Review: Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1000 digital camera

Disproving the theory that the race for more megapixels has slowed is the Casio EX-Z1000, which crams 10 million of them into dimensions not much bigger than a credit card.

That’s the best resolution currently available for this class of camera, and it’s arguable whether most of us would ever need its full capacity, seeing as six megapixels will deliver poster prints.

So is the Casio Exilim Zoom Z1000’s specification anything more than an attention-grabber?

The metal and plastic camera is similar to the other compacts in the Casio Exilim range.

It boasts specifications of 3x optical zoom and 2.8in wide LCD screen with which to compose and review shots, plus long-lasting battery and a slot for SD or MMC memory cards – since neither is provided (just 8Mb internal capacity).

What you do get is a tidy USB-equipped docking station that acts as a means of transferring images to computer and a battery charger, for which leads are provided.

The camera powers up in two seconds, the lens barrel extending from the body while the screen kicks into life. The Z1000 feels lightweight in the palm, yet robust with battery and optional card inserted.

What few controls there are, are small; although placing the zoom lever around the shutter button makes for fluid operation of those most often used.

Key features, such as image quality and sharpness, plus 37 different scene modes are only found by pressing the menu or ‘Best Shot’ buttons and making on-screen selections. Thankfully the higher resolution (230k pixels) LCD is bright and clear.

Although there is occasionally noise – speckles similar to film grain – present in shadow areas of an image when not using fill-in flash, this Casio delivers even exposure and sharpness, with well-saturated colours lending a warm look.

Clarity was such that we were able to clearly read the text on a newspaper when zooming in, although we’re unconvinced the modest lens is capable of truly resolving every pixel claimed.

That said, you’ll need to budget for a high-capacity card (256Mb or above), as larger file sizes eat up memory.

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