inconsiderable number of users have been reporting problems with the autofocus system, optical problems with their lenses, and another troubling mechanical problem that I'll explain below. (For these discussions, head over to dpreview.com, select "Forums" on the left, followed by "Casio Talk")

The troubling mechanical problem I mentioned earlier is this: If the camera is ever accidentally powered on while the lens barrel is obstructed, you will probably receive a "Lens error" message. To my understanding, this situation can also damage or break the autofocus motor. It seems like common sense not to turn it on while it's in the case, but accidents happen to the best of us (and other models do not seem nearly as susceptible to this problem). The Casio's easy-to-press raised power button makes accidental power-on more likely; so does the ability to turn the camera on with the "Record" and "Playback" mode buttons (also raised) on the back of the camera. This behavior can be disabled through the menu system; I recommend doing so.

In conclusion, then, the EX-Z750 is endowed with a nearly unbeatable combination of design, features, and image quality at this price point. And despite the problems that I mentioned, realize that all consumer electronics have a reasonable rate of failure. Nonetheless, my impression (both from my personal experience and from the anecdotal evidence I've gathered from the forums) is that this might not be the most trustworthy and reliable camera around.

If you decide to go with the Z750, shoot a LOT of pictures when you receive yours. Shoot some houses on your street; definitely shoot some portraits. Put the camera through its paces in the first couple of days, then examine all the images at actual size on your computer screen and make sure that the focus is accurate and that the resolution and detail is all there. Especially when dealing with third-party merchants who sometimes have VERY short return/exchange periods (mine required getting it postmarked for return within seven days of receipt), it is important for you to establish that your camera is working well right off the bat. And, again, make sure to disable the power-on function for the record and playback buttons on the back of the body.

Some other models you may want to consider in the same (roughly) size/price range:

--Fuji F10. Terrific noise control, very fast-operating camera. A little bigger than the Casio and short on manual controls, but endowed with good battery life, beautiful 6.3MP images, and Fuji's (to my eye) excellent image quality. It has some downsides, too; be sure to read up on it.

--Canon SD500. A very popular choice-watch out for fragile LCD screens, though. Limited manual controls. Many have reported breakages that Canon will not cover under warranty.

--Sony DSC-P150. I'm not too familiar with it, but it is favorably reviewed.

Lastly, make sure that you really need a camera this small. There is something to be said for the way that a larger camera feels in the hand, and there are plenty of attractive super-zoom models for similar prices as these point-and-shoots. Making things smaller always entails some kind of compromise. However, the good news is that these small point-and-shoots (in my opinion, particularly the Fuji) deliver outstanding images on par with much larger and much more expensive cameras. Just make sure that your particular camera's optics and focusing systems are delivering the results you expect.

My four-star rating for this camera combines impressions of my actual experience with the expected image quality of a non-defective unit. I gave it four stars instead of five because of reliability concerns and slight image problems (too-high saturation, noise levels, good but not great color rendition, in my opinion).

I've researched and debated on buying a camera in this class for a couple months and my choices were the Casio Z750, Casio s500, Casio s600, Canon SD450, and the Canon SD550. Lots of great reviews for all these cameras, and all seemed to have their pros and cons. In the end, it came down to the Z750 and the SD550 (wanted to go for the 7 megapixels because my wife really likes to do stuff with photoshop and print large layouts of pictures).

I'm not a photographer, just the average person who likes to take pictures at social events and vacations, and wants a good camera that I easily take with me in my pocket. I can't really tell the difference that a lot of reviewers talk about in image quality, and frankly I don't really care about purple fringing, softness, contrast, saturation, blah blah blah...as long as the picture looks good to me and takes me back to the moment then I'm happy. Therefore the images produced by both the Z750 and SD550 (and the others as well) were all good enough for me.

