Casio Exilim EX-Z700 First Impressions Review

Model Design / Appearance
The Z700 isn't exceptionally beautiful but does have sleek lines and a skinny profile, which seems to be in high demand.  The camera's design is consistent with other Exilim models: slim, heavily branded, and designed with point-and-shooters in mind. The Z700 is compact with the idea that users will cart it all over the world in their pockets. The center of the camera is peaked slightly, perhaps to aid in handling and perhaps to add variety and flare to an otherwise featureless body. The metal Casio Z700 comes in blue, silver, and gray colors. Its body seems durable, but the fragile LCD screen and delicate lens are definitely weak points.

Size / Portability
As mentioned above, the Casio Z700 is designed with the idea that its users will carry it backpacking in the Alps and in their pockets to grandma's house. It is even fitted with a world map and a list of 162 cities in 32 time zones for users to easily choose the correct time – wherever their planes may land. There is even a Daylight Savings Time option to turn on and off. The camera body is slim and portable in a pocket with its 3.48 x 2.24 x 0.81-inch measurements. Those measurements are at the thickest, peaked point of the camera too. At its thinnest, the Z700 measures 0.73 inches. Its weight is slight too at 3.95 oz unloaded. The lithium-ion battery adds 1.2 oz. The slim camera also has a wrist strap eyelet on its right side to keep it from dropping while en route. The Casio Z700 has only one problem with its portability: if you're going on vacation and will need to download pictures, you either need to have a SD card reader that fits your computer or you need to pack the camera cradle – and USB cable, and the two cables that make up the power adaptor. In fact, you'll probably have to pack the cradle anyway because it is used to charge the battery too.

Handling Ability
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 isn't adorned with great handling features. It does have a slight bulge in the center of the camera that adds a miniscule amount of comfort when compared to handling a flat rectangle. The metal camera body has a very polished finish that is almost silky to the touch. While you'll be tempted to stroke the camera body, its surface doesn't add much resistance and can even be slippery. If this was a prefect world, the Casio Z700 would have a few more subtle features to aid in handling; a thumb divot or a rubber strip could have gone a long way.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
This point-and-shoot keeps the number of controls to a minimum so that the camera looks simple to use. The top has a power button that is tiny and unlikely to be accidentally turned on because it is so recessed. Next to it is the domed shutter release button, which is much more comfortable, and is surrounded by a zoom ring. The ring doesn't allow users much control over the zoom lens because it is so insensitive, and its tight rotation means that a lot of right hands are going to cramp up.

On the back of the Casio Z700 are four rectangular buttons: Recording and Playback buttons near the top and Menu and BS (Best Shot) buttons near the center. These buttons are placed in tight groups of two; trying to push one button can often result in pushing both buttons simultaneously. The Recording and Playback buttons on the rear also turn the camera on when held down; this default can be changed in the setup menu so that the buttons won't accidentally turn on the camera when bumped in a bookbag, for example. The multiselector is near the bottom and has an interesting square shape. It is designed with a single flat panel and a separate Set button in the middle. The top of the multi-selector changes the display on the LCD screen, the bottom deletes images in playback and changes the flash mode while recording, and the left and right sides of the multi-selector can be customized to access many shooting options in the setup menu. Overall, the control buttons are not impressive. They wobble when pushed and are not spaced properly.

Menu
The Casio Z700 has lengthy menus that are unavoidable. There is no mode dial and few buttons to access key features with, so users will spend much of their time wading through the three-tabbed interface. Recording, Quality, and Set Up tabs help to organize the vast list. The first tab's menu overlays the live view. The selected option is highlighted in yellow with black text. As users scroll through the options, the bottom of the LCD screen displays how many pages (eg. 1/3) are left of that particular tab's options. The following is the Recording menu.

Many of the options are described as icons in the menu system, and the Icon Help option isn't very helpful at all. It doesn't provide a help guide to decipher the icons within the menu; it only translates the icons on the display screen when exited from the menu system. Some of the options in the Recording menu seem like prime candidates for the setup menu: Icon Help, Grid, Memory, Review, and Digital Zoom are options I would expect to find elsewhere. The central tab in the menu system is for Quality.

