The Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 is a capable point-and-shoot ultra-compact digital camera which produces high-resolution 10 megapixel images. Its image quality would be quite good if it was not for excessive noise and chromatic aberrations. After all, colors are appealing without being strongly over-saturated, exposure is great and low-ISO images are reasonably sharp. Noise levels are fairly low at ISO 50 and 100, so the Z1000 will produce nice images under bright conditions. It is under lesser conditions that image quality suffers. The problem is compounded indoors by an very weak flash. Its other flaws are common for an ultra-compact digital camera. It is also annoying that you must carry a docking station to charge the battery and that the camera has to sit in it to do so.

The bottom line is that the Casio Z1000 can be quite pleasing in bright outdoor conditions but equally poor under dimmer light. This being an ultra-compact camera, most of its competitors do suffer from high-image noise, particularly those with high-resolution sensors. For the ultimate in image quality from an ultra-compact camera, the Fuji Finepix F30 and Fuji Finepix F10 are still unmatched. Other superior ultra-compact cameras with 7 megapixel sensors include the Canon Powershot SD550 and the Sony Cybershot DSC-P200.