Casio Exilim EX-Z850
Manufacturer: Casio Inc. Part number: EX-Z850
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- With its broad feature set and tunable performance, the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is well suited for snapshooters and photo enthusiasts looking an ultracompact camera.
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com |
![]() |
In stock
|
Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price |
Your best price as of 09/05/2008 |
CNET editors' take
Casio Exilim EX-Z850
price range: $499.00
With its broad feature set and tunable performance, the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is well suited for snapshooters and photo enthusiasts looking an ultracompact camera.
The good: Ultracompact size; manual focus and exposure adjustments; 35 scene modes; excellent movie capabilities; versatile burst modes.
The bad: Limited zoom range; some JPEG artifacts and fringing in photos.
The bottom line: With its broad feature set and tunable performance, the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 is well suited for snapshooters and photo enthusiasts looking an ultracompact camera.
User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 48 reviews
-
-
Great Pics and new features compared to z750 but Broken Video
by hwky556 on April 14, 2006
Pros: Sharp Pictures, Continuous Mode With Flash, Strong Flash, Quick Refresh and Startup Time, Super Bright LCD, Exceptional Battery Life, Video Light, Great Manual Modes, Nice Best Shot Modes
Cons: Terrible Video Quality
Summary: I have owned the Casio Z55, Z750, and purchased the Z850 as an upgrade to my Z750.
Picture quality and features have been improved compared to the Z750 which was ...Summary: I have owned the Casio Z55, Z750, and purchased the Z850 as an upgrade to my Z750.
Picture quality and features have been improved compared to the Z750 which was a great camera in its own right. The HUGE negative is that the video quality is horrendous.
Before someone responds that I "shouldn't expect perfect quality in a compact camera" I'll stop you there. The quality on the Z750 video was great in both HQ and NQ modes at 640x480. The Z850 quality is WAY WORSE than on the Z750 and other similar cameras being sold today.
There are 2 huge problems with video. First, there is a terrible issue with image noise in HQ mode that doesn't exist in NQ mode. This could be fixed via firmware but no word yet from Casio on that. Second, and way more annoying is an aliasing issue that does not exist on the Z750. Aliasing, or stairstepping is very apparent on anything that should look like a straight line on a video. It looks terrible in stills but is even more distracting when in motion. This happens with Image Stabilization on and off. Could also be fixed with firmware but again no word from Casio. If video is important to you, wait to purchase this cam until Casio fixes the problem or purchase the Z750 as it's still a great camera.
If you don't care about video this is the best compact camera you can find by far. My rating would be a 10 if video was the same quality as the Z750 but until Casio fixes the video issue, my rating must be lowered a lot because this flaw is inexcusable as I use my cameras for video a lot and there's no reason the video on an "upgraded" camera should be way worse than its predecessor.43 out of 46 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
FINALLY the ideal digital camera
by marqo on April 5, 2006
Pros: beautiful images, bright LCD, lightweight, powerful manual controls, programmable buttons, beautiful interface, easy navigation
Cons: not a huge fan of the dock; wish it came with a simple case; limited optical zoom
Summary: I love this camera. This is the 5th digital camera i have bought since 1999. I have had 2 from the Nikon Coolpix line, one from the Sony DSC line, ...
Summary: I love this camera. This is the 5th digital camera i have bought since 1999. I have had 2 from the Nikon Coolpix line, one from the Sony DSC line, the Canon PowerShot line, Minolta Dimage 7i, and this is the first time that I have been able to get so much power packed into such a small package, at a very very reasonable price.
The quality is sharp, the action is very fast. I bought a 4GB SD Card and can capture 40 mins of 640x480 MPEG4 video, or over 400 shots at the highest quality. I can adjust not only aperture and shutter speed, but also, ISO, white balance, Gain. You can edit pix and video right in the camera and there are some fun features that I'm still discovering. The multiple levels of flash power is a plus, as is the LED camera light that is surprisingly useful in low-light situations.
