Casio Exilim EX-Z1080

Opinion: A really nice addition to the Exilim family. The image quality is top notch. Nice and smooth with little grain or blotchy water color effects. Not great, but definately up there. Colors are natural, as are skin tones as well. No excess saturation or contrast. I haven't had to make any adjustments at all in those three areas. High ISO snapshots are quite good, even up to 1600. The menu layout is fast and easy. A nice big, bright LCD screen. The really good thing about it is that you can basically use it in full auto mode and get surprisingly good results. I've never been able to do that before with any camera... My only but small nit pick is that you can't get close enough in macro mode. And there is no manual control except for a small EV adjustment, -2 to +2. I haven't tried the video portion yet so no comment on that.
It's seems to be built very well. It's small but has some weight. All in all, this is a really impressive little camera.

Opinion: I recently purchased. Its worth for what I paid for.
http://www.kishorkhanal.com/

Opinion: I have done a lot of comparing between different brands and models of P&S cameras and I find the Casio EX-Z1080 to be the one that stands out in both still photography and video capability. I got it for about a week now and have been testing it in different light situations and activities and so far has exceeded my expectations. In my opinion, this is the best Casio camera that can match the picture quality of the Canon G9 and Sony T200 without the red eye problem. It has face recognition and tracking focusing system which makes it superior in producing sharp and crisp pictures. The color is vivid and natural-looking. Lots of features to help us produce professional -looking pictures. The ergonomics help in making our grasp more steady and image stabilization is also available in still and video photography but optical stabilization is left out, which still produces the same excellent result. The digital zoom goes up to 17.1 x which does not degrade as claimed by Casio but I don't know how to test at the moment. The video capability of this camera is outstanding. The motion is not jerky and approximates if not equals a regular standard video camera without another camera to carry around when you go on a trip. The battery carries a remarkable charge which should suffice in a day's trip. The You Tube capability is always there in case I need it and nice to have it. All and all, I am very happy to have this camera and I hope the durability of the camera will endure its regular use and wear and tear for years to come.

Opinion: I have been a pro photographer since 1971. I own 12 cameras such as Hasselblad,
Rollei 6001, Mamiya 6x7, Nikon, Canon, Sigma SD14 digital, Casio S600 digital and
more. Let me say this about the Casio EX-Z1080, this lens is sharp! This lens
creates detail like a 2-1/4 film camera! And it is sharp in the corners, the farthest
part of the corner taking into consideration that the plane of focus is not totally
plano or straight but follows a slight arc; the plane of focus starts to come closer to
you at the corners.

I have an example picture that shows how sharp the corner sharpness is! Search
Dpreview for just "portfolio z1080" and you will find my photo examples.
Thus at 38mm (in 35mm terms) there is just a little curvature in field of focus.
There is no heavy barrel distortion with a test on a brick building. I am astounded
by the resolution and sharpness of this lens! And I think of Leica lenses when I
view the results at least at 38mm (equivalent in 35mm terms) At telephoto, it is still
sharp, even digital telephoto handheld! I still cannot believe that I got a sharp
photo handheld in a wind with maximum telephoto, which is 4x (optical) times 3x
(digital) = 12x magnification of 38mm which is about 450mm equivalent! But you
know, there is no shutter mirror to bounce and jerk the camera like there is in an
SLR!

The exposure decisions this camera makes simply duplicate my own decisions as a
professional. I can rely upon the AUTO decisions this camera makes. It likes 1/125
and higher speeds, but you can put it into the proper decision making mode for
about 40 different photo "scenes" or situations. There is no manual mode. But
manual mode is not necessary! The camera will go down to 1/2 second at f2.8
simply using the regular manual controls of ISO speed and auto exposure. This
equals a dark interior shot. To get longer exposures, you can simply use "flowing
water" or even better, "fireworks". "Fireworks" places the camera at 2 seconds at
f2.8. You can then change the ISO for a different speed or depth of field f stop
for use on a tripod. And you can use "city lights" to get a 1/5 to 2 second
exposure. And you can use "sports" mode to get predominately short shutter
speeds of 1/500th and shorter. The scene modes also select white balance and
focusing type "auto focus" or "infinity point". In short, if you want to put the
camera on a tripod and use ISO 80, you simply select "fireworks" or "city lights" or
"flowing water" and then you must change the pre-selected focus point which is
"infinity" for "fireworks" or "city lights" and select "auto focus" instead. This is a
work around for not having a manual speed control. Remember, you basically want
at least a 1/60th if the shot is handheld, and if it is 1/30th or longer, you need
steady support. if it is on a tripod or sitting on something, then you will be using
one of those three scene modes to drop the speed down especially when it is a
slower than 1/2 second speed. Doing dark interior shots of 1/4th second at ISO
400 didn't require me to use a scene mode, for example. The auto exposure
simply dialed the camera in and i took the shot at that exposure.

These scene modes are more intelligent than simply "shutter priority" or "aperture
priority". But the depth of field of this lens is so great (8mm
lens) that use of any f stop gives great depth of field and sharpness. At wide open
f2.8, this lens is tack sharp!

