- Rugged design is shock resistant, waterproof, freezeproof, and dustproof
- Multi-coated lens is water-repellent and prevents light reflection
- 12.1-megapixel resolution; 3x optical zoom
- Advanced Dynamic Photo function; BEST SHOT function
- Interval shooting function automatically takes still photos or movies at fixed intervals
- Capture images and video to microSD, microSD /HC memory cards(not included)
Product Description
Casio’s EX-G1 is designed with style and endurance to last the elements of the ages, and the lifestyle elements of ENDURANCE – Shock, Dirt, Humidity, Temperature, Snow, Water proof.
With the EX-G1, users can take powerful time lapse photography, the kind which is usually almost impossible to capture. The shooting interval can be set at 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 3 minutes, and the capture time for movies may be set at 3, 10, 20, or 30 minutes, enabling users to get great shots when an event changes over time such as in nature, science, and even sports.
W. Fuchs @ 7:25 pm
I’m very impressed with the EX-G1. I’ve been a long time user of Casio camera products, until an unfortunate camera meets water incident in the Caribbean forced me to buy a Nikon S3 which as performed well for several years, until it died. I bought a Pentax Optio WS-80 and was not impressed, neither with the cheap plastic feel, nor the quality of the photos. Blue sky almost always looked like cloudy sky. So, with Casio’s new introduction of the EX-G1, I was intrigued to find out if the almost twice the cost as compared to the WS-80 was worth it. Jumping to the conclusion… yes, it’s worth every penny. Here are things I like, and don’t like. Slim design. Precision operation of controls. Interval shooting can be set to 10sec, 30 sec, 1min, 3min, and can record photos for 3, 10, 20, 30 minutes. The display can remain on during interval shooting, or you can configure it to be off (presumably to save battery power). The WS-80 didn’t have a display on/off option, and the interval settings may be slightly more flexible, but it’s insignificant. I also like the video record button, which with one press, starts filming. Casio’s Best Shot mode is also accessed with a single button press. The WS-80 has the battery, memory, and USB port under a single cover, which was quite flimsy such that I believe a bad drop would render the camera less than waterproof. The EX-G1 has two compartments. The battery compartment has a substantial and solid stainless steel door that takes quite a bit of effort to get open; a butter knife might come in handy. Perhaps in time it will operate more easily. The memory and USB compartment is accessed via a thumb knob that pops open the compartment cover. I like the precision operation of this compartment, but am a little concerned about an accidental opening while snorkeling, as the thumb knob need only be moved about 15 degrees (1/8 inch) to open the compartment below. A better design would have been more of a screw operation requiring a full revolution. Then again, the real probability of me inadvertently turning the thumb know is probably unlikely. I do have some concern about the tripod mount being off center. I also like the gazillion programmable options to setup and customize the camera to my liking. For example, photo’s can be shot in low, normal, or high detail, regardless of the size photo selected. Whereas the Optio WS-80 only took high detail photos in the 10MH mode. Small high quality photos are mostly acceptable for the photos I take. The USB interface is not “standard” such as what I use for my blackberry, or Motorola headset. It’s just slightly different… would have been nice if it were the same as the other couple USB cables I have competing for USB ports on my PC, but that’s not a big deal. For years I harped on a contact I have at Casio technical support to produce a camera with interval shooting… I’m happy it’s here, and that it comes in a waterproof, shockproof design. Even the packaging (the box it comes in) for the camera is cool; it looks sort of like a rock. I do wish they included a printed manual (the included CD contains the manual). The Pentax Optio WS-80 is being returned, but for buyers on a limited budget, it may suffice; however, the EX-G1 is well worth the extra money.
M. Chau @ 10:16 pm
The Casio Exilim EX-G1 comes out of the box as a rugged and ready to go camera. Its build is sturdy, and although a little bit heavier than my previous camera (Nikon Coolpix S55), its slim profile more than makes up for it. Aesthetically, the red color version is beautiful and the aluminum casing makes it feel indestructible despite its small size.
I had no troubles opening the battery or memory card compartments. The instructions are clear and simple enough on the quick start guide that the full manual isn’t necessary unless you need more detailed info (FYI, the full manual does come with the camera, it’s just loaded on the CD, as opposed to a hard copy). The battery took roughly an hour and a half to fully charge. The user interface is friendly, and the navigation buttons are intuitive and well designed.
The Best Shot options, the alternative to Nikon’s “Scenes,” are plenty and quite nifty – including ones I’ve never seen before, like the Ebay and Dynamic modes. The EX-G1 also allows for adjustment of flash intensity, which makes it a plus when a standard intensity level simply doesn’t cut it for the different environments the camera is so well suited for. The picture quality, in both color and filtered modes, is comparable to my Nikon, which I thought was great for its price. The movie recording mode works quite well with good contrast and a relatively high resolution. There’re quite a few features that I haven’t yet figured out how to work, but so far, the EX-G1 hasn’t disappoint!
