Casio Zoomer

At present, there are three identical Zoomer PDA's: the Casio Z-7000, the Tandy Z-PDA, and the AST GRiDpad 2390. All models appear to have discontinued production and normal retail sales. The Casio model may still be available through a variety of retail and mail order channels. A few Tandy models may be available through Radio Shack outlets. Zoomer was a joint project of Casio, Palm, GeoWorks and Tandy. It had a touch screen, a graphical user interface and support for third party applications. But it suffered from slow speed and high price. Just when you thought the megapixel war was over, the Casio EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z1000 offers a whopping 10 megapixel resolution from a 1/1.8'-type CCD sensor, coupled to Casio's proprietary EXILIM. The Casio ZOOMER is CASIO's reply to APPLE's Newton. This is a machine i've wanted for a long time! When i finally got it, i was very disappointed. Yes, the functions are great, but it is all very.slow.

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Casio EX-Z1000 Overview

By: Mike Pasini
Review Date: 10/20/2006

Note: The following review is an experimental review format. Let us know what you think by emailing with the Email link below.

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Just when you thought the megapixel war was over, the Casio EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z1000 offers a whopping 10 megapixel resolution from a 1/1.8'-type CCD sensor, coupled to Casio's proprietary EXILIM Engine image processor. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to 400 equivalent by default, with the ability to extend to ISO 800 in 'Anti-Shake' mode. Casio's non-mechanical Anti-Shake increases sensitivity, and hence shutter speed, at the expense of image noise and/or reduced image detail. Finally, the camera's sensitivity maxes out at ISO 3200 equivalent in the 'High Sensitivity' Best Shot mode. Certainly, at 1/1.8' the EX-Z1000's sensor is a bit larger than those in many digicams, but still significantly smaller than any DSLR sensor. Still, it offers image resolution and a maximum sensitivity that not many DSLRs exceed.

The Casio EX-Z1000 couples its sensor to an EXILIM-branded 3x optical zoom lens with a fairly standard equivalent focal length range of 38 to 114mm -- a moderate wide angle to a moderate telephoto. There's no optical viewfinder, so images are framed on the camera's LCD display -- which is larger and has higher resolution than most at 2.8 inches and 230,400 pixels. Curiously, the LCD display has a 14:9 aspect ratio -- which doesn't perfectly match up with any of the aspect ratios offered by the imager, although it is fairly close to the 3:2 mode.

Images are stored on Secure Digital or MultiMediaCards, while 8MB of built-in memory will let you try the Casio EX-Z1000 out when you open the box -- and little else. With a maximum file size of around 4.2MB, you'll probably only fit a single shot at maximum resolution / minimum compression in the built in memory -- so expect to buy a high capacity flash card along with the camera.

Power comes from an NP-40 Lithium Ion rechargeable battery which is included in the Casio EX-Z1000 bundle, and should be good for capturing 360 still images or a little over three hours of movies, or for a generous 13 hours of reviewing still images. Connectivity is via an included camera cradle, and consists of both video output (type unspecified), and USB 2.0 Full Speed connectivity -- not to be confused with the USB 2.0 High Speed offered by many cameras these days (Full Speed is only 12Mbits per second, while High Speed is capable of 480Mbits per second).

The Casio EX-Z1000 also offers a few more unusual features. A 'Rapid Flash' function allows up to three shots per second, where most cameras require much longer to recharge the flash strobe; but note that the speed comes at the expense of a 50% reduction in flash range in this mode. What Casio is calling a 'Zoom Continuous Shutter mode' allows the user to see both a wide-angle and cropped 'telephoto' shot on screen at once, and to capture both at the same time with a single press of the shutter button. A Quick Zoom function on the Casio EX-Z1000 allows you to return the camera to a preset zoom level with a single button press. Finally, a 'Revive Shot' mode is designed for taking images of faded photo prints, and attempts to restore the faded colors.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 hit U.S. stores priced at $399.99 in June 2006.

In the Box

The Z1000 retail box contains:

• The EX-Z1000 digicam
• Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery NP-40
• USB cradle CA-33
• Wrist strap
• Software on CD
• USB cable
• AV cable
• Basic reference
• AC Adapter

The Basics

To start using the Casio EX-Z1000, slide the bottom cover open and pop the battery in. Add an SD card at the same time. Even though the camera includes about 8MB of internal memory, using a card means you can store a lot more shots and transfer them faster to your computer by avoiding the USB dock transfer.

To charge the battery (which can take three hours), you insert the Casio EX-Z1000 into the included cradle. An AC adapter provides power to the cradle, which also has USB and AV ports. Unlike many other cradles, this one has a couple of buttons on the front to activate Photo or USB mode.

With a charged battery (and the wrist strap attached), basic operation is simple. Press the red Camera icon to start shooting or the green Playback icon to see what you've done. Use the Power button on top to turn the Casio EX-Z1000 off.

With the camera on, set the language, time zone, city and daylight savings time option. Select the time format and then set the time and date (they're stored with each image).

It's a good idea to format the memory card, too. That way the Casio EX-Z1000 lays the table for all the goodies it plans to set out.

You can cycle through the display options using the small Display button to the left of the two mode buttons. There's more than clutter to display, too. A live histogram and a framing grid are just two of the handier options in Record mode.

While in Record mode, the Shutter button's collar zooms the lens over its 38 to 114mm range. A press of the Shutter button takes the picture. A beep and the small green LED behind the Shutter button confirms the image is in focus.

To shoot a movie with the Casio EX-Z1000, you actually have to select Movie from the Scene menu, which Casio calls Best Shot. A Best Shot button below the navigator brings up the Scene mode options.

Getting Fancy

The Casio EX-Z1000 does a great job in the default Auto mode. But the fun of this camera is all the tricks it has up its sleeve. The settings and Scene modes aren't so much for accommodating difficult lighting as they are for special effects.

Interface. There are two overlapping systems in the Casio EX-Z1000. One is the screenful paging of the typical menu system. It's comprehensive and easy to use: just press the Menu button to access it and then scroll through the options with the Navigator. The other is the onscreen dock that displays nine options on the right side of the screen. It reminds me a bit of Canon's left-hand display except it doesn't require a button press to bring it up. It's always there (well, optionally).

Menu System

With Few Buttons

And they're quite easy to access. The Casio EX-Z1000's Down arrow takes it from the top or pressing Set resumes with the last selected option. A Left or Right arrow adjusts EV without going there.

That frees more permanent configuration options (like turning off the Autofocus assist lamp, or enabling Digital Zoom) to the Menu system.

When configuring basic behavior and adjusting shooting variables isn't quite enough, the Casio EX-Z1000 offers a wide range of Scene modes.

Except Casio calls them Best Shot, not Scene, modes. The button below the Casio EX-Z1000's Navigator accesses them one at a time. You scroll through them with the Left or Right arrow keys.

And if you don't see one you like, you can just create your own based on an image you've already recorded. In short, you save your Best Shot parameters, including Focus, EV, White Balance, Flash, ISO, Metering, Flash Intensity, Flash Assist, Filter, Sharpness, Saturation and Contrast.

Once set, the settings are reflected in the dock options so you know exactly what's going on. Another nice touch lost on most digicam manufacturers.

The usual suspect (Portrait, Scenery, Night Scene, etc.) are here but the Casio EX-Z1000 has some exotic options, too.

