Front
When facing the front of the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 the 3x optical zoom lens is placed on the right side of the camera. The AF assist light/REC light/self-timer lamp, along with the viewfinder, are positioned above and to the right of the lens. The built-in horizontal flash is located to the left of the lens near the top edge of the camera body. A small monaural microphone is placed away from fingers at the bottom of the camera to the left of the lens barrel housing. The smooth camera body may be aesthetically pleasing with its clean lines and sleek looks but the utter lack of a grip or ergonomic design could easily lead to discomfort and possible slippage in wet conditions. There is a slight peaking at the center of the camera body when traveling vertically. This subtle design feature will hardly provide any sort of handling advantage over a rectangular frame, but adds some variety to the look. Although lacking a conscientious body design for usability, the EX-Z850 is plastered with Casio’s name and camera line on the front, top and back faces of the camera.
Back
The 2.5 inch LCD screen consumes two-thirds of the back face of the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 with larger controls positioned along a vertical strip on the right side. The LCD screen is framed and set above the camera frame. The LCD screen showed finger smudges quickly and it was necessary to clean the LCD during handling due to this. Above the LCD’s upper-left corner is a miniscule and absurdly pointless real image optical zoom viewfinder. While an optical viewfinder can come in handy when shooting on low batteries the secondary viewing device found with this camera is horrifically inaccurate and should be avoided at all costs. To the right of the viewfinder are two LEDs which indicate operation state for the Z850. Moving further to the right in the thin margin between the top of the camera and the top of the LCD are two buttons clearly labeled which enable users to switch between record and playback.
The external interface and position of these buttons will allow for quick transitions between modes. To the right of the LCD in the aforementioned vertical strip not consumed by the LCD are a mode dial, menu button, four-way controller with set button centrally positioned, and a display button. The mode dial moves between settings easily with a catch occurring each time a new mode is entered. The menu button is undersized and a bit hard to access in a pinch but it is well labeled and users shouldn’t find it hard to locate over time. The polished silver four-way control is well sized and easy to engage and while the display button suffers the same undersized problems as the menu button, it is still well labeled and easy to find. There are two buttons on the back face of this camera that aren’t easy to find and their position, size and camouflaged nature make locating them a near impossibility when flustered or in a hurry. These two small vertical buttons are located on the transition between the LCD and the left side of the camera body. The top button switches the camera through shooting modes while the bottom button functions as a shortcut menu when in shooting mode.
