Casio Exilim EX-G1

The basics

Named to tie in with Casio’s durable G-Shock brand of watches, the Exilim EX-G1 is the world’s thinnest, rugged compact camera. Among its street-tough credentials is that it’s shock resistant up to 2.13 metres and freezeproof to a temperature of -10°.

It’s also waterproof to 3m for up to 60 minutes. These hardwearing specs are backed up by impressive features, including shooting 12MP stills and grabbing web-friendly videos – all framed using its 2.5in LCD. The EX-G1 packs this into a package less than 20mm thick.

The good

The EX-G1 is rugged and resilient while also being incredibly slim. Dust couldn’t penetrate its stainless-steel casing – and the images produced were full of fine detail – water posed a sterner test but once again there was no way through.

The EX-G1’s frame, which has speaker and microphone filters to prevent liquid seeping in, repelled any invaders. And, when strapped to a go-kart for a spin around the track, this tough-as-old-boots compact dealt with all of the shocks. Despite being super-slim it’s still very easy to use.

The bad

In video playback the camera drops frames after it has suffered a heavy shock or knock, though Casio does make it clear that this will happen in its manual. The 3x optical zoom is a little ‘short’ in comparison to some rivals, such as Sanyo’s waterproof VPC-WH1. The choice of the less-common microSD and microSDHC memory cards means you cannot use any of your existing SD or SDHC media.

The bottom line

The 3x optical zoom is a little ‘short’ in comparison to some rivals, such as Sanyo’s waterproof VPC-WH1. The choice of the less-common microSD and microSDHC memory cards means you cannot use any of your existing SD or SDHC media.