I shot a 25 min video and projected it with the RCA output from the docking station into a projector for an advanced video class and the quality was shockingly clear and good picture/color quality.
The manual focus was tough to figure out at first, as it zooms in to allow a clearer focus, but while in MF mode simply pressing left or right on the dial will adjust the focus. I use it more for fine-tuning after an auto focus; but have generally found that the focus metering (with many options) was quite acurate and did not constantly re-focus like I've seen on so many cameras.
Let me say it again; I am completely amazed at this camera's capabilities. And don't be intimidated if you just want snapshots; I would still think that it's completely worth while if I didn't even care about the manual capabilities. It is VERY easy to use in fully automatic. And its unbelievable that you can get this camera for $350. I have been looking for a camera that I can keep on me all the time and be able to shoot digital pictures or video on moments notice, and finally, here it is. I swear I feel like I've been waiting for this camera to come out for 5 years.
I wish it came with a soft case though, as I'm a bit paranoid about scratching the LCD screen.41 out of 41 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Amazing camera with easy, fast menus and great pics!
by kallshian on March 28, 2006
Pros: Easy to learn, manual controls, 30+ Best Shot modes, Video, EIS, Zoom, 2.5" Bright LCD
Cons: Must use dock (included) or remove SD card, no direct USB cable.
Summary: I researched this camera a lot before I bought it and it is everything I was hoping it would be. It is a nice small size especially for having such ...
Summary: I researched this camera a lot before I bought it and it is everything I was hoping it would be. It is a nice small size especially for having such a beautiful 2.5" screen. The zoom is fast, the lag time between shots is very short, and the menus respond immediately and are easy to learn. It has a beautiful metal casing and the buttons are large enough for most fingers. Also, the battery lasts a very long time which is a huge relief for me compared to my last camera. It has so many different features I haven't even used them all yet!
20 out of 20 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
CASIO EXZ-850 vs SONY DSC-T30 vs CANON SD700IS
by bigwormonmine on June 4, 2006
Pros: Best compact to date. Great pictures right out of the box!
Cons: ummmmmmm............i dont know
Summary: Here is my personal review of the Sony DSC-T30, Canon Powershot SD700IS and the Casio EXZ-850. I will post this review under each product as I have owned and tested ...
Summary: Here is my personal review of the Sony DSC-T30, Canon Powershot SD700IS and the Casio EXZ-850. I will post this review under each product as I have owned and tested all three. If you don?t wish to read a long drawn out review here it is: I liked the Casio the best, the Sony came in Second and the Canon came in third. I arrived at this conclusion by considering 3 main things: 1.picture quality 2.ease of use 3.price. Starting with #1 as much as I wanted to like the other more reputable companies, the Casio continued to surprise/please me. The picture quality right out of the box is Great. I needed something to supplement my Nikon D200 when I need to take a quick picture of my daughter, wife, travel destination, etc. Sometimes I don?t have the ability, or energy to haul out my d200 as great and almost perfect as it is. I like my pictures ?hot? and vibrant which the casio delivered with no effort whatsoever. You pull it out, turn it on with one hand and snap away. It was also the fastest of all three. No real lag between turning on , zooming, and shooting. The sony was very slow zooming compared to the casio, and both the sony and the canon required two hand operation, which is hard with a baby in one hand. The sony took very good pictures but not as good as the casio. The canon was a major disappointment for me. It requires too much tweaking to get good pictures. One example of this is my human subjects were coming out looking orange and underexposed. Skin tones were not natural looking and the exposures were boring. When you take it out of auto mode and bump up the exposure, it looks better but not great. When you change the color settings from auto to some of the others, there was always a tradeoff, such as when you go to neutral, it fixed 75% of the skin tone issues, but then added gray to the rest of the colors, just not appealing to the eyes. The one good thing that I can say about the canon is that when you need to crop and zoom in photoshop, the images were SLIGHTLY smoother. But I don?t do