Evaluation:  
Conclusion: Great video, good pictures, incredible zoom
Review: I have had this camera for about 3 weeks now. I was looking for a camera with good quality widescreen DVD resolution video with optical zoom and decent pictures. This camera really excels in the video area. The widescreen DVD quality video is excellent and having 7x zoom with absolutely no mechanical zoom noise is great. The zoom control slides and acivates either a slow or very fast zoom. The 2 grades of zooming is very useful and helps this camera to be a real camcorder replacement. The ergonomics of the zoom control are not the best, though. I do wish the lens was a bit more wide angle, as at 38mm fully zoomed out is narrower view than I would like. Using the electronic image stabilization during videoing aggravates this issue as the field of view is narrowed further to allow for stabilization.
Image quality on this camera is good, but not great. The CCD shift image stabilization really helps when taking high zoom pictures. I have noticed that at all full 7x zoom pictures are noticeably softer than no zoom pics. I have though been very happy to capture pics that I would never have managed with a 3x zoom camera.
My biggest problems with this camera are as follows:
- Movies are stored in apple .mov format that does not play back well on older windows PCs. All three of my 2-3 year old PCs cannot play back the movies using the quicktime player, they are jerky and the sound stutters. I found that the free VLC media player software plays the video great, but the sound is a screeching mess. The only workaround I have found is to use the free RADtools software to convert the videos to DIVX or XVID format. The videos then play fine on all of my PCs, but this conversion process takes several minutes per minute of video. If you only have newer macs of windows PCs then you are probably fine, but sharing the full resolution video files with others is an issue. The videos upload fine to flickr, and this is what I have been using to share them with others, though flickr reduces the resolution a bit.
- When playing the movies back using the included camera dock video connection to my TV (standard composite A/V cables), the video does not play at DVD quality. I would guess the 848x480 videos are actually being displayed on my TV at half resolution, maybe 424x240. I find this unacceptable, especially considering the above problem with PC viewing. The dock should have come with a component cable connection and actually play the videos in 480p full DVD resolution.
I bought the black version of this camera (only available at beast buy) and it was at the time on sale for one seventy nine on closeout. If you want to see samples of images and videos see user michaelandanna on flickr, photos tagged with "EX-V8"
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Tiny and truly amazing
Review: There is no doubt the EX-V8 an incredible camera and I'm happy to see such great reviews for it. I think a lot of people overlook it because they crave those huge manly zoom lenses with "authentic-sounding" labels emblazoned on them like Schneider, Leica, Zeiss, etc. Maybe it's not cool to have a camera with a wimpy looking flat front?
I have owned a Casio EX-Z750 which I reviewed here a few years ago and have loved it. Casio has been in the digital camera business for a long time and they make rock-solid cameras that take excellent pictures. I can't count the times I didn't want to lug my DSLR or I felt it attracted too much attention but yet I needed something that would produce a decent photograph and the Z750 was perfect. A few weeks ago I was at a Renaissance Faire with my Z750 and wished I had two features the camera lacked ... a more powerful zoom, and Image Stabilization like my DSLR. The first one that I could seriously consider is the brand-new Panasonic DMC-TZ5. With a 10x zoom and IS it seems like an excellent camera, but when I went to look at one I was disappointed how big it is, and that's before the huge lens is zoomed all the way. I reviewed every other camera and found just one that had a decent zoom, IS, and the other features I wanted and was small enough to take everywhere and that was the V8. As soon as I picked one up I was convinced.
Like many Casio cameras this thing feel like it is carved from a solid brick of aluminum (it's not). Mine is called "black" though it really is a very rich gunmetal gray. Every button feels solid and works with a reassuring click. Despite having a 7X lens the overall size is almost identical to my Z750, which is accomplished by having the entire lens built into the camera body. The LCD screen is the same size but even sharper and brighter than my previous camera. Let me spend a little more time on the lens because it is one of the major reasons I bought the camera.
To me there are two ways to take pictures ... either with a DSLR with a great lens in which you carefully compose your photograph and manually set the camera to capture exactly the essence of the moment; or with a pocket point-and-shoot camera in which you want to draw as little attention to yourself so you can capture your subject in their most candid moments. The V8 excels at this because there is no whirring zoom lens that thrusts out toward your subject. It is hard to be natural when a lens is zooming in on you. With the V8 you can zoom in very discretely without alarming your subject. The design of the on/off switch adds to this by simply sliding the lens cover to one side to turn it on. This also offers far more protection to the lens than those flimsy metal leafs that most cameras use. I have seen more of those get smashed than I can count. The V8's door has enough resistance that under most conditions it won't accidentally slide open in your pocket. Another feature that adds to the ability to zoom in on a subject without making them anxious is the placement of the zoom lever. Instead of the obvious place around the shutter release like many cameras, it is operated by sliding a small bar on the back of the camera with your thumb. It feels much more natural to me. Here is a short summary:
PROS: rock solid construction; fully internal 7X zoom lens; 4-way Image Stabilization; amazing wide-format movie mode with superb compression; stereo sound with video; excellent LCD screen; amazing range of features and controls
CONS: I prefer a lens that zooms just a little wider
If you like capturing candid "people" photos that are as natural as possible the V8 may be one of the most ideal cameras ever made. Here's a summary of why:
1. It looks like an extremely simple fixed lens point-and-shoot camera yet you can unobtrusively zoom in for very nice candid shots.
