Digital Camera Reviews - Expert and user reviews

Casio Exilim EX-G1

The Casio Exilim EX-G1 costs around $ 300 and it is clear that most of that cost is solidly on your body, allowing you to take photos and video where you can not use a regular camera. The 12-megapixel ultra compact camera can withstand a 7-foot drop due to its construction in two layers with an outer casing of stainless steel, resin ring protects the lens, and a polycarbonate cover on its right side, among other measures. It is waterproof to a depth of about 10 feet up to an hour and it’s freezing at 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Its design is not perfect. Depending on the size of his hands (gloves or not), can be frustrating to use as a day in, day out point and shoot camera. Considering its price, some might expect more features and better picture quality. The G1 is a good snapshot camera robust, but not a great one.

Available in red and black, the G1 certainly a different aspect of your average pocket camera. It is very small, which is really what you want in a compact camera-resistant, and is something that will not hesitate to take with you, no matter what the conditions. That said, the camera seems more designed. For starters, there is a line on its right side to open the lid of the memory card compartment and Mini-USB/AV - that is directly below the line. It takes less than a quarter turn to open the door and turns with ease. Other than adding to the mystique of the rugged, the line is a bit useless. Better yet, the battery compartment at the bottom of the camera requires a special tool or a very long nail to open. Even with the tool, openness requires finger dexterity. The kicker: the battery is not loaded in the camera, so you have to remove the compartment when power runs out. Casio includes two types of shock-absorbing removable protectors together by small screws. In addition, Casio was the time to strengthen support for the wrist strap so it is of molten zinc. However, the wrist strap is just a typical braided nylon would get with a regular compact camera - not so hard.
The camera takes microSD and microSDHC cards that need nimble fingers to handle. This is not a big issue, however, since you can always use the USB port to transfer files from the camera and not remove the card, and this means you can use the card in a variety of other mobile devices. Of course, if you plan to use an SD card from another camera, the type of card is a problem.

In my informal tests durability, the camera is tough. The compartment door was closed after drops and never had any malfunctions caused by strokes, underwater use, or cold. The instructions, a PDF file on the software disc included, goes into detail about what the camera will survive and what you need to do to ensure their survival.

The sizes of the ex-G1 controls are acceptable, but people with larger hands may have some problems. In the upper part of Casio Best Shot button to access the shooting modes, a power button and the shutter. The remaining controls are angled toward the right rear, like the body has an angle of the camera itself. There is a button press recording film, a vertical zoom rocker, the Play button and four-way directional pad with a button in the center, and a Menu button. All buttons look close, but mostly, they are easily pressured. The exception to the bottom of the zoom rocker (wide position) and the play button, which are the same height and close together. More often than not, when I went to remove the zoom I’d like to enter the playback mode. Putting on heavy gloves do not make things right. Another issue is that the body of the G1 is a bit slippery. This, combined with its slim size keeps you from getting a secure grip on it.

All camera settings are accessed via the Menu button. However, for faster access to shooting options, programmable settings panel can be opened on the right side of the screen with a press of the Set. The system is easy to navigate and straightforward, and always Casio launches in some extra options. For example, in G1 light AF assist is an Ultrabright LED can be activated for use as video recording light or as a makeshift flashlight. Another option worth mentioning is the Casio Auto Shutter to take a picture when the camera and the subject are still. No optical image stabilization or mechanical, is a great help when trying to reduce blur.

G1 trip characteristics are tame. With only two exceptions, the camera has similar settings to capture the budget compact from Casio, the Z33. With a press of the BS, you can choose one of the more than 20 types of scene, including standard options such as portrait, landscape and night scene. There are underwater and snow modes, too. Auto mode is more realistic of a Program AE mode that lets you adjust all settings of the G1 - but not the shutter speed or aperture. There is also a better automatic shooting mode is Casio’s automatic scene recognition shutter option. Movie mode the camera is VGA quality video, but the recordings looked good in my tests and are suitable for sharing online. Furthermore, the optical zoom works while recording. You can take a still while recording, however, take a piece of the movie while it is the storage of the vaccine.

