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| Casio EX-Z40 Digital Camera Review |
Digital Camera Review by: Michael Gazzola
The Exilim Zoom EX-Z40 is the first of many Casio cameras I will be reviewing over the next few months. The packaging for the EX-Z40 is a clean minimalist matt black finish with a small amount of gloss graphic work, giving the buyer the impression Casio has spent a fair amount of time, effort and money in redeveloping the Casio brand on all levels. All the usual manuals and CDs accompany the camera, with unfriendly 'drivers' for your PC that load easily. The software too is more than satisfactory for both viewing and basic editing.
The desktop cradle doubles as a charger and a USB connection, which is quite small and also very easy to use. Once the cradle is activated, at the push of a button your images can be set to automatically upload to your PC quickly and easily. The software allows you to scroll through the images as thumbnails according to the month in which they were shot. The camera automatically records when a shot was taken, and does not put the old fashioned 'date-print' on the image, if you don't want it.
The LCD screen is a large 2-inch size - which will prove to be a real winner with many first time buyers. The LCD is bright and has a very easy to use navigation system. There are more options than most will ever need, although just using the 'auto' setting produced images that were outstanding for its class between 64-200 ISO.
I found only two minor 'cons' with this camera, which is the 400 ISO setting has a little too much noise more noticeable in darker conditions, and that the viewfinder being a little too small at just 8mm. These are only small gripes and should be put aside when you consider the large number of 'pros', and that the EX-Z40 can comfortably fit into your shirt pocket without being noticed. Overall I was very impressed with the image quality, which is the single most important feature on any camera and the almost simultaneous capture of an image when the button is pressed - mimicking that of a 35mm compact. If you're in the market for a 4-mega-pixel camera the EX-Z40 is worth considering.
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The use of two buttons on the back of the camera for easily switching from camera mode to capture mode makes shooting a breeze. Deleting unwanted images is also quick, which can, with other brands become a task.