Size	7 MP, 7 MP (3:2), 5 MP, 3 MP, 2 MP, VGA
Quality	Fine, Normal, Economy
Video Quality	High Quality, Normal, LP
EV Shift	+/- 2 in 1/3 steps
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent N, Fluorescent D, Tungsten, Manual
ISO	Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Metering	Multi, Center Weighted, Spot
Filter	Off, Black & White, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Purple
Sharpness	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Saturation	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Contrast	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Flash Intensity	+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
Flash Assist	Auto, Off

There are a few live views in this menu too: EV Shift, White Balance, and Color Filter. Finally, the Set Up menu is the third tab while in the recording modes and accessible as the second tab from the playback mode.

Screen	Auto 2, Auto 1, +2, +1, 0
Sounds	Startup, Half Shutter, Shutter, Operation (all with 5 sounds and Off), Operation Volume (levels 1-7), Play Volume (levels 1-7)
Startup	On, Off
File No.	Continue, Reset
World Time	Home, World (62 mentioned cities)
Time Stamp	Date, Date & Time, Off
Adjust	Date, Time
Date Style	YY/MM/DD, DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY
Language	English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean
Sleep	30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, Off
Auto Power Off	2 min, 5 min
Rec/Play	Power On, Power On/Off, Disable
USB	Mass Storage (USB Direct Print), PZTP (PictBridge)
Video Out	NTSC, PAL
Format	Format, Cancel
Reset	Reset, Cancel

This menu is easy to accidentally exit. Some of the options let users cancel out and return to the main menu and others cancel and exit the system completely. And there's no telling which option will do which. The following menu, the Playback menu, has the same problem.

Slide Show	Start, Images (All Images, Stills Only, Videos Only, One Image, Favorites), Time (1-60 min), Interval (1-30 sec, MAX), Effect (Patterns 1-4, Random, Off), Cancel
Calendar	(shows calendar display)
Motion Print	One Print, Nine Print
Movie Editing	Cut Beginning, Cut End, Cut Middle, Cancel
Keystone	(doesn't work)
Color Correction	Trim, Cancel
Favorites	Show, Save, Cancel
DPOF Printing	Select Images, All Images, Cancel
Protect	On, All Files: On, Cancel
Date & Time	Date, Time
Rotation	Rotate, Cancel
Resize	5 MP, 3 MP, VGA, Cancel
Trimming	1.1-8x
Dubbing	(records to 30 sec)
Copy	Built-in to Card, Card to Built-in, Cancel

The menus are accessed with a designated button next to the BS, or Best Shot, button on the back of the Z700. Navigation through the menus is achieved with the square-shaped multi-selector, which is a little wobbly and cheap feeling. Overall, the menu system isn't entirely impressive. The accidental exiting, wobbly navigation control, and lengthy lists aren't conducive to the point-and-shooter's simple style. The dysfunctional Keystone feature is the icing on the cake; this never worked with any pictures that I took. However, the Color Correction option below it would perform the keystone feature. This mix-up is included on several Casio Exilim digital cameras that came out this year; I'm amazed that the problem still has not been addressed. It seems like a quick firmware update should fix this, but this should have been fixed months ago long before the Z700 was released.

Ease of Use
The Casio Exilim EX-Z700 is as easy to use as you make it. It boots up in the auto mode in all the automatic default settings, so it's ready to take its first shot in about a second. Changing modes isn't as easy as can be though. The main drawback is the sheer number of scene modes to choose from. There are so many that scrolling through them all takes its toll on the right thumb. Besides the menu and navigational issues though, the Casio Z700 is very easy to use. There is an icon help menu option that provides text for all the icons on the LCD screen. There are explanations and sample pictures for each of the scene modes. There are live views in the recording menu and maximum print sizes displayed with the image sizes. These subtle helps make this point-and-shoot model even more user friendly.