Here's the dealbreaker that led me to buying the Z750 over either of the Canon's...SPEED. I've read just about every review out there and although they talk about how fast this camera is, they don't really relay just how much faster this camera is when you simply push the button. I'm the guy who's on vacation who will bother a stranger to take a picture of me and my wife or friends, and I can't tell you how many times we've had to tell these strangers how they need to hold the button down halfway, let the camera focus first, then push it all the way down. Only for them to not understand or not be able to do this. Then we end up getting crappy shots or have to ask someone else who looks younger and more in tune with today's digital cameras. I'm sure a lot of you know what I'm talking about. So a major concern of mine when selecting a new camera was the ability to hand the camera to anyone walking along the street and let them simply push a button and take my picture. Here is where the Z750 sealed the deal for me.

I went to a couple of stores, turned on each camera, pointed at something in the store and pushed the little button to get a picture. The Canons (both SD450 and SD550) wouldn't take the picture, and I ran into the same "hold the button down halfway" problem. Even though they were quick to focus once I held the button down halfway and quick to take the picture once I fully pressed, neither would take a picture if I simply pushed the button all the way. On the other hand, all the Casio's took a picture immediately. They all have extremely quick autofocuses and in combination with this, if your finger is too quick for the autofocus there's a quick-shutter option that will allow the camera to bypass the focus and still take the picture. Some reviews say the autofocus is so fast that it's hard to even get to the quick shutter phase, and some say that the quick shutter sort of guesses on a focus and takes the picture based on this guess. I don't really know what to believe, but what I do know is that either way when I just press the little button, I get great looking pictures.

So if you're like me and need a camera that will take a good picture while handing it over to a stranger , then the Z750 is the better choice. If you're the only person who's going to handle your camera and know all the ins-and-outs of digital photography, you'll probably have a much tougher decision.

The lens error problem is real. It is a design flaw (in my opinion as a Electrical Engineer). I experienced the problem about 10 minutes from opening the box.

The sensitivity to go into the lens error failure mode is too high. Any pressure (even the slightest) on the lens at opening will shut the camera down w/error. After that, each time you try to power up the camera it will keep displaying the lens error and power down immediately. The only way to get it working again is to re-apply very slight pressure to the lens. I know this is counter intuitive and in fact scary, especially on a new camera w/warranty disclaimers on power lens failure due to the blockage / abuse. It may take several trys. You may even hear a ratcheting sound from the lens. But it works !

If necessary, you can recalibrate the autofocus by zooming in / out completely.

Turn off the digital zoom. It seemed to aggravate the probability of the lens error problem when zooming the lens in and out - specifically when switching (crossing over) to/from digital zoom mode. Digital Zoom doesn't really help anyway.

The case also has a padded insert causing the case to be way too tight - remove the padded insert !

Out of the box the unit powers on in multiple ways. This can cause inadvertant power up w/lens blocked. Turn off those power up options.

Double check the picture mode each time you start taking pictures - the dial tends to rotate when handling the camera out of the case.

Hi all. First of all, I must say the main idea of this comment. THIS IS A DIGITAL CAMERA... AND ITS MAIN FUNCTION IS TAKING PHOTOS.

I bought this camera a couple of months ago, after a very deep research, investigation and comparissons. The first thing I was looking for, was a good resolution and high quality photos. Then I wanted a big LCD screen and of course, good image stabilization. After that, the size of the camera was very important, memory and storage features and then, price and brand.

When I saw this camera for the first time, I got very interested with its 7.2 megapixeles. When I took some trial photos (when I had already bought it, of course) the results where amazing. Its 3x optical zoom is just enough if you have modes to take huge photos (fixed to be printed in a A3 paper). So, my first conclusion was: If I don't have the 5x or 10x of optical zoom that other cameras offer... I can select the biggest printing size for my photos and equal that quality. it's not dissapointing at all, I swear.

Then, I read carefully about the different modes it has to fix images according to light conditions. You can easily go from a sunset landscape to a fireworks scene, from a backlight picture to a night portrait... and it really works well. And you get it, just selecting the auto-configured modes. One trick I always do is (if I'm in doubt about which mode to use) taking trial photos with the possible modes, and then compare them (the huge 2.5" LCD screen is very helpful here). The result is the perfect photo, the best flash setting, contrast and white balance. Simply awesome. I almost forgot, if you take an action scene with the standard mode, you get a great picture too (this camera has an almost instant photo taking from the time you press the buttom).