The High Sensitivity option sacrifices some image detail to get bright natural light shots at ISO 3200. You can not only shoot high contrast business cards, but the Casio EX-Z1000 also does 'keystone correction,' straightening out and cropping the image. The ID Photo option actually displays guidelines to set the subject's head and chin within to get a perfect photo every time. Restore an Old Photograph color corrects faded color prints.

Test Drive

Comparing other digicams to a Casio is like comparing a lost hub cap on the side of the highway to chrome 'spinner' wheels at a stop light. Casio digicams do 'different' in a style all their own. And that makes them a lot of fun -- even if they aren't for everybody.

Take megapixels, for example. Common wisdom says six megapixels is the 'sweet spot' between getting great detail and avoiding noise. More megapixels means more noise, fewer gets you less detail. But Casio? Hey, let's just use a bigger sensor to minimize noise and give people a whopping 10 megapixels.

Or take the Hatfield-McCoy Agency's idea of a user interface on today's digicams. You got your buttons for sum'thin's and your menus for t'others, with a scattered screenful of text and icons to let you know what's up. Casio? Hardly any buttons with its optional always-on menu that also shows you the status of each setting.

And take that flash on a digicam. Please. If it's powerful enough to reach across the room, it takes a week to recharge. Casio? Put a powerful flash on there but give people a flash burst mode that fires it at half power so it recharges quickly.

Ever start nodding uncontrollably trying to compose a zoom shot? You can't recognize anything in the LCD at telephoto so you either look up to see the whole scene or zoom out to get oriented. Casio? Put the zoom in the wide field shot.

I popped the little Casio EX-Z1000 in its dock to charge the battery and flipped through the manual to find out how to use all these cool features. But the manual didn't know. Too bad Casio ships such a basic guide with a camera this capable. To find out how to tap into its secrets, download the 266-page PDF manual from the Casio site (http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_manual/qv/en/EXZ1000_e.pdf).

But you don't buy a digicam to read a book. You buy it to take pictures. So off I went, with a charged battery to Opera in the Park, San Francisco's annual picnic of passionate arias, dazzling divas, bone-shaking baritones, and orchestra members wearing strange head gear. The weather was overcast for much of the event and we sat way back on the hill overlooking the large crowd.

After the concert, I wandered over to the Dahlia garden, which was in full bloom. By the time I got there, the sun had broken through the fog, too. I switched from a 3MB image size to the full 10MB size (4.3MB compressed 1:6 on disk) and later I was glad I did. At the time I was just thinking of grabbing some colorful test shots, but it turned out these test shots were printed at poster size for my review of Tabblo (http://www.tabblo.com) and the high resolution image was much appreciated as I scaled individual shots on the poster templates.

Taking very close-up shots is one of the surprising joys of digital photography and I always shoot a healthy selection of macro shots when I have a camera to test. I had a little trouble focusing on my tomatoes but was surprised at the excellent results I got shooting through a 10x loupe for the Tabblo review. That was a crazy idea for a shot but the Casio EX-Z1000 pulled it off.

Macro

That's Anti Shake in action, I suppose. It provided sharp shots as slow as 1/15 second but it really preferred to boost ISO so the shutter wasn't that slow very often. That's a bit different from shooting sharp shots at 1/5 second, as you can with image stabilization.

The Best Shot or Scene modes on the Casio EX-Z1000 were the last thing I played with. Usually I think of them as gimmicks intended to reassure inexperienced photographers at the store counter; yet they go unused in the field. But Casio has some very cool tricks up its sleeve.

Business Card

Another simple but helpful example is the ID Photo Scene. The monitor displays a top headline and a chin line about a third of the way down the shot with an oval boundary between them for the face. No big deal, but when you shoot the image, it isn't saved until you position it within the targets using the arrow keys and resize it with the zoom lever. Press Set to save it as a 5 megapixel, 2560x1920 image. Very clever.

Copying old photos is another bane of the digital photographer, who usually relegates the task to their scanner. But the Casio EX-Z1000 has some copying efficiencies built into its Old Photo mode. First, it will find the border of the old photo, so you don't need to crop tightly yourself. That also means you can shoot at an angle. The Casio EX-Z1000 will straighten things out just like it does for a Business Shot. But it will also try to color correct the image, assuming it's faded. That mode also grabs a 2 megapixel, 1600x1200 image.

Conclusion

It was easy to make friends with the Casio EX-Z1000. Auto mode with its 16:9 aspect ratio made composing shots fun. The quick startup and shutdown made it convenient to use, never worrying about missing a shot because it would take too long to turn on the camera. The Casio EX-Z1000's 3x zoom was a disappointment, if only because we've been playing with longer zooms lately. But the digital zoom does compensate for that, relying on the 10 megapixel sensor to deliver enough resolution without degrading image quality.

Even with the larger sensor real estate to populate with 10 megapixel of sensor sites, the Casio EX-Z1000 did capture noisy images. But the noise resembled film grain rather than the colorless confusion of some high ISO sensors. Turn off Anti Shake if it bothers you.

In all the categories that matter, the Casio EX-Z1000 scored well. And where it didn't score well, there are convenient workarounds. Those are the kind of tradeoffs we like to see in a digicam. This is a very well-designed, capable camera, certainly worthy of a Dave's Pick.

Buy theCasioEX-Z1000

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Casio EX-V8 Overview

by Michael R. Tomkins
Review Date: 05/12/08

In January 2007, Casio launched the EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-V7, said to be theworld's slimmest 7x zoom digital camera. Just 25mm thick, the EX-V7 crammedin a seven megapixel CCD image sensor mounted on a moving platter so as toprovide for CCD-shift type mechanical image stabilization function. Just sevenmonths later, Casio replaced the V7 with the very closely related Casio EXILIMV8. A minor update with a slightly higher resolution sensor and a couple ofother slight tweaks, the Casio V8 also came in nearly20% cheaper than its predecessor.

The other main change Casio made between its V7 and V8 models was to reposition the flash strobe, now located behind a small, clear window in the sliding lens barrier. This allows a bit more distance between the flash and the lens, designed to reduce the effect of red-eye in photos. One other adjustment is the addition of a trim piece with a low lip on it that serves to give fingers purchase when opening the lens barrier. As with its elder sibling, the Casio EX-V8 includes an unusually capable 30 frames-per-second movie mode that reaches a maximum of 848 x 480 pixels with stereo sound. Casio chose to use the H.264 (also known as MPEG-4 Part 10) compression format, which offers good video quality at substantially lower bit rates than other codecs. Usefully, given the above-average movie capabilities, a silent lens motor enables optical zooming while recording.

The 7x optical zoom lens offers a 35mm equivalent zoomrange of 38-266mm; not particularly generous at the wide-angle, but morepowerful than most such compact cameras can offer at telephoto. The CasioEXILIM V8 offers quite a selection of 'best shot' scene modes,helping beginners in a variety of situations such as Autumn Leaves, SoftFlowing Water, Fireworks, and Underwater. Business users will appreciateCasio's inclusion of Whiteboard, Business Card / Document, and ID Photo modes.More experienced photographers will be pleased to find both aperture- andshutter-priority modes, as well as a fully manual mode.

Of course, as with just about every digicam these days, the Casio EX-V8 includes face detection technology; however, Casio's implementation is rather more feature-rich than most. Family members can be 'recorded' in the camera's memory, and even given a priority rating. The Casio V8 can then identify those recorded individuals in a scene and give them higher priority when deciding on auto-focus and auto-exposure variables.