What are the exceptions? Company Dynamic Photo mode makes an appearance, but it lets you trim a subject of a photo and paste them into another, all done in camera in just a few steps. There interval snapshots and video modes. Shooting interval can be set to 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, and the capture time for movies may be set at 3, 10, 20 or 30 minutes. Also Multi-picture mode that captures images in motion a number of something in motion, like someone jumping into a pool, and puts them in a photo. The interval capture options are really the only option only for G1. It will be useful for some, but does not seem like a reason to buy this camera.
The capture performance leaning G1 blends slow. It takes about 2 seconds for the camera to set up and shoot a photo. That’s fine, but the shot to shot times are long. Without using the flash, the waiting time between shots was about 5 seconds. Turn on the flash extends the waiting time to 5.4 seconds. The camera has a full resolution continuous shooting speed of a modest 0.3 frames per second. The good news is the shutter lag is minimal under conditions of bright light and dark in 0.4 and 0.5 seconds respectively. Depending on your shooting style and subject, shot to shot times can not disturb. Once again, waiting for more than 4 seconds to take another picture can carry a lot of missed opportunities.

The photos of the G1 are good for small snapshots, poster-size prints and heavy crop are probably out of the question. As with most point and shoot ‘, its image quality falls at ISO 200 or higher. The biggest problem is that the subjects look decidedly digital. Add to that the increased noise and noise reduction at ISO 400 and above, and their ability to obtain a clear and detailed picture is almost nonexistent. Of course, these issues are not as visible in the smaller sizes like 5×7 inch prints in smaller, or when they are similar in size to a computer screen. Also, beware that starting with the opening of f3.9, low-light situations will force you to use higher ISO settings or flash. There are significant

color issues in ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 because of noise and yellow spots - although the yellow color shows up to ISO 400.

Purple fringing in the images is above average in its class. Furthermore, Lens Flare is a problem, probably because the G1 has tempered glass to protect your lens. Despite not having a wide-angle lens, the G1 has some visible barrel distortion. Even though the goal was the zoom does not seem to be a small distortion on the left side of the lens. The lens is very sharp, but is decent and consistent edge to edge, again, probably caused by the protective glass.

Colors of the image of G1 are very good and very close to accurate - at least in the photos taken at ISO 800 and lower. Similarly, the levels of white balance of your image are good inside and out. If you like the most vibrant images are no controls to adjust saturation, sharpness and contrast. For shooting flowers and landscapes, use one of the scene modes on the camera.

Additional features:

* Shooting interval: The role of interval shooting allows users to automatically take photos or movies at fixed intervals in the course of action sports such as cycling, snowboarding and windsurfing. With the EX-G1, users can take photos from reaching inside the action, the type that generally are almost impossible to catch. Shooting interval can be set to 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, and the capture time for movies may be set at 3, 10, 20 or 30 minutes
* The BEST SHOT function enables users to take beautiful, simply selecting the desired object scene. The EX-G1 includes additional BEST SHOT scenes suitable for various outdoor situations, such as “snow” and “beach” picture settings that adjust automatically to prevent underexposure issue due to the brightness of the snow or sun . There is a “submarine” setting to control the tendency of underwater photos to seek out too blue.

The Casio Exilim EX-G1 is set to hit shelves next month (December ‘09) in black or red and bear a price tag that comes in at just under $ 300.

Rugged Casio EXILIM EX-G1 Camera announced [Casio EX-G1 becomes the first camera new Casio EXILIM G Range] »TFTS - Technology, gadgets and curiosities

Pros
Robust construction, low shutter lag.

Cons
Picture quality is merely good, sometimes long throw shooting, a little more design.

Conclusion
The Casio Exilim EX-G1 is a good snapshot camera built to take a beating, but his photos and trip characteristics are nothing special.