Casio Exilim EX-Z120 Zoom

Pros: AA batteries; Affordable; Lots of shooting modes; Decent picture quality; Creates non-proprietary jpg or avi files that everyone can view

Cons: Battery monitor not helpful; Not as small as many compact cameras; image stablizer is useless due to excess noise

Summary: Overall, this is a very good camera, and I have been very happy with my purchase. Though it fits my needs very well, there are a few negative points that might bother some users. It's not as small as I would have liked (I would have preferred something akin to Canon's SD450), but that's the sacrifice made to have a good camera that uses AA batteries.

In response to prior reviews about poor print quality, I have not had any problems. The first week I had the camera, I spent a lot of time playing around with the different functions and options. I then took the memory card to Walgreens and printed out some sample pics. They turned out just fine. I will say, however, that the image quality is not superior. This is not a professional photographer's camera. But, for the average point-and-shoot user, this camera will do well. At 7.2 megapixels, all of my photos have turned out at least as well as those I used to take with my film camera.

As noted above, though it is nice to have a camera with a battery indicator, when using rechareable batteries, the indicator has been mostly useless. It will go from green to red and then back again many times over. Though the battery life of my 2300mAh batteries was in reality great (I didn't time them, but they lasted several weeks, helping me fill up my 512mb memory card 2-3 times), I had no real idea when it was that they were going to give out. I have to make sure to carry an extra set just in case.

Also, the anti-shake DSP mode (which can be turned off) is not very helpful. The DSP causes so much noise that I never use it. But, fortunately, the DSP isn't needed to get good photos, and the other Best Shot modes are pretty helpful. There are a wide variety of modes from portrait to landscape to splashing water (and everything in between).

Overall, I am very happy with this camera. It meets my needs very well. In looking for a camera, I mainly considered: size, use of AA batteries, and overall picture quality. I think I got a good combination of the three.