Category: Photography

Everything You Love & More!

When you have kids, it’s hard to not want to capture every moment. I am one of those parents that likes to document EVERYTHING. Since my other camera is a dSLR and very large, I needed to get a smaller camera that was more practical. Recently I attended a concert and was not allowed to enter the event with my camera. I knew it was time for a compact camera. I’ve also been missing out on A LOT of picture opportunities because I never carried a camera with me. This completely bums me out because I don’t have a good document {in pictures} of my kids this past year. Most of the holidays I completely skipped over. Don’t get me wrong, I completely LOVE my dSLR but because of the size and having to adjust a lot of things, I just find my dSLR tucked away more then it’s out. I am SO happy with my Casio Exilim EX-Z35. It’s SO portable and there are so many things I just love about it.

I’ll explain. First this amazingly small camera is a powerful 12.1 mega pixels! I got very clear, non-pixelated pictures from the camera. There is a 3X zoom on it as well. For me the lack of further zoom was the one downfall of this camera. This camera is as simple or as complicated as you would like it. There is an “easy mode” which takes most of the tougher options off the camera and allows even a beginner to take a great picture. If you are a more advanced user this camera has features that can be changed and adjusted, such as shooting in B&W or Sepia, auto or manual focus, adjustable while balance, self timers, red eye reduction, best shot, face detection and more. There are 23 best shot modes included. There are some common ones like auto, portrait, pets and fireworks all of which adjust the camera settings for the best shot! There is also a video mode on this camera. I think this is probably one of my FAVORITE features on this camera. It’s simple to use and with the touch of a button it starts and stops recording! If you go into the best shot menu you can chose “YouTube”. There is software so that when you plug the camera in or put the card in the computer it will upload directly to You Tube. Or you can use the device like a mass media device and copy it onto your desktop to edit or upload. The video is so crisp and clean! The face detection on the camera picks out the faces and focuses in on them. I love that too because that is the part of the picture that is often more important! It adjusts instantly for optimum focus and background even if your subject is backlit or in front of a patterned backdrop. What about movement? No problem! This camera does it all. I’ve capture the kids on the go and video recorded the dog, all with no trouble and no back of the head shots!

These are pictures that were taken with the Casio and are not different out of the camera. I did not edit them. I did crop them some to fit them here, but otherwise they are directly from the camera. Now, I cropped in an photo editing program, but if you don’t have that option you can crop on the camera! There are 2 other things I REALLY love about this camera: the size & the battery! This little camera is . 8″ thin so it fits GREAT into a pocket, purse, diaper bag, luggage, etc. The battery is a rechargeable lithium ion battery! Oh how I LOVE rechargeable batteries, especially on a camera! It states that the battery fully charges takes approximately 1000 still images or approximately 21 h hours 30 minutes. I honestly think this is an understatement for this camera. We used the camera ALL 3 days of Memorial Day weekend. I took about 30 video clips and about 300 pictures. The battery is still FULL. I am very satisfied with the battery life and I know if I was at the zoo or park all day with the kids, the battery would have NO problem keeping up and I wouldn’t miss a memory or chance for a photo. The camera is very light weight and compact. It weighs approximately 4.6 ounces including the battery and memory card. A picture taken on the 12.1 mega pixels is large enough for a good size print. The largest size it shoots is 4000×3000 pixels.

This camera comes in a variety of colors for every user. It comes in traditional black and silver, or if you want to get a little more jazz, they have pink, blue and purple. The suggested retail price on this camera is $109.00. I think that is an amazing price! This camera has SO many great features and wonderful options that it is worth every penny.

You can find more specific technical specs here. I’ve had a few point and shoot cameras and I think this one is by far my favorite. There are just so many features that I love about it. The one downfall being the zoom, would not be enough of a deteriorate to stop me from purchasing this camera. It packs a powerful little machine in the small size! Casio is an amazing brand that we’ve all come to know and trust through the years. This is another amazing product by them.

Disclosure: I was provided with a Casio Exilim EX-Z35 for this review from Casio.  All views and opinions with regard to the products or company itself are my own and were not influenced, nor reviewed, by the company prior to posting.