To say it all again: About the manual mode vs. "scenes modes". You don't have to
use "scenes" to photograph. The camera will give you high speed 1/600th or
higher down to 1/2 second in normal auto exposure mode without using scene
modes. Auto exposure seems to be 98% correct from experience. (see my gallery
of unaltered photos, search for gallery "timberwolfuppy" at pbase dot com) You
can modify the auto exposure using EV +- 2 stops or you can also change the ISO
7 stops which then changes the shutter speed; this is an indirect way of having a
manual mode shutter speed dial: just change the ISO, that gives you the speed you
want! To go to long exposures of 2 seconds, you simply use "fireworks" scene
mode. When you select a scene, the camera also adjusts the white balance and
focusing for that kind of scene. Of course, you can re-adjust it to something else.
And, you can create your own custom scene type. No, this is not complicated. In
about 198 pictures out of 200 in my gallery, I didn't use any scene modes. I just
used it for "city lights", a nightime shot 2 times. And it worked flawlessly. Go look
at my portfolio. At all other times, 98% of the time, I just let the camera operate on
"auto mode". Go look at my pictures.

This camera is one of the very few to use the large 1/1.75 sensors and this is one
reason I chose it. Only about 4% of the point and shoots on the market use these
larger sensors (1/1.7 or 1/1.75 or 1/1.8); and they create higher quality images
than 1/2.5 or 1/2.3 sized sensors. Only $400 point and shoot cameras have these
larger sensors normally. This fact places this $200 camera in the same class as the
Canon G9 in my opinion. The exposure results of the Casio EX-Z1080 are accurate
and usable. You can directly print the results to your screen. The examples I
posted on Dpreview have no manipulation done to them; Photoshop was not used.
If you wish to slightly adjust exposure, you can adjust exposure with EV, contrast,
dynamic range, and aturation controls and of course, you can chose another auto
scene".

I therefore see little degradation of the image at digital zoom, which is a cropping
of the original image, because the sensor is larger and this fact makes up for the
cropping loss. Hand held at 1/60 delivers
sharp blur-free photos; this is not so with any SLR I have ever used (mirror slap
creates blur for these SLRs, the Casio does not have a mirror to slap!)

For examples of my photos using the Casio EX-Z1080, do a search on Dpreview for
"portfolio z1080" and you will find them.

Oh yes, the z1080 video quality is better than the Z1200 model. The z1080 uses
25 fps; whereas the z1200 uses only 20 fps. At 25 fps you will have smooth
video. At only 20 fps, the z1200 specification, you will have jerky 1920's type
movies. The z1080 is better.
Remember this! The Z1080 does 848 pixel high quality wide video too.

The camera zooms while it records; however, its limitation is that this is digital
zooming while recording only. There is no optical zooming while recording. By the
way, you can be fooled by this because just before you hit the record button, the
camera gives both optical and digital zooms in movie mode. But when you start
recording, the optical zoom feature disappears but you do have digital zooming. I
suggest you use "sneaker zooming" more often than panning in telephoto mode,
you'll probably having a smoother result for your viewers.

Video is smooth at 25 fps with the Z1080. It records at 25 fps according to the
Casio manual. [I believe Dpreview has it listed wrongly at 30 fps.] Wide video at
848 pixels is just as smooth; and I can tell no difference in quality between wide
mode and regular sized video on this unit as far as quality. Know this: Hollywood
film pictures use 24 fps. So, the Casio Z1080 does 25 fps; even better than what
Hollywood uses!

It uses the new Mini USB 2 Socket to download picture files. This mini USB2 socket
is also used in MP3 players.

The small size allows me to be an opportunistic photographer. And muggers don't
even know I have it on me! It fits in my breast pocket securely in a cushioned
neoprene case which doesn't fall out. I forget I have it. The Australian neoprene
case I purchased on the big auction keeps the LCD from getting crunched. I found
this case on the big auction; look for a red, blue or black case.

Casio's controls are simple, and organized. Casio does with 3 buttons that the
Canon G6 does with 5 buttons.

The battery cover has a metal hinge secured to a outer plastic plate! This gives it
some toughness. The body has a solid feeling. It has the look of a machined
Leica. But hey, what you have inside this camera is a electronic board not 1,202
metal parts moving around like an older film camera! The gray Casio EX-Z1080 is
especially sophisticated in "color", and reminds me of the styling of a gunmetal gray
Porsche.

You can charge the battery with a USB charger that uses your computer USB port;
but the battery must always be removed from the camera and put into the USB
cradle. Of course, there is an AC charger for the big long lasting NP-40 battery too;
and again the battery must be removed from the camera to be charged. The
satellite USB charger is available from the big auction; search for "NP-40 USB
charger".

Colors at ISO 1600 and 3200 are vivid but natural and without exaggeration. Grain
or noise at these iso's is not objectionable and is largely only seen in underexposed
shadows at 4x6 or 5x7 enlargements. But wait, this camera "fills in" the shadows
so that they don't have to be underexposed!

