Casio EX-Z150 Review

The Casio EX-Z150 features a 4x optical zoom lens which offers focal lengths as wide as 28 mm equivalent, coupled to a 1/2.5-inch CCD image sensor with 8.1 effective megapixel resolution. The Casio Z150's sensor is mounted on a moving platter, allowing for CCD shift type anti-shake to help reduce blur in low light shooting.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z150 features the largest LCD ever included in an EXILIM camera, at a full 3.0 inches diagonal. Resolution of this display is also pretty good, at some 230,400 dots - important given that the camera doesn't offer any form of optical viewfinder. Exposure variables include shutter speeds from 4 to 1/2000 second, maximum apertures varying from f/2.6 to f/5.9 across the zoom range, a choice of three metering modes (multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot), ISO sensitivity from 64 to 800 (with the ability to push this to 1600 max. in High Sensitivity mode), and eight white balance settings (including auto, six presets and fully manual).

The Casio EXILIM Z150 has a contrast detection autofocus system that includes the ability to detect your subjects' faces and optimize the photo accordingly, with Casio having licensed technology from Oki Electric to provide this feature. The Casio EX-Z150 also offers AVI (Motion JPEG) video capture, as well as no less than twenty two "Best Shot" scene modes that help beginners get the shot they want without needing to understand the subtleties of camera function. Images are stored on SD / MMC cards, plus 18MB of built-in memory, and the Z150 derives its power from a proprietary NP-70 lithium-ion battery pack.

The Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z150 digital camera lists at US$200, and ships from September 2008, and impressively given its wide-angle lens and mechanical image stabilization, is described by the company as being the world's slimmest 4x optical zoom camera with a 28mm wide angle.