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Made a Believer Out of Me…

If you read my Kodak V530 review, then you already know what I am talking about. If not, then I’ll give you a quick overview:

Last week I sold my Canon S230 camera (similar to SD200), which served me well for about 3 years, and was looking for a replacement. The following criteria were most important to me: price, quality, and reliability. Also, I want to mention that I have some professional photography experience. I used to work for Kodak for a couple of years in Professional Digital Imaging department, doing some software testing. I don’t consider myself to be a Pro, but I do know what I’m talking about when it comes to cameras, and digital cameras/photography in particular. Back to cameras - I didn’t want to buy another Canon, because I think they are overrated and overpriced. I like Sony - I think their video equipment is one of the best on the market, but unfortunately the same doesn’t apply to their digital cameras. So, using specific parameters/criteria I’ve narrowed down my search to a few brands/models: Kodak V530/V550, Panasonic FX8/FX9, and Casio S600/Z600/Z60 (I was also looking at Z750 and Z850). Kodak turned out to be a waste of my time - two days after I bought it, I took it back to Walmart (thanks to their great return policy - no restocking fees or anything else). After that I wasn’t even going to try V550. Panasonic uses Leica lenses, and I wish I could try it, but unfortunately it is not sold anywhere locally, and I didn’t want to buy it online, because if I didn’t like and wanted to return it, I would end up paying restocking fees.

So, I went back to Walmart, and there it was, sitting on the shelf, Casio Exilim EX-Z60. Pretty in silver. I’ve read/heard a lot of good things about Casio digital cameras, but was always leery to try one myself, mainly because of the reliability fact. But since Walmart has such a nice return policy, I went ahead and bought it anyway. I was in for a treat - this camera turned out to be a truly pleasant surprise. I’ve been using it for a few days now and it just keeps on amazing me. In a few more days I will have to take it back to Walmart, but not because I don’t like it, but because I bought myself a Z600 (it’s coming in the mail), which I wouldn’t have before I tried this one. In my review I will give you a full analysis of the Z60 model, and then I will tell you why I chose to go with the Z600, as well as I will compare it to S600, Z750, and Z850.

Pros:
Design - Simple, yet elegant. Very clean, modern look. Available in Silver, Black, and I believe also in Red. I am not sure what other colors look like, but silver looks really nice. It’s brushed, not polished, which in my opinion is better, since it doesn’t scratch as easily. Buttons seem to be in the right places. Overall, a very sexy looking camera.

Price - Comparing to other brands in the same range, it’s on a low side. Walmart had it for just under $250. I think you can buy it cheaper online for about $220-230, which is a great deal for a 6MP digital camera of this caliber.

Picture Quality - Holy cow!!! Wow!!! Those were my first words when I took first few shots. I have not seen anything like this. It put my Canon to shame! Have you heard of an expression “Picture Perfect”?! This was certainly the case. The pictures looked bright, bold, and crisp. Ready to be published/printed in any magazine or to be placed in a frame and hanged on a wall. Simply brilliant! What I also liked is that how “true” the colors were, meaning that whatever was red in real life, appeared red in a picture - not pink, or orange, or any other color. Not many cameras are capable of that - most of them will “distort” the color somehow.

Features - For an ultra compact P&S digital camera, it is packed with various features. Menus, buttons all seem to be in the right places and are very easy to operate without previous knowledge. Large 2.5″ LCD (display); 33 shooting modes (including EBay mode, where the pictures are specifically optimized for selling items on EBay - my wife was thrilled about that); Anti Shake DSP (stabilization control for those with shaky hands to minimize the blurriness in pictures); and many more. Great job, Casio!!!

Battery Life - I spent a full day before I had to recharge the battery. With this one, you will probably never need a backup battery.

Cons:
I simply cannot say that I don’t like something in particular about this camera. Perhaps reliability is my biggest concern. Will this camera be “true” to me, just like Canon was for 3 years, or will it break after a couple of months - only time will show… but for now, I am a happy camper.

Summary:
Whichever one you choose, Z60 or Z600, any one will be a great choice! But it now!!!

Now that I’ve given you a somewhat full description/analysis of a Z60, I will have to say why I chose to go with a Z600 (which I will review as soon as I get my hands on it). But before I do that, I will also mention that I considered buying a Z750, Z850, and an S600. So, why didn’t I? Well, I did my research first. Both Z750 and Z850 are not true P&S cameras - they are more for someone who wants a bit more of a manual control. From what I hear, they are great cameras, but unless you have some knowledge in professional photography, or want to learn more about it, it’s not worth buying it. They also have a few problems that haven’t been addressed yet by Casio, and they are also a bit pricy for an average consumer. S600 on the other hand is another true P&S camera, with some great features. For one, it takes movies (video) in MPEG-4 format, comparing to Z60 and Z600’s AVI. How is it different? Because it’s a better quality format, and you can also store of up to 5 times more. Not bad, ah?! It also looks way too cool. Casio even calls it a Card Camera - it looks and feels like a credit card, that’s how compact it is. So, why didn’t I buy an S600 then? Well, first of all it’s more expensive than a Z600. But most importantly it lacks a few features (such as EBay mode for example), and also has only a 2.2″ LCD, comparing to 2.5″ on a Z60, and a huge bright 2.7″ on a Z600. There you have it. The Z60 and Z600 are practically identical, except for the LCD size. Price difference was not very significant (Z600 probably $20 more), but I figured the larger display is well worth it. Also, Z600 is a bit smaller, and weighs a little less as well.

Once again, I am very impressed with Casio, and highly recommend it to everyone.

Update (5/19/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Casio Exilim EX-Z60 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Silver Electronics Apr 15, 2006, was written by Vladimir Ratner.

The average rating for this item is 4.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.