Will image quality and Best Shot modes be this entry-level camera's saving grace? Find out in our in-depth Casio Exilim EX-Z9 review.
Review summary of the Casio Exilim EX-Z9:
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 If you're looking for your first digital camera and don't want to break the bank, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 could be the ticket. However, this is a budget camera and it's apparent from all angles on this model. It has a wonky zoom toggle design, a low resolution LCD screen, and it also takes beautiful images... but only in optimally lit shooting environments. On the bright side, this camera functions well in auto mode and the Exilim EX-Z9 offers a plethora of BS (Best Shot) Scene Modes that will accommodate many types of shooting situations. For the average tourist, grandparent, or digital camera-phobe, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 should be enough to make the grade. However, most shooters will most likely need more. Release: October 2008. Price: $100.
Pros: Compact, lightweight. Good auto mode. Best Shot modes worked well, helped out.
Cons: Image quality is subpar. Interface is a tad awkward. Camera is at the bottom of the barrel in terms of features.
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Full Casio Exilim EX-Z9 Review:
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Design – Mediocre
Chrome trim, familiar rectangular architecture and a holographic YouTube decal are direct indications that Casio is shooting for the beginner crowd with the Casio Exilim EX-Z9. As Casio's entry-level compact zoom, the EX-Z9 basks in simplicity and intuitive functionality, which is a good thing for those with extreme digital camera phobias. There's nothing to fear but a round directional pad with a Set button embedded in the middle, the sole navigation control on the Casio Exilim EX-Z9. The round d-pad is simple to operate, but the left side is positioned too close to the lip of the LCD screen. You'll have to utilize your thumb or finger at a peculiar angle to scroll left.
In hand, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 is comfortable to hold, thanks to its boxy design. Our hands had the tendency to symmetrically brace the camera from opposite sides. The protruding lens prevent our straying fingers from mosey into a shot, saving us valuable cropping time later on. The EX-Z9's power button sits flush with the top of the camera and is difficult to engage, we really hadnto dig our finger in there to access it. On the bright side, the camera never inadvertently powered on while traveling inside a pocket. There are two separate buttons for Playback and Capture mode, located next to each other, rather than the robust mode dial we see on more advanced cameras. We haven't seen many cameras easier than that; the EX-Z9 pumps ease-of-use to the max.
As with most entry-level point-and-shoots, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 leaves much to be desired in the realm of external controls. The zoom toggle is represented by two minute buttons located in the top right portion of the back of the camera, as opposed to a zoom ring located around the shutter button. This is not the greatest design as it requires the shooter to use an extra finger to operate the zoom. It also requires more thought, detracting from the composition of the picture.
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 is light and portable and can easily be tossed into a pocket. Casio tacked a 2.6" wide LCD screen on the back, but the resolution is subpar - what do you expect on an entry-level compact zoom? The main issue we have with the LCD screen is that images appear brighter and less saturated than they actually capture. Upon playback, we were surprised to see a beautiful image that looked like crud during capture through the live LCD preview, and vice versa.
Features – Good
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 required little schooling to acclimate ourselves to its rudimentary operation. For an entry-level camera, the EX-Z9 contains a basic array of manual controls, including Focus control, ISO, White Balance, and EV (Exposure Values). There's no manual shutter speed - the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 only fiddles with the shutter speed when you select one of the Night modes in the Best Shot menu. Ah, the Best Shot menu - appropriately labeled the "BS" menu by Casio. Well, we won't be too critical when Casio offers 20 different shooting environment presets, including Night Scene, Backlight, Fireworks and Portrait. There's even an eBay setting for taking product shots. For the most part, the Best Shot modes did their job. If Best Shot doesn't do the trick, Casio includes an Easy mode that simplifies the menu and abolishes all manual controls.
Casio's handy Function menu is located along the right side of the LCD screen and contains ISO, White Balance, and EV control. The Casio Exilim EX-Z9's ISO ranges from 64 (which is fairly low) to 1600. Manual focus allows you to zoom in on the subject, but the LCD resolution is such a pixilated mess that it's difficult to discern sharp lines and contours. The best bet is to stick with Auto and choose Macro for close-ups.