After those photo features, I found a very friendly menu. it's really easy to change settings and modes. You can do it from the complete menu, or the wonderful quick access buttom to edit or modify the most common settings for a fast configuration. You also have to buttoms to switch between the play mode and the camera itself. Then, you have a very friendly and easy to understand menu and structure.

Another outstanding feature of this camera is the use of SD cards. This cards are widely used in many other devices as PDAs, cell phones, other brand cameras, whatever. This is not as the nasty and "exclusive" Sony's Memory Sticks, so, you won't have to buy many memory storage cards for each device you have (but you'll have if you have a Sony). Its LCD screen is simply wonderful, a great colour display and even the digital zoom (8x) is a helpful tool.

Then... and finally... the video feature. This camera has 3 basic video modes. The first one, and the most common in other cameras is a poor video quality (320 x 240) which can be used for quick videos to be sent by Email. As I said at the beginning of this review, you're buying a photo camera, not a video recorder. But, this is your like day... If you use this camera's best movie quality mode (640 x 480) you'll get really GREAT and enjoyable videos. I went to Las Vegas for a holiday week and I spent a complete day taking videos with my camera. The quality is incredible for a photo camera (for both, images and sound) which can easily be played in a 15 inches screen without losing resolution. It's really cool.

For video editing, this camera comes with a CD containing an editing software to brun a VCD or DVD file, so you can enjoy in both two ways of your videos. Of course, you have the .mpg and .avi files.

So, my conclusion: This is the best camera I've ever had, about its price... I think it's fair, you have the best photo camera and a pretty cool video recorder (but, be sure of buying a 512 MB or more SD card to storage lots of video).

This is a very attractive walkaround mini-camera that will suffice to get those "grab shots" you might otherwise miss. It's small, ergonomically well thought out, and has surprisingly good battery life. The generous digital sensor of 7.2 megapixels makes it possible to get good enlargements up to 8 x 10, or even larger. The camera includes a number of specialized functions and settings that are helpful in particular situations such as night portraits, sunsets, etc.

It also features some useful functions that a lot of other small digicams lack, such as detailed exposure information via a very intricate histogram, plus in-camera resizing, which is very useful in preparing photos for web presentations or email.

Another fine set of features is its video functions. By setting the control dial you can take mini-videos that when viewed on a computer screen are actually quite satisfactory and fun. Don't think, however, that these small-sized images will compete with videos taken with a real video camera.

However, this camera is not without shortcomings. Like many users, I have been frustrated at times when for no apparent reason the camera locks and indicates "lens error," forcing me to retract the lens and start the preparation process again. I've missed more than a view potentially good photos because of this.

It should also be noted that the much-ballyooed "manual functions" are exceedingly limited. In "manual mode" you can choose between TWO similarly wide aperture settings, whoopee. There is, however, a more full range of manual shutter speed settings.

I also have noticed that despite the large size of the digital sensor (and hence the image files), the actual lens quality is, frankly, so-so. The quality of images produced by another small digicam I own, the much-criticized Contax U4R (equipped with a superb Zeiss lens), is actually superior, despite the considerably smaller sensor size (4.0 mp).

Images taken with the Casio EX-Z750 can be improved through judicious (downward) adjustment of the color saturation setting and through skillful use of post-processing functions, but the truth is that the raw images are not really all that great.

The tiny optical viewfinder is certainly controversial. It's not completely useless, but the truth is that it provides a highly cropped version of what actually appears in the image. Consequently, when using it (which is sometimes a good idea when the ambient lighting is very strong and hence the LCD is hard to see), one has to engage in a mental calculation of what full-sized finished image will actually result.

