Casio EX-Z80BE 8 MP, 3x Optical Zoom Digital Camera - Blue
- 8mp with 3x zoom
- Auto shutter
- You Tube ready
- Instant video button
- Face detection
Rating: 5 of 5
Great little camera
I purchased this camera about a month ago because I wanted a camera with video capabilities at a reasonable price & this one fit my requirements it is easy 2 use & it takes great pictures & video.
Rating: 5 of 5
Casio Exilim Camera Blue
Love this camera 4 my child. Small & easy 2 carry. LCD screen is big & easy 2 see.
Rating: 5 of 5
...the best digital point-and-shoot I ever had
I owned several cameras, film & digital, & this is by far the best digital point-and-shoot I ever had. I have 2 admit that it took me a long time 2 decide on buying a Casio as opposed 2 Cannon, Nikon, or Pentax, as I had very good experience with those.
However my wife was supposed 2 be the main user of this new camera, so when she saw it in a store, she was sold on it, as the camera is very small & very good looking. She loved the green one (which is is actually a greenish yellow) so we paid $10 more than the black one & got it.
To me it took a lot more 2 be convinced, so here is my point of view on it:
Pros:
- Very good quality of the pictures (the auto focus works great & the multi point metering system takes care nicely of most situations, including some more difficult shots (like high contrast, back lit subjects, moving subjects, etc)
- I love that you can easily switch between standard format (1.33 ratio), film format (3:2 ratio), or wide screen (16:9 format).
- Metal body, makes the camera fill solid & you can have a good grip & stability.
- Easy 2 switch between different menus like changing formats, flash modes, ISO sensitivity, different self timer settings, shooting modes (like single, continuous, etc), auto shutter, & face recognition modes.
- Although I consider face recognition a gimmick & I never use it in real life, I did try it & surprisingly works very well! Not only the camera will find & focus on the face, but you can set also the Auto-Shutter 2 take the picture only when the subject smiles. There is even more: you can record several faces in the camera's internal memory, & when those people are in a larger group, the camera will find their faces & focus on them, so they come out the best! I tried the freakish feature & it works!!!
Also, it has other many Auto-Shooting features, that some people might want, I tried them, they work but, I don't normally need most of them.
- The movie recording quality is very good. I set it 2 wide screen & the highest quality & it is exceptionally good, I say at least like a DVD (also it does record sound very well, with no significant camera's own noise).
- It has its own movie recording button, so you do not need 2 go though any settings in order 2 start filming. You push the trigger on top, you take pictures, or if you push the trigger on the back side, you are filming (push again 2 stop). It can not get any simpler or faster.
- If you don't like 2 mingle with settings, you may find the "Best Shot" setting very simple & useful. You click the "BS" button (funny name... ;-), & you get a bunch of sample photos. Use the left-right-up-down buttons 2 navigate 2 the picture that is similar 2 what you are shooting, push OK, & the camera sets itself up 4 that type of picture (like flowers, portrait, self portrait, sports, night scenes etc, etc).
- I love the burst shooting mode (aka CS - Continuous Shooting), which has several settings:
CS - shoots pictures at the quality you set as fast as possible;
CS-FAST shoots lower resolution pictures & saves them 2 the internal memory. I got about 4 2 5 pictures per second in this mode, & the quality is good enough 2 print 5x7" pictures. This is a life saver when your kid shakes hands with the principal of the school, when they make a karate jump, or when they throw that ball. Normally you push the trigger & hope the camera takes the picture at the right time. With this, you push the trigger a little earlier, hold it until the kid is through, & before you know it you have a series of pictures taken at short intervals of each other, so your chances are a lot better 2 find one that shows what you want 2 see.
- Used with a 4GB SDHC memory card, my wife took literary hundreds of pictures & filmed many minutes of movie during a recent trip before she had 2 transfer them 2 the computer. She did that only several times during the 3 weeks trip.
- Also, one charge of the battery lasted 4 several days. In fact she did not charge it until, into the four or fifth day of the trip, the low battery message came on.
