A friendly, compact, simple camera with some cool features
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Released in February of 2006, the stylish 3.75 x 2.4 x 0.78 inches EX-Z60 with its rounded edges adds to Casio's "ZOOM" line of digital cameras. It's a 6.0 megapixel device with a 3X optical zoom that motoros out as opposed to be internal as in the ultra-slim S500/S600 models. Compared to those, the screen is larger, using a by now almost class-standard 2.5" LCD. In the features department you find an anti-shake DSP, automatic macro, and a quick shutter function. Combined, they greatly reduce the number of blurred snapshots either due to shaking hands or improper settings. To make things even simpler, there's an "Easy Mode" uktra-simple camera menu.

Perhaps signifying the spirit of our era, Casio has also introduced, and included in the Z60, an eBay Best Shot mode. One of the camera's 33 scene modes, "eBay Best Shot" takes pics at the proper size for eBay. The eBay mode also uses Auto Macro because sellers often take images of small items like jewelry, electronics and so on. Another interesting scene mode is an "Old Photo" mode meant to repair faded colors of old pictures photographed in an album. A "Rapid Flash" function lets you take flash pics within a second. While chock full of cool features, the Z60 is designed for first time users and those who want a camera that's ultra-simple to use. Casio's always been good to those who love taking moviews, and the Z60 is not exception: you can take VGA movies at a full 30 frames pers second, pick sequences of nine frames for printing, print just one still pic, and there are also limited movie editing functions. There's only a little bit of internal memory (8.3 MB), so get a big SD card.

The EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z60 retails for $249.99 and comes in black and silver.