Casio Exilim Zoom · on sale March 2007 · a retrospective
The Casio Exilim EX-Z75: the slim snapshot camera with an eBay mode
In 2007 Casio made a pocket camera with 34 Best Shot modes, including ones for business cards, whiteboards and eBay listings. Reviewers split on the pictures: one called them very good, another said they went soft from ISO 100.
Meet the camera
It is a slim brushed-aluminium slab with a polished ring round the lens. Trusted Reviews called it great looking, with a round-ended profile and bevelled corners, a metal-hinged card and battery hatch, and a build quality it thought superb.4 It measures about 95 by 60 millimetres and 19.6 thick and weighs 122 grams.14 Imaging Resource added that two new colours, blue and pink, joined the usual black and silver.3
Casio announced it on January 30, 2007 as an update to the EX-Z70 of the previous June, with a slightly larger 2.6-inch widescreen display, a new 16:9 shooting mode and SDHC card support.12 DPReview called it otherwise a fairly minor upgrade.2 It went on sale in March at $229.99.1 In Britain, Trusted Reviews found it for under £109 at a couple of retailers, though £150 was more usual.4
Why this one was interesting
Best Shot, and an eBay mode
Casio's signature was Best Shot: a menu of scene modes that told you what each was for. Imaging Resource counted 34, ranging from the standard portrait and landscape to more esoteric ones such as Soft Flowing Water, Collection and, yes, eBay.3 Its pros list added Autumn Leaves, Food and Text, and a Business Card and Whiteboard mode that automatically corrected keystoning, which made digital note-taking easier.3 Trusted Reviews mentioned options for restoring colour to old photos and for copying business cards.4 For the eBay seller of 2007, it was a camera with a mode for the job.
Was it a new chip or lens?
No. It was the Z70 with a bigger screen and a few extras.23 Trusted Reviews noted that Casio used to use Pentax or Canon lenses in its compacts, and the Z75's lens looked very similar to the one on the Pentax Optio M30.4
Speed
Trusted Reviews said it started up in a little over 1.5 seconds, that its autofocus was one of the quickest the reviewer had seen on a compact, and that in a side-by-side test it was exactly as fast as the Canon IXUS 75.4 Imaging Resource found minimal shutter lag, but warned that the Quick Shutter option relied on a fast autofocus that produced out-of-focus test shots.3 The Canon of the same year is covered in our SD750 retrospective and our SD1000 retrospective.
The pictures: two opinions
This is where the reviews parted. Trusted Reviews said picture quality was very good: at ISO 50 very good detail with no noise or compression problems, slight noise at ISO 400, and at ISO 800 not completely terrible but with much less fine detail.4 Imaging Resource saw it differently. Images were competent at ISO 50 but quickly degraded at ISO 100 and were really soft at ISO 400, with noise and noise-suppression softening prominent even at ISO 100. They would still make a passable 5 by 7, and 4 by 6 prints would please, but for larger prints it advised staying at ISO 50 in a lot of light.3
Both reviews warned about the Anti-Shake DSP. Imaging Resource said it boosts the ISO and adds noise,3 and Trusted Reviews said a simple sensitivity increase with a fancy name was a cynical attempt to fool less informed buyers into thinking the camera had real stabilisation.4
Real photographs taken with this camera. The sensitivity shown is recorded in each file's own EXIF data.
Like that look? See what EX-Z75s have recently sold for on eBay ↗
On eBay right now
Live listings for this camera, supplied by eBay and updated automatically. We earn a commission if you buy through them.
The little wins
A live histogram
The Live Histogram let you check exposure while you composed, which Imaging Resource liked, along with a grid overlay and a settings panel on the right of the screen that made changes easy.3
An underwater case
An optional waterproof housing was good for about 10 feet, or three metres, according to Imaging Resource and Trusted Reviews, which called it ideal for holiday snorkelling.34
An Easy mode
An Easy mode limited the number of options for people who wanted the simplest operation.3
Adjustable looks
Contrast, sharpness and saturation were adjustable, along with white balance, ISO and exposure compensation, even though there were no manual controls per se.3
Where it let you down
The controls were cramped, the screen difficult to use in bright sun and in low light, and noise was worst with Anti-Shake and High Sensitivity modes, Imaging Resource found.3 Trusted Reviews listed no image stabilisation, no AF assist lamp and no optical viewfinder.4
Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture.
What the reviewers said in 2007
| Outlet | Date | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted Reviews | 3 Jul 2007 | An outstanding pocket compact, ideal for general and social snapshots, with excellent value, superb build and very good picture quality. No stabilisation or AF assist lamp.4 |
| Imaging Resource | 20 Jul 2007 | A basic snapshot camera with useful extras and decent but not great pictures; noise and softness stopped it earning high marks for its image quality.3 |
The timeline
- June 2006The EX-Z70, which the Z75 replaces.2
- 30 January 2007Casio announces the EX-Z75.12
- March 2007It goes on sale at $229.99.1
- 3 July 2007Trusted Reviews publishes its review.4
- 20 July 2007Imaging Resource publishes its review.3
Should you buy one now?
Buy one if you want a very thin, quick, colourful snapshot camera that is fun to use, and you will keep it at low ISO in good light. It launched at $229.99;1 what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. Before you bid, check these:
- The battery. The battery and card sit under a metal-hinged hatch,4 and the battery is small;3 a replacement is on Amazon ↗.
- The card. It takes SD and SDHC cards and has 8.3 MB built in.1
- The screen. It is 114,000 pixels and hard to see in strong sun,43 so check it works.
- The settings. Keep ISO low and Anti-Shake off.34
- The Best Shot menu. Try the Business Card and eBay modes.3
If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.
See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗Replacement battery ↗
New to the jargon (CCD, ISO, xD cards, IXUS vs ELPH)? Read our plain-English digicam glossary.
Sources
- Imaging Resource, “Casio EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z75” announcement by Mike Tomkins (30 Jan 2007)
- DPReview, “Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z75” (30 Jan 2007)
- Imaging Resource, Casio EX-Z75 review by Theano Nikitas (20 Jul 2007)
- Trusted Reviews, Casio Exilim EX-Z75 review by Cliff Smith (3 Jul 2007)
Camera photo by Varzio (CC BY-SA 4.0); other photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.