Tim @ 11:31 pm
When you open the box and pick up this camera for the first time, you notice two things:
First: Its heavy. Not too heavy, but heavy.
Second: Its thin, much thinner than I expected it to be.
When you start it up, you are dazzled by the brightness and clarity of the LCD display.
I was used to smaller and not so bright displays.
I had to make changes to the saturation to get good pictures. The one picture of my sisters dog, Polly is after
I made changes to the settings.
I am pleased, amazed, at the video this camera takes, again much better than I had thought it would be.
I am a little disappointed at the quality of the pictures, not so much the color, but the whites. On my two GS Dogs
where the white blends into the black, the whites seem more like grayish and the blacks are blotted.
I will play with it more.
I also can’t find the owners manual; I don’t know if I lost it when I opened the box or if it did not come with the box.
Not that REAL MEN use owners manuals anyway. But it would be nice. Nothing on their website as of yet.
One more semi-negative thing:
Battery:
To charge it, you must remove the battery from the camera. On the Kodak, you just plug the mini-usb cable in and while you
are transferring pictures the camera charges. I had hoped, this would be the same, as it is very smart of anyone to allow this.
I guess not.
The good news is that you do not lose your time / date settings when you remove the battery.
Overall, for about three hours of use, I am pretty impressed with the camera. Its heavy and seems like it is put together
to last. I hope so for the money it costs.
James Siart @ 12:21 am
The design issue I have with this camera is the knob you see on the side of the camera, it turns to open the door panel to the USB/Memory card. This knob can be turned by accident and open without you knowing about it. This happened to me when I put the camera in my swimming shorts pocket and went into a pool. My moving around in the pool with my girlfriend caused the knob to turn, opening the door and destroying the camera.
I call this a design flaw, because the door panel that covers the battery requires a pry bar tool that you attach to your camera leash. It’s a two hand effort to get that door panel open, yet the USB/Memory card panel can be open with just a brush to the knob. As I found out I can open it with no hands!
When I sent the camera to Casio’s authorized repair center. They told me Casio has instructed them that any water that gets into this camera is caused by user error and the warranty does not apply. That is pretty presumptuous, the user is always the cause of the problem…
Moral of this story, beware of buying a newly released product as this is Casio’s first entry into the tough and rugged camera line. I’m sure this will be fixed in time and then it’s a nice camera to compete with Cannon and Olympus, but until then, I recommend staying away from this camera or you will be like me, out $300 and looking to buy another camera.
Spoke directly with Casio customer service today and they confirmed what the Casio repair had told me. If the camera fails because of a water leak, it is the fault of the owner and not Casio. One brand new Casio camera heading to the landfill…
Matthew J. Stevens @ 2:13 am
I got this camera as a Christmas gift and I was worried about the lack of reviews that were available. Anyways I decided to get this camera and take my chances. I chose to get a weatherproof camera because my last point and shoot camera that had lasted me for 3 years broke as soon as I dropped it in the sand. I needed a camera that I could take with me while I do everything and that would not break as soon as some water was spilled on it. I just got back from my ski trip and it was about 5 degrees and snowing and they had the snow makers on as well. I took my camera out of my pocket and took a video while skiing down a slope, by the end of the slope the camera was COVERED in ice and snow. I thought it was going to freeze and probably break my camera. I tried to get the ice off then I put it back in my pocket. When I checked back up on my camera it was fine and worked perfectly well. It didn’t even loose a single block of charge on the battery indicator. I was so proud of my camera’s performance that I thought I would share it with other people that are thinking about buying this camera. So as far as the rugidness goes, this camera is great and well worth the money.
Quality: I use a Canon DSLR for 90% of my shooting, so for me I was really worried about the quality and the need to use flash once again. After putting all of the Christmas day photos up on my computer to be edited using Photoshop’s Lightroom (one of the best and easiest tools to edit, and well worth the money) I could tell which photos were taken with the Casio ex-g1 and the canon xsi. However after some simple editing like red-eye and brightness and contrast the photos surprising look amazingly similar. Honestly for some of the photos I CANNOT tell which camera took the photo. The quality is good for what the camera does. If you are using the digital zoom you can bet your money the photo will not turn out well, but if you are using it for close up photos of family and friends or bright landscapes then you should be fine. I use this camera as my go anywhere do anything, fast camera when I just need a group shot of my friends or quick family photos taken. So for me the quality is really good.
Pros: Good quality shots, another amazing thing I forgot to mention was that this camera has about 1,000 different settings for a point and shoot you can truly control a lot of different things like a digital slr, the design is really cool as well it even has optional side protectors, extremly small and portable, thin, easy to use and understand menus, large and clear screen, quick start up time, many languages for menus, great weatherproofing
Cons: Time between photos is slightly long might also be due to my memory card speed, takes a mirco sd card which is really really small and easy to lose, you have to either use a key to open the battery compartment or use your fingernail but it is somewhat difficult to get used to