Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z75 review

We reviewed Casio's slender Z70 just four months ago (What's New, Shopper March 2007), but already its successor is available.

There aren't many differences between the two models, with a choice of silver, blue or pink finishes and a larger screen (up from 2.5in to 2.6in) that's shaped like a 35mm film print (3:2 aspect ratio) rather than a computer screen.

This screen shape has two advantages. When shooting at the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, the extra width is used to display a column of camera settings without needing to overlay them on top of the preview image. As a result, it's easy to see at a glance what the resolution, flash, ISO, white balance and various other options are set to, and it's quick to adjust them, too.

If you decide to take photos at a 3:2 aspect ratio, you can opt for a more conventional screen layout so that the preview image fills the screen, although this means that you'll have to resort to the menu system to access most settings. Having a large, wide screen is certainly fun, but its 115,000-pixel resolution is disappointing, and it made colours appear washed out.

Performance is the EX-Z75's strongest area. It captures a picture in 1 seconds from switching on and again every 1.6 seconds. However, image quality was less impressive. Colours were generally well balanced and vibrant but focus was below par, particularly towards the edges of photos. In some shots this merely drew attention towards the centre of the photo, but in others it created an odd motion blur-like effect that we found quite distracting. Noise was detectable even in very bright conditions, and affected dimly lit scenes quite badly.

The Z75 has a lot of charm, not least with its low price, but even more affordable cameras offer better image quality.

Author: Ben Pitt