Casio Exilim EX-Z40 Zoom Digital Camera

Casio EX-Z40 Gets It Right!!! Great Camera !!!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 30, 2004 | 87 out of 88 found this Casio Exilim EX-Z40 Zoom Digital Camera review helpful

Pros: Small, light, better battery, big screen, unlimited AVI

Cons: None I can think of

This is simply a fantastic camera! I had originally purchased the EX-Z4U, which I found did not have the movie feature, go figure, so I returned it. I had called Casio America about it, and they couldn't even explain why Casio had removed it, wh...ile keeping it on the EX-Z4 world version.Casio did inform me of the forthcoming EX-Z40.I have had this camera for about a month now and really love it. It is so easy to carry around. It doesn't come with a case, but I found a great leather one on Ebay for about $10. Casio has made improvements on this model over the EX-Z4U. For one thing, they have brought back the movie mode, and made it "unlimited", being only restricted in size (mb) by the amount of memory on the optional SD card.I purchased a 256mb SD card at Costco for around $64. The camera takes amazing pictures, and great AVI movies, although the movies tend to be bigger in size than the MPEG format found on other cameras, such as the Sony DSC-T1. I looked at the Sony, and although it had a slightly bigger screen (and much bigger price tag), the Casio's screen is just perfect. I didn't like the Sony because it is so proprietary (you have to buy THEIR memory card). The Casio also has a optical viewfinder, that the Sony doesn't have. This means you can turn off the LCD and use the viewfinder if you need to conserve battery power.Speaking of batteries, Casio has improved that too. The NP-40 battery is now a little shorter and fatter than the previous NP-20, and it lasts 2.5 times longer. I can shoot pictures practically all day and not need to charge.The re-designed docking station makes it really quick and easy to just drop in the camera for charging or transferring images to computer.Casio has remodeled all the buttons. Instead of a sliding switch between Record and Playback, there are now 2 seperate buttons, which also act as alternate power on buttons, and take you directly into whichever mode is pressed. I have no problem whatsoever, but someone with really big hands may have trouble handling it, or pressing buttons.The built-in menu system is very easy to use, and very comprehensive. It also contains lots of advanced features.It now has 20 preset Bestshot modes. All in all, this is one cool camera, both in style, and functionality. Everyone who sees it is amazed by it. I love mine totally, and carry it everywhere. I highly recommend this camera.Jenna Read more Less