Negatives:
None so important 2 give anything lower than a five star rating.
- I would have liked a "shorter" focal length on the close end, so that you can have a wider view as sometimes there is not enough room 2 get away from larger groups of people. However most of the cameras have this focal lengths, so this is just a wish with small point & shoot cameras.
All being said, I love this little camera.
However my wife was supposed 2 be the main user of this new camera, so when she saw it in a store, she was sold on it, as the camera is very small & very good looking. She loved the green one (which is is actually a greenish yellow) so we paid $10 more than the black one & got it.
To me it took a lot more 2 be convinced, so here is my point of view on it:
Pros:
- Very good quality of the pictures (the auto focus works great & the multi point metering system takes care nicely of most situations, including some more difficult shots (like high contrast, back lit subjects, moving subjects, etc)
- I love that you can easily switch between standard format (1.33 ratio), film format (3:2 ratio), or wide screen (16:9 format).
- Metal body, makes the camera fill solid & you can have a good grip & stability.
- Easy 2 switch between different menus like changing formats, flash modes, ISO sensitivity, different self timer settings, shooting modes (like single, continuous, etc), auto shutter, & face recognition modes.
- Although I consider face recognition a gimmick & I never use it in real life, I did try it & surprisingly works very well! Not only the camera will find & focus on the face, but you can set also the Auto-Shutter 2 take the picture only when the subject smiles. There is even more: you can record several faces in the camera's internal memory, & when those people are in a larger group, the camera will find their faces & focus on them, so they come out the best! I tried the freakish feature & it works!!!
Also, it has other many Auto-Shooting features, that some people might want, I tried them, they work but, I don't normally need most of them.
- The movie recording quality is very good. I set it 2 wide screen & the highest quality & it is exceptionally good, I say at least like a DVD (also it does record sound very well, with no significant camera's own noise).
- It has its own movie recording button, so you do not need 2 go though any settings in order 2 start filming. You push the trigger on top, you take pictures, or if you push the trigger on the back side, you are filming (push again 2 stop). It can not get any simpler or faster.
- If you don't like 2 mingle with settings, you may find the "Best Shot" setting very simple & useful. You click the "BS" button (funny name... ;-), & you get a bunch of sample photos. Use the left-right-up-down buttons 2 navigate 2 the picture that is similar 2 what you are shooting, push OK, & the camera sets itself up 4 that type of picture (like flowers, portrait, self portrait, sports, night scenes etc, etc).
- I love the burst shooting mode (aka CS - Continuous Shooting), which has several settings:
CS - shoots pictures at the quality you set as fast as possible;
CS-FAST shoots lower resolution pictures & saves them 2 the internal memory. I got about 4 2 5 pictures per second in this mode, & the quality is good enough 2 print 5x7" pictures. This is a life saver when your kid shakes hands with the principal of the school, when they make a karate jump, or when they throw that ball. Normally you push the trigger & hope the camera takes the picture at the right time. With this, you push the trigger a little earlier, hold it until the kid is through, & before you know it you have a series of pictures taken at short intervals of each other, so your chances are a lot better 2 find one that shows what you want 2 see.
- Used with a 4GB SDHC memory card, my wife took literary hundreds of pictures & filmed many minutes of movie during a recent trip before she had 2 transfer them 2 the computer. She did that only several times during the 3 weeks trip.
- Also, one charge of the battery lasted 4 several days. In fact she did not charge it until, into the four or fifth day of the trip, the low battery message came on.
Negatives:
None so important 2 give anything lower than a five star rating.
- I would have liked a "shorter" focal length on the close end, so that you can have a wider view as sometimes there is not enough room 2 get away from larger groups of people. However most of the cameras have this focal lengths, so this is just a wish with small point & shoot cameras.
All being said, I love this little camera.
