Model Design / Appearance (7.0)
Stylistically, the EX-Z57 lies somewhere between "elegant minimalism" and "Captain Incredible's whizzbang decoder ring." The matte-colored metal that covers most of the camera's body is an attractive, tough finish that indicates general durability and solid construction. The plain, rectangular silhouette of the camera adds to the pared-down aesthetic, as does the contrasting use of rounded and beveled corners.
Unfortunately, after wisely choosing those attractive options, the Casio designers compromised the overall look of the EX-Z57 with several gratuitous decorations that undermine the style of the camera's smooth exterior. First, there's a small black badge on the front of the camera that reads in iridescent letters, "5.0 MEGA PIXELS." Across the top of the camera, there's a brushed-metal strip that is engraved, "5.0 MEGA PIXELS DIGITAL CAMERA EX-Z57." For good measure, the front of the camera also sports a sticker, reminding users once again, of the camera’s "5.0 MEGA PIXELS 3x OPTICAL ZOOM."
A satiny metal stripe across the front of the camera makes the exterior appear busy, but only adds slight visual interest to the frame. There's a vertical bar on the front, with a black rubber insert helping it to stand out. Also, the battery door on the camera is beveled differently from the chassis of the camera, so it doesn't quite match. All around, the design of the EX-Z57 is acceptable, but relies on the large screen to make an impression – which fades with increased use.
Size / Portability (7.5)
The EX-Z57 is designed for consumers in search of a pocket-friendly camera that’s easy to transport. At 3.5 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches and 4.6 ounces, the EX-Z57 is smaller than an iPod and just as easy to store in a pocket or bag. The camera is designed to allow users to carry it all the time, rather than just on special occasions.
The exterior of the EX-Z57 is sealed effectively against dust, and its moderately smooth profile shouldn't snag on much inside a pocket or bag. For a small camera, the frame should stand up well to less-than-careful treatment.
Handling Ability (4.0)
The EX-Z57 will be challenging to handle; however, this is not due to its diminutive size as much as the incredibly oversized LCD screen. The large screen leaves users with no place on the back of the camera to place their right thumb. With the current layout, the right thumb falls on four buttons and the four-way controller. While more dexterous users may be able to maneuver their way around the essential controls, less agile hands will find manipulation of the EX-Z57’s controls to be extremely cumbersome.
With no thumb rest on the back, it's tempting to hold the camera like binoculars - both thumbs underneath, and both index fingers on top. That grip has the advantage of not blocking the user's view of the controls, but it's not as steady as a right-hand grip, where the fingers of the right hand press the camera against the thumb or palm. While visibility may not be a problem, those lacking petite fingertips will find controlling the EX-Z57 to be a continual struggle.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (3.0)
Saying controls and buttons on the EX-Z57 are small and crowded is an understatement. The camera’s smallest buttons (which activate the onscreen display and the menu system) are the size of grains of rice – quite literally. Fortunately, the controls are paired in groups of two with a fair amount of space in-between. However, within the groups of buttons, users will have to display some skill in accurately handling the functions.
The zoom buttons, placed on the back right of the camera near the top of the frame, are two separate buttons; however, they are also incredibly small. The separation between the wide and telephoto zoom controls makes the function operable, but still a task. Additionally, the small zoom controls are remarkably stiff, perhaps to make it harder to press them accidentally. Unfortunately, the stiffness makes it difficult to use the control. It is also difficult to attain any accuracy with the zoom, and overshooting the desired focal length is more than likely.
The EX-Z57 shutter release is also smaller than most, but it has a nice indentation in it that makes it easily recognizable by feel. The button lacks proper feedback, prohibiting users from feeling when it has been pressed far enough to activate the focus, or when you've actually taken a picture.
The power button is small and recessed slightly, to help prevent it from accidental activation. The power button on the EX-Z57 worked properly in testing, but levers or slide-switches provide better protection from accidental engagement.
The EX-Z57 has a button to start the Playback mode, and another button to switch to Camera mode. The two circular buttons are small and placed close together, but well-marked with icons. Many cameras opt for a single button to access both modes; pressing the playback button to switch the camera to playback, and then pressing the same button again to switch the camera back to shooting mode. It seems like that would have been the logical decision for this model, helping to alleviate some of the overcrowded feel in the control layout and create a realistic resting area for the right thumb.
The camera's four-way switch is a small, circular disk, without any separation or boundaries between directions. This makes it even more tedious to utilize the small navigational disk. The dial does however offer tactile feedback; there is a nice click when the button is pressed all the way down.
Menu (8.5)
The EX-Z57 menus are unusually refined. The text appears superimposed over the viewfinder image, which displays a live feed below the accessible options. Casio goes a bit beyond the plain text interface, creating boxes around each heading and supplying subtle shadows behind the type. This helps the text remain visible against both light and dark backgrounds. The menus are tabbed, meaning the main headings are visible simultaneously. As each is selected, the various subheadings become visible.
Alert messages, such as "Memory Full," come up in an orange-bordered alert box. The boxes are a stab at a more refined, more graphical user interface. It's striking to note how finished and clean the interface looks, compared to the ones on prosumer and professional cameras that cost five or ten times as much. The graphical element is quite advanced and clearly one of the strongest elements of this camera.
When the EX-Z57 is in shooting mode, the three menu tabs are REC, Memory and Set Up. All the settings that have to do with taking pictures (everything from exposure modes, to file size, to the self-timer, to sharpness) are under the REC heading. The REC menu is so long that it almost defeats the purpose of the tabbed interface. The Memory heading includes controls to allow the user to save many of the settings made under the REC heading. If you don't turn on the Memory feature, many of the camera settings revert to their factory defaults when the camera is shut off. The Set Up tab covers a number of settings that most people set and forget (date and time, language and alert sounds), but buried among those are ones that users may need to access regularly. The control for formatting memory cards is buried in Set Up, as is the control to allow the camera to connect directly with a printer. People who use those settings frequently will probably get annoyed at the amount of time they spend scrolling down through rarely-used menu to get to ones that they need.
Ease of Use (5.5)
The EX-Z57 carries a rather long list of annoyances. The minuscule buttons and lack of a clear space for one's right thumb are at the top of the list. Unfortunately, the list goes on, with an oversized screen, a flash that's likely to produce unflattering results, scene modes that don't deliver what they promise, and laugh-out-loud image editing software, with functions organized via animal metaphors (choose the chameleon for image editing, the kangaroo for resizing, the monkey for rotating, or the cow for printing.)
On the other hand, the EX-Z57 deserves considerable praise for its attention to fonts and graphics in the menus. Its onscreen explanations of scene modes are clear and helpful, although 23 modes seems like overkill, and some of the modes themselves are problematic. The Lithium-Ion battery amounts to an ease-of-use feature – its long life between charges improves the user experience.
The camera comes with a dock for charging the battery and making USB connections to computers or printers, which simplifies both functions for users who can set up the dock permanently.
Casio provides the 214-page EX-Z57 manual only as an electronic file. It's a .pdf file on the software CD-ROM. Worse yet, the software installer starts automatically each time the disk is inserted into a Windows computer, so consulting the manual will require inserting the disk, shutting down the installer, and then opening the manual in Acrobat.
