Casio Exilim EX-Z750

For my high school graduation, my parents gave me the gift of choice. I could get the swankiest, coolest, most happening new cellular telephone, or I could get a digital camera. If I chose the camera, I would inherit my father's two-year-old cell phone, which would hold a charge for about sixteen seconds.

Of course, disliking cell phones as I do, I chose the digital camera. Because they are very, very smart people, my parents knew that I would want to pick a very specific model of digital camera. I spent the better part of two weeks researching the choice; after all, this is by no means a decision to be taken lightly. I read reviews everywhere I could find them. The main feature I was looking for was minimal shutter lag. My father's digital camera (a Minolta Dimage EX) waited as long as it felt like waiting before taking the picture. 1.4 seconds was unacceptable to me, so I sought cameras that would take the picture when I pressed the shutter release. Every list of cameras with short shutter lag times included the Casio EX-Z750. Now, I had never thought seriously about Casio as a manufacturer of cameras, but reading about the new ultracompact Z750 I started to become more and more interested. The 7-megapixel camera got great marks in every category, and it had everything I wanted. It was small, took great pictures, and had almost no shutter lag when pre-focused. The only gripe most reviewers had was that there is no way to offload pictures from the camera without the docking cradle.

Most of the photographs you've seen on this site are the work of my Casio. It is a phenomenal camera. Its photos are saturated, sharp, and beautiful, time after time. One of the best things about it is its manual shooting mode, which allows me to set my own exposure settings. There would be no other way to get pictures like this one of Amanda Jane and Austin (30 second exposure, F2.8). Although the circumstance which calls for such a feature is rare, it's useful when you need it, and ninety percent of consumer digital cameras can't produce a photo like that.

The compact size also gives me a great deal of flexibility. I can carry it everywhere, so I am never without my camera. Clearly, this allows for more spontaneity. If I see something I think warrants a photo, I just pull my camera out; I don't have to run home to get it, and I'll never miss a shot because I left my camera somewhere. So when, against all odds, I happen to find a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis attached to the lid of a trash can outside a college cafeteria, I am ready to capture the event with my camera. On August 31, 2005, this exact scenario happened, and I was ready.

True to the reviews, the Casio has extraordinary shutter performance. As long as I prefocus, I don't notice any lag at all, and it's the briefest of pauses if I don't. From power-on to the first shot is never any more than a second and a half, so if I see something cool the biggest limiting factor is pulling the thing out of my pocket.

Everyone loves my camera. Wherever I go, my friends and relatives are jealous of me. My father, in fact, recently purchased his own digital camera, and despite a year of newer, "better" models, he purchased a Casio EX-Z750, the exact same model that I got a year ago.

It's much better than a cell phone with all the trappings.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z750, taken by the Casio Exilim EX-Z750