Casio Exilim EX-Z60 First Impressions Review

Model Design / Appearance
In the Casio EX-Z60 we have a point-and-shoot camera that makes a deliberate styling statement. Rather than the usual polycarbonate plastic found in many of its competitors, the camera body is anodized aluminum, in a brushed finish of matte silver. Neither boxy nor curvy, and lacking protrusions for grips, it has a suggestion of a jewelry case. The top-mounted exposure button is not a button at all, but a thin sliver of metal. It’s unadorned, except where necessary, a trait it shares with its competitors; the position of the controls is about the same as is the overall size. And yet it’s stylish is not radical, but still, a bit different.

Size / Portability
The camera dimensions are listed as 3.75 inches wide by 2.39 inches high by .78 inches deep. Note that last dimension: it’s where the camera stands out, because it’s a bit thinner than the competition. Exilims tend to be. Part of this is due to the aluminum construction, which can use thinner wall sections; it’s also due to the choice of a flat design. This camera is all straight, flat panels and gently curved edges. It will fit easily into a pocket or purse.

Handling Ability
This is a camera that you will want to hold in both hands for viewing. Held only in the right hand, it’s likely that the camera will require a bit of finger pressure to keep if from rotating down. This is a direct consequence of the flat, slab-like front and back, absent of any grip or grip contours. Wisely, the flash has been moved to the center of the front panel, where it is unlikely to be covered by fingers. Still, there is a certain feeling that this camera has made the priorities of its styling statement equal to those of its ergonomics. Fortunately, the use of a 2.5-inch display screen basically sets the shape and control positions, and in this sense the Casio handles the same as its competitors.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
Control buttons are nicely integrated into the aluminum shell and depress in a satisfying fashion. They are all more or less mounted flush to the surface, so you will need to use the tips of your fingers. Those with large hands are going to struggle a bit with the small buttons; this comes with the compact camera territory. My personal desire would be a larger 4-way controller, but there isn’t much room on the back panel for anything more than what we have here, due to the large display screen. The menu and "best shot" (shoot preset) buttons are the worst of the lot, a couple of tiny squares to the left of the 4-way. I can’t say that I was entirely comfortable with the shutter release, with its long, sliver shape, but at least it works.

Menu
After users press the menu button, the camera displays the menus, divided into three categories: Record, Quality and Setup, shown left to right across the top of the display. Items are listed as words only, without icons.

Record gives you a choice of settings for focus, burst, self-timer setting, anti-shake, autofocus area and "Easy" mode. On the second page of the record menu can be found settings for the controller left and right buttons, high speed shutter on/off, audio button sounds, screen grids, digital zoom and back to start. On the third page of settings can be found an icon help choice and memory presets for shoot presets, flash, focus, white balance, ISO and autofocus area; and continuing on to additional memory presets for metering, self-timer, flash intensity, digital zoom, macro focus position and zoom position.

Moving to the Quality position brings up choices for image pixel size, JPEG compression quality, audio quality, EV shift, white balance, ISO, metering pattern, digital filter, sharpness, saturation, contrast and flash intensity and assist.

The third left-to-right setting is called Setup, and here can be found the "utilities" that you need. Listed are settings for sounds, file number, time, date stamp, language, sleep interval, power off time, USB or video, reformat and reset to factory defaults.

Sequencing for all menu choices is consistent and logical. Nothing is more than two layers down and the return path is always clear. But the key to using the menu is knowing where an item lies in the three main categories. This can be somewhat confusing, given the sizable number of choices. For example, the settings for color saturation are located in the Quality portion, but they might just as easily be placed in the Record portion. It seems as if Casio has attempted to put some thought into using the three top categories, but complete consistency is in any case an impossible task.

It was easy to jump through the menus using the 4-way controller and the center OK button. The fonts are all easy to read, make use of bands of color to help in separation and there is good contrast. Outline boxes are used to make sure you know that you are making a submenu choice. This was one of the better cameras that I’ve handled with regard to menu structure and navigation.

Ease of Use
There is a certain style with regard to controls, settings and use on these small, point-and-shoot cameras, and the Casio fits into this pattern. That is, they all use the four-way controller and its OK button to set up the camera, a couple of buttons to start the taking of pictures and the playback of pictures, and power on and exposure buttons next to each other on top of the camera.

The first-time buyer is going to be confused by the menu choices at first, as the various combinations seem endless. It might not help that Casio has listed dozens of camera sound choices for that special extraneous touch. But the fact remains that the camera can be picked up, and without touching a single menu item, a picture can be snapped with the depression of the shutter release. And pushing the playback button on the back, identified by icon, will show that picture. And keep in mind that a help menu and an "Easy" mode that strips out many settings is always available.