Casio Exilim EX-Z300
Digital Camera Review
Sep 24, 2008
- By Mark Brezinski
2.1
The Casio Exilim EX-Z300 is a new $400 point-and-shoot model from Casio, due to ship in October. It has a 3-inch screen, 4x optical zoom, 10.1-megapixel resolution, and the option to capture HD video. Overall it struck us as an average effort, although it did have two interesting features. The first is family priority face detection. You access the "Set Family" function, snap photos of your loved ones, and the camera stores them internally and gives them focus priority next time you take a picture. The second innovation is Make-up Mode, which puts a quick Photoshop-style airbrush job a button-press away...
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Model Design / Appearance
There really isn't much separating the Casio Exilim EX-Z300 from any other point-and-shooter out there, with its average size and shape and conservative design.
Size and Handling
While the EX-Z300 isn't the thinnest point-and-shoot out there, it is quite portable, and fits easily in your hands. The buttons are all intelligently and intuitively laid out. The Make-up button, the most ballyhooed feature of this model, is cunningly located where your finger would normally rest anyway, ensuring secretive activation with no hurt feelings. The EX-Z300 should be attractive to new users who value simple design with straightforward controls.
The EX-Z300 is small enough to be portable but big enough
so you don't feel clumsy.
Menu
The EX-Z300 menu structure follows standard Exilim conventions. Pressing the Menu button will bring up a list of options with three tabs across the top. These tabs are the major sections of the menu, called REC, Quality, and Set Up. You can also access a menu by pressing up/down on the 4-way control or pushing the Set button. In this menu, you can browse between options like aspect ratio, flash settings, or white balance modes.
Ease of Use
The EX-Z300, as we said earlier, should be a good camera for novices. There are just a few controls users need to master, if they choose to deal with the menus at all – point-and-shoot automation makes the power and shutter buttons the only must-learn controls. The menu system might feel a bit random or disorganized at first but, once you learn the layout, the camera isn't particularly intimidating.