Priced at suggested price of $330, the Casio EXILIM EX-V8 packs a lot of features into a very pocket-friendly body. If you're seeking a camera that will accompany you most anywhere you go -- perhaps as a complement to your digital SLR -- and still want a fair degree of control over exposure variables, the Casio V8 is worth a closer look.

Casio EX-V8 User Report

by Michael Tomkins

Likethe EX-V7 model it replacedthe Casio V8 boasts a slim yet solid body, which somehowcrams in a fairly powerful 7x optical zoom lens. Images are capturedby an 8.1-megapixel CCD image sensor, and Casio has included awide range of exposure modesand shooting options aimed at both business and personal use.

Available only in silver and weighing in at 6.3 ounces (179 grams) with battery and memory card, the Casio V8 measures 3.8 x 2.4 x 1.0 inches (96 x 60 x 26 millimeters). The EXILIM V8 is a camera that will accompany you anywhere, easily slipped into a pants pocket ready for that surprise photo opportunity. While it would also fit in many shirt pockets, I'd personally find it too weighty to be comfortable there. A sliding lens barrier on the Casio V8's front panel is more solid than the flimsy aperture-style lens barriers found on many digicams. The finish does seem to show fine scuff-marks rather easily, and so a light /soft case of some kind is still a good idea.

Lookand feel. The Casio Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V8 has a pocket-friendly, relatively compact body that's mostly free from protrusions, save for a slight lip on the end of its sliding lens barrier. Shooting one-handed with the Casio V8 was a breeze, with two-handed shooting only necessary for slower shutter speeds; although given the camera's heft you do have to pay attention to get your horizons level shooting single-handed, since my fingers found relatively little purchase on the smooth panels. If you aim for the two-handed approach, you have to be careful where you place your left hand, because it is fairly easy to block the lens as it is so close to the corner of the camera. There's also a small LED directly underneath the lens which acts as the AF assist light, which is also easy to block.

The Casio V8 features a 7x optical zoom lens which is entirely internal to the camera, saving a little power-up time, since there's no need to extend the lens. The lens is equivalent to a 38-266mm zoom on a 35mm camera, more generous than you'll find on most point-and-shoot digital cameras, but tight at wide angle. The Casio V8's all-glass lens is of good quality but does show some traits that indicate the compromises required to make a very compact, relatively long-zoom lens. Importantly for a camera with such a comparatively long telephoto, the Casio Hi-Zoom V8 also offers true mechanical image stabilization, with the CCD sensor being mounted on a platter to combat camera shake. This is part of a multi-pronged approach to fighting blur, with the V8 also analyzing motion and boosting the ISO sensitivity / shutter speed as required to freeze action and camera movement. The Casio V8 also employs software de-blurring of both still images and movies.

In addition to the 7x optical zoom, the Casio V8 offers a maximum of 4x digital zoom which enlarges the center of the image using interpolation, with the usual loss in image quality. Digital zoom shots lose significant detail and resolution, appearing soft and sometimes rather pixelated. At lower resolutions, the image is first gradually cropped before the digital zoom kicks in, so for example at VGA resolution you can achieve a simulated 35.1x zoom without degrading the image quality; although the exact same effect could be achieved by cropping the image in a PC after the fact.

Casio Zoomer Battery Replacement

The Casio EXILIM V8's controls are laid out simply and fairly logically. There's only one dial, one slider, a four-way pad with central 'Set' button, and three other buttons on the camera's body, with all but the shutter button located on the rear panel to the right of the LCD display. The buttons all have a good feel to them and they're all easy to reach. The zoom slider is easy to find without taking your attention off the LCD display, and is pretty responsive. I did find that it occasionally paused for a moment when zooming in and out repeatedly.

The display itself was easy to see in sunlight, and rather usefully can be set to control its three-step brightness adjustment automatically based on ambient lighting conditions. There are two such Auto settings available: one tweaked to be more aggressive in changing the LCD brightness as ambient lighting changes, while the other waits a little longer before deciding the ambient lighting conditions have changed enough to require an adjustment. Which you'll use ends up depending on the lighting conditions, and if you prefer, it is possible to set the brightness manually as well. I found that images tended to look rather flat on the LCD display (especially under bright sunlight), to where I almost deleted some shots while in the field, fearing them to have to have too little contrast for a useful picture - only to find that in my PC, the same images were borderline or even perfectly usable.

One other feature of the Casio V8's LCD display proved handy when shooting single-handed. As mentioned previously, I found that the camera wanted to 'droop' in my right hand somewhat, leading to crooked horizons. Through the menu system you can enable a grid overlay on the LCD, making it easier to keep your images squared up nicely. The Casio V8's histogram function is also a help on shots where you're not sure of the exposure. Available in both Playback and Record modes via a couple of presses of the Display button, it provides a hint as to under- or over-exposure, and displays not just luminance but also separate red, green, and blue levels. Also accessed via the display button in both Record and Playback modes are the 'detailed info' and 'minimal info' display overlays you'll find on many digital cameras these days.

Mode Dial. Odd icons include a four-leaf clover icon to represent the 'Snapshot' mode.

Interface. As previously mentioned, the Casio V8's user interface is fairly clean and intuitive. I do question Casio's decision on names and icons for a couple of the modes on the control dial, though. If you're anything like me when handed a new camera, you'll tend to seek out and stick with the Program mode to allow access to controls you occasionally need to use, dipping into the Aperture, Shutter, and Manual modes occasionally as needed. Place a V8 in your hands, though, and you'll find that while the oh-so-useful 'A / S / M' modes are on offer, there's no 'P' on the control dial. In its place is 'Snapshot' mode, which sounds less authoritative and to the unfamiliar suggests to me that the camera will be set up with lesser image quality to favor speed or file size, or perhaps in a 'Dummies' mode for simplicity. In actual fact, Snapshot mode is basically the same thing as Program mode on any other digital camera.

The 'Snapshot' mode is also indicated with a red frame icon on the Mode dial, and the Easy mode is indicated with a black 'clover leaf' icon. Pretty much anyone who's just been handed an unfamiliar camera to take a picture is going to fall back to any experience they have with other cameras, and 'Simple,' 'Easy,' 'Auto,' name it what you like but such modes are almost always indicated with a green frame icon. The choice of a clover leaf is not intuitive (nor necessarily recognizable to all cultures), and many users are going to either have to pull out the manual or switch to the mode and try it out before they understand what it's for. The color choices also seem a little odd given that Red is generally associated with 'bad', Green with 'Good', and - well, clover leaves are green, not black, which we don't tend to associate with anything specific as a camera icon. The decision to buck the trend on some of the more common design features on a digicam (and in the case of 'Easy' mode, one which should be as approachable as possible for the beginner) seems odd. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to this since I handle so many different cameras, making me more sensitive to designs that don't follow the crowd.

The Casio EX-V8's menu layout is simple, but in one place rather illogical. Exposicion playmobil casino murcia. A press of the Menu button calls up a tabbed menu interface. In Record mode, you'll find 'REC' and 'Quality' tabs, while Playback mode has a 'PLAY' tab. Both modes also offer one common tab, the self-explanatory 'Set Up.' The placement of menu options in the 'Quality' tab seems to have been achieved by lottery, however. Half the options in the 'Quality' tab seem to relate only very obliquely to what one might consider to be image quality settings. Most users aren't going to expect to find White Balance, ISO Sensitivity, or special effects Color Filters under the 'Quality' tab.

