While Casio has been in the consumer electronics business since the company was founded [...]]]> The Casio Exilim EX-G1 is the world’s slimmest shock-resistant, waterproof, dustproof digital camera. The Casio EX-G1 is designed with shock-resistant elements throughout the camera, both inside and out, creating a smart look in a slim-line camera with functional beauty.

While Casio has been in the consumer electronics business since the company was founded in 1957, their first Exilim digital camera reached market fairly recently in 2002. Expanding upon their “card”, “zoom” and “high speed” camera product lines, the company has recently introduced the “G” or “endurance” line with this compact digital camera. The G1, billed as the world’s slimmest shock-resistant digital camera, builds upon Casio’s earlier forays into durable products with watches and mobile phones.

The EX-G1 features a 3X-optical-zoom lens (38mm to 114mm), a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and a variety of preset “Best Shot” modes. It’s delightfully tiny at just 5.4 ounces and 0.78 inches thick–Casio says it’s the slimmest shockproof camera on the market. This camera takes MicroSD and MicroSDHC cards, and it’s available in black or red.

The Casio Exilim EX-G1 is an unusual-looking camera and stands out even among the rivet-studded crowd of other adventure cameras. The Casio EX-G1 has a futuristic-looking wedge-shaped design with excitingly-styled recessed controls, and generally looks like a prop from a sci-fi movie, especially with the optional plastic guard attached. Two different guards are supplied, complete with screws to fit them, but you’ll need a small jeweller’s screwdriver and a steady hand for the job. Although it’s larger than most of its’ other ultra-compacts, it’s a very slim for an adventure camera, measuring 103.5 x 64.2 x 19.9mm. It weighs 154g including battery and card, which makes it feel quite dense for its size. The G1 is available in bright red or charcoal grey.

The EX-G1, Casio also offers its unique Dynamic Photo Mode, which allows you to cut a subject out of a shot and superimpose it on top of a different picture or background. This mode actually works quite well, providing that you take the first shot (the picture of the subject) in front of a neutral background; the camera has a bit more trouble extracting subjects from unevenly lit or otherwise complex backgrounds.

The buttons on the EX-G1 are straightforward, well spaced, and easy to press. On the top of the camera, next to the power button and the shutter button, is the “Best Shot” button, which you press to access all of the camera’s automatic shooting modes. You can choose from 25 automatic shooting modes, including Snow, Sports, Pet, Sundown, Underwater, and Portrait; the closest you’ll get to any manual controls is an “Auto” mode that lets you adjust white balance, exposure compensation, ISO, flash, and a few other in-camera settings.

The EX-G1 has about 35MB of internal memory, so if you can’t get the door open or don’t have a microSD card handy, you’ll be able to capture only about four high resolution images. A 4GB microSDHC card can hold about 490 of the same size/quality images or record 52 minutes and 45 seconds of standard (640 x 480) movies.

REVIEWS

engadget.com reviews writes:

“So, the Exilim G likely won’t win over any professionals or would-be professionals looking for a compact camera to complement their DSLR, but we can’t help but be a bit charmed by it. Its combination of slimness and ruggedness makes it more “grabbable” than most cameras and, in the old sense that the best camera is the one you have with you, that’s not an insignificant consideration. One thing’s for sure, we’ll be looking forward to Casio’s follow-up to the camera, and hoping all the while that it comes with a sensor that’s a better match for the camera’s rugged good looks. “

imaging-resource.com reviews writes:

“The Casio EX-G1 joins a number of other rugged snapshot cameras on the market with its shockproof, waterproof, dustproof, and freezeproof body. From previous experience, none of these “4-proof” (a term borrowed from Fujifilm) cameras deliver outstanding image quality and the same is true for the Casio EX-G1. Although its images aren’t outstanding, in most cases they are well-exposed and, despite some softness, look good printed–particularly for snapshot sized prints. Despite its extremely slow shot-to-shot time, the Casio EX-G1 is no slouch when it comes to snapping a photo–shutter lag seems so low (0.23s to 0.28s) I want to say it has none at all. With a full complement of Best Shot scene modes and a few unique features such as still and movie interval shooting, the Casio EX-G1 is easy to use and can be a fun creative tool as well.”

photographyblog.com reviews writes:

“So the Casio EX-G1 is a camera of two halves; where it is fast to respond in some areas it is slight irritating as regards others. Don’t expect any more than a cool looking snapper and you won’t be disappointed. But can the same be said of this Casio’s image quality?”

trustedreviews.com reviews writes:

“Despite its unconventional appearance the Exilim EX-G1 is actually a very competent adventure camera with class-leading shock protection. It’s a bit light on advanced features and the performance could be better, but it is easy to use and the image quality is much better than expected.”

cnet.com reviews writes:

“The Casio Exilim EX-G1 is a good snapshot camera built to take a beating, but its photos and shooting features are nothing special.”

VIDEOS

Specifications