Finally: it's nice to have a 3X zoom, but the lens on the Casio does not allow for stepless adjustment in focal length. Instead, there are several fixed settings to which the lens will move by default. Sometimes this is frustrating, if what one really wants is "in between" the available settings.

People may complain about the high noise level at ISO 200 and up, but this is actually pretty standard for tiny digicams, so this doesn't bother me.

Overall, this is a nicely designed little camera and an excellent buy, once you accept the camera's limitations.

Pros: Movie mode, easy to use, compact, great battery life!

Cons: Included software is not great. Can't convert to Casio's M4S2 video format (MPEG-4 codec)

Question: What great name brands do you think of when you hear "digital cameras"? Certainly Kodak, Sony, Canon, Olympus... but Casio? I didn't even know Casio made digital cameras until I bought this camera!

In early May 2005, I was looking into purchasing my first digital mini camcorder from Panasonic. In fact, I had already ordered it when I came across this gem. I immediately returned the camcorder and ordered this camera.

The video quality is awesome at HQ mode 640 x 480 30 fps. Yes, it may not be as good as DV quality but who really wants to work with DV or mini-DV tapes (the whole concept seems so primitive). Anyway, working with SD cards is so much faster and easier. A 1GB SD card can store over 30 minutes of video at its highest setting, and twice that amount at its standard setting. So, I went ahead and purchased a 2GB to give me over an hour of high quality video recording.

Along with its digital video features, I also got a 7.2 megapixels digital camera which has now officially replaced my Sony P52. This camera is easier, faster, slimmer than my Sony and I love the quality of the pictures. I also love that I can actually put it in my shirt pocket and take it anywhere.

In addition, I like the dock station since I have it plugged next to my TV and watch the videos and pictures on my TV. And yes, you can transfer pictures and videos via a card reader which most people already have (so you don't need the dock to transfer videos and pictures if you have a card reader for your PC).

At eBay I purchased an extra battery charger and battery for about $25 and those generic brands work just as well (just type "NP-40 battery"). Amazon also sells the generic NP-40 battery for less than $14.00 vs $39-$49 for the Casio brand.

The only drawback has been the M4S2 video MPEG-4 codec that Casio used. Some video editors can't read the format without a video conversion. Ulead VideoStudio 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements reads M4S2 codec without any trouble.

Likewise, it would have been great if Casio had included a video converter (like Panasonic's MediaStage and MovieStage software) so that you can transfer your PC videos or edited videos back to the camera for easy viewing on its whopping 2.5" screen or TV. In fact, if this was possible, the Casio EX-Z750 could even become a portable video player as well (a la Archos or Creative Zen Player). I understand that AVS Media and VideoCharge will be working and updating their software to convert to M4S2 format. I can't wait!

Overall, this is a great digital camera and mini video recorder for a great price! Casio is going to make a lot of money on this camera and will become well respected for its digital cameras.... and rightly so!

it's seriously a wonderful camera. the design and build quality of this thing is amazing. i've been digital (i think) longer than most and seen many cameras down the line and the pictures obtained from those cameras. more often than not, the Z-750 just blows me away. the results typically range from excellent to stunning. i love this thing.

for two months, it worked flawlessly. now i get the lens error. it happens at least 2-3 times a day. the message most often appears when using the camera - although sometimes happens shortly after booting up.

i really hope there's a fix soon as the z-750 doesn't deserve the bad press it's lately been getting. seems like a firmware issue to me.