Casio's Face Recognition technology in theEXILIM EX-V8 is unusually sophisticated in that it lets you recordand recognize the faces of specific individuals, and prioritize (oreven ignore) these people as you desire. While I found detection tobe a little less accurate than some of the latest face recognitionfunctions from rivals, I did find the function fairly easy to use andunderstand, particularly in the way the V8 can indicate the priorityof detected faces by changing the color of the face recognition boxaround each face. I also felt Casio's inclusion of a setting that allowsthe user to prioritize face detection for quantity (up to ten faces)or speed (faster detection but limited to only five faces) was sensible,given that some families will seldom need to recognize as many as tenfaces in a scene, and these individuals will appreciate the snappierdetection found when limiting detection to just five faces.

One last point worthy of note is that Casio's user manual is among the less useful we've seen lately. There's no index -- just a table of contents -- and in many areas Casio has either skimmed over subjects very briefly where further detail would have been greatly helpful, or simply skipped features altogether. For example, nowhere does the Manual even list half of the available Best Shot scene modes, let alone tell you what they do. I wasn't alone in noting this: back in the Imaging Resource lab, camera tester Rob likewise singled out the manual for criticism.

Modes. The Mode dial controls the Casio EXILIM EX-V8's shooting mode only. Mode dial positions include 'Best Shot' scene modes for both stills and movies, a Movie mode, an 'Easy' mode that keeps most variables under the camera's control, plus a Snapshot mode that's the equivalent of Program mode on most digicams, and a selection of Aperture- and Shutter-priority plus a fully manual mode. Images and movies can be reviewed by pressing the 'Play' button, and a half-press of the shutter button will return you swiftly to Record mode, ready to take advantage of an unexpected photo opportunity.

Casio's vast selection of 'Best Shot' modes (what would be known as 'Scene' modes on most digital cameras) aim to make the camera more approachable to beginners. Unusually, the Casio V8 also offers a selection of 'Best Shot' modes for movies as well. Some of the modes are very general and will be of use to most anyone; others are fairly specialized for specific business or personal photography uses. When browsing available 'Best Shot' modes, an example picture is given for each, along with a brief description of the settings used to create the required effect, and any requirements of the photographer. For example, Night Scene mode shows a thumbnail image of Hong Kong's picturesque harbor and city lights at night, alongside the description of the settings used ('Slow shutter speed' and 'Infinity focus'), and a direction to 'Keep the camera still.' Good thing, too, because the frankly rather disorganized manual that accompanies Casio's V8 EXILIM doesn't even mention half the 'Best Shot' modes, let alone detail exactly what they do! (The screen does mention what these modes do, however, so maybe they just didn't expect buyers to read the manual.)

Businesses will find utility in the 'ID Photo' (which adds a framing guideline for your subject), 'Text' (macro mode with boosted contrast and sharpness), and 'Business Cards and Documents' modes. This latter mode is similar to text mode, but without the macro setting, and with the ability to correct for keystoning (converging of lines in an image that should be parallel). This might be the case when shooting an image of a whiteboard or presentation slide from an angle. The keystoning correction is performed automatically, with the camera only prompting you to select from the two possible keystone corrections deemed most appropriate by the camera's firmware.

Wide. The Casio V8's 38mm equivalent isn't quite wide enough.

Tele. 266mm does get you right in on what you want to capture, though.

Special Features. For me, the Casio EXILIM V8's standout feature has to be its 7x optical zoom lens (and by association, its CCD shift-type image stabilization). One simply cannot overstate the convenience of taking a relatively compact camera from your pocket to quickly zoom in to capture an image that fills the screen with a distant subject. The inclusion of true mechanical image stabilization goes a long way toward making the strength of the telephoto even more useful, at the very least lessening the likelihood of camera shake affecting your photos. I do wish there were a little more reach at the wide-angle end of the lens, though. Being constrained to a maximum of just a 38mm-equivalent wide angle is rather limiting.

Casio's implementation of Face Recognition in the EXILIM EX-V8 is based around the 'Face Sensing Engine' developed by Japan's Oki Group, and the feature set is more advanced than that offered in many digital cameras. The photographer can opt to prioritize face detection to either detect up to ten faces when quantity is most important, or to improve detection speed but recognize only five faces at a time. Most impressively, the photographer can record faces of common friends, family members or colleagues in the camera's built-in memory. Stored faces can be given a 1 to 3 star rating, allowing the individuals you deem most important to be given the maximum priority when they're detected in an image. You can also store a 'zero star' rating, which tells the camera to ignore a specific individual if they're detected in the picture.

Casio's face recognition was rather less accurate than I'm used to, however. It's a shame given the higher degree of control on offer, but frequently I found the camera had difficulty tracking moving faces, with the face detection box meandering around somewhere near the face rather than over it. The 'Family First' functionality did seem to work reasonably well once faces were properly detected, though, and the Casio V8 does indicate the priority of faces in a scene by varying the color of the face detection box, giving you a visual cue as to which individuals will most likely be best captured in the scene. Nifty as it is, though, it seems like a lot to learn and adjust, and is likely beyond the needs and interest of most users.

One other particularly noteworthy feature is the Casio EX-V8's movie mode. Available resolutions range up to an unusually high maximum of 848 x 480 (30fps, 16:9 aspect ratio, two compression levels), plus more ordinary 640 x 480 (30fps, 4:3 aspect ratio, three compression levels), and 320 x 240 (15fps, 4:3 aspect ratio, fixed compression level) settings. In all cases, sound is recorded in stereo -- something that's still pretty uncommon among the movie modes found in most current digital cameras. Even more importantly, the Casio V8 records its movies in the H.264/AVC (also known as MPEG-4) file format, which yields much better compression levels than the Motion JPEG movie clips produced by most digital cameras, assuming equivalent movie dimensions, frame rate, and compression quality. As mentioned previously, a range of 'Best Shot' scene modes are available when recording movies, including the useful ability to have several seconds of video pre-recorded before the shutter button is pressed.

Storage and battery. The Casio EXILIM EX-V8 accepts Secure Digital cards (as well as SDHC, MMC, and MMCplus types), but none of the above are included in the product bundle. Instead, the V8 has a paltry 11.8MB of internal memory, which holds only two large/fine JPEGs or 13 seconds of the highest-resolution / lowest compression movies. Not very generous, but at least Casio opted for built-in memory, which can never be left at home, and might save you in a pinch if you leave your flash card at home). If you're purchasing the V8, you'll want to pick up a largecapacity SDHC memory card right away. Regular SD cards will also do fine in a pinch, but you'll miss out on the speed and capacity available in the latest SDHC cards.

The Casio EXV8 uses a proprietary, rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, and comes with a single battery that charges in-camera when placed in the included USB cradle. Casio rates a fully-charged battery as good for about 240 exposures or 100 minutes of movie recording.

Shooting. Overall, I found the Casio EXILIMEX-V8 to be a fairly versatile camera, albeit with some issues withlens distortions / aberrations and image noise, as well as an occasionallyquirky user interface as previously discussed.

Shutter lag is blazingly fast for a point-and-shoot digital camera, although tester Rob noted that shutter lag didn't seem to improve in manual focus mode, with shutter lag figures using manual focus being roughly similar to the wide-angle autofocus shutter lag. Download speeds were extremely good using the bundled USB cradle, although it is unfortunate that the camera can't be directly connected to a PC without the cradle. (You also can't charge the battery or use the video output without the cradle, meaning it's an extra item you'll need to pack when traveling).

