Physical Tour

Front

The front of the EX-Z300 contains three major features: the flash, the lens, and the auto focus illuminator.

There isn't much on the face of the camera to differentiate it from

every other Joe Point-and-shoot.

Back

The back of the EX-Z300 is about 90% screen, making the 3-inch, 230,400-pixel LCD appear much bigger than it actually is. The buttons on the right are, from top to bottom and left to right: record video, playback mode, still capture mode, the 4-way pad, the menu button, and the Best Shot (abbreviated BS) shortcut. It's really hard to make out what the buttons on the 4-way pad say, even in good light, because the buttons are so shiny. The top button changes display, the middle is the set button, and the bottom controls image deletion and flash functions.

Back image caption goes here, and it can stretch

over two lines.

Sides*
*The left side has no important features.

The left side of this camera is boring unless you imagine

those two screws are eyes, in which case the camera kind

of looks like a cartoon duck.**

****The right side of the camera has a USB port for connecting to a computer or outputting a video signal, and an eyelet for connecting a wrist strap. Here, the eyelet is being used to prevent camera theft at Photokina.

  *Bolting down the camera through the wristrap eyelet

is a user selectable option.
*

Top

The button on the far left will deploy make-up mode, used to digitally airbrush photos. After all, if professional models get to buff up their look, why shouldn't you? Towards the right is a clearly labeled on/off button. The final feature on top of the EX-Z300 is the shutter button which sits within the zoom toggle.

*Tip: if you are taking a picture of your significant other,

only turn on make-up mode when he or she isn't looking. *

Bottom

The bottom of the camera has a hatch which we're guessing contains the memory card and battery. We're not 100% on this, however, since the Casio booth staff glued the door shut to prevent wily journalists from pilfering its mysteries. To the left of the unknowable hatch is where you'd affix the camera to a tripod, though the all-plastic socket makes us think that screwing a tripod mount onto this camera will quickly screw up this camera.

Plastic tripod socket = expectation the user will not own a tripod

 

Components

Viewfinder

The Casio Exilim EX-Z300 does not have a viewfinder. Camera-pointing operations will be conducted courtesy of the LCD screen.
LCD Screen
The  LCD screen measures 3 inches diagonally and contains 230,400 pixels, a fairly standard point-and-shoot display. We panned the camera around quickly and the on-screen image responded quickly, with minimal blurring.

The camera layout makes the screen looks quite large.

**Flash
The EX-Z300's flash is located above and to the left of the lens. The power output for the pre-production unit we were testing seemed a bit weak, though this could change by the time the camera hits the market. Assuming the position of the flash doesn't change, the close proximity to the lens will likely increase the occurrence of red-eye in your photos.
**

A flash that's close to the lens runs the risk of red-eye.

---

******Lens
**The 4x zoom lens ranges from 4.9mm - 19.6 mm (equivalent to 28 to 112mm on a 35mm camera, with an aperture range of f/2.6 to f/5.8. A 4x digital zoom is also available.

The 4x zoom range exceeds some competitive models.

Connections
The only port on the EX-Z300 is the proprietary USB port, which is used for outputting video and transferring data when you're too lethargic to remove the SD card (or, in the case of this unit displayed at a trade show, when the SD card hatch is glued shut).

The USB port is located on the bottom of the right side

of the camera.
Battery
The EX-Z300 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Casio claims the battery will last for 300 stills on a full charge.

Memory

The EX-Z300 has enough built-in flash memory for approximately 6 shots at highest resolution or 17 at lowest. The camera also accepts SD and SDHC cards.

A single hatch with a latch conceals the battery and the memory card slot.

******Other Features**
*Make-up Mode *– Since the overwhelming majority of us will fall far short of physical perfection, the EX-Z300 offers us a solution: it will digitally airbrush our photos so we look more like people on the covers of magazines. Wrinkles are minimized, blemishes vanish, your subjects smile when presented with their photos for review. Since not everyone requires the same degree of assistance in this department, you can choose from 12 levels of digital cosmetic surgery.

Women's studies majors, take note: the above screen shot could

easily provide enough material for your next paper.

Design / Layout

Model Design / Appearance
There really isn't much separating the Casio Exilim EX-Z300 from any other point-and-shooter out there, with its average size and shape and conservative design.

Size and Handling

While the EX-Z300 isn't the thinnest point-and-shoot out there, it is quite portable, and fits easily in your hands. The buttons are all intelligently and intuitively laid out. The Make-up button, the most ballyhooed feature of this model, is cunningly located where your finger would normally rest anyway, ensuring secretive activation with no hurt feelings. The EX-Z300 should be attractive to new users who value simple design with straightforward controls.

*

• The EX-Z300 is small enough to be portable but big enough
  

so you don't feel clumsy.

