Casio EX-Z1000

Reviewed March 2007

Characteristics

The Casio Exilim EX-Z100 is equipped with a 1/1.8-inch, 10.37 million pixel CCD of which 10.1 million pixels are effective, allowing the camera to produce a maximum image size of 3648 x 2736 pixels.

A total of 7 image sizes are offered:

These image sizes can be saved using one of three JPEG compression levels: Fine, which has a compression ratio of approximately 7:1 at the 10-megapixel image size, and 5:1 at images sizes of 5-megapixel and less; Normal, which has a compression ratio of around 10:1 at the 10-megapixel image size, and 7:1 at images sizes of 5-megapixel and less; and Economy, which applies the strongest compression, in the range of 20:1 at the 10-megapixel image size, and 14:1 at images sizes of 5-megapixel and less.

With the EX-Z1000, CCD sensitivity covers a range of 50 to 400 ISO (50, 100, 200 and 400 ISO) or can be set to Auto, which allows the camera to adjust it according to the quantity of light available over a range of 50 to 200 ISO. Moreover, when set to Anti-Shake in the menu (see further) or when the Anti-Shake scene mode is used, the camera can increase sensitivity to 800 ISO. And, when the High Sensitivity scene mode is selected, sensitivity can increase up to 3200 ISO.

The EX-Z1000 is equipped with a 3X zoom lens composed of 7 elements in 5 groups, including an aspherical lens to reduce curvilinear distortion. With a focal length of 7.9 to 23.7 mm, it is equivalent to a 38 to 114 mm. Apertures start at f2.8 when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and close at f5.6, while at the telephoto end apertures start at f5.4 and close at f10.8.

With the EX-Z1000, shutter speed covers a range from 1/2000 to 1/4 second, but when the Night Scene mode is used, the exposure time can be as long as 4 seconds, while with the Fireworks mode, exposures are fixed at 2 seconds.

Unless the Operation Panel is used, providing access to the settings that are most commonly used, the controls available to the user are contained in the menu. In the Auto shooting mode, the menu of the EX-Z1000 is composed of three parts: REC, Quality, and Set up, each of which loops back to the section header after the last option has been reached. The first two parts, REC and Quality contain options that are directly related to image capture. The third part, Set-up, holds options that affect the basic configuration of the EX-Z1000, and these options are described in the Interface and Software section of this review.

The first part of the menu, REC, provides options for:

• Focus, which serves to select the focus modes:
  • AF: Auto Focus (default).
  • Macro: allows the camera to focus from 6 to 50 cm (2.4 to 19.7 inches) when the zoom is at the wide angle end.
  • Pan Focus: sets the lens to its hyperfocal (fixed focus) to provide the greatest depth of field. This is the only mode available in Movie mode.
  • Infinity: sets the focus at infinity to ensure a sharp image of distant subjects.
  • Manual Focus: makes it possible to manually adjust focus using the left/right arrow buttons, placing the subject at the centre of a large yellow rectangle that is superimposed on the monitor. When the right/left arrows are used to adjust the focus, the camera magnifies the yellow area so it fills the screen, making it easier to focus, while a distance scale is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
• Continuous, where it is possible to select:
  • Normal Speed: captures images as long as the shutter release is pressed until the memory is full.
  • High Speed: captures up to 3 consecutive images at high speed.
  • Flash Cont.: allows capturing 3 consecutive images with the flash.
  • Zoom Cont.: captures one image at the selected zoom position, and another that is digitally zoomed of an area of the main image which is selected using a rectangle on the monitor.
  • Off: captures one image at a time when the shutter release is pressed.
• Self-timer selects the self timer delay: 10 seconds, 2 seconds, X3 (uses a 10 second delay then captures 3 images sequentially), or Off.
• Anti Shake: Auto or Off. When set to Auto, the Anti Shake will override the sensitivity setting and increase sensitivity to obtain a faster shutter speed and avoid camera shake.

• AF Area offers two choices: Spot, which forces focus to take place at the centre of the frame, or Multi, which allows the camera to find one or more focus points using its 9 AF areas.
• AF Assist Light: On or Off. provides control over the AF Assist light that is turned on when the AF has insufficient light to operate reliably.
• Instant Zoom allows immediately jumping to a preset digital zoom magnification: 1.4X, 2X, or 3X, using the up arrow of the 4-direction control. The Digital Zoom (next option) must be on for Instant Zoom to operate.

• Digital Zoom: On or Off. Controls the 4X digital zoom which takes over after the 3X optical zoom is at its maximum magnification. The digital zoom crops the centre of the image and interpolates it to selected image size. A loss of image quality is noticeable at the largest image size. Worth noting, if the image size is less than the maximum size, the digital zoom crops the image from the full 10.1 megapixel frame, as do digital zooms commonly referred to as "Smart Zooms".
• L/R Key: assigns a function to the Left and Right arrow buttons of the 4-direction controller (Metering, EV Shift, White Balance, ISO, Self-timer, or None).
• Quick Shutter: On or Off. Set to On by default, Quick shutter allows the camera to take a photo without waiting for the autofocus. The mode uses the lens' hyperfocal to have as much as possible of the scene sharp.
• Audio Snap: On or Off. When On, the function allows adding a 30-second audio clip to an image immediately after its capture.
• Grid: On or Off. Controls the composition grid that can be superimposed on the monitor.
• Review: On or Off. Decides whether a just-captured image is briefly shown on the monitor for approximately 1 second while it is being saved.
• Icon Help: On or Off. Briefly displays a small text description for the icon associated with a setting change.
• Memory serves to select which settings will be restored when the camera is turned On: Best Shot, Flash mode, Focus mode, White Balance, ISO, AF Area, Metering, Self-Timer, Flash Intensity, Digital Zoom, MF Position, Zoom Position.

The second part of the menu that provides options that directly affect the recorded image is labelled Quality:

• Size: serves to set the image size (see above).
• Quality (Still images) serves to select the compression applied to images: Fine, Normal or Economy. (See above.)
• Quality (Movies): serves to set the frame size, format, and compression level for movie recording (see the Ergonomics section of the review for more information about the movie mode).
• EV Shift: serves to adjust exposure compensation over ± 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Overcast, Shade, Fluorescent 1 (white fluorescent), Fluorescent 2 (daylight fluorescent), Tungsten, Manual (user-set under the ambient lighting).
• ISO serves to set the CCD sensitivity: Auto (between 50 and 200 ISO), 50, 100, 200, or 400 ISO.

• Metering offers a choice of three metering patterns:
  • Multi: divides the frame into segments and meters each independently. The readings are then combined to arrive at the proper exposure settings.
  • Centre-Weighted: meters the entire image, but gives more importance to the reading obtained at the centre of the frame.
  • Spot: meters a small area at the centre of the frame.

• Filter: decides if the image will be recorded in normal colours, or as Black and White, Sepia, or with a Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, or Purple tone.
• Sharpness: serves to adjust image sharpness over 5 steps.
• Saturation: serves to adjust image saturation over 5 steps.
• Contrast: serves to adjust image contrast over 5 steps.
• Flash Intensity: allows increasing or decreasing the flash intensity over ± 2 steps.
• Flash Assist provides 2 settings: Auto or Off. When set to Auto, Flash Assist detects when the subject was too far to have been lit effectively by the flash, and brightens up the image before recording it.

• Slide Show: is to review the images that have been captured. The contents of the show can be selected to be still images only, movies only, or one image at a time, or those that have been selected as Favourites (see further). The duration of the slide show can be selected (from 1 to 60 minutes), as can the interval between photos (from 1 to 30 seconds). Transition effects are also available (dissolve, fade, shutter).
• Calendar: accesses the calendar view mode, also reached by pressing the zoom control twice on the side.
• Motion Print serves to create a still image from a movie. Two formats are offered:
  • 9-Frames places 9 frames from the movie in a single 1600 x 1200 pixel frame. In the 9-Frame image, the frame selected appears larger in the middle, with 4 preceding frames above and the 4 frames that follow it below in a smaller size.
  • 1-Frame Snapshot records a 640 x 480 (VGA) image of the frame selected.

• Movie Editing: allows editing movies in any of three ways:
  • Cut Before: discarding the section up to the cut.
  • Cut Between: discarding a section between two others.
  • Cut After: discarding the section after the cut.
• Keystone: allows straightening a rectangular subject that was captured at an angle in a still image.
• Colour Correction: serves to do a colour restoration of an old photograph captured with the camera.

• Favourites: allows selecting images as favourites and storing them in a private folder where its contents can be shown, or not.
• DPOF Printing: serves to select which photos will be printed, how many prints will be made of each, and whether or not they will be date-imprinted. The EX-Z1000 is compatible with PictBridge, allowing the camera to print directly to a compatible printer.
• Protect: allows making images "read-only", preventing any accidental erasure.
• Date/Time: serves to change the time and date of an already captured photo.
• Rotation: serves to rotate an image in 90° increments each time the SET button is pressed.
• Resize: makes it possible to resize an image to 5M (2560 x 1920 pixels), 3M (2048 x 1536 pixels), or VGA (640 x 480 pixels).
• Trimming: serves to crop an image. Images are cropped using the 4:3 format and the cropped section is saved at the nearest image size.
• Dubbing: allows attaching a sound recording (up to 30 seconds) to an already recorded image.
• Copy: serves to copy images, movies, or audio recorded with the EX-Z1000 between its internal memory and a memory card.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 has a small built-in memory of 8 MB and is normally retailed without a memory card. The EX-Z1000 is compatible with SD, and MMC memory cards. The card slot is located next to the battery in a compartment underneath the camera that is covered by a long narrow door.

The chart below lists approximate capacities for both the 8 MB internal memory and a 1 GB SD card:

Power for the Exilim EX-Z1000 comes from a thin Lithium-ion (NP-40) battery, which is recharged in the camera through the cradle and the AC adapter that are included with the camera. The cradle provides the USB connection (2.0 Full-Speed) and an A/V (Audio/Video) out jack so that the camera can be connected to a television.

Four television image aspect ratios are supported: NTSC 4:3, NTSC 16:9, PAL 4:3 and PAL 16:9. The setting for the aspect ratios is found in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review).