The latest addition to the ever growing Casio digital camera family is the Casio Exilim EX-Z5. As a 5 mega pixel point and shoot digital camera it stands apart with its exceptionally chic and elegant design. It is hard to ignore the Zen like form factor and the metal black finish. The camera features a 3x Optical Zoom lens and includes a 2.5 inch LCD TFT screen.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z5 may look extremely alluring but feature wise there’s nothing exceptional to write. Apart from the standard 5 MP resolution , and the 3x zoom it includes the patented Casio’s EXILIM Engine with Anti Shake DSP technology. This technology as many of you may be familiar by now reduces camera shakes and eliminates blurry images which appear during high action shots or at higher ISO settings. Full marks to Casio for including a 2.5-inch TFT color display which makes life so much simpler and better for the photographer.

The Casio Exilim EX-Z5 includes handy functions like the Auto Macro feature, the Quick Shutter and the multi auto focus for better and sharper images. Another feature which deserves a mention is the Revive Shot function. Thanks to this particular function user can photograph an old image or a text directly without worrying about the results. The onboard technology in the camera ensures that the depleted colors in the image are compensated by the Color Restoration technology. Some of the digital restoration options include trapezium correction, and photos shine resplendent.

The EX-Z5 also features a Rapid Shot Mode by which users can take up to three images using flash in just one second. With High-speed Image Scrolling function one can scroll through ten shots a second and the Auto Macro function delivers crystal clear results even at a distance of 10 cm.The camera has a very user friendly interface and comes with a lithium-ion storage battery (NP-20), USB cable, AV cable, extensive software on CD-ROM and a hand carrying-strap. No word on pricing yet but it should be available by May 2006.

More information. Casio-Europe