2. The dark grey case does not call attention to itself.
3. The very effective anti-shake means you don't have to have a lot of light to make a good picture.
4. The rear-mounted zoom slider doesn't reveal to the subject that you are zooming in and out.
5. When the electronic sounds are turned off, there is absolutely no whirring zoom and focus sounds like on almost every other camera. This camera is absolutely silent. You could take candids at a funeral and not disturb anyone.
6. If you did need to use flash, let's say at a cocktail party, you can set it to a very low power that gives you enough light without blinding your subject.
Bottom line: Picture quality is important but it's not everything ... I ran side-by side test shots with my Z750, which I thought made excellent photographs. The V8 was consistently superior in every way, especially the dynamic range. With the sole exception of the reds being a little too orange, the V8 is in the league of the very best point-and-shoots made. When considering a camera of this type, size is a major factor, as is ruggedness. Perhaps most important is "am I going to be able to capture a once-in-a-lifetime memory and share it with family and friends?" Remember, a point-and-shoot should be just that, not a replacement for a high-quality DSLR.
Any digital camera is a sophisticated piece of electronics and should be given reasonable care which means getting a good carrying case, not tossing it in a pocket or purse with your keys. Regardless of brand, buy from a reputable dealer and despite anything you believe a digital camera is one of the best reasons to pay the extra 20 bucks for a performance protection plan.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Doesn't get much better than this!!
Review: I got the idea to get this over at Ken Rockwell's site. Man, this is a great little camera. It's easy to carry. I use a soft little bag that came with a PC mouse, and it all fits in a shirt pocket without scratching anything. The zoom feature is very good. The camera comes with a handy stand for recharging. The big LDC screen makes aiming easy and I've taken some great shots of traffic. I thought the pictures would be blurred, but they are excellent, moving at highway speeds. It's just a fun little camera that takes fantastic pictures.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Small, fast, brilliant
Review: Love the camera, it responds to buttons and input fast, feels very solid. Doesn't work perfectly in low light conditions, but this is a trade off because the camera itself is so small and the zoom so crazily large. The screen's perfect, there's no need for a viewfinder because it's always visible, and the battery life is top-notch. I'd buy it again.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Great Camera, Terrible Software
Review: I received this camera yesterday and it was everything I expected and more! The quality of the pictures are excellent for a mid-range camera and the electronics are first rate. It is obvious that the Casio engineers put a lot of time and thought into the design. The "Best Shot" feature encodes a great deal of knowledge about how to set up the camera for various kinds of shot (e.g., If you want to take a portrait shot of someone and you want the foreground to be in sharp focus but the background to be a little blurred, this camera will adjust itself to give you exactly that).
I gave this product a 5 star rating because of the camera (which after all, is what I bought). Nevertheless I need to report two negative experiences with this purchase - one dealing with the software that came with the camera and one with the purchasing experience through Amazon).
The software gets the lowest possible rating. In sharp contrast to the care and professionalism of the camera's design, the software looks like it was thrown together over a weekend by a couple of amateurs. After hours of working with the software I have been unable to get it to upload movies to my computer. I generally get the message, "Bloken file" (that's not a typo .. it actually says "Bloken"). If the software developers didn't even bother to proofread their error messages, I was left wondering just how much care and testing went into the development of the code. I'm guessing that Casio outsourced the software development. Nevertheless, it's their name on the box so they should have made some effort towards quality assurance.
Finally, I am not entirely happy with the service that Amazon provided. When I bought the camera Amazon suggested that I might also want to buy, "1 Deluxe Accessory Kit with Soft Leather Case + Two (2) Spare NP-50 Li-ion Batteries for Casio Exilim EX-V7 & EX-V8 Digital Cameras." The batteries are indeed, intended for the camera but not the case. The case is physically too small to hold the camera. Nevertheless, the batteries were the main reason I purchased this accessory so I'll probably use the tiny case to hold loose change in the car. Upon reflection, I suspect the case is supposed to hold the batteries but given the above product description, a customer can be forgiven for thinking he was getting a camera case. Amazon needs to have a word with the company that supplied this accessory (Cameta Camera).
Overall (in spite of the software and the accessory problems) I am very happy with this purchase.
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