Casio Exilim EXZ50 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: No buyer's remorse with this camera!
Review: I bought this camera after much research and am glad to say that I haven't regretted it for a second! I never write reviews, but since this camera has only one review so far, I thought I'd put in my $0.02 to help spread the word.

------- WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR -------
Before this, I used a Nikon Coolpix 990 -- fantastic camera, but too bulky and heavy (took 4 AAs) to carry around daily. For my second camera, I wanted something very portable (i.e. small and light) with long battery life. I didn't necessarily need 5MP; that was just a bonus.

------- PROS -------
Where do I begin? The EXZ50 is very small, so it's a cinch to carry around. So far, the battery life has been great. The start-up time is almost nil; no waiting for the camera to "boot up" once you turn it on. Even more importantly, it saves photos to the memory card very fast (my Nikon used to lag a bit) so you can take several photos in quick succession. The LCD is a good size, especially in relation to the camera. The controls are intuitive and user-friendly. Getting your photos to your PC is so easy: just put the camera in the docking station and hit the "USB" button! Tons of great features -- read about them on the site I mention at the end of this review [sorry, Amazon edited out the site]. Oh, and the pictures turn out great!

------- CONS -------
I do have a minor quibble in that the LCD display is a bit dark in low-light conditions. Maybe that's just a given, but on the Nikon, the display was bright even in low-light. It could be that I just haven't figured out how to fix that. Also, the macro mode isn't as great as on the Nikon, but I knew that before purchasing and it was something I was willing to live with. Don't get me wrong, it isn't *bad* (the Casio manual says the range begins at 6cm), but I take a lot of close-up jewellery shots and for those, I'll continue to use my other camera. Again, the point of my getting this Casio was to have something to carry around daily.

------- THE COMPETITION -------
For a long time, I'd been leaning toward getting a Canon (who seem to dominate the "tiny camera" field), but I read so much about the so-called "E18 error" that it scared me away (plus, I personally know people who've had memory card failures). I didn't go with Olympus because I read a lot about long lag-time and low battery life. Also, Olympus and Fuji use xD memory cards, which cost a bit more, and none that I looked at beat the slimness of the Casio. I already have a battery-sucking Nikon, so I skipped that brand. I've never been a big fan of Sony, so the Cybershots were out (partly b/c of those proprietary memory sticks). I almost went with a Panasonic Lumix, but it was a bit too expensive compared to others. Nothing in the Minolta family jumped out at me, either. You can see I mainly considered companies who make cameras their main business. I know Casio isn't strictly photography, but this camera does have a Pentax lens.

[...]

Overall, I'm thrilled with the Casio Exilim EX-Z50! There are tons of cameras out there, each with its pros and cons, so I know the choice is tough. Luckily, I feel I made the right one for me!

Rating:
Summary: Easy, Intuitive, and Great Pics
Review: I chose this camera (after a rather intensive stint of web research) as a replacement for my bulky, sluggish Nikon Coolpix 775. I've had it for a little over a month now and I'm thrilled with it. It's fast - powers up and snaps in seconds. The pics are (to my eye) great quality; the intuitive interface and controls and "Best Shot" feature makes it easy to use right out of the box. The battery life is impressive as well; I used it for days snapping pics on a recent vacation without recharging it.The enormous LCD display makes it easy to review your pics before d'loading them. The convenience of the cradle is one the I'd originally underestimated, as well. All in all, a great shutterbuggin' experience.

Rating:
Summary: best camera ever
Review: I got this camera after researching for a month what camera I thought was the best. This camera has so many features that I fell in love with. The size of it for starters is increadible. It takes such clear beautiful pictures. The docking cradle is an added bonus becuase it elimniates the hard work of downloading pictures. The camera is also light wieght and I was looking for a camera that I could fit in an evening bag. I look forward to taking this camera every with me. I definetly recommend this product to anyone looking to buy a camera.

Rating:
Summary: compact, poor picture
Review: I own a d-rebel, and I have owned an olympus 3000 before. I was looking for pocket size camera. This camera certainly has a nice solid constructions and is very portable. Also shoots movies which is only limited by the size of he memory. It allows for some manual control, in ISO setting and white balance. it also has some preset functions, where it adjusts contrast, saturation and exposure as well as flash assis for a particular shooting situation, although to set that involves going potentially 16 shooting modes. Other than that, ther eis no manual setting of aperture or shutter speed. Battery life is good. also macro function is good.
The big draw back is hepicture quality. The noise level is very high. The 5 MP rating is of limited utility, since the noise is so much, that large prints are out of question. at times it has difficulty with focousing. my 4 year old 3 mp olympus certainly takes better pictures. I feel that the portability of the camera does not compensate for the poo quality of the pictures, if you are at all serious about your pictures.

Rating:
Summary: two thumbs up for the price of one
Review: Im more than satisfied with this camera, not only is it reasonably priced, it exceeds my expections, and here are the reasons why:

1. User Friendly - very easy to use, no complicated functionalities, outstanding point and click features. Easy to figure out because features are simple and convenient.

2. Photo Quality - photo quality is very impressive for what it is. Best Shot feature is very useful and zooming in and out is easy to do.

3. Battery life - this is perhaps the best feature because it is very long. I was able to take five 10 second long video clips and 45 still pictures in one event and the battery life was still in good standing.

4. View screen - is very clear, nice and wide which makes photo playback much easier and more fun.

6. Shutter reaction time - is about a second its easy to take candid photos.

7. Camera size - small and compact, easy to carry around in a small purse or pocket.

8 Download - very easy to download and picture quality is nice and clean.


Overall, I highly recommend this camera for those of you who like taking pictures of anything.