Model Design / Appearance
The Casio Exilim EX-Z850 features a silver metal body that feels sturdy in the hands. The camera is definitely a downgrade in terms of sleek styling when compared to the more expensive 10 MP Z1000. This camera is blockier and includes an optical viewfinder and numerous external controls that have been purged from the cohesive Z1000 to provide a thinner body frame and a larger LCD. In terms of functional design, the EX-Z850 is mostly on the mark but it falls short in terms of visual appeal.
Size / Portability
The Casio Exilim EX-Z850 can fit in your pocket but it’s a bit uncomfortable with measurements of 3.5 inches in length, 2.3 inches in height and 0.93 inches width. Add to this an approximate weight of 4.59 ounces without battery or memory card and the EX-Z850 is a solid camera. The port cover for the battery and memory card tended to open when being pulled from a pants pocket and the potential for this plastic cover to snap seems pretty likely. An eyelet for an optional wrist-strap is located in the center of the right side.
Handling Ability
The handling for the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is compromised since the camera lacks a right hand grip or ridge to enable a better one-handed shooting style. This isn’t as much of a problem on a thinner or lighter camera but with this camera’s girth and heft taken into consideration, two-handed shooting became the default method for capturing snapshots. On a transition face between the left side of the camera and the LCD are two small buttons that were occasionally triggered inadvertently during adjustment to fingers and grip. The extending lens barrel will help keep the fingers of the user away from the lens which is great considering how easy that can occur when shooting with a compact point-and-shoot. There really isn’t a place to comfortably put the thumb of the right hand and it ends up resting in what little room exists between the four-way selector and the mode dial.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
The larger controls on the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 are placed appropriately and are easy to engage when shooting quickly. The mode dial snaps succinctly when transitioning and users will immediately be aware when new modes are being engaged without having to visually monitor adjustments. Smaller external controls suffer unfortunately with this camera and accessing buttons like the EX menu shortcut, burst/continuous shooting, menu, and display will necessitate the user taking their eyes off the LCD to hunt for the desired control. The zoom ring that surrounds the shutter button displayed a tendency to jump rather dramatically when adjusted. Nuanced zoom control won’t be possible with this interface. The shutter button is well placed and large enough to enable quick snapshots without hassle. Although initially concerned about the design of the four-way navigational ring, this external controller didn’t hinder navigation and wasn’t a concern during hurried maneuvering.
Menu
The Casio Exilim EX-Z850 has a number of shooting menu options including full and abbreviated menus. When the menu button on the back of the camera is pressed, a three column menu structure will be displayed as text on a transparent live preview background. These three menus are Record, Quality and Setup and are easily scanned and altered through the use of the four-way controller and set button. The Quality menu is the default menu which is initially displayed when the menu button is pressed and will provide users with the following options and settings.
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Quality Menu
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Size
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8M, 6M (3:2), 6M, 4M, 2M, and VGA
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Still Image Quality
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Fine, Normal, and Economy
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Movie Image Quality
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HQ, Normal, LP
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EV Shift
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+/-2 EV with 1/3 step increments
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White Balance
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Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Day White, Daylight, Tungsten, Manual
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ISO
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Auto, ISO50, ISO100, ISO200, ISO400
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Metering
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Multi, Center-Weighted, Spot
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Filter
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Off, B/W, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Purple
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Sharpness
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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Saturation
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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Contrast
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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Flash Intensity
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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Flash Assist
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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To the left of the Quality menu is the Record menu which provides users with the same text overlay on a live preview background found when entered into the Quality menu structure. The Record menu provides users with the following control options.
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Record Menu
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Self Timer
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Off, 10 seconds, 2 seconds, x3
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Anti Shake
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Off, auto
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REC Light
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Off, auto, on
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AF Area
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Spot, multi, free
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AF Assist Light
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On, off
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L/R Key
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EV shift, White Balance, ISO, Metering, Self-Timer, Off
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Quick Shutter
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On, Off
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Audio Snap
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On, Off
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Grip
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On, Off
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Digital Zoom
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On, Off
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Review
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On, Off
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Icon Help
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On, Off
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Memory
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Flash, Focus, White Balance, ISO, AF Area, Metering, Self-Timer, Flash Intensity, Digital Zoom, MF Position, Zoom Position
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The third and final menu that can be accessed when the menu button is pressed in shooting mode is the Setup menu located to the right of the Quality menu heading. The following camera settings can be manipulated by the user of the Casio Exilim EX-Z850.
