If you have looked at the new pictures I've posted on Wings Open Wide and flickr, you might have noticed that I've got a new camera: a Casio Exilim EX-Z40. I've been thinking about getting a new camera for a while, because Mr. Bsag often uses the Nikon Coolpix for recording scenes that he might paint. This means that one or other of us often doesn't have the camera when we need it. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I thought that it should be me who got the new one. This isn't quite as mean as it sounds; Mr. Bsag doesn't need very high resolution for his purposes, and the Nikon is fine for him.

At first, I thought about getting the best camera I could afford, with lots of manual controls and a huge lens. If I had lots of money, I would get this Panasonic LC1 (I'm a sucker for a Leica lens). However, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that a fancy camera isn't really what I need right now. All of the photography that I've enjoyed the most in recent times has either been done with my low tech Lomo, or with my Treo 600's camera.

What these cameras have in common is that they are quick to turn on with a low shutter lag, they are small and light and therefore easy to carry everywhere, and they are easy to use. So you can see a shot and grab it before it disappears. With these things in mind — and after a lot of searching of reviews and technical comparisons — I decided on the Casio Exilim.

The photographs probably explain things better than all my ramblings, but I'm really pleased with the camera. It's tiny, and genuinely small enough to put in the pocket of your jeans and forget about^1^. It's quite sturdy looking, with a metal body and an integrated metal lens cover that closes when you power the camera down. It starts up and shuts down impressively quickly, and the shutter lag is the lowest I've seen on a digital camera. There's a nicely designed dock, which serves as a charger and USB transfer station. However, I decided to get a multi-format card reader at the same time to use with both our cameras, so I don't worry about using it to transfer images.

[1] The battery life is quoted as being very impressive