Overall, the Casio EXILIM V8 is a fairly straightforward camera to use once you learn its interface quirks. Experienced photographers unfamiliar with the camera may take a little time to find the settings they desire, but will quickly learn everything without need to resort to the manual. Complete beginners may initially find the learning curve just a little steeper than some of Casio's competitors though, and we'd really like to see the company invest a little more time and money into cleaning the rough edges from its interface, and improving the user manual.

Noise suppression. Though building detail is rendered reasonably well, tree detail is fuzzy thanks to noise suppression, which you can also see stealing detail from the finer brick patterns.

Image quality. The Casio V8's image quality is a bit of a mixed bag, with good performance in some areas but issues in others. The problems mostly relate to the compromises required to fit a fairly powerful zoom lens in a pocket-friendly body, and to cram a moderately high resolution into a relatively small sensor. The Casio EX-V8 yields fairly good detail when the camera's noise suppression doesn't obscure it. Exposure and white balance can be rather inconsistent, though. Distortion, aberrations, and softness in the corners are also fairly noticeable in the Casio V8's images, although the severity does vary across the zoom range.

The Casio EX-V8 capturesa fair amount of detail for an eight megapixel camera, although its noisesuppression algorithms do tend to blur details in lower-contrast areas ofimages. It's not a show-stopper by any means, but does occur even at the V8'slower ISO sensitivity settings. In our lab tests, theExilim V8's 8.1-megapixel CCD sensor captured sharp, distinct line patternsdown to only about 1,200 lines per picture heightboth horizontally and vertically. Extinction occurred around1,700 lines per picture height.

The Casio EX-V8's lens is prone to both barrel and pincushion distortion to excess, with 0.9% barrel distortion at wide angle and 0.6% pincushion distortion at telephoto.

Shooting outdoors at its default settings, the Casio V8 tended to produce very contrasty images, with blown highlights and little detail in the shadows. Using the camera's low contrast setting helps alleviate this issue, with the camera retaining more shadow detail (albeit somewhat noisily), and a touch more highlight detail is retained as well.

Exposure metering was fair overall. While many shots did require positive exposure compensation for the optimal exposure, this was generally on the order of just a 1/3 EV boost (Casio perhaps having opted for a cautious approach with respect to blown highlights, particularly given the camera's rather high default contrast).

Appraisal. Aside from a few quirks as outlined in this review, I think most users will be satisfied with the Casio V8. It offers fair image quality, good resolution and a zoom lens that's far more powerful than those in most pocket-friendly digital cameras. Default contrast is high and bright highlights too easily blown. The Casio V8's main Achilles heels are the distortion and aberrations exhibited by its lens, and its high ISO noise levels / sometimes overzealous noise suppression. In use, the Casio V8's speed can satisfy and frustrate in almost the same breath. Shutter lag is impressively brief for a point and shoot camera, but shot-to-shot speed is sub-par. A profusion of preset shooting modes help beginners capture photos as desired without the need to understand the subtler nuances of photography, while experienced photographers can shoot manually for the ultimate in control. An unusually capable movie mode is probably the Casio EX-V8's standout feature, while the combination of a relatively powerful 7x zoom lens and CCD shift image stabilization will help users to get far closer to the action than your average digicam.

Casio Zoomer User

I popped the little Casio EX-Z1000 in its dock to charge the battery and flipped through the manual to find out how to use all these cool features. But the manual didn't know. Too bad Casio ships such a basic guide with a camera this capable. To find out how to tap into its secrets, download the 266-page PDF manual from the Casio site (http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_manual/qv/en/EXZ1000_e.pdf).

But you don't buy a digicam to read a book. You buy it to take pictures. So off I went, with a charged battery to Opera in the Park, San Francisco's annual picnic of passionate arias, dazzling divas, bone-shaking baritones, and orchestra members wearing strange head gear. The weather was overcast for much of the event and we sat way back on the hill overlooking the large crowd.

After the concert, I wandered over to the Dahlia garden, which was in full bloom. By the time I got there, the sun had broken through the fog, too. I switched from a 3MB image size to the full 10MB size (4.3MB compressed 1:6 on disk) and later I was glad I did. At the time I was just thinking of grabbing some colorful test shots, but it turned out these test shots were printed at poster size for my review of Tabblo (http://www.tabblo.com) and the high resolution image was much appreciated as I scaled individual shots on the poster templates.

Taking very close-up shots is one of the surprising joys of digital photography and I always shoot a healthy selection of macro shots when I have a camera to test. I had a little trouble focusing on my tomatoes but was surprised at the excellent results I got shooting through a 10x loupe for the Tabblo review. That was a crazy idea for a shot but the Casio EX-Z1000 pulled it off.

Macro

That's Anti Shake in action, I suppose. It provided sharp shots as slow as 1/15 second but it really preferred to boost ISO so the shutter wasn't that slow very often. That's a bit different from shooting sharp shots at 1/5 second, as you can with image stabilization.

The Best Shot or Scene modes on the Casio EX-Z1000 were the last thing I played with. Usually I think of them as gimmicks intended to reassure inexperienced photographers at the store counter; yet they go unused in the field. But Casio has some very cool tricks up its sleeve.

Business Card

Another simple but helpful example is the ID Photo Scene. The monitor displays a top headline and a chin line about a third of the way down the shot with an oval boundary between them for the face. No big deal, but when you shoot the image, it isn't saved until you position it within the targets using the arrow keys and resize it with the zoom lever. Press Set to save it as a 5 megapixel, 2560x1920 image. Very clever.

Copying old photos is another bane of the digital photographer, who usually relegates the task to their scanner. But the Casio EX-Z1000 has some copying efficiencies built into its Old Photo mode. First, it will find the border of the old photo, so you don't need to crop tightly yourself. That also means you can shoot at an angle. The Casio EX-Z1000 will straighten things out just like it does for a Business Shot. But it will also try to color correct the image, assuming it's faded. That mode also grabs a 2 megapixel, 1600x1200 image.

Conclusion

It was easy to make friends with the Casio EX-Z1000. Auto mode with its 16:9 aspect ratio made composing shots fun. The quick startup and shutdown made it convenient to use, never worrying about missing a shot because it would take too long to turn on the camera. The Casio EX-Z1000's 3x zoom was a disappointment, if only because we've been playing with longer zooms lately. But the digital zoom does compensate for that, relying on the 10 megapixel sensor to deliver enough resolution without degrading image quality.

Even with the larger sensor real estate to populate with 10 megapixel of sensor sites, the Casio EX-Z1000 did capture noisy images. But the noise resembled film grain rather than the colorless confusion of some high ISO sensors. Turn off Anti Shake if it bothers you.

In all the categories that matter, the Casio EX-Z1000 scored well. And where it didn't score well, there are convenient workarounds. Those are the kind of tradeoffs we like to see in a digicam. This is a very well-designed, capable camera, certainly worthy of a Dave's Pick.

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Casio EX-V8 Overview

by Michael R. Tomkins
Review Date: 05/12/08

In January 2007, Casio launched the EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-V7, said to be theworld's slimmest 7x zoom digital camera. Just 25mm thick, the EX-V7 crammedin a seven megapixel CCD image sensor mounted on a moving platter so as toprovide for CCD-shift type mechanical image stabilization function. Just sevenmonths later, Casio replaced the V7 with the very closely related Casio EXILIMV8. A minor update with a slightly higher resolution sensor and a couple ofother slight tweaks, the Casio V8 also came in nearly20% cheaper than its predecessor.