Casio also includes a gamut of semi-automatic controls located in the main menu. Nothing that couldn't be done in Photoshop, however, we figure a majority of the EX-Z9's audience will most likely not own any sort of third-party photo editing program. The Color Filter mode shows a small preview window while you scroll through settings that include Black and White, Sepia, and 6 colors to choose from. This is a great tool if you want to add a little artistic flair to your photos, but are not ready to jump into the world of digital editing.
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 can also capture videos up to 10 minutes in length. The quality is decent for a digital camera, and the files are drag-and-drop for easy YouTube uploading.
Hardware - Mediocre
From powered down to first shot, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 took approximately 1.7 seconds, which is not particularly quick. The EX-Z9 also takes its sweet time saving an image, so it was another couple seconds until we were able to fire the second shot.
The EX-Z9 has an acceptable aperture range of f/2.8 – f/5.6, so close-up objects are not a huge problem. However, if you plan on shooting lavish landscapes and scenery, prepare to be disappointed. You have to be a lot closer than you think to fit in a compelling story with a compact zoom. For most scenes, the Casio Exilim EX-Z9's aperture can open wide enough to accommodate, but leave the National Geographic shots to a more serious camera.
Image Quality – Mediocre
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 is a bit of a drama queen. It only functions optimally under ideal shooting conditions, unless you use the appropriate Best Shot mode, and even that's a gamble. Shadows, contrasts and low lighting conditions are difficult for the 8.1MP sensor to handle. The biggest issue we found was noise. Now, for the average tourists tooling around Times Square, the EX-Z9 is a viable weapon of choice. However, as we've mentioned, if you're a budding Ansel Adams or have nosebleed seats at a Springsteen concert, you might want to consider a camera with higher image quality and a wider aperture range. More zoom wouldn't hurt, either.
Scene Test at Times Square
For the most part, this is a beautiful image. Lines are crisp, colors are accurate and noise is barely evident, even in the shade. Of course, this is an example of optimal lighting. The sun is behind the Casio Exilim EX-Z9, providing an even spread of light. You'll notice a few minor imperfections - ghosting along the edges of the "Shrek" sign is one. There's also a little trouble with the leaves of the tree, as you can see pixels morphing and colliding into one another. But those are exceedingly minor issues. The image as a whole is top notch.
Long Island Zoom
Wide Angle
Telephoto
These two images display the range of the 3x optical zoom. You can clearly see the difference in sharpness here. The wide angle shot has crisper lines and an overall sharper image. You can still seek out some halos and ghosting around the tree and leaves, but the buildings are strong in the distance. Up close, it's a different story. The buildings are wrought with so much ghosting that they actually look like ghost buildings. The clouds, water, and railing look as good as they did in the wide angle shot, but there's more noise in the background. This is not a terrible image for a zoom, it's just not the most detailed.
Color Test – Fruit Stand
Here's another shot in ideal lighting, with nice color reproduction. The oranges burst without any oversaturation, and the grapes appear life-like, even up close. Things go sour in the bright sunlight, as you can see ghosting around the bananas, but they retain an accurate color. This is just one of those pleasing images that makes owning the Casio Exilim EX-Z9 worthwhile.
Macro Test
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9's Macro setting allowed us to get approximately 5 inches from the face of the nutcracker, but not any closer. It just couldn't handle an extremely close distance. You'll also notice the plethora of noise present in the background, as well as a good deal within the nutcracker. His hat looks like a jumble of pixelated points.
Contrast Under the Bridge
Here's an example of a road bump you'll run into with the Casio Exilim EX-Z9. It had no idea what to do with the light in the background, and just spills it all throughout the architecture of the bridge, creating a lens flare-like effect along the top of the image. The bricks in the bridge look accurate in terms of color, but noise runs rampant, especially inside the bridge. The people under the bridge are out of focus and the ground is nearly blown out. The Ex-Z9 does not take well to contrasts. In this situation, you'll want to reduce the ISO or exposure.