much of this except for the purposes of my test. Like I said, for me this camera is just for a quick point and shoot. The Sony picture quality was a close second to the casio and the canon was a distant third from the casio. I did not try video on any of them as I have a sony minidv camera for that. #2 ease of use. The casio wins in all aspects, one handed operation is great. Camera feels great in my small-medium size hands, I liked the idea of the fixed lens on the sony but after actually using all three, I now like the lens that comes out of the body, with the sony, due to the location of the lens, I always felt like I was going to touch the lens glass with my left hand and had to be mindful of not getting my hand too close to the lens as to not affect picture quality. After seeing the prettier looking designs of both the canon and the sony I briefly didn?t like the boxy look of the casio, but now I feel like it makes it easier to hold, even with the curved design of the canon. I also thought I didn?t like the fact that you have to use a docking cradle with the casio, but after fooling with trying to find the holes and cables for both the sony and the canon, not to mention that true to sony fashion, you must use a proprietary cable (and memory stick vs sd), I now like the fact that I just plop the casio in its cradle and push the usb button and it sucks my pictures right in, although I have had quite a few occasions that Photoshop has not been able to capture them without taking it out and re-doing it. I am sure that you could use Microsoft?s built in utility or Casio?s utility with no headache, I am just so used to Photoshop. I will just take an extra memory card on vacation and not worry about viewing them on my laptop at the hotel. One good thing I can say about the sony is that it has 56mb built in memory as a back up to running out or forgetting your stupid memory stick duo. I will not bother giving any positives about the canon because it lost just based on the poor picture quality and the little door for the usb cable is a pain in the b*** to open. And one more thing about the Canon, IT DOESN?T HAVE A BATTERY MEATER! WHAT KIND OF PEA BRAIN FORGOT OR NEGLECTED TO PUT THAT IN! I would like to think that it was so that people don?t keep charging the battery before it is dead, so that you can have a longer battery life with each full charge, but this also causes you to have to buy a second battery because you never know if it is going to die when you most need it. So it is either a really good marketing idea on Canons part or a REALLY DUMB idea from a consumer standpoint, either way the customer looses.#3 price. The casio was $100 less and I was able to buy it from one of my favorite retailers COSTCO! Went into a store and they have a kit that comes with a carrying case, and 256 of memory for something like $380. both the sony and the canon cost me about $499.00. Do I need to say anything more. Just put the fact that it is a casio out of your head because they finally made a nice product. Hope this helps cause now I have to go to fed ex to send $1000 worth of cameras back to amazon and costco.
Updated
Oh yeah and the extra screen size on the sony is worthless because the picture you are trying to frame from the sony looks terrible. The casio has an excellent screen but a worthless viewfinder. But you will never need it with such a great screen.14 out of 14 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Better than my EX-Z55 and EX-Z750
by vicbrock on April 13, 2006
Pros: Great lens, long battery life and fast start up.
Cons: Can accidentally start up in your pocket.
Summary: This is the first camera in this size category that maintains a perfectly focused image to the edge of the picture. The Canon Power Shot and previous Casio cameras were ...
Summary: This is the first camera in this size category that maintains a perfectly focused image to the edge of the picture. The Canon Power Shot and previous Casio cameras were a bit soft near the edges forcing an occasionsl crop session before printing larger than 6X4 prints. This camera uses the excellent Casio menu system and is very intuitive in use. This is the third camera I have purchased in this EX series and the EX-Z850 is by far the best.
7 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Top notch pics, fast, flexible, easy to use
by Masino on April 29, 2006
Pros: Excellent pics, fast, flexible, easy to use, size, bright LCD, battery life
Cons: some jaggies in video, cradle instead of battery charger
Summary: This is really a full-featured camera. It produces clean, clear pics with great detail and excellent color. The auto focus assist light works fine, even in the dark. Battery life ...
