Viewfinder (1.0)
This camera does come with an optical viewfinder. Normally, a secondary viewing option with larger cameras is an advantage, however, the inclusion of this feature on the petite Z850 is largely negative. The viewfinder is grossly inaccurate and the marginal size and placement directly above the LCD monitor makes using it difficult. Instead of using the viewfinder, do yourself a favor and buy a second battery if you are concerned about running low on shooting time. It’s worth the extra cost to avoid using this viewfinder and if a second battery isn’t a feasible option just skip the viewfinder and shoot at random. Chances are, the results will be comparable to those found with this inadequate feature and you won’t smear your sweaty nose across the LCD or have to ruin your eyesight while struggling to look through the viewfinder.
LCD Screen
(6.75)
The LCD screen is 2.5 inches when measured diagonally which is standard for this price range. The TFT color LCD screen has an underwhelming total pixel count of 115,200 (480 x 240) pixels and users will find the displayed images to be sub-par to those found with manufacturers like Sony which provide 230,000 pixels on their 2.5 inch displays. Fingerprints smeared the LCD easily and since there really is no place to put the left thumb when making adjustments to settings or camera angle, smudging will be a constant problem. The screen is viewable at more extreme angles which is great and should be beneficial when shooting awkwardly or quickly. Also aiding in the viewing of the screen is Casio’s Super Bright technology that keeps the image visible and contrasy.
Flash (6.5)
Flash settings for the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 give users several options to tailor their flash parameters to produce lighting qualities which are more nuanced than a standard auto flash. The flash settings for this camera are accessed by pressing the down arrow of the four-way controller. Pressing this button will open an on-screen menu in the upper left corner of the LCD with options for auto flash, on, off, high power flash, soft flash and red-eye reduction.
The flash range for this camera is 0.33 feet to 14.11 feet at wide angle; in telephoto the range adjusts to 1.64 feet to 7.87 feet. The flash performed quite well, in terms of distance, especially when the high power flash setting was engaged. The soft flash feature is helpful when shooting portraits in low light and results in images that are, for the most part, more flattering than those attained with auto flash. The soft and high-power options are the more automatic versions of the included manual flash power adjustment. This provides users with a +/- 2 range in full steps for a total of 5 different power levels. The flash is positioned to the left of the lens, often resulting in shadows cast to the right side of photographed subjects, although this is to be expected when shooting with a flash in an off-axis position.
When shooting with flash in burst mode, the range will shorten and users will find that the new flash coverage will extend from 1.31 feet to 10.83 feet in wide angle and 1.64 feet to 5.91 feet in telephoto. Casio calls this feature Rapid Flash.
Zoom Lens (6.25)
The lens for the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is a typical 3x optical zoom that measures 7.9mm (wide-angle) to 23.7mm (telephoto). When converted into 35mm, these measurements are approximately 38mm-114mm. The lens is constructed using 7 lenses in 5 groups with an aspherical lens that has a wide max aperture of f/2.8 in wide-angle and f/5.1 in telephoto.
Zoom is controlled through the zoom ring that surrounds the shutter button. The zoom ring has a small tab which is pushed and then pulled to the left or right to make adjustments to zoom length. We found the control to be too sensitive, with jumps occurring when shooting within the optical zoom range. When shooting in regular focal modes, the zoom and focus relationship produced sharp results. The macro focus mode did struggle to focus when zoomed all the way in and it was necessary to adjust camera position and/or zoom level in order for the macro focus feature to work properly.
In addition, this camera does have 8x digital zoom, but as always, it is important to remember that image quality degrades quickly when using even marginal amounts of digital zoom and should be avoided if possible.
