Casio Exilim EX-Z500 Review

The Casio Exilim EX-Z500 is a five megapixel digital camera. It is an ultra compact model. This is the type that will fit easily into a fairly small pocket. The Exilim EX-Z500 has a standard set of features for this type of camera and is relatively easy to use. It is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a straightforward digital camera that is small enough to carry with you anywhere you go.

The Exilim EX-Z500 managed to produce a pleasing set of test of photos. It compares well with other similar digital cameras of this type.

Starting with the outdoor scenic type shots the camera handled these well. This is probably the easiest type of photo for a digital camera, but nevertheless this camera took a series of above average pictures. All the photos are sharp, clear and bright. This camera reproduces colours vividly and the images remain well focused up to the edge. It also copes well with contrasting light and dark areas. You should have no problem producing pleasing landscape type photos with the Exilim EX-Z500.

The camera certainly takes good portrait photos. I particularly like the level of detail shown in the indoor portrait. This is especially noticeable in the hair and the blouse. It is also very pleasing to be able to report there is no redeye showing in the photo. The skin tones are natural in both the indoor and outdoor shots.

My other indoor test photo of beer bottles taken in more or less complete darkness is sharply focused and well lit. This suggests that the camera will perform well in lowlight conditions in general providing you are not too far away from your subject.

The macro test shot is o.k. but, it is not one of the camera's stronger areas. I have become used to seeing sharper images than the Exilim EX-Z500 managed. Therefore if a close-up photography is one of your main criteria for buying a digital camera it is probably advisable to look elsewhere.

The camera does well in my dedicated test shot for colour. There is a slight over emphasis on blue but otherwise there is plenty of depth to all the colours.

There is one problem area worth mentioning. If you decide to try using higher ISO settings you are likely to notice a clear fall off in picture quality. This type of reduction in quality is often referred to as noise. Higher ISO settings can be used to try and freeze movement or to take pictures in lowlight.

I managed to take a single shot in 0.43. This is a slow time. It took 12.79 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 2.56 seconds. This is an average time. I was able to get a much faster response by using the Quick Shutter setting. The problem is this can produce blurred photos. Casio tell me that this mode sets off auto focus and you need to focus the camera manually. In most situations this is more than likely to negate the advantage of using the Quick Shutter!

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 114 mm in 35mm format. It has a maximum aperture of 2.7 (w) to f5.2 (t). There is also a 4x digital zoom function. For close-up photography you can get in as close as 17 cm from your subject. This is further away than most digital cameras can manage.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 2.4 m. This falls to 1.3 m when the zoom lens is in use. This really is quite a small range. The flash can be set to automatic, always on, always off and redeye reduction.

For composing pictures there is a large 2.7 inch LCD screen. This is made up of around 153,600 pixels. There is no room for a viewfinder.

Casio digital cameras offer the widest selection of scene modes I am aware of. This camera is no exception and offers scene modes for portraits, scenery, portraits with scenery, children, sports, candlelight portrait, party, pets, flowers, natural green, autumn leaves, soft flowing water, splashing water, sundown, night scene, night scene portrait, fireworks, food, text, small objects, backlight, high sensitivity, twilight, business cards and documents and whiteboard. If that is not enough you can also create your own scene modes.

There is also a setting for anti shake. Photographs can be taken in black and white and sepia. After a picture has been taken you can record up to 30 seconds of commentary to go with it. The camera can also be used simply to record sound without taking a picture.

For focusing you can select auto focus, Pan focus, Infinity mode and manual focus. When you use auto focus you can also choose between spot focusing and multipoint focusing. The camera also has an AF (auto focus) illuminator to help the camera focus in lowlight conditions.

For when you would like to appear in the picture yourself there is a self timer. This can be set to a two or 10 seconds delay. There is also a custom self timer setting. This allows you to specify the delay and also to fire off up to three photos at the end of the delay time.

When you are shooting movies the maximum resolution is 640x 480. Movies can be recorded up to the capacity of the memory card. Sound can be recorded with a movie, but you are not able to zoom in and out whilst shooting. The maximum speed a movie can be recorded at is 30 frames per second.

Among the more advanced features are three types of metering (multi pattern, centre weighted and spot), exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV (in 1/3EV steps)), shutter speeds ranging from 1/8 seconds to 1/2000th seconds and ISO settings of automatic, 50, 100, 200, and 400.

There are seven white balance settings you can choose from. These are automatic, sunny, cloudy, shade, fluorescent 1, fluorescent 2, and tungsten. There is also a setting that allows you to create your own level of white balance.

Continuous shooting is also available. This allows you to take photos at a rapid rate until the memory card is full.

A cradle is supplied with the camera. This is used when you wish to connect the camera to a television set or computer. To charge the battery the cradle is also used. The camera is also PictBridge compatible. This means it can be linked directly to a PictBridge compatible printer and there is no need to upload images to a computer before printing.

As with most Casio digital cameras there is nothing particularly difficult about the Exilim EX-Z500. Buttons on the back of the camera are kept to an absolute minimum. There are buttons for setting the flash, reviewing images, accessing the scene modes, and deleting unwanted images. All other features are accessed via the menu system. The menu system itself is one of the easier ones to get to grips with and it should not take you long to find your way around this camera.

You can pick up a Casio EXILIM EX-Z500 for around £180. This compares to around £215 for a Canon IXUS 55, £185 for a Fuji Finepix Z1 and £175 for a Pentax Optio S5z.

I would say this camera is fairly priced and is worth considering alongside the other similar ultra compacts listed here.

The camera comes in a choice of either black or silver. It has a very simple design that I find quite attractive. With dimensions of 88.5 x 57 x 20.5mm it is certainly small enough to slip into a pocket. It weighs just 112 g and you should therefore have no problem at all in carrying it around wherever you go.

A rechargeable lithium ion battery is supplied with the camera as is a charger. Casio estimate you should be able to take up to 500 photos with the EXILIM EX-Z500 before the batteries need to be recharged. It adds a fair amount to the cost of your digital camera to buy a spare lithium ion battery so it may be best just to ensure that the battery is always fully charged before you go out to take any important shots.

The camera comes with 8.7 MB of memory built into it. Therefore a memory card is not supplied with the camera. I was only able to take four photos before the internal memory became full. This is certainly an area where I feel Casio could have been far more generous. The camera is compatible with SD cards and you will need to buy a high-capacity card before you will be able to get much use out of this camera.

Click here to save money on SD cards.

Ease of use
No red eye
Good photo quality overall
Large LCD screen

Picture quality falls off at ISO 400
Very small built in memory
Small flash range

There is much to like about the Casio EXILIM EX-Z500. It is a simple, straightforward ultra compact digital camera that takes good shots in a variety of different situations. It is also easy to use and competitively priced. It is well worth considering alongside other ultra compact models.

Casio EXILIM EX-Z500 Front View

Casio EXILIM EX-Z500 Back View

Casio EXILIM EX-Z500 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Casio Exilim EX-Z500