Summary: This is really a full-featured camera. It produces clean, clear pics with great detail and excellent color. The auto focus assist light works fine, even in the dark. Battery life is excellent, even with the bright LCD and a powerful flash. Very good menu system and lots of controls available through buttons on the camera. It is a very fast camera. The size is quite nice--pocketable but not so small as to be difficult to manipulate controls comfortably. The large LCD is useable in all but the brightest outdoor light. Instead of the multi-function charger, I would have preferred outputs on the camera itself for picture download and t.v. viewing and a separate battery charger. There are some jaggies in the HQ video, but since I don't use the video this is a non-issue for me. The main thing for me is the still pic quality, which is excellent. To see some examples of the quality of picture this camera is capable of, go to www,pbase.com and do a camera search typing in casio ex-z850.
Updated
Casio has issued a firmware update that fixes the problem with the video jaggies. August, 2006.6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Heavy JPG Artifacts
by mittymatty on June 5, 2006
Pros: Easy to use, big display, very compact
Cons: Very unsatisfactory images
Summary: DO NOT buy this camera if compression artifacts make you cringe. For photos taken at the highest quality possible (3264 x 2448), I had to chop them all the way ...
Summary: DO NOT buy this camera if compression artifacts make you cringe. For photos taken at the highest quality possible (3264 x 2448), I had to chop them all the way down to 1200 x 1600 pixels before the JPG artifacts are not really noticeable, therefore rendering the fact that it's an 8MB camera rather moot.
7 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great camera, true shirt pocket size
by sleeper987 on April 18, 2006
Pros: Great LCD screen, excellent picture quality
Cons: none that I have found
Summary: If you are looking for a true pocket sized camera with high picture quality, that is not that expensive then this is the camera for you. The LCD screen is ...
Summary: If you are looking for a true pocket sized camera with high picture quality, that is not that expensive then this is the camera for you. The LCD screen is more than adequate and the 8 MP pictures are of excellent quality. The videos are of surprisingly good quality. The menu screens are intuitive. It does not come with a camera case but I found one for a few bucks at Target, This is my fourth digital camera and by far the best I have ever owned. There are NO downsides to this camera.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Amazing camera, a decision I wont regret
by Eagles07 on May 21, 2006
Pros: size, features, picture quality, solid frame, etc
Cons: I wish I didnt always have to use the dock
Summary: Let me tell you this camera is amazing!!!!! It is an ultracompact meaning it is very small and light and fits in a shirt pocket with room to spare. This ...
Summary: Let me tell you this camera is amazing!!!!! It is an ultracompact meaning it is very small and light and fits in a shirt pocket with room to spare. This maybe small but it is loaded. First off its 8.1 megapixels. For your average photographer thats overkill. I mean i took a pic of my cat underneath my bed and you could see the capillaries and veins running through its tongue. Not only does it take great pics but it has manual controls too. You can control the aperture, shutter speed, manual focus, iso sensitvity, etc. It also has best shot modes so if you are a night time event you go to best shot and it adjusts everything almost perfectly for it. Not to say that Automatic cant do itself. Its just nice to have the options and if you know what you are doing. You can take truely magnificient pictures.
The camera can also record video with sound and it looks suprisingly clear. This isnt a camera phone video. The camera is also quick and responsive. You wont miss much pictures with it. It also has antishake features. So if your hands tend to shake a little during pics it will cancel them out and give you great pictures. Also the pictures online of it dont do it justice.Let me tell you this thing is sexy. It looks expensive, feels expensive but tough, and doesnt scratch easy like an ipod. I would recommend this camera for anyone. whether you go clubbing or take pics of your kid at a birthday party. The overall quality is a 10/10. The only negative is you have to use a dock to charge it and show vids on tv's.
Design 10/10
Features 10/10
Performance: 9/10
Image Quality: 9/103 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Love performance, dislike function disability
by Roanne on October 24, 2006
Pros: When working, excellent
Cons: Stops functioning at crucial times!
Summary: This is my 5th digital camera. After much research, I purchased this camera, only to find that it stops functioning during critical times. My camera is 4 months old and ...