I was in search for the perfect digital camera and have gone through about 8 to 10 digital camera in the past 4 years, and Casio Z750 is the one. I started out with Canon PowerShot S40, it took pretty good pics but was big and heavy like a brick. Got a Canon S110 but auto focus was slow, then Canon SD230, Canon SD450, That's when I started to notice that images produced from Canon digital camera has a certain softness to it, I don't know how to explain it, the images got good color and looks clear but it just doesn't standout as much, and doesn't look as crisp and sharp as it should be...Also, Canon cameras has a tendency to capture dust specs in the images, meaning if you use the flash, the flash would get reflected or bounced back from the dust spec and you would get multiple round transparent ball of light in your images, and for some odd reason this only happens to Canon cameras. Anyhow, due to all those reason I have stopped getting Canon and would never buy another Canon again. My next camera was Pentax S3 (images were sharp but too much artifacts), then Panasonic FZ5 (camera was too big to be carrying around all the time), Sony T7(camera was too small and light which makes it hard to hold it stable), Sony W1(took great pictures but a bit bulky to leave in the pocket). After all these cameras I realized the camera I need to look for was an ultra compact. Why? Because I want to take spontaneous pictures when-ever and where-ever, while not strapping the camera around my neck, or the need to carry a man-purse just for the camera. If you want to take wonderful professional pictures and like fiddling with the camera setting, then your best bet is a Digital SLR. Mid-sized & Ultra-Zoom camera are for those people that want a SLR but can't afford it. But for all other occasions ultra compact is the way to go. One thing you need to know about ALL Ultra compact camera is that there are trade offs for the size. Ultra compact camera have limited flash rang and a high potential to take blurry pictures if you don't have steady hands (they are so light and small, if you press the shuttle too hard it will shake the camera and thus blurring the picture). But would you rather have spontaneous pictures even though some might be blurry or no pictures at all?

I personally think the Casio Z750 is the perfect weight and size for an ultra compact which can be held steady enough that it minimizes blurry pictures. (If you are getting lots of blurry pictures, its not the camera, its YOU! And no matter which camera you buy or exchange it with you will still get blurry pictures, but the bigger the camera the easier it is to hold it steady and the less blurry pictures you will get.)
This casio also got the best battery life out of all ultra compacts. The images are super sharp and crisp under the correct lighting and it produced the best images out of all the digicams I've used. (color saturation is higher than normal but that can be fixed within the menu to your personal liking) Since the flash rang is short it can not shoot good pictures in dark room where the subject is too far away, but this is true for all ultra compacts. The Casio z750 also uses SD media. One thing I hate about Sony is their use of MemoryStick. They are more expensive and only Sony uses it. Olympus also uses a proprietary format (XD or something). I prefer having one type of media that I can use across board with all my electronics and wouldn't cost me a fortune. SD memory is just more versatile, cheaper and wide-spread. Casio z750 also got lots of manual control option, that is great but its something I'll probably never use since it's got about 23+ scenes that you can choose from which already optimize the setting to take the best picture. All in all this is the best ultra compact camera as of Feb 2006.

This is a terrific camera, and I'm picky. I've returned two cameras (the Nikon S1 and Casio's own Ex-Z50) before getting this one and I think I'm finally sold. The video is probably the best available on a small camera, the pictures are good, the battery life is fantastic. It's very quick and responsive. The screen is big but not the best, because it's highly reflective in sunlight, but the tiny optical viewfinder is good enough for pointing the camera at what you're aiming at. The flash is weak, but the red eye prevention flash works pretty well. What really sets this camera apart is the video, especially the past movie mode which starts recording 5 seconds *before* you hit the shutter, which is great for taping sports. The other thing that puts this camera above the Canon SD500 (aside from the better price) is that there is a manual mode for setting shutter speed and something called aperture priority. CNET.com, Steve's digicams, and other review sites say that this level of manual control is extraordinary in a compact digital camera. I look forward to learning how to use them.


You'll need a large memory card, I'll give you the numbers the camera gives me with a 1gig card:

All pictures are taken at best quality.
7 megapixels = 220 pictures
5 megapixels = 431
3 megapixels = 550
2 megapixels = 854
640x480 (VGA) = 4721

Movie at High Quality = 34 minutes
Movie at normal 640x480 = 1 hour, 4 and a half minutes
Movie at 320x240 = 3 hours and 4 minutes
Audio Recording = 50 hours and 41 minutes

Both normal and HQ video mode are 640x480 and 30 fps, so I'm not sure what the difference is that makes HQ files twice as big. Less compression I guess.