Overview
The Casio Exilim EX-Z55 is a stylish ultra compact digital camera. This is the type of camera that will fit easily into a pocket or small bag. The convenience of the Exilim EX-Z55 is one of its major attractions. It is relatively simple to use and is not overburdened by features. Therefore it is likely to prove attractive to anyone who is looking for a no fuss digital camera that can be taken anywhere. This is a five megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens.
Image Quality
As with many ultra compact digital cameras the Exilim EX-Z55 is more at home outdoors than it is inside.
Checking through the test shots the outdoor scenic shots are the best of the group. The colours produced by the camera are just about right and the camera handles blues and greens well. This should help you to produce decent scenic type shots. I would have liked to have seen the images a bit sharper towards the edges of each photo, but this problem is something you see in a number of ultra compact digital cameras. The camera makes a fair job of handling areas of contrast too. Detail is lost a little in the darkest areas, but on the whole the camera does an acceptable job.
The outdoor portrait shot is a bit disappointing. The lighting of the picture is rather dull. I tried to liven up the shot by adding flash, but the lighting was too harsh and led to a loss of detail in the shot. Therefore the test picture you will see is one taken without flash.
The dedicated test for colour produces a decent result. It supports my findings from the scenic outdoor shots. The colours are well balanced and deep without losing their natural feel.
Indoors the camera clearly has problems focusing. Both the picture of bottles taken in more or less total darkness and the indoor portrait are slightly out of focus. This is another area where many digital cameras struggle, but I am used to seeing better results than the ones achieved here.
The macro test shot rounds off the series on a high note. Although I would not advise you to buy this camera if you are especially interested in close up photography the Exilim EX-Z55 will produce very acceptable results in macro mode.
This section of the review has been updated in December 2005. I would like to thank Paul-Henri Cahier for his help in resolving a number of focusing issues I had previously had with the is camera.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
Shutter lag is the time it takes to take each picture. A constant criticism of digital cameras is the delay in between clicking the shutter button, the picture being taken and also the camera being ready to take the next picture. From a pure shutter lag view the EXILIM EX-Z55 took a picture and recorded it in 0.08 seconds. This is an extremely fast time.
In terms of recycling times I was able to take five pictures in the space of 9.88 seconds. That works out at a rate of 1.98 seconds per picture. I am not claiming that this is the most scientific tests, but it should give you an indication of the recycling speed of the camera. Again this is a faster than average time. My test is carried out indoors under standard conditions and it is possible that you would see better results outside.
Features
The most noticeable feature of the Exilim EX-Z55 is the number of preset scene modes that are available to use. Casio refers to these as Best Shot. These help you to take the best possible shot for the type of photograph you are taking at the time. The available scenes are portrait, scenery, portrait with scenery, coupling shot, pre-shot, children, candlelight portrait, party, pet, flower, natural green, sundown, night scene, night scene portrait, fireworks, food, text, collection, black and white, retro, twilight, business cards and documents and white board. That is 23 in total. You can also set up your own best shot scenes.
The three times optical zoom lens has a focal length that is equivalent to 35-105mm in 35mm format. This is supported by a four times digital zoom feature. For close up photography there is a macro mode that lets you get in as close as six centimeters.
For composing images and accessing the menu system there is a 2.5" LCD screen. The screen is bright and clear. Casio score an extra couple of points for being able to squeeze in a viewfinder despite the room taken up by the screen.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 2.6m. This falls to 2m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are automatic, always on, always off and red eye reduction.
The self timer is a bit different. You can choose to set it to either two or ten seconds. This is fairly standard, but you can also set it to fire off three shots in a row.
You can shoot movies up to the duration of the memory card. These can have a maximum resolution of 320x240 and a maximum speed of fifteen frames per second.
Casio supplies all the necessary cables to connect the Exilim EX-Z55 to a computer and a PictBridge compatible printer. A cradle is also supplied with the camera.
Among the more advanced features are six preset white balance settings. These are Automatic Sunny, cloudy, shade, florescent 1, fluorescent 2 and tungsten. There is also a manual white balance setting. This is where the camera can measure the levels of white balance required for a shot. Exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV (in 1/3EV steps), shutter speeds 4 to 1/2000 and sensitivity in the range of 50 to 400 are also available. You can also adjust sharpness, contrast and brightness before you take a shot.
Ease of Use
This is an area where the Exilim EX-Z55 scores very highly indeed. Casio really make the most of the large 2.5" LCD screen. Their menu systems are the largest, clearest and easiest to read that I have come across. The design of the menus is well thought through too. There are very few buttons to get to know and you should have no problem getting to grips with the camera.
Cost
You can pick up a EXILIM EX-Z55 for around £195. This compares to around £220 for a Nikon Coolpix S1, £225 for a Fuji Finepix Z1 and £220 for an Canon IXUS 50. The EXILIM EX-Z55 is therefore around £25 cheaper than many of its rival ultra compact digital cameras.
Style
I like the style and design of the Exilim EX-Z55. Despite its slim build it still has a good, solid feel to it and it appears to have been very well made. Other than that it is a typically shiny, silver camera with a rectangular shape. It has a metal body. With dimensions of 87 x 58 x 22.5mm it comfortably fits into the ultra compact category and your pocket as well. It weighs in at around 130g.
Batteries and Memory Cards
Power is supplied by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Casio supplies both the battery and charger with the Exilim EX-Z55. Also supplied is a cradle that you place the camera in for recharging.
The camera has 9.3mb of built in storage. I was able to take five shots before the internal memory became full. Therefore you will need to pick up a memory card to go with the camera. It is compatible with SD memory cards.
Click here to save money on SD cards.
Points I like:
Design and build quality
Overall ease of use
Great menu layout
Lightening fast shutter response
Where it is not so hot:
Indoor picture quality
Very small internal memory
After sales support
Summary
The Casio Exilim EX-Z55 is a fairly solid offering. It scores highly for ease of use and I like the design. I did experience problems using the camera indoors and it tends to struggle in lowlight.
Casio EXILIM EX-Z55 Front View
Casio EXILIM EX-Z55 Back View
Casio EXILIM EX-Z55 Top View
Sample Menus
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