Rating: 2 of 5
Think before buying
I recently purchased the EX-Z80 & have since returned it because I was not happy with the image quality. The auto function produced pictures that were blurry & noisy. Quite a bit of pixelation/noise in all photos I took as test shots. The flash is very bright 4 shooting close subjects, takes a lot of color out of people shots. The different shooting modes were difficult 2 figure out & still produced blurry photos. The difficulty in actually figuring out the right setting 2 use was too bothersome. Not 2 mention, I never found a setting that I was happy with. If you're not that picky about blur & noise, then this might be the type of camera 4 you. However, 4 the camera buffs that just want a small camera 2 carry around 4 those spontaneous photo-ops, you should think again. I returned the camera & bought a Canon Powershot A590 IS that I am very happy with.
Rating: 5 of 5
good 4 my purpose
I bought this camera mainly just 4 video. From my search only Casio have point-n-shoot camera that capture more than 640x480 at 30fps. This Z80 can capture 848x480 at 30fps. Samsung's L210 & S1050 can do 800x600 but only at 20fps. Video quality at 848x480 (casio call it UHQ/HQ wide mode) is quite good.
Image quality is OK, it's no where near that from my Rebel xti, but acceptable, again I am not too worried about image quality.
Control, UI are good. (You can try it at WalMart or Costco)
Other pluses are its small size & low price.
Minus: H.264 movie is in .mov format, I don't have quicktime or itune(hate them), I installed "quicktime alternative" & can watch them in WMP or mediaplayer classic.
Another thing is Vista keep importing movies that's have been imported. It just do this 2 movies, pics are fine. I usually click "erase after imporing", so it's not big deal 4 me, & it's Vista's problem not camera's anyway.
overall I like it.
Image quality is OK, it's no where near that from my Rebel xti, but acceptable, again I am not too worried about image quality.
Control, UI are good. (You can try it at WalMart or Costco)
Other pluses are its small size & low price.
Minus: H.264 movie is in .mov format, I don't have quicktime or itune(hate them), I installed "quicktime alternative" & can watch them in WMP or mediaplayer classic.
Another thing is Vista keep importing movies that's have been imported. It just do this 2 movies, pics are fine. I usually click "erase after imporing", so it's not big deal 4 me, & it's Vista's problem not camera's anyway.
overall I like it.
Good things come in small packages. Like the EX-Z80. With 8.1 megapixels, 3x optical zoom, & Exilim Engine 2.0, this sleek little camera can turn out big pictures. An easy mode, one button video function, & an assortment of color options, mean that this camera is ready 2 be your sidekick?accompanying you out on the town or into the office. YouTube capture mode, H.264 , & enhanced video make uploading & sharing a snap. And the although the camera is compact, the LCD isn't?a 2.6 inch wide screen makes it simple 2 frame your perfect shot. It's small, it's smart, & it's stylish. With the wide video-shooting function (16:9 ratio 848x480), the Exilim plays true 2 your plasma or LCD television, regardless of size. The future of video is in your Exilim. What more do you need? (Required SD Memory card is optional) Sensitivity Setting - Still - Auto, ISO64, ISO100, ISO200, ISO400, ISO800, ISO1600; Movie - Auto Triple self-timer modes Built-in ElectronicFlash - Auto, Off, On, Soft Flash, Red Eye Reduction with range - Approx.33' 2 8.53' (W), approx. 1.97' 2 4.59 (T) Mono mic & speaker Built-in quartz digital clock - Date & time - Recorded with image date, Time stamp, Auto calendar up 2 the year 2049, World time 162 cities (32 zones), City, Date, Time, DST Battery Life per charge up 2 210 still images (CIPA Standards); Continuous Playback Approx 3 hr. 30 min. (still images); Continuous Recording Approx 3 hr. 30 min. (voice recording) Unit Dimensions - 3.53 (W) x 2.03 (H) x. 75 (D); Thinnest Part -. 70 ; Weight - 3.53 oz (excluding battery & accessories)
($119.99)
Buy Casio EX-Z80BE 8 MP, 3x Optical Zoom Digital Camera - Blue Now!