The other main change Casio made between its V7 and V8 models was to reposition the flash strobe, now located behind a small, clear window in the sliding lens barrier. This allows a bit more distance between the flash and the lens, designed to reduce the effect of red-eye in photos. One other adjustment is the addition of a trim piece with a low lip on it that serves to give fingers purchase when opening the lens barrier. As with its elder sibling, the Casio EX-V8 includes an unusually capable 30 frames-per-second movie mode that reaches a maximum of 848 x 480 pixels with stereo sound. Casio chose to use the H.264 (also known as MPEG-4 Part 10) compression format, which offers good video quality at substantially lower bit rates than other codecs. Usefully, given the above-average movie capabilities, a silent lens motor enables optical zooming while recording.

The 7x optical zoom lens offers a 35mm equivalent zoomrange of 38-266mm; not particularly generous at the wide-angle, but morepowerful than most such compact cameras can offer at telephoto. The CasioEXILIM V8 offers quite a selection of 'best shot' scene modes,helping beginners in a variety of situations such as Autumn Leaves, SoftFlowing Water, Fireworks, and Underwater. Business users will appreciateCasio's inclusion of Whiteboard, Business Card / Document, and ID Photo modes.More experienced photographers will be pleased to find both aperture- andshutter-priority modes, as well as a fully manual mode.

Of course, as with just about every digicam these days, the Casio EX-V8 includes face detection technology; however, Casio's implementation is rather more feature-rich than most. Family members can be 'recorded' in the camera's memory, and even given a priority rating. The Casio V8 can then identify those recorded individuals in a scene and give them higher priority when deciding on auto-focus and auto-exposure variables.

Priced at suggested price of $330, the Casio EXILIM EX-V8 packs a lot of features into a very pocket-friendly body. If you're seeking a camera that will accompany you most anywhere you go -- perhaps as a complement to your digital SLR -- and still want a fair degree of control over exposure variables, the Casio V8 is worth a closer look.

Casio EX-V8 User Report

by Michael Tomkins

Likethe EX-V7 model it replacedthe Casio V8 boasts a slim yet solid body, which somehowcrams in a fairly powerful 7x optical zoom lens. Images are capturedby an 8.1-megapixel CCD image sensor, and Casio has included awide range of exposure modesand shooting options aimed at both business and personal use.

Available only in silver and weighing in at 6.3 ounces (179 grams) with battery and memory card, the Casio V8 measures 3.8 x 2.4 x 1.0 inches (96 x 60 x 26 millimeters). The EXILIM V8 is a camera that will accompany you anywhere, easily slipped into a pants pocket ready for that surprise photo opportunity. While it would also fit in many shirt pockets, I'd personally find it too weighty to be comfortable there. A sliding lens barrier on the Casio V8's front panel is more solid than the flimsy aperture-style lens barriers found on many digicams. The finish does seem to show fine scuff-marks rather easily, and so a light /soft case of some kind is still a good idea.

Lookand feel. The Casio Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V8 has a pocket-friendly, relatively compact body that's mostly free from protrusions, save for a slight lip on the end of its sliding lens barrier. Shooting one-handed with the Casio V8 was a breeze, with two-handed shooting only necessary for slower shutter speeds; although given the camera's heft you do have to pay attention to get your horizons level shooting single-handed, since my fingers found relatively little purchase on the smooth panels. If you aim for the two-handed approach, you have to be careful where you place your left hand, because it is fairly easy to block the lens as it is so close to the corner of the camera. There's also a small LED directly underneath the lens which acts as the AF assist light, which is also easy to block.

The Casio V8 features a 7x optical zoom lens which is entirely internal to the camera, saving a little power-up time, since there's no need to extend the lens. The lens is equivalent to a 38-266mm zoom on a 35mm camera, more generous than you'll find on most point-and-shoot digital cameras, but tight at wide angle. The Casio V8's all-glass lens is of good quality but does show some traits that indicate the compromises required to make a very compact, relatively long-zoom lens. Importantly for a camera with such a comparatively long telephoto, the Casio Hi-Zoom V8 also offers true mechanical image stabilization, with the CCD sensor being mounted on a platter to combat camera shake. This is part of a multi-pronged approach to fighting blur, with the V8 also analyzing motion and boosting the ISO sensitivity / shutter speed as required to freeze action and camera movement. The Casio V8 also employs software de-blurring of both still images and movies.

In addition to the 7x optical zoom, the Casio V8 offers a maximum of 4x digital zoom which enlarges the center of the image using interpolation, with the usual loss in image quality. Digital zoom shots lose significant detail and resolution, appearing soft and sometimes rather pixelated. At lower resolutions, the image is first gradually cropped before the digital zoom kicks in, so for example at VGA resolution you can achieve a simulated 35.1x zoom without degrading the image quality; although the exact same effect could be achieved by cropping the image in a PC after the fact.

Casio Zoomer Battery Replacement

The Casio EXILIM V8's controls are laid out simply and fairly logically. There's only one dial, one slider, a four-way pad with central 'Set' button, and three other buttons on the camera's body, with all but the shutter button located on the rear panel to the right of the LCD display. The buttons all have a good feel to them and they're all easy to reach. The zoom slider is easy to find without taking your attention off the LCD display, and is pretty responsive. I did find that it occasionally paused for a moment when zooming in and out repeatedly.

The display itself was easy to see in sunlight, and rather usefully can be set to control its three-step brightness adjustment automatically based on ambient lighting conditions. There are two such Auto settings available: one tweaked to be more aggressive in changing the LCD brightness as ambient lighting changes, while the other waits a little longer before deciding the ambient lighting conditions have changed enough to require an adjustment. Which you'll use ends up depending on the lighting conditions, and if you prefer, it is possible to set the brightness manually as well. I found that images tended to look rather flat on the LCD display (especially under bright sunlight), to where I almost deleted some shots while in the field, fearing them to have to have too little contrast for a useful picture - only to find that in my PC, the same images were borderline or even perfectly usable.

One other feature of the Casio V8's LCD display proved handy when shooting single-handed. As mentioned previously, I found that the camera wanted to 'droop' in my right hand somewhat, leading to crooked horizons. Through the menu system you can enable a grid overlay on the LCD, making it easier to keep your images squared up nicely. The Casio V8's histogram function is also a help on shots where you're not sure of the exposure. Available in both Playback and Record modes via a couple of presses of the Display button, it provides a hint as to under- or over-exposure, and displays not just luminance but also separate red, green, and blue levels. Also accessed via the display button in both Record and Playback modes are the 'detailed info' and 'minimal info' display overlays you'll find on many digital cameras these days.

Mode Dial. Odd icons include a four-leaf clover icon to represent the 'Snapshot' mode.

Interface. As previously mentioned, the Casio V8's user interface is fairly clean and intuitive. I do question Casio's decision on names and icons for a couple of the modes on the control dial, though. If you're anything like me when handed a new camera, you'll tend to seek out and stick with the Program mode to allow access to controls you occasionally need to use, dipping into the Aperture, Shutter, and Manual modes occasionally as needed. Place a V8 in your hands, though, and you'll find that while the oh-so-useful 'A / S / M' modes are on offer, there's no 'P' on the control dial. In its place is 'Snapshot' mode, which sounds less authoritative and to the unfamiliar suggests to me that the camera will be set up with lesser image quality to favor speed or file size, or perhaps in a 'Dummies' mode for simplicity. In actual fact, Snapshot mode is basically the same thing as Program mode on any other digital camera.

