Drive / Burst Mode
The Casio Z700 normally takes a shot every 1.5 seconds or so, but it speeds up significantly when the burst mode is activated. In the recording menu, there are normal speed and high speed continuous burst modes. The normal speed shoots 1 fps, while the high-speed takes 3 fps. Unfortunately, both max out at 3 frames and it takes another 5-6 seconds to write to the memory card before the Z700 is ready to take its next burst of photos. Also grouped in the Continuous section of the menu is the “rapid flash” mode, which shoots three pictures with the flash in one second. This is very fast for including the flash, although the flash tuckers out and dims in the succession of photos. Of note is the camera's self-timer, which has three options: 2 second delay, 10 second delay, and a triple self-timer.
Playback Mode
The camera's playback mode is accessed with the rectangular button at the top of the back side. The last picture taken is always the first to show up. Using the square-shaped multi-selector, users can push right and left to scroll through the individual pictures and movies. Pushing up shows shooting info and histograms. Pushing down deletes pictures. Deletion is done individually or all at once, but it is not possible to delete batches of photos at once. One nice feature about the multiselector is that if the right or left side is continuously held down, users can scroll very quickly through lots of photos. There are other viewing options too: thumbnails or on a calendar.
Pictures can be magnified up to 8x, which is plenty close to check the focus. There are lots of editing features included on the Casio Z700. Users can rotate, resize, and trim photos. There is also a keystone correction feature, but its access is very nonintuitive. In the playback menu, it is accessed with the Color Correction option. The actual Keystone option doesn't work at all. As for the color correction, there is none. It seems like this glitch could be easily fixed with a firmware update, although this problem exists on several other Exilim cameras released this year and nothing has been done for months.
Playing back movies comes with some editing options too. Users can cut the beginning, middle, or end. They can also print individual frames or “nine frames” with four small frames on the top and bottom and one larger frame printed in the center of the sheet.
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 also provides a nice slide show mode that can display all images, selected folders of images, all stills, all videos, or Favorites – which can be tagged to individual pictures through the playback menu. The slide shows can play for 1-60 minutes, with each picture showing up for 1-30 seconds or at an alarmingly fast rate that will give you a headache (also called “MAX”). There are four transition effects and options to display them randomly or to turn off the effects altogether. Overall, the playback mode is one of the best aspects of the Casio EX-Z700 with its display modes, editing options, and slide show.
Custom Image Presets
Scene modes are the bread and butter of a Casio Exilim digital camera. Most compact digital cameras have about 12 scene modes, but Exilim models have two or three times that much. The Z700 weighs in with 34 scene modes and a total of 37 Best Shot modes (the other three being snapshot, movie, and voice recording). The Z700 has two new scene modes that its predecessors did not have. The Auto Framing mode automatically tracks moving subjects and outlines them for closer shots. The Z700 also adds a layout mode that lets users put several pictures into a single image as a sort of photo collage.
Here's the grand list. Portrait, Scenery, Portrait with Scenery, Children, Sports, Candlelight Portrait, Party, Pet, Flower, Natural Green, Autumn Leaves, Soft Flowing Water, Splashing Water, Sundown, Night Scene, Night Scene Portrait, Fireworks, Food, Text, Collection, For eBay, Backlight, Anti Shake, High Sensitivity, Underwater, Monochrome, Retro, Twilight, Layout-2, Layout-3, Auto Framing, Old Photo, Businesscards and Documents, and Whiteboard.
Scrolling through the laundry list is a workout for the thumb on the multiselector. Not to mention the eyes. The mode menu displays thumbnails of sample pictures; the text title appears when highlighted. If users move the zoom ring while highlighting a mode, the text explanation appears. For example, the “For eBay” mode “Takes photos optimized for selling items on eBay.”
Some of the modes are basic, such as Portrait and Scenery. Then there are the more interesting ones. eBay is a fairly new mode included on this year's Exilim digital cameras. It saves images at 800 KB for optimal web posting on the popular online auction site. The mode does not, however, automatically rotate pictures – which would be a nice feature. That can be done in the playback mode though. The Old Photo mode uses the keystone feature to straighten photos, the saturation to liven colors, and the trimming function to save them at the 2-megapixel size. Unfortunately, this isn't much resolution so those old photos won't look good in anything larger than a 4 x 6, and even that image size is really pushing the limit.
If users take the time to make a few flash or ISO adjustments, they can save their work using the Register User Scene mode. This selects images in the playback mode and saves them in the Best Shot menu; the camera then uses the same exposure settings when accessed. If the internal memory is formatted though, these modes will disappear.
Overall, the scene mode selection is good. The more, the merrier, right? It depends on what you prefer. If you will only use about three of those modes, scrolling with the multiselector through vast numbers of thumbnails will drive you mad. If you enjoy trying all the new flavors of image presets, though, the Casio Exilim Z700 is your camera.
