The Exilim EX-V8 is an 8 megapixel Casio digital camera with a 7x optical zoom lens. What makes the Exilim EX-V8 different to other cameras with this length of lens is the fact it is a very small and compact camera. Although too large to slip easily into say the pocket a pair of jeans it is still small enough to carry around easily. It is also one of the smallest cameras to offer manual exposure controls. These help to give you a bit of extra control over how your photos will look.



Image Quality Casio Exilim EX-V8 test shots

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)

The Exilim EX-V8 kicks off with a solid start. Sharpness and brightness are impressive. There is plenty of colour in the photo too.

Sun glare is handled quite well although there is a loss of detail on the second boat.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)

This is another photo that works quite well. Sharpness is roughly inline with middle ranking cameras. Colours are strong, especially in the sky. There is a small amount of purple fringing showing in the photo.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)

With the zoom fully extended there is a noticeable loss of sharpness. There is also a fair amount of noise affecting the photo. This is clearly evident in the sky. I think this is a disappointing photo, especially after the first two outdoor shots.

Outdoor Portrait

This is another photo where the colours are strong. In fact in this photo the colours are very strong. The picture was taken in the shade and I used the shady white balance setting. This has certainly contributed to the strong colours, but without it the photo I took was dull.

Indoor Portrait without Flash

Many people prefer to take photos without flash whenever they can as they feel this leads to a more natural looking photo. The Exilim EX-V8 produces a decent effort. There is noise showing in the photo as I would expect, but this is only likely to be a serious issue with larger prints.

Indoor Portrait with Flash

Most digital cameras produce similar quality indoors photos with flash as long as the lighting is good. Therefore this is a fairly typical example. Again it is a bright photo.

Colours

The colours produced by the camera are stronger than most cameras produce. Although the strength of colour in a photo is very much personal taste I would like to see colour levels toned down. Blues can be dominant.

Macro

With the Exilim EX-V8 only being able to focus from 10cm away this test photo has been cropped heavily. Even then the sharpness of the photo falls below average.

ISO 400

At ISO 400 my test photo is roughly average in terms of picture quality when compared against other cameras. Definition is lost through noise, but colours remain stable.

ISO 800

At ISO 800 picture quality has been lost and colours have started to bleed into different areas.

Overall

My test results from the Exilim EX-V8 are a bit of a mixed bag. The big disappointment is the loss of quality when the zoom lens is fully extended. Colours are also overpowering in places.

Shutter Lag

I was able to take single photo in 0.43 seconds and five photos in 15.03 seconds. These are slower times than I like to see. With flash times increased to 1 second for a single photo and 19.72 seconds for five.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

Style: Small and lightweight. The Exilim EX-V8 Casio digital camera is available in black and silver. It has a sliding lens cover.

Dimensions: 95.5 x 59.8 x 25.5mm

Weight: 179g

Batteries: Lithium ion (NP-50). Casio estimates you should be able to take around 240 shots in between charges. A battery and a charger are supplied with the camera.

Memory cards: 11.8 megabytes of storage have been built into the Exilim EX-V8. I was able to take 6 photos before the memory was full. The camera is also compatible with SD and SDHC memory cards.

Click here to save money on SD memory cards.

Ease of use rating: Good. Even with the manual exposure controls I still found the cameras to be straightforward. Menus are easily assessable. They are also clear and easy to read.

Points I like:

Design (a lot packed into a small body) - ease of use

Where it could improve:

Macro shot - lack of sharpness when zoom at maximum - very strong colours

Alternatives

The Exilim EX-V8 is out on it's own in many ways with its compact body. A couple of other fairly compact models with longer then standard zooms are: Canon Powershot A720 IS and Panasonic DMC LZ7.

Verdict:

The Exilim EX-V8 Casio digital camera does offer something different to the majority of digital cameras with extra zoom in a compact body. Although the camera is capable of bright photos, picture quality is a bit patchy in places.