Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z150

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By Leonard Goh
Jul 16, 2008

Casio is known for manufacturing a lot of things--pianos, calculators, watches and other trinkets. When the digital revolution started, digital cameras rolled out of its factories as well. Although its shooters were seldom mentioned in the same breath as those from the big boys, it has garnered pretty positive reviews so far.

The 8-megapixel Exilim Zoom EX-Z150 is claimed by the Japanese company to be the world's slimmest 28mm wide-angle snapper. Clad in five different shades, it is quite apparent the camera is targeted at the younger crowd. There are hardly any fancy features in this stylish shooter, but essentials such as image stabilizer and a nice 3-inch display are retained to give it more punch.

Upside

The Z150 comes with a 28mm wide-angle lens with 4x optical zoom.

Call us pampered, but after seeing what ultra wide-angle shooters (like Samsung's NV24HD and Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FX520) can offer, we can't settle for the typical 35mm field-of-view. The EX-Z150 ships with a 28mm wide-angle lens and we think this will come in handy when snapping sceneries or group shots. It is coupled with a 4x optical zoom to extend its reach to 112mm, and this should be a comfortable range for most shutterbugs.

We looked at outdated point-and-shoots and asked ourselves: "How did we frame shots with such a small screen?" Luckily, the Z150 bundles a 3-inch LCD, which is gradually becoming a norm for compacts.

CCD-shift image stabilization (IS) is used to counter movements from shaky hands, and we think this is a nice implementation. Although there has been much debate regarding the performance of optical versus sensor-shift IS, there really aren't many differences and only the extremely discerning photographer would find flaws in each system.

There is a dedicated YouTube capture mode which records videos optimized for uploading and viewing. Although most of us would seldom use this function, there are heaps of clips uploaded to YouTube everyday, so this feature will be handy for these people.

SD/SDHC/MMC cards are used to store images. We prefer using these media to proprietary formats because not only is the capacity higher, it is also more affordable, too.

Last but not least, the slim profile of the Z150 would probably go well with ladies. Measuring 20.1mm thick, it should slip into pockets easily without leaving much of a bulge.

Downside

At 8 megapixels, the resolution of the Z150 is less than its contemporaries. Even though we've been advocating that having more pixels doesn't mean equate to better image quality, they still come in handy for making big prints or cropping on the computer.

The specifications sheet indicates the snapper can record a maximum of only 10 minutes for video which we find quite lacking. Most shooters can capture clips with no time restrictions as long as there is space available in the memory card.

Outlook

The price for this shooter has yet to be confirmed by Casio, but we think it should be relatively affordable considering that its target audience may not have much spending power. Although it has shortcomings like lower resolution, the essential features like image stabilizer, 3-inch display and wide-angle lens make up for it.

Availability for the Z150 is estimated to be around end August.