Casio Exilim EX-Z1000
Digital Camera Review
Jul 27, 2006
- By Patrick Singleton
1.7
Casio's parade of metal-clad, ultra-compact snapshot cameras in the Exilim line has culminated in the Exilim EX-Z1000, a 10.1-megapixel mite of a camera. It has a higher pixel count than many professional cameras, but no manual exposure modes and a modest 3x zoom range. With a suggested list price of $399, it's not the cheapest ultra-compact around – that resolution comes at a price. The question is: does 10.1-megapixel resolution benefit pocket-camera users?
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Picture Quality / Size Options (6.5)
The EX-Z1000 offers a range of file sizes. The maximum is 3648 x 2736 pixels. At other aspect ratios, a 3:2-format 3648 x 2432 and a widescreen 16:9 3648 x 2048 are also available. Smaller sizes include 2560 x 1920, for 5 megapixels; 2048 x 1536, for 3 megapixels, plus 1600 x 1200 and 640 x 480. This Exilim digital camera records JPEGs at Fine, Normal and Economy compression sizes. Normal and Economy significantly degrade image quality though.
Picture Effects Mode (5.5)
The EX-Z1000 offers black-and-white and sepia-toned images, as many simple cameras do. It adds a couple of unusual effects as well. Its Pastel setting converts scenes to broad patches of pale colors. Illustration is similar, but adds black outlines along contrasting edges. Either might be fun occasionally, but they're gimmicks, and will get boring if they're used too much. This Exilim is supposed to offer keystone correction and color correction in-camera. Oddly, the color correction menu item activated the keystone function, which works as advertised. The keystone menu item didn't do anything. We could not access the color correction function at all.
