In many respects the Casio Exilim EX-Z4 is an evolution of compact cameras such as the Canon IXUS. For one thing it's tiny, with the same profile as the IXUS but 4mm slimmer, and for another it has a lovely big 2-inch TFT screen.
Casio has used an Li-Ion battery that is smaller than the Compact Flash storage card used by Canon, and instead uses an SD card. Or rather, it has an SD slot but you don't get an SD card with the Exilim EX-Z4, although you do get 10MB of internal memory.
That may sound generous, but if you set this 4-megapixel camera to the fine setting, you'll only squeeze four photos into the memory, and on the regular setting you'll manage six photos. This is little short of pathetic as there isn't much point in buying a 4-megapixel camera if you use it to take low-resolution photos.
Anyway, you'll need to budget £30 or so for an SD card to make use of this camera, and although that's not a great deal of money, the Exilim EX-Z4 isn't a cheap camera in the first place.
The overall impression of the Exilim EX-Z4 is that it looks absolutely lovely. This impression is probably assisted by the fact that our review model was in the limited edition red (blue is also available), rather than the ordinary silver colour, as the choice of colour worked very well indeed. It contrasts with the aluminium controls and the chromed buttons and really raises this camera above the herd.
This tiny camera doesn't have space for a regular USB connector and instead has a small connector on the bottom of the camera. The picture transfer and battery charging functions are carried out using the supplied docking unit, as shown in the photo, which is a neat solution if you're at home using your own PC, but it could prove to be a pain if you're out and about as you are unlikely to be able to dock the Casio with another PC.
The big display is a real help when you are changing settings and framing your shots, and you have enough space to leave the histogram showing light levels on your screen and still see what you're shooting at.
Unfortunately the Casio is a competent camera, rather than a good camera. As with so many digital cameras the flash is too bright at close range, but that's a minor annoyance. The real issue is that every picture was fairly clear but lacked the sharpness that we expect at this price point from a 4-megapixel camera. The Exilim EX-Z4 is a lovely little camera but you can get better results elsewhere.
