suit almost any photographer
hunting for a small, pocketable
camera. Occasional
photographers will fi nd automatic
settings and plenty of
scene modes to help them
get better shots, while experienced
shooters will appreciate
the creative control they
get by using the camera’s
solid selection of advanced
features. Encased in a slim
metal body, the EX-Z750 is
small enough for you to carry
everywhere. The camera’s
3X zoom lens is standard
fare, but the 2.5-inch LCD is
enormous and fills most of
the camera’s back. Surprisingly,
Casio found room for
a small optical viewfinder,
which lets you shoot in
extreme lighting conditions.
You can easily operate most
of the controls with your right
thumb or index finger. Two
small buttons on the camera’s
left edge let you bypass
the main menus and quickly
change key settings such as
resolution, ISO, and white
balance. A small mode dial on
the back of the camera offers
a variety of primary shooting
modes, including fully automatic
and movie. Twist it to
“Best Shot” position, and you
can pick from 30 different
scene modes for still shots.
Switching to manual mode
gives you access to shutterpriority,
aperture-priority,
and full-manual settings. You
select these on the LCD screen
via the camera’s four-way
thumb button, which takes a
bit of practice to master. The
well-organized menus supply
other advanced settings such
as manual focus, gridlines,
sharpness, saturation, contrast,
and fl ash intensity. One
regrettable omission is exposure
bracketing.
Complementing the camera’s
SD Card slot (a memory
card is not included) is
8.3MB of internal memory.
The Z750 can record only
one shot at the camera’s
highest quality setting; but
it’s better than nothing if you
forget your SD Card.
Among the Z750’s few fl aws
is an imprecise zoom control:
We had to fl ick the control back
and forth a few times with the
zoom button to frame shots
accurately. Another drawback:
after each shot, the instant
review of the photo appeared
on the LCD far too briefl y, and
there’s no control for keeping
it up longer. Also, the Z750
l a c k s a n o r i e n t a t i o n
sensor for rotating portrait
shots automatically.
In lab tests, the Z750 produced
pleasing photos: Our
panel of judges gave it high
marks for sharpness, distortion
level, and overall quality.
Its least-successful picture
was the still-life shot, which
looked slightly underexposed.
In our informal testing, we
saw plenty of sharp detail
and natural color. In the low
lighting of a local restaurant,
we got good results using the
manual modes without fl ash.
The camera’s only connector
attaches it to the included
docking cradle. The cradle’s
two buttons let you upload
images to your PC or print on
a PictBridge-compatible printer.
Since power for charging
the battery passes though the
cradle, you’ll need to take the
cradle and compact power
adapter with you when traveling.
In our battery tests, we
took an impressive 446 shots
on a single charge. The camera
faces to the rear and tilts
backward in the cradle, making
it easier to view your shots
as a slideshow in file-name
order or by date (using the
built-in calendar). The included
software lets you generate
a Web gallery arranged
in a similar calendar format,
showing thumbnails for each
day you took photos.
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