Casio EXILM EX-G1

Casio’s first plunge into the rugged compact market

Originating from the G-shock watch series Casio introduce the Exilim G1. This new series kicks off with a futuristic love it or hate it style of compact camera. At just 20mm in thickness it is claimed to be the slimmest rugged compact on the market.

First impressions of the camera are that cosmetically it does have a nice solid design. The slope on top of the body makes the top buttons very easy to access and the camera easy to grip. The balance between the 2.5” LCD screen and buttons on the back look clunky for fast operation.                

Its memory/usb twist catch is more of a gimmick than anything useful. There are many successful methods to seal a camera from the elements and this one is too fussy. It does the job but adds more crevasses to the body for dirt and sand to accumulate. The main drawback is that it has taken the optimum place to have the zoom controls.

Opening the battery catch is equally as awkward having to slide the lock and then digging your nail in to release the cover. The cover also extrudes making the base uneven and hard to balance the camera. 

Bestshot settings are located on the top next to the power offering all the automatic scene modes. This can get a little confusing at times when rushing to switch the camera on or off. The buttons along the top are also slightly raised and a little too sensitive, often getting used by mistake.

The classic Casio elements are there with simple menus and automatic shooting modes. Its menu systems are good but the layout of the camera lets it down. A sports-compact needs to be accessible and easy to operate in challenging shooting situations. Buttons are refined for gloved use but there are not enough of those situations to justify it. Unfortunately with the controls sometimes being a bit overwhelming you find that this is not ideal.

The camera body is very heavy for a compact camera but it can take almost anything nature can throw at it. Shock and pressure resistant casing allows falls of up to 7 feet, 10 feet of waterproofing and freeze-proofing to –10c. Great for activities like snowboarding, kayaking, surfing or even snorkelling for up to an hour.

Image quality-wise the camera is capable but certainly nothing over what is already out there. The fixed lens is necessary but restrictive, framing shots using the zoom reduces sharpness severely. You will find yourself moving to compensate a lot of the time to retain quality. This is by all respects a fair-weather camera, outside of that it struggles with poor focus and image quality. In darker conditions the flash gives images a yellow tinge to your images and shooting without often leaves you with blurry images.

Shooting speeds are reminiscent of the early Exilim models, although fast to startup the processing speeds are frustratingly slow. Images shot at as low as 400 iso take a long time for the camera to process and noise becomes very apparent.

Having a constantly exposed fixed-lens leaves it vulnerable to getting smeared and dirty. This can be irritating as it is constantly happening affecting the focus and quality of photos. Sand often sticks to the lens and as for the water repellent lens that just seems to accumulate bubbles.  

Macro shooting starting at 10cm is reasonable, but when you are shooting underwater you want to get as close as possible. This can often result in loss of focus and clarity when taking close up images when in more inhospitable conditions.

Too extravagant to be a splashproof compact but also not solid enough to be used for diving reduces its mass appeal. A lack of HD video is also a shame with so many cameras trying to bridge the gap between videos and images.

A solid first effort from Casio but it seems they still have a lot to learn in building rugged compacts. Features and build are capable but the functionality and image quality are the main drawbacks. For the money, we would recommend looking toward the more evolved models. Many other companies have been producing these sorts of compacts for a long time and have honed what works well. Lets hope Casio follow suit, as for now its just not quite there. 

Final Verdict With a price-tag of over £250 Casio have been too ambitious with this model. There is nothing dramatically different added to the market here and there are better alternatives available. OVERALL

Experimenting in different areas of photography has always been a big passion of Steve’s. Currently working on improving his macro photography in both natural and studio environments, Steve is fast becoming an expert in this field.