Product Description
At only 3.48 x 2.32 x 0.9 inches in size, weighing in at under 5 ounces, the Casio Exilim EX-Z55 Digital-Camera is a lightweight contender but when it comes to features and stats, it's designed to challenge the heavyweights. Programmed AutoExposure modes Multmode electronic-flash built-in Date and time recorded with image data; auto calendar up to year 2049 Battery life (per charge) - Approximately 400 snapshots (CIPA standard); Continuous recording - approx. 1070 snapshots (3 hr. 30 min.); Continuous playback - approx. 6 hr. 50 min. (still photos) Rapid start-up allows shooting approximately 1.6 seconds after the power is turned on. Business Shot function compensates for photos taken at an angle and records them as though taken from straight ahead. Best Shot allows settings to be chosen by selecting from a collection of sample images. Extended shooting of video with sound can be performed until the memory is full Image Noise Reduction processing makes night scenes more beautiful Auto Macro function enables automatic switching between Macro and AF modes for delightful close-ups Flash Assist function provides exposure compensation for areas not reached by the electronic-flash Icon Guide function uses a pop-up guide to help the user switch settings Voice recording with playback Photostand feature allowing a slideshow of images while the camera sits in its cradle Store special photos or those you don't want others to see in your Favorites folder / Create HTML albums in the camera which can be viewed by Web browsers. Direct-connect with Pictbridge and USB direct print compatible printers
Customer Reviews:
Dreadful after sales support from Casio.......2007-02-21
To be honest when the camera was working it was fantastic. Great features, long batery life, easy to use etc. Then 18 months after purchase it broke. Just will not power up. Casio want $250 + shipping to replace it with a rebuilt one. Bye bye casio
Great camera for my needs.......2006-11-28
I did LOTS of research before finally purchasing the Casio Exilim EXZ55, my first digital camera. I've now owned it for one year and have been extremely happy with the quality, features, and ease of use of this camera.
The Z55 appealed to me for a few reasons. Besides the obvious reason of desiring high-quality photos, I knew that I wanted a camera with a long battery life. I can easily use the camera for an entire day without worrying about the battery running out. For work, I often photograph special events, requiring the camera to be on and ready, and the Casio performs superbly.
The Z55 is amazingly small. I carry it with me in my purse everywhere. Even in a case, the camera is light and compact. It comfortably fits in the back pocket of my jeans, or in a wristlet. It is tiny.
I especially appreciate that the camera starts up very quickly. It doesn't need long in between shots, and is ready to take a photo as soon as it turns on. I find this convenient and have used other cameras in a similar price range with a long lag time between photos.
Overall, this is a great digital camera. I recommend it for people wishing for a simple to use, long battery life, compact camera.
Very handy.......2006-07-04
I have this camera for two years and I am very satisfied. As a point and shoot, this camera is flexible enough to let me fine tune settings to adjust to my scene.
Check out the customer photos to see for yourself.
Lasted 6 months - Horrible Customer Service.......2006-05-05
Great camera, took great pics, everyone loved it. Then one day I went to turn it on and half the screen was black and distorted. The unit was kept in a case and experienced no abuse. I called Casio who said to send it in to an authorized dealer for repair. Six calls and a month later, no repair and a bill for $200 to repair a camera that cost $300 only 6 months from purchase. Neither Casio or the authorized dealer are any help. The LCD display (one of the main reasons for buying) is not covered. As much as I love this camera, I would never buy a Casio again. Terrible customer service and a practically non-existent warranty.
A sweet spot.......2005-12-11
In the game of tennis, there's an area on the face of the racket known as the "sweet spot," where if the ball is hit there it is returned with special power and accuracy. Buying a digital camera is an exercise in compromise, and in the EX-Z55 Casio has found a special balance of features, a digicam sweet spot.
There is no perfect digital camera--it's more like camera X is perfect for situation A, camera Y is perfect for situation B, and camera Z just isn't anywhere near perfect for anything. While we all want perfect pictures, most of us would rather sacrifice some quality for a lower price, a smaller or lighter camera, longer battery life or a larger picture capacity, ease of use, fashion, or whatever. The trick is picking the right compromise. In my case, this includes the compromise between what I want in a camera and what my wife wants, since we just have one. We settled on the Casio EX-Z55 eight months ago, and we aren't sorry.
I like a lot of control over the process of taking a picture, and I don't really get all the control I want in the EX-Z55. It's not a camera that gives you full control over aperature, shutter speed, and film speed. Instead, it relies on its "Best Shot" features, pre-set combinations of such factors. Usually this works pretty good. On our daughter's birthday, I was able to get some nice pictures of her with her birthday cake in the dark, by candlelight alone--using the Best Shot created for this purpose. Unfortunately, there's no Best Shot for sports--for stopping action crisply. The best I could do was set the camera for a very fast film speed (there is limited control over such things). But hey, I was looking for something cheap, and I don't blame the EX-Z55 for not being a professional SLR. I have Best Shot and not full manual control--I'm dealing with it fine, and in some cases my pictures are the better for it. One other feature I miss is the "power winder" setting, that lets me take a series of pictures quickly without lifting my finger from the button. Well, I knew that feature was missing, and if it was something I really needed I would have bought something else.
My wife and technology do not go together. She still needs to ask for help (from me or any grade-school kid) in finding the document on the computer she just saved yesterday (usually named "Document38" or something). This was actually the deciding factor in our choosing the Casio digicam over another brand I had picked out (that gave me more control). My wife needs a camera that she can point and shoot. Amazingly, she gets terrific pictures from this camera just pointing and shooting. We usually leave the camera in Snapshot mode for this reason. What really impresses me, though, is how easy the menu system is for my wife. She occasionally wants to change the flash mode or take a short video clip instead of a picture...and so far she's been able to do what she wanted.
