Casio Exilim EX-Z300 Digital Camera Review

The Casio Exilim EX-Z300 sits at the top of the $200 to $300 price range for basic point-and-shoot cameras. Its look and feel are similar to dozens of other models on the market, with only a slightly longer-than-usual 4x zoom and a maximum aperture of f/2.6 to distinguish its feature set. It falls to Casio, then, to make the Z300 stand out from the pack through its performance and features, like the Makeup Mode, which is meant to blur out facial imperfections in your friends and family. Unfortunately, these features failed to cause much of a stir. In our testing the Z300 did very well in some sections (like resolution and manual noise) but  poorly in others (like automatic noise and white balance). The camera is geared toward auto modes, as many of the settings that can be changed require extensive menu navigation to alter, and there's no way to manually control shutter speed or aperture. Unfortunately, performance in automatic mode was unimpressive, which basically describes our overall take on the camera. The list price for the 10-megapixel Casio Exilim EX-Z300 is $299.99.

Section	The Good	The Bad
Tour	Solid construction	Uninspired design, small buttons
Testing/Performance	Good resolution and manual noise scores	Very poor white balance and automatic noise reduction scores
Components	4x zoom, bright flash	Average LCD screen
Design/Layout	Pocket sized and light	Petite controls, no modes dial
Modes	Extensive image presets	Slow continuous shutter mode
Control Options	Manual focus, good range of ISOs	No manual shutter or aperture controls
Image Parameters	Wide range of image sizes	Makeup mode produces harlequin-like results
Connectivity/Extras	Good battery life	Sub-standard included software
Value	Not a bad camera...	...but not really worth $300