The 'Snapshot' mode is also indicated with a red frame icon on the Mode dial, and the Easy mode is indicated with a black 'clover leaf' icon. Pretty much anyone who's just been handed an unfamiliar camera to take a picture is going to fall back to any experience they have with other cameras, and 'Simple,' 'Easy,' 'Auto,' name it what you like but such modes are almost always indicated with a green frame icon. The choice of a clover leaf is not intuitive (nor necessarily recognizable to all cultures), and many users are going to either have to pull out the manual or switch to the mode and try it out before they understand what it's for. The color choices also seem a little odd given that Red is generally associated with 'bad', Green with 'Good', and - well, clover leaves are green, not black, which we don't tend to associate with anything specific as a camera icon. The decision to buck the trend on some of the more common design features on a digicam (and in the case of 'Easy' mode, one which should be as approachable as possible for the beginner) seems odd. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to this since I handle so many different cameras, making me more sensitive to designs that don't follow the crowd.

The Casio EX-V8's menu layout is simple, but in one place rather illogical. Exposicion playmobil casino murcia. A press of the Menu button calls up a tabbed menu interface. In Record mode, you'll find 'REC' and 'Quality' tabs, while Playback mode has a 'PLAY' tab. Both modes also offer one common tab, the self-explanatory 'Set Up.' The placement of menu options in the 'Quality' tab seems to have been achieved by lottery, however. Half the options in the 'Quality' tab seem to relate only very obliquely to what one might consider to be image quality settings. Most users aren't going to expect to find White Balance, ISO Sensitivity, or special effects Color Filters under the 'Quality' tab.

Casio's Face Recognition technology in theEXILIM EX-V8 is unusually sophisticated in that it lets you recordand recognize the faces of specific individuals, and prioritize (oreven ignore) these people as you desire. While I found detection tobe a little less accurate than some of the latest face recognitionfunctions from rivals, I did find the function fairly easy to use andunderstand, particularly in the way the V8 can indicate the priorityof detected faces by changing the color of the face recognition boxaround each face. I also felt Casio's inclusion of a setting that allowsthe user to prioritize face detection for quantity (up to ten faces)or speed (faster detection but limited to only five faces) was sensible,given that some families will seldom need to recognize as many as tenfaces in a scene, and these individuals will appreciate the snappierdetection found when limiting detection to just five faces.

One last point worthy of note is that Casio's user manual is among the less useful we've seen lately. There's no index -- just a table of contents -- and in many areas Casio has either skimmed over subjects very briefly where further detail would have been greatly helpful, or simply skipped features altogether. For example, nowhere does the Manual even list half of the available Best Shot scene modes, let alone tell you what they do. I wasn't alone in noting this: back in the Imaging Resource lab, camera tester Rob likewise singled out the manual for criticism.

Modes. The Mode dial controls the Casio EXILIM EX-V8's shooting mode only. Mode dial positions include 'Best Shot' scene modes for both stills and movies, a Movie mode, an 'Easy' mode that keeps most variables under the camera's control, plus a Snapshot mode that's the equivalent of Program mode on most digicams, and a selection of Aperture- and Shutter-priority plus a fully manual mode. Images and movies can be reviewed by pressing the 'Play' button, and a half-press of the shutter button will return you swiftly to Record mode, ready to take advantage of an unexpected photo opportunity.

Casio's vast selection of 'Best Shot' modes (what would be known as 'Scene' modes on most digital cameras) aim to make the camera more approachable to beginners. Unusually, the Casio V8 also offers a selection of 'Best Shot' modes for movies as well. Some of the modes are very general and will be of use to most anyone; others are fairly specialized for specific business or personal photography uses. When browsing available 'Best Shot' modes, an example picture is given for each, along with a brief description of the settings used to create the required effect, and any requirements of the photographer. For example, Night Scene mode shows a thumbnail image of Hong Kong's picturesque harbor and city lights at night, alongside the description of the settings used ('Slow shutter speed' and 'Infinity focus'), and a direction to 'Keep the camera still.' Good thing, too, because the frankly rather disorganized manual that accompanies Casio's V8 EXILIM doesn't even mention half the 'Best Shot' modes, let alone detail exactly what they do! (The screen does mention what these modes do, however, so maybe they just didn't expect buyers to read the manual.)

Businesses will find utility in the 'ID Photo' (which adds a framing guideline for your subject), 'Text' (macro mode with boosted contrast and sharpness), and 'Business Cards and Documents' modes. This latter mode is similar to text mode, but without the macro setting, and with the ability to correct for keystoning (converging of lines in an image that should be parallel). This might be the case when shooting an image of a whiteboard or presentation slide from an angle. The keystoning correction is performed automatically, with the camera only prompting you to select from the two possible keystone corrections deemed most appropriate by the camera's firmware.

Wide. The Casio V8's 38mm equivalent isn't quite wide enough.

Tele. 266mm does get you right in on what you want to capture, though.

Special Features. For me, the Casio EXILIM V8's standout feature has to be its 7x optical zoom lens (and by association, its CCD shift-type image stabilization). One simply cannot overstate the convenience of taking a relatively compact camera from your pocket to quickly zoom in to capture an image that fills the screen with a distant subject. The inclusion of true mechanical image stabilization goes a long way toward making the strength of the telephoto even more useful, at the very least lessening the likelihood of camera shake affecting your photos. I do wish there were a little more reach at the wide-angle end of the lens, though. Being constrained to a maximum of just a 38mm-equivalent wide angle is rather limiting.

Casio's implementation of Face Recognition in the EXILIM EX-V8 is based around the 'Face Sensing Engine' developed by Japan's Oki Group, and the feature set is more advanced than that offered in many digital cameras. The photographer can opt to prioritize face detection to either detect up to ten faces when quantity is most important, or to improve detection speed but recognize only five faces at a time. Most impressively, the photographer can record faces of common friends, family members or colleagues in the camera's built-in memory. Stored faces can be given a 1 to 3 star rating, allowing the individuals you deem most important to be given the maximum priority when they're detected in an image. You can also store a 'zero star' rating, which tells the camera to ignore a specific individual if they're detected in the picture.

Casio's face recognition was rather less accurate than I'm used to, however. It's a shame given the higher degree of control on offer, but frequently I found the camera had difficulty tracking moving faces, with the face detection box meandering around somewhere near the face rather than over it. The 'Family First' functionality did seem to work reasonably well once faces were properly detected, though, and the Casio V8 does indicate the priority of faces in a scene by varying the color of the face detection box, giving you a visual cue as to which individuals will most likely be best captured in the scene. Nifty as it is, though, it seems like a lot to learn and adjust, and is likely beyond the needs and interest of most users.

One other particularly noteworthy feature is the Casio EX-V8's movie mode. Available resolutions range up to an unusually high maximum of 848 x 480 (30fps, 16:9 aspect ratio, two compression levels), plus more ordinary 640 x 480 (30fps, 4:3 aspect ratio, three compression levels), and 320 x 240 (15fps, 4:3 aspect ratio, fixed compression level) settings. In all cases, sound is recorded in stereo -- something that's still pretty uncommon among the movie modes found in most current digital cameras. Even more importantly, the Casio V8 records its movies in the H.264/AVC (also known as MPEG-4) file format, which yields much better compression levels than the Motion JPEG movie clips produced by most digital cameras, assuming equivalent movie dimensions, frame rate, and compression quality. As mentioned previously, a range of 'Best Shot' scene modes are available when recording movies, including the useful ability to have several seconds of video pre-recorded before the shutter button is pressed.

