Casio Exilim EX-Z3

Yes, the Casio really is that small. Laughably so.
If you’ve not encountered an Exilim model
before, simply removing it from the
packaging will bring a smile to your face. It’s the size of
a credit card and, while it’s obviously not as thin as a
credit card, it’s still thin enough (well under an inch) to
leave you wondering how Casio has done it.
It’s all the more remarkable given that this camera
seems to have all the features you’d expect in
an ‘ordinary’ 3-megapixel model, including a 3x
optical zoom. This emerges from the body in a threesection
expanding tube as you power up. But, in
case you’re thinking this sounds like it might be a
slow and sluggish process, it’s not. From pressing the
power switch to seeing an image on the LCD takes
just two seconds.

Big on the inside?

On a camera this tiny you might be expecting the LCD
to be something the size of a postage stamp, but this is
where the Casio springs its next surprise: it’s a massive
2-inch screen that dominates the back of the camera
and displays super-sized, super-clear images. It’s even
got a ‘flip’ function that lets you show pictures the right
way up to people facing you.
Indeed, your first half hour with this camera is likely
to be spent marvelling not just at its size but its build
quality too. Its all-metal finish feels of the highest
standard, and the controls are excellent. You really do
feel like you’re getting your money’s worth with this
camera. It’s very nearly as impressive as the Pentax
Optio S, reviewed on page 38. Indeed, the two cameras
are surprisingly similar…
Both use a 3x Pentax zoom (which unfolds in those
three sections we mentioned), both are super-slim
credit card-sized designs and both have a 3.2-megapixel
CCD. They’re similar even in terms of control layout.
This is one area where the Casio left us slightly
worried: the power button is right alongside the shutter
release on the top plate. How often would we turn the
camera off by mistake, instead of firing the shutter? Not
once, as it happened, because the two buttons have
quite different profiles.
The Z3 has an optical viewfinder for those who don’t
want to use the LCD, but you might have to look hard to
spot it. It’s positively microscopic and, while it is usable,
it’s likely to prove more of a talking point than a
practical aid. The tiny viewfinder’s not a big problem on
this camera, not least because the quoted battery life is
good and you’re likely to use the LCD to compose your
shots all the time.

So where’s the catch?

A camera this small surely has to have a weak point
somewhere. Well, you can keep looking if you like, but
we didn’t find it. Shutter lag? Remarkably little. The
only fault we can find with the Casio is that if you stab
at the shutter release it will take a shot straightaway
without – as far as we can tell – stopping to focus. This
led to a few blurry indoor test shots until we settled on
waiting for autofocus confirmation before pressing the
shutter release fully.
The autofocus system is so quick that’s hardly a
major hardship, after all – about half a second, we
reckon, for the average shot. It’s a little bit longer for
shots taken with the telephoto lens, but the same
applies to other digital cameras.
How about zooming speed? Very fast indeed, from
handful of intermediate settings but, again, that’s
pretty typical for rival cameras.

In your hand

What’s especially impressive about the Exilim EX-Z3
is that, despite its size, it really is very good to use.
Your fingers slide neatly over the embossed ‘Exilim’
badge on the front, while your thumb lies neatly
over the navipad, ready to reach for the zoom
buttons above.
The navipad is especially good. Not only is it firm
enough that you’re not going to press it accidentally
as you hold the camera, it uses a separate, central
OK button so that you don’t get the vague, errorprone
actions of combined thumbpads.
It’s the perfect go-everywhere camera. It’ll fit in
any pocket or bag, it’s ready for action in just a
couple of seconds and it’s foolproof to operate. You
can apply EV compensation via the menus, and you
can even study a live histogram as you compose
your shots to see if your highlights or shadows are
clipped, but most of the time you don’t need to
because the Exilim’s exposure system is pretty much
bang on. You point, you shoot, and 99 times out of
100 the Exilim does a perfect job.
It’s impossible to fault the image playback,
too. Cheaper cameras are often a bit slow to
replay stored images, but the Z3 rattles through
them as fast as you can press the navigation
buttons. Zooming in is a bit tedious because
you have to keep pressing the zoom button,
and the same applies to panning around images
when you are zoomed in, but that’s hardly a
major drawback.
Even the menus have that extra touch of class,
and the larger-than-usual LCD makes them much
easier to read and navigate that those of many
rival cameras. And it’s here that the Casio springs
another surprise, with its excellent Best Shot
mode. This is essentially a collection of Scene
modes, but with a difference. Here, each ‘scene’ is
illustrated with a sample thumbnail image, the
name and a brief description of what it does and
when to use it. There are no fewer than 21 Best
Shot modes, covering a range of subjects from
portraits to fireworks.

Pocket perfection?

There are only two areas where, reluctantly, we
have to knock off a couple of marks. It’s unlucky for
the Casio that it’s being reviewed in the same issue
as the Pentax Optio S, a camera with which it has
similarities that are surely more than skin deep. The
Pentax feels ever so slightly better finished, and
produces more saturated shots with slightly superior
sharpness. We’d be tempted by the Pentax for its
image quality, even though the Exilim has that huge
LCD and terrific Best Shot mode