Digital Camera Review has posted their review of the Casio Exilim EX-Z600 where they write - 'The quick operation, bright LCD, and battery life of the Casio Exilim EX-Z600 are enough to put it on your list for consideration if you're looking for a compact, easy to use, auto-only digital camera. The image quality is good and with a little practice, you can get consistently good pictures. As with many compact point and shoot digital cameras, the more you know how your camera works in certain conditions, the better you get at taking good pictures with it.'

Casio Exilim EX-Z600 News Release

CASIO ELECTRONICS CO LTD., in conjunction with its parent company CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. announced the release of the latest addition to its EXILIM ZOOM digital camera series with the EX-Z600. 

The latest evolution in this popular series offers 6.0 megapixel high resolution photos in a stylish, compact, and pocket-sized package. The extra large 2.7 inch Super Bright LCD is approximately three times brighter than the previous EX-Z500 model, producing an impressive luminance of 1200 candelas per square metre.

This significant advancement makes the LCD easier to see, especially when viewed in the sunny outdoors. In auto mode, the LCD automatically adjusts to the brightness of the surrounding environment. The EX-Z600’s SUPER LIFE Battery now has an even longer battery life, supporting a staggering 550 shots per charge*.

The EXILIM line is a culmination of CASIO’s core technologies of miniaturization and digital technology resulting in a smaller, higher resolution camera -the established trend leader in stylish, quick responding, large LCD, and long battery life digital cameras.

The EX-Z600 includes the latest version of the EXILIM Engine, featuring the Anti Shake DSP, which along with the Auto Macro and Quick Shutter functions, considerably reduces the incidence of blurred photos due to moving subjects or shaking hands.

New to the EX-Z600 is the Rapid Flash function, which enables three consecutive high speed flash photos in only one second, allowing you to completely capture the moment without losing precious seconds between shots. The EX-Z600 includes Revive Shot, used to take still images from old album photos for long term preservation and enjoyment. Revive Shot digitally revives faded colours and automatically adjusts for obliquity, even when photos are shot while still in the album.

The EX-Z600 is equipped with a BESTSHOT Button, allowing convenient one-touch access to this popular feature that offers 32 different scene selections, including Anti Shake and Revive Shot, for hassle-free photos every time.The EX-Z600 embodies CASIO’s continuing commitment to offer digital camera users cutting-edge technology and convenient user-friendly functionality in a small, stylishly designed package. Providing the freedom to take high quality pictures and movies anywhere, anytime, the new EX-Z600 makes taking memories as easy and fun as making them.

The CASIO EXILIM EX-Z600 will be available in the UK and Eire from March 2006 in silver, black and blue from all good digital camera retailers.

Digital Trends has reviewed the 6 megapixel Casio Exilim EX-Z60 and they write:

"Any consumer looking to purchase a new digital camera soon should seriously consider the Casio Exilim EX-Z60. It's the perfect balance of a high-quality digital camera with a price that most people can afford when shopping around. If you want to do both movies and photos, step up to the EX-S600. Otherwise, the BestShot technology and other great features included in this camera will be sure to attract your attention and get your money's worth."

Pros:
* Good picture quality
* Decent price
* Huge LCD screen
* BestShot technology brings photos to life

Cons:
* No dock included
* Movies made on camera are mediocre
* No viewfinder
* Does not come with a memory card

CASIO EUROPE GmbH and its parent company, CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD., have announced the release of the EXILIM CARD EX-S600D, an ultra-slim, card-sized, high-resolution digital camera. This latest 6.0 megapixel addition to the stylish EXILIM digital camera series can also take high-quality movies in DivX format, a video compression technology developed by DivX, Inc. of the United States. 

Fitting easily into a pocket, EXILIM CARD digital cameras are ready to go wherever their users go, so no one has to miss a once-in-a-lifetime photographic moment again. CASIO has previously released the EX-S600, which shoots 6.0 megapixel photos and takes high-quality movies in MPEG-4 format. The EX-S600 has been a hit among people who want a digital camera that makes it a snap to shoot both still pictures and movies.

The new EX-S600D has all the features of the EX-S600, but it can take movies in the DivX format. The new model will be sold primarily online in Europe.

DivX is a cutting-edge video compression technology which delivers high-quality video in reduced file sizes. It also allows users to save movies on CD-R and DVD-R computer media without the time-consuming hassle of having to convert file formats. And with a DivX-Certified DVD player, users can enjoy DivX movies on their TVs. By building DivX into the new EX-S600D, CASIO has expanded the world of movie-making fun, making it easier than ever before to give the gift of a special moment on DVD to friends and family.

Canon has released their first line up of HDV camcorders, the XH G1 and XH A1 and many feel that Canon took its own sweet time on this. Well as they say, better late than never! The imaging system of the these new camcorders is similar to the Canon' XL H1 and has the same three 1/3-inch 16:9 CCDs. The new camcorders have the ability to record 1080i video in both 60 interlaced and 24 frame rate modes. However unlike the XL-H1, the new camcorders are cheaper and sleeker.The new HDV camcorders are almost identical and the only thing that sets the camcorders apart is the I/O ports and $3000 price difference! These entry level prosumer camcorders will appeal to the independent film makers who couldn’t afford the exorbitant XL H1 and Canon hopes to capture this growing demographic. The new XH G1 and XH A1 do not support interchangeable lenses and the three 1/3-inch CCD sensors offer native 16:9 with a resolution of 1440 x 1080. The camcorders feature 24 fields per second shooting mode and the frame rates are available in either 2:3 or 2:3:3:2 pull-down apart from the standard scan rates of 30f and 60i.

DCRP reviews the Canon PowerShot SD700 IS Digital ELPH and writes - 'Camera performance is very good. The camera starts up in about a second, it focuses quickly, and shutter lag was not a problem. Shot-to-shot times were impressive, as was the SD700's low light focusing abilities. The continuous shooting mode is superb. Like on Canon's other DIGIC II-based cameras you can keep shooting at 2 frames/second until you run out of memory -- assuming you're using a high speed SD card. While an improvement over its predecessor, the SD700's battery life numbers are average.'

Digital Camera Info reviews the Canon PowerShot S3 IS and writes - 'The Canon PowerShot S3 IS comes to the ultra-zoom digital camera market with a unique set of features. It has the 12x optical zoom lens that qualifies it as part of the ultra-zoom market and couples it with an optical image stabilization system that works incredibly well. Canon put the lens on a chunky SLR-shaped body that looks almost professional with its black finish. The S3 has lots of options in its movie mode that aren’t available on any other digital camera and includes dual recording buttons so users can snap full-resolution pictures in the middle of a video clip. The optical zoom functions in the movie mode – and even looks smooth with the image stabilization system activated. Users can adjust everything from the audio sampling rate to the microphone level and wind filter feature. The still recording features are just as extensive. Full manual control is available, although the manual focusing feature is difficult to execute with the poor viewfinder and LCD resolution.'