Value

Comparisons
Casio Exilim EX-Z750
The Casio Exilim EX-Z750 was released in March of 2005 with an initial price tag of $449.99 and can now be found online and in stores for markedly less.  The EX-Z750 has the same aluminum body and functional design found with the new Z850.  The imager has slightly less resolution with 7.41 MP but the same 3x optical zoom can be found when shooting with this digital camera.  Users will find a lengthy list of preset shooting modes and manual control over focus, white balance, exposure compensation and others.  This model has 8.3 MB of internal memory and accepts additional SD/MMC format memory cards.  The LCD is the same marginal viewing device with a 2.5 inch measurement and 115,200 pixels.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100
Like the Casio Exilim EX-Z850, the Sony Cyber-shot W100 was unveiled earlier in 2006 and features an 8 MP CCD, a similarly small and useless optical viewfinder, a 2.5 inch LCD with 115,00 pixels and a 3x optical zoom.   This camera doesn’t have the manual controls and while ISO does extend to 1250, the resulting noise is an obvious issue.  Other manual controls found with this digital camera include exposure compensation, metering, shutter speed and aperture.  Unfortunately the user will need to rely on preset or auto white balance settings since a custom option is not available with this camera.  The W100 does retail for around $349 so consumers may find the loss of manual controls to be a fair trade-off to keep to a budget.|

Nikon Coolpix S4
Retailing with an identical MSRP, the Nikon Coolpix S4 sets itself apart from the Z850 and other compact cameras by featuring a twisting camera body design that was originally found with the Nikon Coolpix 900 series camera.  Improvements over the Casio include a 10x optical zoom lens and 13.5 MB of internal memory.  Downgrades include a 2.5 inch LCD with lower resolution, an unimpressive movie mode, fewer in-camera editing options, and a 6.4 MP CCD.  Manual controls continue the under-whelming feature list with users only having access to white balance, ISO, and exposure compensation.  While these setbacks are hard to ignore in comparison to other models the Nikon does score points when it comes to unique design which may be just enough to garner the eye of consumers un-intrigued by the admittedly dull Z850.

Olympus Stylus 800
With the original retail price approximately fifty dollars more than the Z850, the Olympus Stylus 800 is weather-proofed with under-whelming styling and an 8 MP CCD that are comparable to the Z850.  The camera has 22 preset shooting modes which should comfortably handle most general shooting situations.  The LCD screen is the only viewing option and, while only 2.5 inches like the Z850, the Stylus 800 does have a far more impressive 215,000 pixels.  The control options for this digital camera lean towards the point-and-shoot user with no manual focus, two metering modes, EV compensation, no white balance and ISO to 400 at full resolution (diminished resolution for settings of ISO 800 and ISO1600).  Shutter speed is manually controllable although with a smaller range than the Z850 and aperture can be controlled when shooting with the aperture priority setting engaged.