Casio Exilim EX-G1

Handling (6.00)

Thin cameras like the EX-G1 (at just 0.78 inches thick) are often awkward to hold, but this seems to be an exception to this rule: we found that it fitted well into the hand and was comfortable to hold. Raised ridges on the front and back also give the fingertips something to grip, so it is unlikely to slip. A wrist strap is also included that attaches to a loop on the back of the camera.

Buttons & Dials (7.50)

The controls of the EX-G1 are grouped on the back of the camera body, to the right of the screen. These are mostly well placed, with the zoom control buttons and the movie start at the top so they fall under the thumb as you hold the camera. This means it is easy to zoom in and out and take photos or movies one-handed.

The other buttons require two hands, but again, they are well placed. Casio made the buttons different sizes and shapes to help with navigation by touch, and we found that this worked well; we were quickly able to switch to playback mode without having to search for the button.

Menus (6.00)

Casio uses two on-screen menus on this camera: pressing the down button of the directional control brings up the settings menu, while the menu button brings up the full menu. We found the settings menu pretty straightforward: you use up and down to navigate and left and right to select a setting. This makes changing things such as the ISO level or flash mode pretty simple.

The main menu is a little more awkward to use, with many options seemingly arbitrarily split between the rec and quality tabs. The anti-shake setting, for instance, is located in the REC menu, while the exposure compensation (it calls it EV Shift) is in the quality tab. An additional tab (called Set-up) is for other options, such as formatting the memory card.

The settings menu	The main menu

Manual & Learning (6.25)

The printed manual that comes with this camera is limited to a short, one-sheet quick start guide that covers the basics of setting up and shooting with the camera. More detail is given in the main manual, available as a PDF on the software CD. This CD also includes Casio’s own Photo Transport photo management software and the YouTube uploader software. Both of these are for Windows users only: no Mac software is included.

We found both the quick start and main manuals to be adequate: they cover the features of the camera in a good amount of detail and are mostly well written. Neither explains the more complex features that well, though; the explanation of the dynamic photo feature is confusing and too long.