Manual Control Options
The Z700 is a point-and-shoot digital camera, but it comes with a surprising number of manual options. Most of the options are buried in the recording menu: metering, AF mode, AF area, focus, ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation. Users can make it a little easier to access these features by assigning them to the left and right sides of the multiselector; this is done in the setup menu. This camera does not have manual control over shutter speed and aperture, so diehards will be disappointed.
Focus
Auto Focus – The contrast detection auto focus system isn't incredibly sophisticated. It shows many of the same problems that exist with other compact models: blurred images, audible noise, and not a very good range. The Z700 can focus from 15.75 inches to infinity normally and 5.91-19.69 inches in the macro mode. Most cameras' macro modes can focus as close as an inch or two, so the Casio Z700 is very limited in just how close it can get. The focusing system makes a tiny noise within the lens. As for the blurred images, they happen most often in low light – even with the Anti Shake or High Sensitivity modes selected and even with the auto focus assist lamp illuminated. The following auto focus modes are available: Auto Focus, Macro Focus, Pan Focus, and Infinity. Most cameras have auto, macro, and infinity, but the pan option is still a rarity. It fixes its focus to a certain distance and locks it. When the camera is focused, green boxes appear. There are nine boxes that appear a translucent gray until used as a point of focus. There are Spot and Multi auto focus area modes; the latter mode allows more than one box to light up green and focus at once. There is a Quick Shutter option on the Z700 that lets users bypass the auto focus system altogether. This doesn't seem like a great idea anyway, and the auto focus system really doesn't take that long. It sure doesn't have the amount of shutter lag that is present on most compact models. It's certainly better than previous Casio digital cameras. The auto focus system has its drawbacks: trouble in low light and low contrast, a bit of noise, and limited macro. But it works fairly quickly and does well in good lighting.
Manual Focus – The Casio Exilim Z700 has a manual focus mode, but it isn't very intuitive. It is selected in the menu, but when users exit the menu there are no on-screen instructions to tell how to focus. After some guesswork, users will find that you have to push the Set button to change the focus. The center of the image is magnified, so it is easier to see whether the subject is in focus. The manual focus ranges from 5.91 inches to infinity and works well – better than most compact digital cameras' manual focus modes for sure.
ISO
The Z700 has an automatic ISO mode and 50-400 manual settings. This range used to be standard – about two years ago! Casio is behind the times on this one. Manufacturers are offering more and more sensitivity as consumers shun the flashes in low light. There are two modes on the camera that use an ISO 800 setting: Anti Shake and High Sensitivity. The ISO 800 setting is not available for manual setting, though, which is too bad. Looking at images taken with those modes, the High Sensitivity in particular, explains why it is not offered as a manual setting. The pictures are horribly discolored, oversaturated, noisy, and rarely focused.
White Balance
The white balance menu provides live views that help beginners choose between the following: Daylight, Overcast, Shade, Day White Fluorescent, Daylight Fluorescent, Tungsten, Auto, and Manual. The auto mode seemed to work fairly well, although the manual mode is almost guaranteed to work better at all times. It is fairly simple to set. It is set while in the menu, with on-screen instructions prompting users to push the shutter release button while framing a plain white surface.
Exposure
The Casio Z700 has a 1/2.5-inch CCD with 7.2 megapixels for snapping pictures. Those pictures can be taken using the many automatic modes on the camera, but the exposure of those pictures cannot be manually adjusted. While no shutter speed or aperture settings can be tweaked, there is an exposure compensation range (the standard +/- 2 EV in 1/3 steps) that displays a live view. If users press the top portion of the multiselector, full shooting info appears (including the shutter speed and aperture settings) as well as a histogram. The histogram helps users check the exposure. Red, green, and blue lines also grace the chart. Unfortunately, the histogram is incredibly tiny and difficult to see.
Metering
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 has the typical metering options available: Multi pattern, center weighted, and spot. The first option is the default and seems to work fairly well. There is a Backlight scene mode that uses the spot metering mode to keep subjects properly exposed and full of details.
Shutter Speed
Although the shutter speed cannot be manually adjusted, the numbers are displayed in the shooting information when the top of the multiselector is pushed. The mechanical shutter automatically flips as fast as 1/2000 th of a second and as slow as a ½ second. There are exceptions to the slow end of the range though. In the Fireworks mode, the camera always uses a 2-second time. In the Night scene mode, the range is widened 1/2000-4 seconds.
Aperture
The aperture can't be picked by users, but it can be viewed. The lens offers maximum apertures of f/2.7-4.3 and a minimum aperture of f/7. This is certainly a small range, but the max f/2.7 aperture at the widest focal length is good news.