Everything the manufacturer says about this camera above is true; it just works as advertised. The shortcomings of this camera tend to be shortcomings with this TYPE of camera more than with this specific model: It's a small camera, and sometimes when we take pictures, the movement of the camera is reflected in blurry pictures (the camera is not bigger and heavier). It has a built-in flash, and indoor pictures that rely on flash are washed-out or grayish if not close enough (it doesn't have a standalone strobe with its own battery pack). Crop a picture and blow it up to poster size, and quality suffers (no $500 lense, only 5 megapixels). Video is not professional quality (no special microphone, not really a camcorder). And so on. But taken as a cheap point-and-shoot digicam, and it exceeds expectations--because it isn't really JUST a point-and-shoot camera.
I've used this camera to take pictures of colleagues' business cards when I didn't have another way of makins sure I had their contact information. I've used this camera to take pictures of documents to send via e-mail when my scanner was broken. I've used this camera to take pictures of the ancient coins I collect to sell on eBay. I've used this camera to take pictures by birthday candlelight. I've used this camera to take video, and edited that video using Ulead Video Studio 8, and distributed the MPEG result.
My bottom line: This is not the perfect camera--but it's perfect for our family, so I give it 5 stars. It works as advertised, and we haven't wished we would have gotten another model instead. This feature, that feature, yada, yada--at the end of the day we have the pictures we wanted, better pictures that we've been able to get from any of our previous cameras. I still wish I had a more professional camera--but since we're compromising on just one camera for the family, this is a better choice overall.
A note about the Casio brand: I like it. I don't have any experience with their customer relations or service, as I haven't ever had any problems with any of their products until the product was so old I wanted something more up-to-date anyway--so I can't comment on the reviews of Casio service, which I see are unanimously negative here. I've always found their quality:price ratio to my liking.
Amazon.com
The Casio EX-Z55 is a thin, stylish, 5-megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch LCD screen. It features high performance operation in an easy-to-use, compact design. The Z55 replicates the thin-body construction of its predecessors with a large TFT LCD screen, and also features the Exilim Engine, Casio's proprietary compact image processing module.
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The Casio EX-Z55 features an extra-large 2.5-inch LCD screen, while still retaining its optical viewfinder. |
The Casio EX-Z55 boasts even lower power consumption, a high resolution 5-megapixel CCD, a 3x optical zoom lens, an extra large 2.5-inch LCD screen, and an optical viewfinder. With its compact and stylish design, the EX-Z55 can take approximately 400 pictures (based on CIPA standards) on a single charge. The camera offers extended battery life, making it ideal for use during long vacations, business travel, and other occasions requiring the amazing stamina that these cameras now offer.
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Photo Loader software allows automatic transfer of images to a PC at the touch of a single button on the USB cradle. |
Like all models in the Exilim series, the Z55 offers superior portability and excellent picture quality, along with extremely high speed operation for quick response in a variety of shooting situations. For example, Casio's now legendary Best Shot function allows the user to select settings automatically by choosing from sample scenes. In addition, several new functions have been incorporated to assure a higher level of performance, such as the Business Shot function which provides automatic alignment correction for photos taken at an angle, altering shots as though they were taken from a straight front position; the Auto Macro, which automatically switches between macro mode and AF mode; Flash Assist, which compensates for brightness levels in darker areas not reached by the flash; and Icon Help, which displays on-screen guides to help the user during the switching of settings.
High-resolution images captured by the CCD with 5 million effective pixels.
- 3x optical zoom in a compact body
- Large 2.5-inch digital interface TFT LCD screen
- The viewfinder has been built into the LCD screen allowing the use of an optical viewfinder in addition to the image provided on the LCD screen
- High-quality lightweight aluminum body with comfortable handgrip
Long battery life for extended shooting on a single battery charge
- Up to 400 photos can be taken on a single charge, based on CIPA standards for battery life measurement
- 10% longer battery life than the previous model (EX-Z40), with a greater number of pixels and a larger display screen (EX-Z55)
Quick response thanks to high-speed design
- The camera automatically selects fixed-focus Auto Pan Focus mode for instantaneous response when the shutter is pressed rapidly
- Direct On function for one-touch operation of either picture taking or playback modes.
- Rapid start-up allows shooting approximately 1.6 seconds after the power is turned on (with flash off); images are recorded approximately 0.01 seconds after the shutter is released
- 0.1-second high-speed playback for photo scrolling
More convenient functions
- Business Shot function compensates for photos taken at an angle and records them as though taken from straight ahead
- Best Shot allows settings to be chosen by selecting from a collection of sample images
- Extended shooting of video with sound can be performed until the memory is full
- Noise Reduction processing makes night scenes more beautiful
- Auto Macro function enables automatic switching between Macro and AF modes
- Seven-point Multi-Autofocus automatically selects the optimum focus point location
- Flash Assist function provides exposure compensation for areas not reached by the flash
- Icon Guide function uses a pop-up guide to help the user when switching settings
Features for fun
- Voice recording function with playback from the camera's speaker
- Photostand feature allowing a slideshow of images while the camera sits in its cradle
- Calendar function shows thumbnail images of photos taken on any specified date
- World Time function allows the user to set the camera to the local time in one of 162 cities in 32 time zones around the world
- Store special photos or those you don't want others to see in your own Favorites folder
- Create HTML albums in the camera which can be viewed directly by Web browsers
Other features
- Connects directly to PictBridge and USB Direct-Print compatible printers.
- 9.3MB internal flash memory, compatible with SD memory card/Multi Media Card (not included)
- Menu display possible in one of 10 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese
- Photo Loader software allows automatic transfer of images to a PC at the touch of a single button on the USB cradle
- Compatible with ExifPrint (Exif 2.2) and Print Image Matching III
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