Casio Exilim EX-V7

Model Design / Appearance
With a look consistent to the trim Exilim series, the Casio V7 keeps a traditional and very compact form. The floor model I looked at is a silver color and is constructed mostly from hard plastic. There are a few metal highlights like the chrome band that runs across the top and sides to cover the seam from the panels, and the sliding lens cover of course. The V7 isn’t quite as sleek and trendy as the Sony T-series or Nikon S-series that are thin and have metal lens covers, but it still looks good.

Size / Portability
This digital camera is thin when compared to other digital cameras that have built-in 7x optical zoom lenses. In fact, Casio advertises its V7 as "the world’s thinnest" with a 7x lens. This may be true, but there are thinner cameras with more zoom available. Still, there are only a small handful of pocket-sized cameras that offer lots of zoom. The Casio Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V7 measures 2.35 x 3.76 x 1 inch, and is 0.82 inches at its thinnest part. This isn’t as thin as the Exilim Card series cameras, but is still small enough to cram in a pocket. The flat surfaces on the camera make it easier to jam in a pocket too: even the 7x lens doesn’t extend from the body when turned on. The V7 weighs 5.26 oz without the card and batteries, which don’t add much heft. The wrist strap eyelet is set in a niche that makes it even more portable in a pocket because it won’t snag on clothes or anything.

Handling Ability
The flat surfaces on the V7 make it perfect for carrying around in a pocket, but tough if you want to snap more than a few pictures at once. There aren’t many handling features at all. There is no thicker hand grip or thumb grip or anything. The mode dial on the back of the camera does have a little dent in the middle meant to act as a cradle for the thumb, but there isn’t much else to hang onto. The plastic and metal body isn’t boxy; its edges are beveled nicely.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
The first thing I noticed about the Casio V7 is that it doesn’t have a power button. Instead, the camera turns on when the lens door is slid to the left and the lens is revealed. The camera can also be turned on if the playback button is held down, but only if that's activated in the setup menu. The lack of a power button was confusing for at least a few people who walked by the Casio booth, picked up the camera, turned it around a few times, threw out a quizzical look, and put it down again.

Another non-traditional control exists on this Exilim: the zoom control. Most compact cameras have horizontal levers on the backs of the cameras or a ring that surrounds the shutter release button and is pushed right and left. Casio departed from tradition and put a vertically aligned zoom control on the back of the camera. This is surprisingly much more comfortable to hold and move than its more traditional counterparts.

All of the other controls are fairly typical of compact models. The shutter release button sits on the top of the camera right where it should be. There is a mode dial on the back where the thumb naturally rests; this dial can be turned from the right side of the camera, but it isn’t very comfortable to do so (hand cramp!). There are two small, rectangular buttons on the back for the playback mode and the menu system. They are a little bit too close, so consumers with large fingers may want to avoid the V7. There is a multi-selector that is the same size as the mode dial – a bit too small for all the navigating it needs to do – but sits almost flush with the camera body. It requires a good firm push to move the multi-selector, making it a bit difficult to navigate. I often accidentally ended up in the wrong menu because of the multi-selector’s mis-navigation.

The buttons are either identified as text (such as the Menu button) or icons (such as the flash portion of the multi-selector). All of the icons are intuitive, and everything is easy to find and access. The exception to that is the right and left sides of the multi-selector. They aren’t labeled at all – but there’s reason for it. They can be set to access several features and so the label can’t be changed with the user’s changing shooting preferences. The following settings can be saved to the left or right sides of the multi-selector: Continuous, EV Shift, WB, ISO, Self-Timer, and Off. Overall, the Casio V7’s control interface is simple and allows users to focus on picture-taking instead of menu-surfing.

Menu
When users do occasionally venture into the menu system via the designated button, they could get a bit overwhelmed. The menus are quite lengthy and require some serious scrolling with the multi-selector (which is not an easy task). Still, the menus are all located in the same place and are well-organized into sub-menus. Across the top of the recording menu are Recording, Quality, and Setup sub-menus. The text is nice and readable, and there aren’t any icons that could confuse beginners. 

This next menu is sandwiched in the middle of the sub-menus and titled Quality.

Size	7M, 3:2, 5M, 3M, 2M, VGA
Still Image Quality	Fine, Normal, Economy
Movie Quality	UHQ, UHQ Wide, HQ, HQ Wide, Normal, LP
EV Shift	+/- 2 in 1/3 steps
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent N, Fluorescent D, Incandescent, Manual
ISO	Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800
Metering	Multi, Center-weighted, Spot
Dynamic Range	Off, Expand +2, Expand +1
Portrait Refiner	ND Filter +2, ND Filter +1, Off
Color Filter	Off, Black & White, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Purple
Sharpness	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Saturation	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Contrast	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Flash Intensity	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Flash Assist	Auto, Off

The following is the Setup menu.

Screen	0, +1, +2, Auto 1, Auto 2
Sounds	Startup, Half Shutter, Shutter, Operation (all with Sound 1-5, Off), Sound Operation, Sound Play (0-7)
Startup	On, Off
File No.	Continue, Reset
World Time	Home, World
Time Stamp	Date, Date & Time, Off
Adjust	(sets date and time)
Date Style	YYMMDD, DDMMYY, MMDDYY
Language	English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Sleep	30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, Off
Auto Power Off	1, 2, 5 min
Playback Power On	Power On, Hold On, Disable
USB	Mass Storage (USB Direct Print), PictBridge
Video Out	NTSC 4:3, NTSC 16:9, PAL 4:3, PAL 16:9
Format	Format, Cancel
Reset	Reset, Cancel

Only in the setup menu is it difficult to go back in the menu system after making a change in one setting. It is easier to navigate in the other two menus, except for the finicky multi-selector.

The menu system is organized, and several live views are included to help beginners make better informed decisions. The only drawback to the menus is their sheer length; there is a lot of scrolling involved and many of the menu items in the middle seem to get lost.

Ease of Use
The Casio Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V7 is very easy to use with its 33 Best Shot modes, properly labeled controls, live views in the menu, and intuitive style. There are a few quirks like the moody multi-selector and the lack of handling features, but it takes very little brain power to take a picture with the V7.