Storage and battery. The Casio EXILIM EX-V8 accepts Secure Digital cards (as well as SDHC, MMC, and MMCplus types), but none of the above are included in the product bundle. Instead, the V8 has a paltry 11.8MB of internal memory, which holds only two large/fine JPEGs or 13 seconds of the highest-resolution / lowest compression movies. Not very generous, but at least Casio opted for built-in memory, which can never be left at home, and might save you in a pinch if you leave your flash card at home). If you're purchasing the V8, you'll want to pick up a largecapacity SDHC memory card right away. Regular SD cards will also do fine in a pinch, but you'll miss out on the speed and capacity available in the latest SDHC cards.

The Casio EXV8 uses a proprietary, rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, and comes with a single battery that charges in-camera when placed in the included USB cradle. Casio rates a fully-charged battery as good for about 240 exposures or 100 minutes of movie recording.

Shooting. Overall, I found the Casio EXILIMEX-V8 to be a fairly versatile camera, albeit with some issues withlens distortions / aberrations and image noise, as well as an occasionallyquirky user interface as previously discussed.

Shutter lag is blazingly fast for a point-and-shoot digital camera, although tester Rob noted that shutter lag didn't seem to improve in manual focus mode, with shutter lag figures using manual focus being roughly similar to the wide-angle autofocus shutter lag. Download speeds were extremely good using the bundled USB cradle, although it is unfortunate that the camera can't be directly connected to a PC without the cradle. (You also can't charge the battery or use the video output without the cradle, meaning it's an extra item you'll need to pack when traveling).

Overall, the Casio EXILIM V8 is a fairly straightforward camera to use once you learn its interface quirks. Experienced photographers unfamiliar with the camera may take a little time to find the settings they desire, but will quickly learn everything without need to resort to the manual. Complete beginners may initially find the learning curve just a little steeper than some of Casio's competitors though, and we'd really like to see the company invest a little more time and money into cleaning the rough edges from its interface, and improving the user manual.

Noise suppression. Though building detail is rendered reasonably well, tree detail is fuzzy thanks to noise suppression, which you can also see stealing detail from the finer brick patterns.

Image quality. The Casio V8's image quality is a bit of a mixed bag, with good performance in some areas but issues in others. The problems mostly relate to the compromises required to fit a fairly powerful zoom lens in a pocket-friendly body, and to cram a moderately high resolution into a relatively small sensor. The Casio EX-V8 yields fairly good detail when the camera's noise suppression doesn't obscure it. Exposure and white balance can be rather inconsistent, though. Distortion, aberrations, and softness in the corners are also fairly noticeable in the Casio V8's images, although the severity does vary across the zoom range.

The Casio EX-V8 capturesa fair amount of detail for an eight megapixel camera, although its noisesuppression algorithms do tend to blur details in lower-contrast areas ofimages. It's not a show-stopper by any means, but does occur even at the V8'slower ISO sensitivity settings. In our lab tests, theExilim V8's 8.1-megapixel CCD sensor captured sharp, distinct line patternsdown to only about 1,200 lines per picture heightboth horizontally and vertically. Extinction occurred around1,700 lines per picture height.

The Casio EX-V8's lens is prone to both barrel and pincushion distortion to excess, with 0.9% barrel distortion at wide angle and 0.6% pincushion distortion at telephoto.

Shooting outdoors at its default settings, the Casio V8 tended to produce very contrasty images, with blown highlights and little detail in the shadows. Using the camera's low contrast setting helps alleviate this issue, with the camera retaining more shadow detail (albeit somewhat noisily), and a touch more highlight detail is retained as well.

Exposure metering was fair overall. While many shots did require positive exposure compensation for the optimal exposure, this was generally on the order of just a 1/3 EV boost (Casio perhaps having opted for a cautious approach with respect to blown highlights, particularly given the camera's rather high default contrast).

Appraisal. Aside from a few quirks as outlined in this review, I think most users will be satisfied with the Casio V8. It offers fair image quality, good resolution and a zoom lens that's far more powerful than those in most pocket-friendly digital cameras. Default contrast is high and bright highlights too easily blown. The Casio V8's main Achilles heels are the distortion and aberrations exhibited by its lens, and its high ISO noise levels / sometimes overzealous noise suppression. In use, the Casio V8's speed can satisfy and frustrate in almost the same breath. Shutter lag is impressively brief for a point and shoot camera, but shot-to-shot speed is sub-par. A profusion of preset shooting modes help beginners capture photos as desired without the need to understand the subtler nuances of photography, while experienced photographers can shoot manually for the ultimate in control. An unusually capable movie mode is probably the Casio EX-V8's standout feature, while the combination of a relatively powerful 7x zoom lens and CCD shift image stabilization will help users to get far closer to the action than your average digicam.

Casio Zoomer User

Casio EX-V8 Basic Features

• 8.1-megapixel CCD (effective) delivers image resolutionsas high as 3,264 x 2,448.
• 7x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 38-266mm.
• As much as 4x digital zoom.
• 2.5-inch HyperCrystal LCD with three-step automaticor manual brightness adjustment.
• Auto, Program, Aperture- and Shutter-priority AEexposure modes plus a fully Manual mode.
• Shutter speeds from 1/800 to sixty seconds, dependingon mode.
• Maximum aperture ranges from f/3.4 - f/4.6, dependingon zoom position.
• EXILIM Engine 2.0 image processor.
• Built-in flash with five modes.
• Secure Digital memory slot (also compatible withSDHC, MMC and MMCplus).
• 11.8MB internal memory.
• Power from custom lithium-ion rechargeable battery, included with charger.
• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection and cable.
• A/V cable for connection to television set.
• PictBridge and USB Direct-Print compatible.

Casio EX-V8 Special Features

• CCD Shift type Image Stabilization.
• 33 preset still image 'Best Shot' scene modes.
• 10 preset movie 'Best Shot' scene modes.
• Unusually capable 848:480 pixel H.264/AVC (MPEG-4)movie mode with stereo sound
• Voice recording mode.
• Face Detection technology with 'Family First' modeand ability to prioritize speed or number of faces.
• Adjustable AF mode with three settings includingTracking AF, plus an AF Assist lamp.
• Macro, Infinity, and Manual focus modes.
• Three metering modes.
• Adjustable ISO from 50 to 800 equivalents, plus anAuto setting.
• 'High Sensitivity' Best Shot mode boosts ISO to 1,600max.
• Adjustable white balance with six settings and manualmode.
• On-screen Grid display helps precision framing.

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity SDHC memory card. 2 to 4GB is generally sufficient, better for large outings.
• Spare battery pack

Casio EX-V8 Conclusion

For a relatively affordable pricetag, Casio offers a pocket-friendly camera with a useful 7x optical zoom, true mechanical image stabilization, a high-resolution 8.1-megapixel CCD, and an almost bewildering range of options aimed at both business and casual use. The 2.5-inch color LCD display can automatically adjust its brightness for your surroundings, and the svelte body means you won't have to miss the shot because you didn't want to lug a bulky camera around. The Casio EX-V8 offers approachability for novices, along with many of the more advanced controls more experienced photographers will crave. 'Wow' features include a face detection system that can be taught to recognize and prioritize your friends and family members, an 848 x 480 pixel movie mode with stereo sound, and even a preset that tailors movies specifically for the popular YouTube website. Image quality is lacking, unfortunately, with very little detail thanks to softness from noise suppression even at the lowest ISO setting.

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