There is a feature called "soft flash" which ever so slightly uses the flash to partly
fill-in the dark areas of a picture when it is taken in dim light using any ISO and
surprisingly ISO 1600, 3200. Softflash worked well for me in a dim bar at 5-10
feet. I could not test for a longer distance in this small, short bar! This softflash
extends, or supplements the camera's low light performance; and it reduces noise in
the shadows because they are ever so slightly filled-in by the tiny flash. You can
hardly notice that the shadows are being filled-in. And because it has the large
sensor, you will be bothered less by the noise seen at high ISO's like ISO 1600 or
3200.

During a "slide show" the Casio Z1080 plays music for you as you watch your
images pass by; it records music and voice too!

It focuses in the dimmest light because it is one of the few cameras to have a
"focus assist" light so that you can focus in a closed windowless room. It
illuminates the subject with a tiny orange light to help focus in dim light! But
remember, when you use this extra illumination the camera slightly slows the
response of the camera; it increases the lag time. It can be turned off. But hey, if
you didn't have it, you would be slowed down by using manual focus anyway! But
here is a caveat: This camera has such deep depth of field, such deep focus depth
that you really don't need to critically focus it anyway. You can be several feet off
the focus mark and it doesn't matter. It has an 8mm lens, that's why! Of course,
when you telephoto, you want to focus more accurately. Let me add that the lag
time is slightly longer than a 35mm camera without auto controls. So, because of
this, I do not recommend this camera to be using in Professional Wedding
photography for flash exposures! It should make a great natural light wedding
camera! But the extra lag time for flash and auto modes are just a little too long for
quick responses needed by a big time $$$ pro photographer at a fast moving event like
a wedding! It is a great camera for the natural light ceremony pictures though! It
is very, very quiet! The priest will love you for this quiet camera!

It is comfortable to hold, but it is so small! Always use the wrist strap for safety!

White balance will balance white-white or it will use whatever you throw at it--an off
white wall for example. It has contrast, saturation, sharpness, red-eye and crop
framing too!

I believe that this camera has a Canon lens. It's facial recognition mode is as good
as Canon's and then some. Get this: It will memorize the face of your best friend
or family, the Bride and Groom, whomever you choose; it will put it in its camera
memory, and then, this camera will focus on these memorized people FIRSTLY and
the other people secondarily in a group of people! But remember, the depth of
field, the range of sharpness, of this camera is so deep, that probably everyone will
be tack sharp anyway. I mean focusing is not critical in a camera which has an
8mm lens! This is not like your 35mm camera wherein you had to find an exact
focus! This camera makes everything sharp! And this camera has "continuous
focus" which continuously focuses the camera, even when you are not intending to
take a picture!

I still can't believe this camera cost me $200. Value for money is very high! I
spend $800 on an SLR lens with no camera!

This camera is speedy to turn on and operate, one button will make it operational in
about 1 second. The LCD is bright, direct sunlight to the LCD will not impair
viewing through it, even if you have sunglasses on while the sunlight is playing
directly on the LCD! The LCD is brighter than previous Casio models. In practice, I
shade the LCD; and I rarely take photos of people with the sun behind me anyway.
But you can buy a hood to shade the LCD as an accessory. The fact that it has
115,000 LCD pixtels rather than double this amount, as seen in the more expensive
cameras, is no handicap. Why? Because you can (1) see good detail, and (2) you
can zoom in to a subject to blow it up on the LCD screen to see more and more
detail, (3) you won't be manual focusing anyway, and lastly, (4) whether or not
you can see the detail in the LCD screen--the detail will be recorded by the lens
anyway.

My big important issues for buying it are as follows:

Only a fraction of the cameras out there have any one of the following and to find
it in one camera is welcome:

---> Big sensor 1/1.7 size NOT the tiny 1/2.5 or 1/2.3 size sensor;

---> 25 fps Video even in ultra high quality wide mode for smooth looking video.

---> Zooms (digital only in video mode) while video records;

---> 10 megapixels for resolution and manipulation;

---> Focus assist light for dim light focusing, "SoftFlash" is a bonus.

---> Bright easy to view LCD while using sunglasses in daylight;

I think this camera should be compared with other cameras at its price level only,
which is about $205 at BH Photo. It is not fair to compare it to a camera costing
$445 or $799 ($799 is the price of the new Sigma DP-1). At its price level,
it is superior to all those smaller sensor point and shoot cameras, those that have
1/2.3 or 1/2.5 size sensors. And if you will do some comparison and research, this
refers to about 94% of all the point and shoot cameras on the market.

If you buy a colorful Casio, such as blue, or pink, you will probably make people
smile immediately. Pulling out a big black SLR gun is serious business; and people
consider black a serious "color". A pink or blue Casio spells "fun time!" These are
the colors of a vacationer! So, I would consider the other available colors for their
emotional impact on your subject. The festive colored Casio may make them smile
without you having to count to "3"!

...Timber...