Casio Exilim EX-Z700 First Impressions Review

Viewfinder
The Casio Z700 does not have an optical viewfinder; there is no space on this tiny body and the LCD monitor is probably a better option anyway. The large LCD screen has 100 percent field of view and limited black-out time when pictures are taken, providing a nice and steady live feed. The top of the multiselector changes the display on the LCD viewfinder. The screen can be totally free of distractions, show shooting info, or show info with a live histogram.

LCD Screen
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 has a 2.7-inch Super Bright TFT LCD screen with 153,000 pixels of resolution. The size of the screen is ideal, but the resolution isn't great. Most Kodak EasyShare V-series cameras in this price range have similarly sized screens, but come with 230,000 pixels. Still, there are some less expensive Canon models that still have 115,000 pixels on their large displays. The camera automatically adjusts itself in bright and dark situations, but the brightness can be manually adjusted as well in the setup menu. The Screen option reveals Auto 1, Auto 2, +2, +1, and 0 choices. These titles are a bit ambiguous. The +1 and +2 options brighten the screen and are recommended for outdoor use. The two automatic settings go from the normal brightness setting to the +1 or +2, with the Auto 2 option adjusting faster than the Auto 1. The LCD screen can be viewed from side to side at a decently wide angle, but holding the camera above or below eye level will solarize the on-screen image. Overall, the LCD screen isn't bad but still has lots of room to improve.

Flash
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 has a thin oval-shaped window on its front with a rectangular flash inside. The flash is located to the top left of the lens, but there are no glaringly bright spots within the frame. The coverage is fairly even except for a tiny bit of vignetting in the corners, which is normal. There are lots of flash options: On, Off, Auto, Red Eye (it's called Red Eye, but it should be called Auto with Red Eye because sometimes the flash doesn't fire at all), and Soft Flash. The Soft Flash option is a foolproof way to keep the “shiny foreheads” out of photos. This is a faster and more automated way of adjusting the flash intensity. If you want to do it yourself, there is a Flash Intensity option in the Quality portion of the recording menu with +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2 options. The intensity of the flash varies in the Continuous Flash mode, which is located with other burst modes in the recording menu. This mode snaps three shots per second in a burst, with the first picture the brightest and the last as the darkest.

The Z700's flash is effective from 0.98-6.56 ft in wide and 1.3-3.28 ft in telephoto in the Continuous Flash mode. It reaches farther when it has a little more time though. Its normal flash range is 0.49 ft to 11.15 ft in wide and 1.31-5.91 ft in telephoto – although it takes about 2 seconds for the flash to recycle between shots. These numbers are average in wide but disappointing in telephoto. There is a Flash Assist option in the Quality menu with Auto and Off choices; this setting automatically corrects the brightness of the recorded subject. The camera's flash still scores well overall. It provides plenty of modes and controls to adjust the intensity automatically and manually.

Zoom Lens
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 has a 3x optical zoom lens that telescopes outward from the front of the camera body. The camera remains balanced whether the lens is tucked away in the camera or extended outward. The lens extends in three barrels on the outside, but is comprised of 6 lenses in 5 groups including an aspheric lens on the inside. The lens measures 6.2-18.6 mm, which is equivalent to 38-114 mm in the 35 mm format. This isn't very wide at all, so snapping portraits of large families in confined spaces will be difficult; you'll have to squish everyone into rows and stand far away from them. The zoom of the lens is controlled by a zoom ring that surrounds the shutter release button and protrudes from the front of the body. The zoom ring isn't very sensitive; it provides about six stops of focal lengths within the zoom range. When the ring is moved, a horizontal bar appears across the bottom of the LCD screen. The bar shows where users are at currently in the range. It also shows when users enter the realm of digital zoom, of which the Z700 has 4x of but users should avoid it. When users move within the zoom range, there is some noise but nothing like a herd of elephants tromping through the room. It's more of a mouse tip-toeing. Overall, the lens performs decently. It has some downsides: the insensitive zoom ring, the limited 38mm wide angle, and lack of true optical image stabilization (don't let that Anti-Shake mode fool you!). However, it does have decent features too: a maximum aperture of f/2.7 and only a tiny bit of barrel distortion.