Fitting a 7X zoom into a
camera the size of the Casio Exilim EX-V7 is quite remarkable,
and the fact that the 7X optical zoom lens is entirely internal
— nothing sticks out past the front of the camera when
the camera is on — is even more so.
Moreover, Casio adds a number of additional features to the
EX-V7 that make it even more appealing. The camera can record
stereo sound with movies or with stills, it offers a sharp
high definition LCD monitor, and can even light the area in
front of the lens using its AF assist lamp.
To this interesting package,
Casio adds a CCD shift stabilization system, important as
the EX-V7 only provides the LCD monitor to frame shots. This
type of design requires that the photographer hold the camera
nearly at arm's length to view the screen. This stance, inherently
less stable than the one a photographer adopts when using
an eye level optical viewfinder, can easily emphasize the
slightest inadvertent movements and lead to a slightly blurred
image when the shutter speed is relatively low. The CCD shift
system of stabilization moves the CCD minutely so as to counteract
these movements, allowing the camera to capture a clear image
at slower shutter speeds.
Casio adds to this CCD shift
stabilization system an Image Blur
feature that is intended for use when the subject is fast
moving. As with all such systems — often a source of
confusion with purchasers who assume it to be similar to optical
stabilization — when Image Blur is enabled the camera
increases the CCD sensitivity to allow for a faster shutter
speed, which in turn freezes the movement. But, as a result
of the increase in sensitivity, images captured captured using
the Image Blur system tend to be visibly noisier than otherwise.
Indeed, the EX-V7 has a sensitivity
range that covers from 64 to 800 ISO. Like most compact cameras,
the EX-V7 offers the highest image quality when the sensitivity
is kept low. At 64 or even 100 ISO, noise is minimal. At the
200 ISO level — the upper limit of the Auto ISO range
— noise becomes detectable in shadow areas, but remains
generally discreet. Moving to 400 ISO, there is a noticeable
increase in noise in shadow areas, but better lit areas only
show a slight mottling.
The 800 ISO level, the highest sensitivity
for all but the High Sensitivity mode, noise can be seen throughout
the image, and the overall image sharpness is visibly lower.
Finally, the 1600 ISO level, the maximum sensitivity of the
High Sensitivity Scene mode, is uniformly noisy and of limited
use.
When they are seen at 100% scale on a monitor, the images
of the EX-V7 are a touch soft focus, particularly when captured
using the wide angle end of the zoom. But, if desired, images
can be sharpened in software, or by increasing the default
sharpness setting on the camera without any undesirable side-effects.
Some barrel distortion, albeit
minimal, can also be detected in images captured with the
wide angle end of the zoom, and similarly, some pincushion
distortion is detectable with telephoto shots. Still, in view
of the tiny size of the 7X zoom, the quality of the images
it produces is impressive.
One of the most unusual features of the EX-V7
is that it offers the possibility of using its AF assist lamp
to add light to a subject. The lamp, located directly below
the lens, is a very bright white LED that has a short effective
range, but can sometimes be useful, particularly if the zoom
is set to the wide angle end, and the macro focus is used.
Interestingly, the lamp can be used when capturing movies,
and makes it possible to capture a movie in near total darkness
as long as the subject is not too distant.
Overall, the EX-V7 yields very
good images. Colours are faithful and not oversaturated, exposures
are precisely metered and contain a good balance between highlights
and shadows, and given sufficient light, noise-free.
Aperture: f3.7, shutter speed: 60 sec., 64 ISO.
With the EX-V7 the user is provided with three
compression levels to record JPEG images and, of course, the
best image quality is obtained when the Fine
setting is used. Although the compression is — in our
opinion — still a touch heavy at the highest quality,
it is not as harsh as what is common on numerous other cameras
nowadays, and generally does not cause the appearance of compression
artefacts. Nevertheless, in view of the EX-V7's compatibility
with a wide variety of SD-based cards, an even lower compression
setting would have been a desirable feature.
As is the case with most compact
digital cameras, flash photos with the EX-V7 are best if the
sensitivity is set to Auto, and the camera allowed to push
the sensitivity up to 200 ISO. And, at that level, at the
cost of a slight increase in noise, the camera is able to
capture brighter images than it can at the base setting of
64 ISO.
The Exilim EX-V7 is yet another
innovative camera from Casio. Very compact, it manages to
offer a better than average zoom with CCD stabilization, a
large resolution and even offers movie modes with stereo sound.
The EX-V7 is generally simple to use — albeit too many
of its functions depend on the menu, slowing down the selection
of settings — and is responsive to both the shutter
release and its other external controls.
Compare Prices for Casio Exilim EX-V7 7.2Mp Digital Camera - Silver
Image Quality