Best Shot Modes:
Lamp
Using Backlight Mode
It's tough when a subject is framed in front of a glaring background. Everything in the foreground is as dark as Mordor while light in the back is screaming for attention. You'll notice these issues in the first picture of the lamp. In the second picture, the Backlight BS mode was engaged. The difference is substantial. However, the back light is now even more furious. Based on the detail and revamped exposure of the lamp (which is the primary subject), the Backlight mode was worth it.
Candle
Using Candlelight Mode
In auto mode, the color temperature of the candle is too warm by a landslide. You can even see the posterized gradation of color on the candle, like multi-colored rings on Saturn. At 100%, this image looks terrible. However, Candlelight Mode was the magic elixir. The color temperature is just right, the gradation is significantly reduced, and noise is nearly non-existent. This is a situation where you won't find any BS in the Best Shot menu.
Landscape Mode in Central Park
Now here's an example of the BS. In Landscape mode, it appears as though not much is altered from auto mode. Obviously, the light in the background is blown out, but look at the lack of detail in the leaves. Noise is having a party in Central park, and crisp lines and sharp detail are not invited. This is another example of the EX-Z9's drama queen behavior, and unless you look at this image from afar, you will be reasonably disappointed.
Monument
Scenery Mode – Monument
Here's another wildcard performance. Look at the detail of the etching on the monument. It's astounding. Also, how about those brooding clouds in the background? The dynamics in this photo are delightfully intriguing. Up close, there is some ghosting and noise, but for the most part we were very happy with this image. When shot in auto mode, the image was overexposed and lacked detail. Scenery mode pulled through this time.
ISO Test – Back Under the Bridge
ISO 64
ISO 400
ISO 1600
We shot three photos at three different ISO settings: 64 (the lowest), 400, and 1600 (the highest). When shooting at such a low ISO, it's important to use a tripod because the low sensitivity of the setting requires the camera to be held as steady as possible. You can see the blurred nature of the bricks, due to the fact that the image was captured without a tripod. Color looks good, and noise is low, but the image is too blurry to use. At 400, the image looks a bit washed out. Colors don't pop, but noise is low. At 1600, the detail is the greatest, but the colors suffer the most. If you're going to shoot at a high ISO, make sure you boost the saturation or play with the White Balance, to get more juice out of your colors.
Motion
This particular shot was taken on a motorcycle traveling at about 35 MPH on the Manhattan bridge. Image stabilization was set to auto and the NYC roads are anything but smooth. The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 handles the motion exceptionally well. The detail in the top of the bridge is stellar and lines are crisp and bold. The tension wires along the left side are a bit noisy, but it is most likely due to a focusing issue as the wires on the right side are highly detailed.
Low Light – Desk and Lamp
Here's the drama queen in full effect. What, the sun's not out? We're indoors? Where's all the light!? The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 panics here and the result is a post impressionist painting of a desk and a lamp. Noise is exploding to and fro, and there's even a blue streak next to the lamp. Yes, the EX-Z9 is a bi-polar camera.
Transfer and Storage – Good
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 ships with HOT ALBUM software, which is as basic as you can get. It allows you to import photos from memory cards, files or a device. The menu screen is intuitive and offers three different thumbnail views. It takes a while to import images, longer than just dragging and dropping into a folder on your desktop. You can't edit photos either, just burn to a disc, email, view slideshow, etc. flickr has more photo editing than HOT ALBUM. The redeeming factor is that you can throw in your memory card or transfer via USB and then simply drag and drop, which makes up for the lack of adequate software. The EX-Z9 has 18MB of built-in storage, which will offer store about four 8.1MP images. You'll have to buy your own SD card, but luckily they are dropping in price left and right.
Price and availability
The Casio Exilim EX-Z9 will start selling for $100 () in October 2008.
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