Casio adds Exilim EX-Z29 to line of budget-friendly compacts

It's day one of PMA and Casio has announced a new addition to their family of budget compacts, the Exilim EX-Z29, joining the 10-plus megapixel point-and-shoot club. While not a major departure from its predecessors, Z29 adds a higher resolution sensor to the Exilim zoom series.

A user-friendly camera
The Exilim Z29 will feature a 10.1 megapixel resolution sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, and a 2.7 inch LCD. Designed for the casual or first-time digital photographer, it's equipped with 23 "Best Shot" modes to offer pre-programmed settings for a variety of situations. Face detection technology adds another layer of user-friendliness to the Z29.

YouTube capture mode
This Exilim features a YouTube movie capture mode, as do its predecessors. It's a setting that records video with a 16:9 aspect ratio and saves recordings in a compatible format for easy upload to YouTube.

Custom features
A couple of customizable settings may offer some novelty appeal to a young photographer. The Exilim Z29 will allow the user to choose their preferred color for camera menus - black, chocolate, cinnamon, rose, sky blue and olive green. Additionally, the focus frames displayed on the camera's LCD can be switched to shapes such as hearts or butterflies.

Pricing and availability
The Exilim EX-Z29 will become available for purchase in April at a retail price of $149.99.