A little while ago, I made the assertion that slim little silver cameras have become commodities, as distinct and exciting as flour. That may have been unfair--mainly to flour, which does come in a number of distinct and useful permutations, and less so to the camera market.
Exhibit A is the Casio Exilm EX-V7, which covers all bases but adds a few surprises. The 7x zoom lens covers more territory than many competitors. There's a wealth of manual controls, including unusual and welcome choices such as flash intensity. And the sliding lens cover, which also functions as the on-off switch, adds a reassuringly solid feel.
Casio has also innovated, to its detriment, with the control layout. Everything, including the zoom slider, is on the back panel, making the user experience a bit clumsy. And basic settings such as resolution and ISO are buried under several layers of menus, bucking a welcome industry trend towards streamlining.
Image quality is on par with the rising tide of point-of-shoots that combine high resolution with small image sensors and teeny-diameter lens. Which means the noise and fuzziness probably won't bother you if you stick with snapshots.
The EX-V7 is $400 and available now.
