White LED light enables both still images and movies to be taken in low light conditions and acts as an AF assist light

Very useful in those conditions and not a bad torch either…

“Rapid Flash” enables three consecutive, high speed flash photos in only one second

Haven’t needed this one yet but can conceive of some situations where this would be great.

“High Power Flash” compensates for objects to be taken in poorly illuminated areas up to 12.1m away*5

The short flash range of most P&S cameras has left me in the lurch on many a social occasion. This one is more powerful but you need to set it at a high ISO rating like 1600 to get the maximum distance.

“Soft Flash” prevents over exposure when taking shots in Macro, etc.

I used this to great effect when photographing small kids at play. No harsh lights and just right for close-ups. Great feature!

“Revive Shot” refreshes the colors of old, faded photos and saves them in digital format

I’ve been waiting for something like this for years on a camera! I immediately went to work on my wedding photos so that I can give each of my kids a digital copy. Those photos had not faded too much but many other shots from the late 70’s had and the Casio Exilim EX-Z850 restored them in a nice, fresh colour!You can also take the photos at an angle and resize them properly. More about that later.

Zoom Continuous Shutter creates a shot within a shot—user selects area of image to zoom, taking 2 images with a single press of the shutter

Okay, with all that is possible on the feature scene, Casio may have gone overboard in cramming a few extras in that you’ll never need. This may be one of them…

The 34 scene “BEST SHOT” enables selection of the appropriate camera setting for still images via a sample image menu

34 Best Shots… and you can also create your own Best Shot settings…

Lots of fun to play with but in reality half of them you’ll never use on a regular basis. Most of them tell you what happens in that mode or give advice on how to take this shot with the best results.

One of the more interesting BS modes (remember: it stands for Best Shot only) is the one for imaging business cards. You can do this at an angle and have it come out as if you shot it from directly above. This only works satisfactorily if you put the business card on a contrasting background so that the card’s borders are clearly defined.

Interesting – but only that – are the Pastel and Illustration modes. No need to start up Photoshop to produce some funky renditions of your shots. (see examples below)

The “Quick Shutter” function reduces mistakes by facilitating simple and easy high-speed focusing

Sometimes I forget to pause halfway to focus and press the button in all the way in my excitement. No great drama here and a “timesaver” if you are “focussing” on infinity…

The “Auto Macro” mode allows for automatic switching between macro mode and autofocus mode

Macro means here the range between 10 and 50 cm. Not really very close-up but close enough.

The “9-Point Multi AF” clearly indicates areas of focus when photographing subjects with multiple focus points

Helpful but there are more ways to focus as well, such as Contrast type AF, Pan focus and Infinity mode. Plus Program AE, Aperture and Shutter AE.

The one-touch “EX” button allows easy manual adjustment of multiple camera settings on one simple screen

This is where you can quickly change MP size or White Balance and ISO settings.

Right above this button is another one for going from single shot to various multiple shot settings.

The “Direct On” button allows quick start-up in both shooting and playback modes

As mentioned before: a great feature which speeds up getting ready for action.

Equipped with a cradle for charging batteries and easy connections to AV equipment / PCs

The charger is well-designed and compact. It also charges my iPAQ and GPS so I’m a happy camper…

The cradle makes for easy viewing on either camera or connected equipment.

I would have loved USB charging as well. Fewer cables is always good!

*1 set at maximum brightness, measured in centre of screen
*2 when display is set at standard brightness
*3 using internal memory, with internal flash turned off
*4 with internal flash turned off
*5 using ISO1600

Movies

The HQ mode can record continuously in 640x480 resolution. That’s about 33 mins. per GB.

One of the more interesting movie modes is the one that records in Black&White and gives that “hurried” movement of the old-time silent movies of that era.

The Best Shot modes even provide settings that will start the recording a few seconds before you press the button. What will they think of next? Recordings where you don’t have to press the button at all??

Voice Recordings

This is where the Z850 is used as a voice recorder only. This is different from the Still mode with Audio clip.

SelfTimer

Normally not worthy of any mention but this camera also has a Triple Timer: how thoughtful! I mean that sincerely as everyone knows who’s raced back and forth from the group to the camera to get another timed shot because someone might have blinked.

Will definitely save you from a Triple Bypass!

Special Edition Colour

Introduction, Performance

Functions, More Interesting Features

Conclusions, Specifications

Review by: Martin Regtien