Casio EX-Z200 Review

The Z200's collapsible zoom lens provides 4x (28-112mm in 35mm equivalent) optical zoom capabilities in an amazingly thin configuration. This is an all-glass, multicoated lens constructed of 7 elements in 6 groups (including aspherical lens) with a maximum aperture of F2.6 - F5.8. It has a 4X digital zoom option. The lens retracts fully inside of the camera when powered down and is protected by a built in lens cover.

The auto focus system has options for Spot AF (center only), Multi AF (auto selects one of nine AF areas), or Auto Tracking (press lightly on the shutter button and the camera will continue to focus on your subject until the photo is taken). The Z200 also features an AF-assist illuminator to aid in accurate focusing in low light conditions.

The auto focus working range is:

• Normal: 1.3 feet (40cm) to infinity at wide angle
• Macro: 5.9 - 19.7 inches (varies with zoom)
• Manual: 5.9 inches to infinity.

The built-in flash has modes for auto, fill, soft flash, red-eye reduction and off. The working range is approx. .66 - 10.83 feet (W), approx. 1.64 - 4.92 feet (T) with ISO set to Auto.

Controls on top: Power on/off button and combination shutter release and zoom lens control. In playback mode the zoom controls function as the index and magnify functions.

On the back is a 2.7-inch, wide-format LCD monitor with 230K pixels. At the top right you can see the Movie mode shutter release. Next are the Playback and Record mode buttons. The 4-way controller lets you easily navigate menu screens or select images for playback, the center button accepts menu selections. You can program the "Left" and "Right" actions in the Record menu to change EV comp, ISO speed, White Balance, etc. In Record mode you push "Up" to change DISPlay settings, push "Down" to change the flash mode or to delete an image when in Playback. The MENU button calls up and dismisses the menu system. The BS button accesses the BestShot mode menu.

Unlike many Casio models, the EX-Z200 does not feature a docking cradle. Here you can see the combination I/O that handles USB 2.0 (high-speed) port for data transfer as well as Audio-Video output TV set for display of images and movies (video out during playback mode only).

The Z200 has ~11.7 megabytes of internal memory for saving images and movie clips. It supports use of SD, SDHC, MMC, and MMC Plus memory cards via the expansion slot on the bottom. Image data can be copied to/from internal memory and a flash card via the Playback menu. Shown here with a speedy OCZ Class 6 4GB SDHC card.

Still Image Storage

Movie Storage

The EX-Z200 is powered by a Super-Life NP-40 3.7 1300mAh Lithium-ion battery pack that is charged in the included AC charger. Casio claims a battery life of up to 400 still images or 5 hours and 20 minutes of continuous playback.