Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57

Last updated: Friday, October 21st, 2005

Casio_Exilim_EX-Z57

The new Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 has a high performance CCD with 5 megapixels resolution. The extra-large 2.7” TFT colour display represents an amazingly brilliant picture for framing and viewing without compromising the compact and sleek design. A 3-segment telescoping 3X optical zoom lens provides plenty of resolution in a thin design. Optical zoom in combination with 4X digital zoom delivers up to 12X total zoom.

REVIEWS (last update: 21.10.05)

Robert Dubbin reviewed the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 at CNET and wrote:

“In practice, the Z57’s lack of manual features can make some shots difficult to capture properly; night shots are a good example. You’re limited to the scene presets on the Z57’s Best Shot menu, and though there’s a fairly exhaustive list of shooting situations available–23 of them, including Casio’s new Business Shot for photographing whiteboards and documents–it’s frustrating to know that the camera supports variable shutter speeds but that you can’t set them directly. Though the Z57 allows you to bump your flash intensity up or down, in most low-light situations, the flash will still make people and skin tones look washed out. The Z57 also lacks a burst mode, so you won’t be able to hold down the shutter and snap photos in succession. Still, the Z57 ranks among the fastest in its class for shutter lag, grabbing pictures a mere 0.05 second after the shutter is pressed. Under typical conditions, shot-to-shot times typically lasted a mediocre 2.5 seconds and jumped up to 5.3 when we used a flash.

By and large, the Z57 delivers evenly exposed indoor shots when there’s adequate lighting. However, the same can’t be said for its performance in daylight; the Z57 falls victim to worse than average purple fringing at high-contrast edges and obliterates white highlights in otherwise perfectly exposed shots. To its credit, Casio has done an admirable job of limiting the noise captured by the camera’s CCD, so if low-noise performance is a priority for you, the Casio Exilim EX-Z57 may deserve a serious look.”

Steve reviewed the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 at Steve’s Digicams and wrote:

“Image quality of its 5-megapixel Fine mode was excellent for a camera in this class. The majority of our outdoors samples were very sharp and well saturated, however some were slightly overexposed. This is easily fixed by using a little exposure compensation. There was very little noise in high contrast (open blue sky) areas as well as low contrast (shadow) areas, however I did see an average amount of chromatic aberration (purple fringing around extreme highlights.) Its Pentax 3x optical zoom lens covers a 35mm equivalent range of 35-105mm, with moderate barrel distortion at full wide angle but almost no pin cushioning at full telephoto. Its zoom mechanism was quick and smooth as it goes from wide angle to telephoto in six steps.

Indoors it also performs well. Considering it lacks a focus-assist lamp, the AF system does an excellent job of focusing in low ambient lighting. Our indoor samples were sharp, well exposed, and skin tones appear natural. Its flash and 35mm wide angle equivalent zoom range are sufficient for most indoor situations; but don’t expect to illuminate the entire dance floor or reception hall. We achieved the best results shooting portraits of individuals or small groups. However, due to the position of the flash (just above the lens), you will notice that the majority of your “people” shots will have traces of Red eye, even when using its Red Eye Reduction mode. But a few seconds in any image editor/viewer will take care of this problem. The EX-Z57 also features a movie mode that allows you to capture motion video at 320×240 (15 fps) with audio. Overall our movie samples were good with the AF system having no trouble keeping up with fast moving subjects but it does show some compression noise. The only annoyance I found was its microphone picks up even the slightest breeze. “

Patrick Singleton reviewed the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 at DigitalCameraInfo and wrote:

“.. image quality and performance feel like afterthoughts on the EX-Z57. The camera performed slowly (except for its minimal shutter lag time) and colors were imbalanced and lacked vibrancy. The camera handled noise far more effectively when the ISO setting was manually set, rather than automatically controlled by the camera. This will present a problem for a large number of the camera’s targeted audience, who presumably won’t want to bother with manual controls. Additionally, the weak flash and limited 50-400 ISO range, coupled with the Z57’s poor noise performance at the 400 setting, casts the camera as a daylight imager only – losing effectiveness after dusk and indoors. Although, even well-exposed images with the EX-Z57 also lack sharpness.

But the EX-Z57 does have an audience, limited though it may be. This camera is ultimately for a certain specialized sort of point-and-shooter: one who doesn’t want manual control, whose typical subjects don’t include action, and who likes to show other people pictures as they are taken. With its poor image quality, the camera is for users who aren’t too discerning about color, and perhaps ones who don’t plan to make prints of their images at all.”

SAMPLE IMAGES

- Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 sample photo gallery 1 posted at Casio World
- Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 sample photo gallery 2 posted at Steve’s Digicams
- Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z57 sample photo gallery 3 posted at Pbase

SPECIFICATIONS

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