My old Olympus C-310 (3.2 Megapixel) camera is a workhorse. I’ll never forget all the fond memories that we got to keep together. It’s been with me for over 4 years now and I think it’s time to retire it. LIVE 2008 is just a couple of days away and I decided to get a brand new digital camera for the occassion.

I’ve been researching for the past couple of weeks, asking friends, going to stores and sampling actual brands. For my requirements, I finally decided on getting the Casio Exilim EX-Z80. I got it last Saturday at Compex, Greenhills for P8,500. For its price point, it has everything I want that one can find only on other high-end (more expensive) brands such as face-and-smile recognition, HD wide video and, small and compact size, and, more importantly, it takes GREAT photos.

Unboxing pics after the break.

Unboxing: Casio Exilim EX-Z80

These were taken with my old Olympus camera (of course)

That’s my Nokia N77 under the Z80 for size comparison. The camera is really small… one of the reasons why I got it.

Now, these are actual sample photos from the Exilim. Just some subjects I found at home.

Product Features: Casio Exilim EX-Z80

• 8.1 Megapixels
• 3X Optical Zoom
• Wide 2.6-inch LCD
• Auto Shutter Face Detection
• Anti Shake DSP
• 210-image Battery Life*1
• 0.008-second Release Time Lag*2 
• 30 BEST SHOT Scenes (20 that can be used for movie recording.) 
• H.264 Movie 
• YouTube™ CAPTURE MODE

Buy One Now

Price: $139.00 (about PHP 6,700 without shipping) at Amazon.com