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Set Up Menu
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Screen
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Auto 2, Auto 1, +2, +1, 0
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Sounds
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Startup, Half Shutter, Shutter, Operation, Operation Volume, Play Volume
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Startup
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Startup on, Startup off
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File No.
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Continuous, Reset
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World Time
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Home Set
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Timestamp
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Date, Date & Time, Off
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Adjust
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Adjust Date/Time
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Date Style
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YY/MM/DD, DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY
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Language
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Set Language
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Sleep
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30 sec., 1 min., 2 min., Off
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Auto Power Off
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2 min., 5 min.
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REC/Play
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Power On, Power On/Off, Disable
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USB
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Mass Storage (USB DIRECT-PRINT), PTP (PictBridge)
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Video Out
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NTSC, PAL
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Format
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Format, Cancel
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Reset
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Reset, Cancel
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In addition to these full menus the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 also has a shortcut shooting menu which enables users to avoid opening the lengthier Quality or Record menus. Each option is listed as a tab along the bottom edge of the LCD screen. Scanning between control options is accomplished through the left and right arrow. The up and down arrows will alter parameters of each individual option as they are highlighted. The options listed within the shortcut menu allow for access to these controls.
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EX Shortcut Menu
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Size
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8M, 6M (3:2), 6M, 4M, 2M, and VGA
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White Balance
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Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Day White, Daylight, Tungsten, Manual
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ISO
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Auto, ISO50, ISO100, ISO200, ISO400
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AF Area
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Spot, multi, free
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When in playback mode the same menu button on the back of the camera used for shooting menu access can be used to access two separate menu tabs. The first tab listed when opened is the Play tab which provides the following control options.
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Playback Menu
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Slideshow
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Images, Time, Interval, Effect, Cancel
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Motion Print
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9 frames, 1 frame, Cancel
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Movie Editing
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Cut Front, Cut Middle, Cut End, Cancel
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Anti Shake Off
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On, Off
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White Balance
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Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Day White, Daylight, Tungsten
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Brightness
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+2, +1, 0, -1, -2
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Keystone
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Correct Keystone In Images
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Color Correction
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Correct Color Error
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Favorites
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Show, Save, Cancel
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DPOF
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Select Images, All Images, Cancel
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Protect
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On, All Files: On, Cancel
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Date/Time
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0000/00/00, 00:00
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Rotation
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Rotate, Cancel
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Resize
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6M, 4M, VGA, Cancel
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Trimming
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1.1x to 8.0x
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Dubbing
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Shutter to Start
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Copy
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Copy Selected Images
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Ease of Use
The Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is a straight-forward point-and-shoot camera which will enable full auto, partial manual, preset scene mode, or full manual shooting formats to be engaged without strain. Users of this camera would certainly be wise to sit down for an afternoon of experimenting prior to more important shooting since the included manual is anything but informative or helpful. The lengthy list of preset shooting modes tends to complicate rather than simplify with 34 presets found within the Best Shot mode. The simplicity found within the shooting modes and menus quickly leaves when the camera is switched into playback mode. While controls like movie edit, rotation and trim work as expected other features like keystone and color correction produce results that are sure to confound any user. The keystone feature tended to apply an extremely heavy crop and zoom technique that lost most of the information provided within the original photograph. The color correction feature turned in the same lackluster results of the keystone option, quite literally the same exact lackluster results. The color correction feature on this camera doesn’t actually correct color at all, instead it corrects keystone issues. How this managed to happen with one camera model is honestly just embarrassing, but the fact that this problem also happens with the Casio Z1000 makes this manufacturing error inexcusable.
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