The V8 looks beefy yet slim, packs an impressive 7x zoom and has our ears perked at the idea of stereo audio recording in video mode. But does it take good pictures?
Review summary of the Casio Exilim EX-V8:
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 Forget bells and whistles, a camera has essentially one purpose, no matter how it is delivered: to take good pictures. On paper, the EX-V8 seems like a winner: compact design, high megapixel count, 7x zoom, and a stereo microphone for widescreen video. But when asked to simply take a good picture, the V8 simply falls short. Release: September 2007. Price: $200.
Pros: Solid body, 7x zoom, decent video mode
Cons: Takes mediocre photographs
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Full Casio Exilim EX-V8 Review:
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Design - Good
We generally like the metal casing of most Casio cameras. It was a bit thicker than others we have tested, but it was still small enough for a pants pocket. The camera is solid, feels very well-made, and the metal body resisted minor falls and scrapes. All the buttons were responsive, and most were labeled well enough to understand without too much difficulty. The lens retracts into the body when the camera is turned off or in photo review mode, providing reasonable protection.
The 2.5" LCD is as an effective viewfinder, but like most LCDs, the low-resolution prevents it from being a good indicator of whether a picture will turn out well once it was on our computer. Still, we understand this is a problem that will be endemic to high-megapixel cameras.
Interface and Features - Good
Much like the Casio EX-Z77 we tested recently, the V8 is laden with complicated menus that are almost necessary because of the bevy of included features. We liked Best Shot and the YouTube capture mode. Best Shot is essentially a group of presets that is supposed to optimize conditions for picture-taking in certain scenarios. It helped, but not much; we were never satisfied with the pictures we got. Still missing was a Panorama mode.
While we like the YouTube capture mode, our interest is based mostly upon the included YouTube Uploader software, which simplifies the process of uploading content to the viral video Web site. The uploader program pops up as soon as a camera or card is connected to the computer, and every video is listed. A few short steps later and you're ready to be an internet superstar. However, the pre-formatted YouTube settings don't make for very crisp video.
When we noticed the two microphones on the front of the camera and the words "STEREO" emblazoned between them, we got excited, since much of our digital camera video-shooting takes place at concerts, which would seemingly benefit from better audio recording. But we were disappointed with the sound quality; everything seemed muffled and distorted, far worse than what we have experienced with mono-recording cameras. We were pretty impressed with the ability to zoom during video recording, though, as it is something we rarely see. It would have been a tease to have such a long zoom lens and not be able to use it.
We liked the UHQ wide mode (we have an admitted weak spot for widscreen video), which shot decent video even with low light, but in the highest resolution possible, the videos were not pre-formatted for YouTube. We didn't really penalize the camera for this; the user who requires higher quality video, most likely knows what they're doing with the videos anyway and can handle uploads without the bundled software.
This is probably a good thing, because included software bundle is relatively weak. The few options include burn to disk, send by email, print, slideshow and order prints. However, the largest resolution possible for e-mailing photos through the program is 800x600, and you can't order prints online, but rather need a blank memory card to store photos for your local photo developer to print for you. We’ve voiced our displeasure with Casio’s software in the past; nothing significant has been changed with this model.
We were only able to fit a few pictures on the internal memory, but the fact that it had any was nice enough. We liked the SD slot--using the most common and inexpensive format--especially since it reads SDHC cards.
Camera Quality - Very good
The EX-V8 has an impressive 7X optical zoom lens, especially with its relatively slim size. ISO settings should have offered a little higher than ISO 800, especially when comparable models are shipping with ISO 1600. We’d like to see some better stats from a $300 camera, but it appears most of the money went into the 8.1 megapixel sensor, anti-shake and the 7x internal optical zoom.
The auto-focus never seemed to work properly for us. The motor that drove the lens was constantly whirring, and only stopped once we clicked the shutter. The anti-shake made a definite difference, on both video and still shots, working much better than other Casio models we’ve tested. That being said, it usually didn’t matter, because the picture was blurred not by our hand shaking but the failing autofocus.
Startup on the EX-V8 was extremely fast, no doubt aided by the mechanical slide-open on switch. We were able to go from the off position to a (relatively) focused, finished photo in under 2 seconds, but unlike other cameras the time between successive shots did not improve. We liked the in-camera editing functions (including rotation, resizing and cropping). But as we mentioned before, thanks to high photo resolutions, the LCD’s resolution was too low to see if the editing we did was an improvement or not.
Image Quality - Mediocre
We tried extremely hard, but we were completely unable to like any of the photos we took with this camera. Low-light, sunlight, indoors or outdoors, the pictures just looked…bad. Lots of noise, blurry subjects and a complete inability to focus automatically all made every picture suffer, so much that we couldn’t find one suitable sample to display. Outdoor daytime shots worked best, but the camera rarely focused on what we wanted it to. We found ourselves moving the camera until the little blinking box turned green, which was more annoying than helpful.
With a firm grasp on the tenets of photography, it is imagined that one could use the camera completely manually with some success, but changing the settings on this point-and-shoot is much more difficult than with an old manual SLR, and when you buy a camera like this, the ability to take a photo quickly is worth just as much as the ability to negotiate F stops and shutter speeds.
Accessories - Very Good
We love the included dock, especially since it meant we didn’t have to take out the battery and charge it with a battery charger. Aside from keeping our desk more organized, it allows us to pop the camera in and start charging or syncing immediately (although not both at once, unfortunately). We would like to see the ability to charge via USB (the included AC adapter was just yet another wire to get tangled in), and an option to bypass the dock if we wanted. While we liked the dock, the thought of having to buy a new dock just to see our pictures was not a pleasurable one, and no USB ports on the camera meant we couldn’t sync with another computer (like one at a friend’s house). Inconveniences aside, the camera comes with most everything needed to take pictures and videos and put them on your computer or play them on your TV. We still lament for the days when companies would include necessary accessories like an SD card, but at this point it’s a pipe dream. Items that were included: Lithium Ion Battery, dock, AC power cord, camera strap, USB cable, AV cable and a CD-ROM with software.
Price and availability
The Casio Exilim EX-V8 will start selling for $200 () in September 2007.
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