Summary: This is my 5th digital camera. After much research, I purchased this camera, only to find that it stops functioning during critical times. My camera is 4 months old and has had the lens mechanism replaced three times. In other words, I have had possesion of this camera, working properly, one month out of four!
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Casio Inc.
- Part number: EX-Z850
General
- Product Type Digital camera
- Point-and-shoot highlights A slim profile makes this camera easy to carry. Video capture ability adds convenience for the user.
- Weight 4.6 oz
- Width 3.5 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 2.3 in
- Body Material Metal
Main Features
- Resolution 8.1 megapixels
- Sensor resolution 8.1 megapixels
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Effective Sensor Resolution 8,100,000 pixels
- Total Pixels 8,320,000 pixels
- Optical Sensor Size 1/1.8 in
- Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 50, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 100
- Digital Zoom 8 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Sundown, ID photo mode, Portrait with scenery, Flower, Text, Business cards and documents, Sports mode, Night scene with portrait, Fireworks, Candlelight portrait, Twilight mode, Soft, Food, Soft flowing water, Pre-shot, Night scene, Natural green, Collection, Splashing water, Pet, Party/indoor, Portrait mode, Children, Coupling shot, Scenery
- Special effects Black & White, Sepia
- Max Shutter Speed 1/1600 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 60 sec
- Exposure Metering Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
- Exposure Modes Aperture-priority, Automatic, Program, Shutter-priority, Manual
- Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Auto Exposure Bracketing 2 steps in 1/3 EV step
- White Balance Custom, Automatic, Presets
- Digital video format MPEG-4, AVI
- Still Image Format JPEG
- Remote control None
- Color support Color
- Remote Control None
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture AVI - 320 x 240 - 87 sec - With 8MB built-in memory, AVI - 640 x 480 - 31 sec - With 8MB built-in memory
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory 8.0 MB Flash - Integrated (soldered memory - 8 MB )
- Floppy Drive None
- Image Storage Standard JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 9 - With 8MB built-in memory, Normal JPEG 3264 x 2176 : 2 - With 8MB built-in memory, Standard JPEG 640 x 480 : 30 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 3264 x 2176 : 5 - With 8MB built-in memory, Normal JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 3 - With 8MB built-in memory, Normal JPEG 2304 x 1728 : 4 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 20 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 6 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 640 x 480 : 57 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 1 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 3264 x 2176 : 1 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 4 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 2304 x 1728 : 8 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 6 - With 8MB built-in memory, Economy JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 17 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 2304 x 1728 : 3 - With 8MB built-in memory, Normal JPEG 3264 x 2448 : 2 - With 8MB built-in memory, Fine JPEG 2816 x 2112 : 2 - With 8MB built-in memory
- Flash memory 8.0 MB - Integrated
- Memory soldered size 8 MB
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 7.9 mm - 23.7 mm - F/2.8-5.1
- Focal Length 7.9 mm - 23.7 mm
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 10 sec, 2 sec
- Additional Features Cropping an image, USB 2.0 compatibility, Display brightness control, Multi-picture burst, DPOF support, Audio recording, MOTION PRINT, Anti-Shake DSP, PictBridge support, Built-in speaker, Resizing an image, Digital image rotation, Digital image stabilization (video mode), In-camera movie editing, Histogram display
Camera Flash
- Effective Flash Range 4 in - 14 ft
- Type Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Flash OFF mode, Fill-in mode, Auto mode, Soft, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective flash range 4 in - 14 ft
- Features AF illuminator
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type Optical
- Color support Color
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
- Mounting Built-in
- Resolution 115,200 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
- Supported Digital Audio Standards WAV
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Mode Mono
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Lens Systems
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Type Zoom lens
- Focal length 7.9 mm - 23.7 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 38 - 114 mm
- Focus adjustment Automatic, Manual
- Min Focus Range 15.7 in
- Macro Focus Range 10-50cm
- Lens Aperture F/2.8-5.1
- Optical Zoom 3 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive

