Those of you who actually take pictures on board might be interested in
my review of a new camera, ideal for cruisers.....

Casio Exilim EX-Z120 Street price-235.00


The new Casio EX-Z120 (7.2 megapixels) is an interesting little number
sharing hardware and optics with the Pentax line. Having previously
owned and reviewed the excellent Pentax Optio S5i I was curious to see
if this would make a worthy replacement. Unlike the Pentax, the 120 has
higher resolution and a better movie mode. So here's what you need to
know.
Ergonomics: The 120 is small, about the size of an Altoids box, but
thicker than some other subcompacts available. This exra beef is
probably due to the fact that it takes 2 standard AA batteries. I can't
tell you how much better this is since proprietary batteries are
expensive (You'll always need to buy at least one more). With AA's
you're really unlikely to be caught with a dead camera. A 4 pack of
rechargeable's will seal the deal. I got over a 120 shots and some
movies on one set of Panasonic rechargeable's. The Controls of the
camera are tiny, but fairly easy to operate. Menu's are instantly
obvious, just like the Pentax, which is clearly working with Casio to
build these units. The screen is 2 inches, a bit small by today's
standards, but very serviceable. Casio has also squeezed in an optical
viewfinder, but it's quite small and covers less than 90% of the sensor
frame. Still, it's also serviceable and after some practice I had
little trouble with it. Using the optical finder will add a great deal
of battery life and can also work better than the LCD on sunny days.
The camera fits in my hand better than the Optio, but it's a bit less
classy looking. The door for the memory card is tiny and hard to
operate if you don't have a good fingernail working.
Features: First of all, lets get rid of a feature that's essentially a
cheat. Casio claims this camera has an anti-shake feature. But this is
NOT a true VR type system. Instead the Casio brings up the ISO to 800
or 1600 while increasing shutter speed to freeze motion. It works, but
at the cost of a noisy image and less detail. I suppose it's better
than missing the shot, but many folks will probably skip it. The camera
has a reasonable movie mode, and the usual host of features these
little units share. But then the Z120 goes the extra mile by including
a manual mode! Very nice for those folks (like me!) who also own DSLRs
and like to have full control. For those who can't be bothered with
such things, the 120 sports many modes, from portrait to nightshot and
also a basic snapshot mode. This is a very well featured little camera.

Performance: Much like the Pentax Optio, the Casio's tiny lens is both
impressive and lacking all at once. There's some softness in the
corners and some distortion when set to wide angle. But overall image
quality is quite pleasing, AFTER you mastered the operational basics of
the camera. I'm not convinced that the images are much better than
other compact 5 MP models, but there is a bit more cropping latitude.
These sub-compacts are limited more by their tiny optics than the
sensors. In it's automatic mode settings it does well, but the picture
quality can be impressive once you take it into manual modes and
experiment. Like the little Pentax, the 120 also has a great autofocus
system. Set to spot it does a very good job of achieving focus lock
even in dim ambient light. The flash is slightly underpowered, good for
portraits and small groups. Poor AF has been a problem for many
cameras, even the better prosumer models from Nikon. But the Casio
truly focuses great, better than some units costing twice the price.
It's contrast based, so again you need to learn how to use it. Shutter
lag is almost nonexistent! Focus lock is all you'll wait for!
Excellent! Unlike some of the Fuji line, the 120 does not do great at
higher ISOs, but I prefer the Casio because it will focus better in low
light and it has NO AF illuminator.
Summary: This is a fine, practical compact camera. I bought it for my
wife to use and as a second camera to compliment my D70 DSLRs (and the
D200 I'm about to buy). I understand the limits of these cameras and
you should as well. They are great for 5X7 prints, but you need to
practice to get good 8X10s out of them. The Casio EX-Z120 hits a lot of
targets, while maintaining a truly pocketable size, but I wouldn't
choose it as a primary family camera because of the limits set by the
size of the optics.
The Z120 is NOT waterproof and is not suggested for smaller boats. The
Pentax WP is also available and is actually submersible.
Both are Recommended.

RB
35s5
NY