Casio Exilim ZR20 Digital Camera: Initial Impressions

I have been looking for a good point-and-shoot camera for days when lugging a big DSLR is too much of a hassle. Thanks to omy.sg and Casio, I have my hands on an Exilim ZR20 which I'll get to try out!

I have been playing with it for a few days - okay, correction, a few minutes - that is, when I can pry the device out of the hands of my two kids! They immediately took to it and started taking photos like there was no tomorrow. It's so easy to use, a four-year-old can start clicking intuitively. Aha, now perhaps they will leave my iPhone camera alone!



But let me share some initial impressions.

What I like about the camera?

1) Fast start-up speed: almost instantaneous, so you won't get delays in capturing interesting moments

2) Fast shooting: thanks to a dual processor, the camera can take multiple shots very quickly (it's only 0.27 seconds between shots) - great for shooting kids, pets or moving objects

3) Very clean, uncluttered interface. Only the most frequently used functions earn a button.





4) A nice big 3.0 inch LCD screen (really clear at 460,000 dots)

5) Full HD movie recording of 1000fps! And you can use the optical zoom too.

6) Premium Auto Pro mode: analyzes the composition and automatically selects the best settings (yes, not just "scenes" but actual settings) for the subject chosen. Awesome. Does all the brainwork for you!





7) It's got over 40 "Best Shot" modes. Some of these are incredible. First one up is HDR, where you take different exposures of the same shot and merge them together to get optimum clarity, even when subjects are of different brightness. With a DSLR, that's a tediously manual process, but this little device makes it all happen in an instant.

8) High Speed Night Shot gives you really good photos in low light.

9) There's also Blurred Background for bokeh, a Slide and 360-degree Panorama (sweep the camera to create a wide panorama, or all around for 360 degree views),  and oh, a "Food" filter!




10) One of those modes is an amazing zoom function that will change the way you think of digital zooms. Multi Frame Super Resolution Zoom enables up to twice the optical zoom, using multiple shots to "enhance" the details taken. My hands right now are still too shaky to hold the full zoomed image steady, but the camera does a good job of eliminating shake.

Well, this is the first look at what the camera offers. I'll have an upcoming post showing you the actual pictures taken.

If you'd like to stand a chance to win a Casio Exilim ZR20, join their Facebook Contest "Show Off!" - just upload a photo that you are most proud of between 7 - 20 May 2012. It's so easy, and your photo can be taken with any camera. Have fun and good luck!