Casio Exilim EX-V7

Front
The Casio EX-V7’s front looks similar to that of the Sony T-series or Nikon S-series cameras because of the sliding metal lens cover. On the V7, this cover has a big Exilim logo on it and slides to the left to reveal the lens and flash. There is a slight dip in the camera’s body where the door tracks back and forth, but the front is otherwise flat. Below this central dip are a string of words: "7.2 Mega Pixels Digital Camera EX-V7, Stereo." To the right of these words and directly below the internal lens is a relatively large, square window. This is the AF assist lamp, and it is strangely placed. In the bottom right corner of the front is the Casio logo. When the cover is slid back, the built-in flash takes up real estate directly above the lens.

Back
The back of the Casio V7 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen framed in black on the left side, with the Exilim logo showing in white against the black on the bottom. To the right of the screen is over an inch of space covered in controls and buttons. There is a mode dial in the top right corner, which doesn’t protrude much from any angle. In the bottom right corner is a multi-selector that is about the same size as the dial. The size works fine for the mode dial, but the multi-selector would be more functional if it was a little larger. The selector has a central Set button and a ring surrounding it. The ring is almost flush with the camera body, and requires a firm push to get to it navigate anywhere. The top of the selector is labeled "Disp." and changes the display info on the LCD screen. The bottom of the control has trash and flash icons. The left and right sides don’t have icons, but can be set to store quick access to features through the setup menu. Between the multi-selector and the LCD screen are two small and rectangular buttons: playback on the top and menu on the bottom. Directly above these, between the mode dial and the monitor, is the vertically aligned zoom control. It consists of a sliding component that moves up to zoom in or down to zoom out. Most zoom controls are horizontally aligned and honestly aren’t as comfortable as the one on the Casio V7.

Left Side
The Exilim V7’s left side is featureless. It has only visual appeal with the shiny chrome element running down the center of the two plastic panels.

Right Side
Near the bottom of the right side is a door that blends in fairly well with the rest of the camera body. This hides the battery and memory card in the tiny compartment.

Top
Also quite free from distractions is the top, which has only the shutter release button on the right and a "7x Optical Zoom" label on the left.

Bottom
The center of the bottom has a USB connection to the included dock. It is from there that users can access ports and cables to hook up to printers, computers, televisions, and other devices. The tripod socket is located on the far right edge, which could make shooting level on a tripod difficult because the weight of the other side will likely pull it crooked.