Casio - EX-Z80 Digital Camera Review

I bought this point-and-shoot as a replacement for my old, chunky and outdated camera. I was pleasantly suprised by the amount of features available for such a good price! With 8.1 Megapixels, it can definitely take high quality pictures and videos are of decent quality, but still grainy when expanded on a computer screen. This camera is highly portable and easily fits into my little purse when going out. The only reason I gave this camera 4 stars is because of its durability and customer service.

The Exilim camera is very fast to turn on and I can take a picture within 3 seconds of hitting the "On" button - a definite plus when you only have a quick moment to take a photo! The flash works great, but like all digital cameras I've ever owned, the color is sometimes a little weird when taking indoor photos in a different lighting, say a restaurant. I love the face recognition because it automatically focuses on the faces in the frame, so you're much more likely to have clear faces, not blurry spots. Video mode is so easy! Just press the small red "Record" below the point-and-shoot button and you're filming! Hitting it again stops recording. Simple!

Reviewing pictures is done with one simple push of the "Play" button, conveniently next to the "Camera" button when you're ready to take pictures again. When viewing photos, you can zoom in and out of the photos themselves to take a closer look, and when you zoom out to the maximum, you can see up to 12 thumbnails to quickly find the picture you're looking for. The viewing screen is great and very clear.

When downloading pictures and videos to the computer, the USB cable works fine, but I prefer to use the incorporated card reader in my computer because it's faster. Not a big deal, but if you have TONS of pictures, it might shave off a minute or two.

All in all, this camera is a great buy, but I've got to warn you about the fragility of the frame. One little bump on its weak corner spot inside my suitcase made the silver metal strap around my camera shift, dislodging the zoom button. The zoom doesn't automatically recenter anymore, and when it's not centered, the functions next to the screen don't work. Not too much of a big deal or difficult repair, but Customer Service refused to fix it (even if it was still under the 1 year warranty) and wanted over $80 to spend 10 minuteson properly rebending the strap into place. They still got $10 out of me to ship it back, which was much more than the actual postage...

This camera is great, just be extra careful when carying it because the warranty doesn't apply to the camera's weak frame.