Menu
The EX-Z300 menu structure follows standard Exilim conventions. Pressing the Menu button will bring up a list of options with three tabs across the top. These tabs are the major sections of the menu, called REC, Quality, and Set Up. You can also access a menu by pressing up/down on the 4-way control or pushing the Set button. In this menu, you can browse between options like aspect ratio, flash settings, or white balance modes. 
Ease of Use

The EX-Z300, as we said earlier, should be a good camera for novices. There are just a few controls users need to master, if they choose to deal with the menus at all – point-and-shoot automation makes the power and shutter buttons the only must-learn controls. The menu system might feel a bit random or disorganized at first but, once you learn the layout, the camera isn't particularly intimidating.

Modes

Auto Mode**
While the EX-Z300 will let you set any individual shooting feature, such as white balance or ISO settings, to automatic mode,m there is no all-encompassing point-and-shoot automation mode. Since this camera is for beginners, an 'idiot proof' option would have been beneficial.

Movie Mode
Movie mode can capture in 1280 x 720 format (HD) at 24 fps. While this resolution level used to be a rarity, it's becoming more and more common today, and at higher frame rates. And with no HDMI or component out cable option, you can't enjoy high-def video on your TV set, but only on a computer. The EX-Z300 can also capture 640 x 480 (standard definition) video at 30 fps.

Drive / Burst Mode**
The EX-Z300 can capture full-resolution 10.1-megapixel images at a rate of 0.44 frames per second. It also has an option for high-speed continuous shutter, which maxes out at 4 frames per second at a lowered 1600 x 1200 resolution. 

Playback Mode
In playback mode, you switch from view to view using the display button. There are three views in all: the first contains basic information, such as the name of the picture, its size, and the date it was taken. The next view provides additional information, such as white balance, ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings. It will also show a tiny histogram, though tiny histograms are never very helpful. Finally there's a clean full-screen view, devoid of overlaid information.

Custom Image Presets**
The BS button on the back of the camera brings up the Best Shot menu, which most manufacturers would call a scene mode library. There are 38 scene modes available, such as autumn leaves, night scene portrait, fireworks, food, children and text. Several modes are quite unusual, including the digital anti-shake mode that combines several shots to produce a single clear result, move in CS, which starts shooting when a subject enters the frame, and YouTube mode, which prepares suitably sized video for uploading. Not only is this list expansive, but several scene modes provided simply aren't found elsewhere.

Control Options

Manual Control Options

While the Exilim EX-Z300 lets users control ISO settings, exposure compensation, white balance, focal point and aperture modes, there is no manual exposure control, either through aperture-priority or shutter-priority settings or full manual control over both shutter and aperture. Letting the camera control exposure is fine for most point-and-shoot photographers, but it does limit your options when shooting or difficult lighting situations, or when trying to achieve a particular photographic effect. The camera also provides manual zoom, which is frequently omitted from cameras in this class.

Focus
Auto Focus
In addition to standard auto focus capabilities the EX-Z300 has a form of face detection that is, to our knowledge, unique. This Family Priority mode allows you to take pictures of your favorite folks and store them in on the camera. From that point on, unless you change the setting, the camera will recognize them whenever they come into view give them focus priority. This option is also fun because it includes an 'Edit Family' button, which is sure to provide passive-aggressive thrills for teens everywhere.

ISO

Available ISO settings range from 64 to 1600, plus an Auto ISO mode.

White Balance
In addition to automatic and custom manual white balance modes, there are five presets: Daylight, Overcast, Shade, Day white FL, Daylight FL, and Tungsten.

Metering
You can set the camera's metering to multi-pattern, center weighted, or spot.

Shutter Speed
The EX-Z300's shutter speed ranges from 1/2 second to 1/2000 second, though the user cannot control this setting manually..

Aperture
The aperture range extends from f/2.6 to f/7.0.

**Image Stabilization
**The camera features CCD-shift image stabilization.

Picture Quality / Size Options
The highest resolution the EX-Z300 can capture is 3648 x 2736 (10 MP), and the lowest is 640 x 480, convenient for email or web posting. Movies can be captured at 1280 x 720 (the lower-res version of the HD standard) at 24 frames per second. standard-definition options include two resolution settings (640 x 480 and 320 x 240), at either 30 or 15 frames per second.

Picture Effects Mode

Other than basic coloration effects, like black & white or sepia, there aren't any picture effects.

Conclusion

**

Conclusion**

Based on what we could see in our quick testing of a pre-production camera, the EX-Z300 seems to be an unexceptional camera, at least when it comes to design and features, with one distinctive gimmick in its Makeup Mode to draw attention. As mentioned earlier, we couldn't test the manufacturer's claims for exceptional low-light performance, so the camera may become more exciting when we get a final version into the lab.

Specs / Ratings

**Specs Table
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