Northwest Dive Club

I bought the Exilim Z1000 after hearing the rave reviews on this site. Took it to Bonaire last week where it performed beautifully. Only problem was that one of the divemasters at the resort wanted to buy my brand new camera - it's apparantly quite costly importing goods to Bonaire. So anyway, I sold my wonderful camera thinking I would just replace it when I got back to Seattle. Now I go online and not only find the Z1050 but also the Z1200. Anyone using these little gems? Any thoughts on them? The Z1000 is a great little camera but I may as well get the newest out there; it sounds like they're almost obsolete upon purchase anymore.

Thanks for any and all thoughts!

I have been looking at the same cameras and am trying to make a decision as to which is best for me. The Casio is pretty attractive.

I just read reviews on C-net for the Casio's. The biggest complaint with the camera is the screens resolution.

Has anyone currently using it have issues with the view screen?
Are you happy with the Casio cameras overall?
Would you buy the Casio again?
Is it worth it to go for the 1200?


The Canons seem to be great cameras as well although a bit more $ and a little larger case.
I have the same questions as Octoloco. Any info on these cameras would be appreciated.


http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6501_7-0.h ... ag=dffl3_1

Octoloco,

If you really want a Z1000, I saw them today on closout at Radioshack in Bellevue (Crossroads actually) on clearance for $220. Good Luck picking a new camera. There are lots of great options out there.

Jake

Which camera? The Z1000, Z1050, or the Z1200??

Can I ask why you're wanting to sell it??

I really liked the Z1000, just wondering if the upgrades are worth it?

Thanks for your message

Are you replying to me or to Ken? I'm not selling anything, just happened to see the Z1000's on closout, thought you may be interested since the price was right on them.

Jake

Neither. I think he was responding to a pm I sent him, but instead of sending me a pm back he posted......

Thanks for your messages. I think I'll just go with the Z1000 for now (let someone else get the bugs worked out of the Z1200).

I had a 1050Z, and loved it. Unfortunately, due to my own error, it flooded the last day of the trip I had it on.

After using the Canon, Oly and Casio UI's, I prefer the Casio. The movie mode did quite nicely, and I thought the lens/sensor did well as well.

There is no priority mode or RAW mode, and no hotshoe. That said, the enclosure is small and I even made decent use of the flash underwater.

Shutter lag is minimal, the screen is big and bright, it saves shots quickly and can do interesting things like a series of quick shots at lower resolution. I actually liked the tracking autofocus, it worked well for me.

Macro mode wasn't as terrific as I would like, but that was likely my own failings- first dives with a camera, and not as much above water experience as many. By the end of the trip, I really wanted to play with aperature priority, but found ways of messing with ISO and EV's to try and push it to do what I wanted.

I didn't see much noise up to ISO 400, and the camera does support super-high ISO. Overall I was very happy. A camera that I could dive and not fight with, and one that I could clip out of the way when I didn't want to think about it.

I never dove it up here, just in warm water, so I don't know how well it does in the constant lower-light conditions, etc. That said, the video of the sixgill from a 1000 was what sold me that I had to have a camera to dive with!

I have some photos taken with the camera at http://gallery.faucet.net/Belize-2007.

The 1200 looks very similar, I'm pretty sure I don't need the extra megapixels. It does however have aperature and shutter priority modes, although I hear they aren't quite what I would like. It also shoots quicktime rather than AVI which is a disappointment for me.

I suspect I will hold out for the 1050's to drop in price some more (I have a perfectly good housing after all) and get another one. Then I might get an Oly 410 or such and choose accordingly.

In summary, if you want a small point-and-shoot with decent features, low fighting-it-under-water factor and good quality (for a p+s), I recommend the casio 1050 wholeheartedly.

Ken, the screen on the Casio is the best part. Wayyyyy better than the matte screen on the Canon. I did like the screen of the Z1000 better than the 'wider aspect ratio' (read: smaller) screen of the 1050. I'm not sure what size the 1200 comes in at, but I think its the larger type.

Canon makes a great camera, and if I were to use it on land I might actually prefer the Canon, but for diving the Casio is better, imho. Battery life is a big part of it, but if you can confirm that the Canon you're looking at has a disable-able motion sensor (not auto rotate, mind you) that won't wake the camera from sleep every time it moves - the battery thing might be ok.

Keep in mind, Casio makes all the electronics but the optics are made by Pentax