I’m no photog nut. I just want a simple camera.

One thing both the nikon and the casio have are best shot settings, which supposedly have settings optimized for night shooting, magazines, etc.

The nikon’s best shot modes are a little better than those for exz33. Shots taken on the casio in best shot mode come out blurred, underexposed, etc.

On the “night scene” best shot setting, the flash doesn’t come on (??) I called casio a month ago. The first rep automatically said that there was something wrong with the camera and I’d have to send it in for repairs.

I called back in again, and the 2nd rep did a bit more troubleshooting. She said she had the exact camera model on hand, and guided me step by step. End result, on my camera, the flash still didn’t come on, but she claimed one her camera, for the night scene mode, the flash did come on.

Well, on the strength of that, I exchanged my camera and had Amazon send me another one.

In the meantime, while waiting for the camera, I went to Target and tried a working display casio camera. It was a different ‘ex’ model, but had the same options. Lo and behold, in the night mode, the flash didn’t come on!

When I got my replacement camera, I tried the night mode, and no flash, as before.

I even bought another exz33 from Walmart, and tried that, with the same result.

The thing is, in the auto mode, the flash comes on, and everything works just fine. Even in the best shot setting, “night scene portrait”, the flash comes on.

At this point, I decided to call casio again, and explained to them that, having tried at least 3 exz33’s, I got the same result, and it’s unlikely that I’d get 3 random defective cameras. I also told her I got the same result on another model of ‘ex’ camera.

She couldn’t tell me anything aside from telling me to send it in.

Obviously, her tty terminal didn’t have any other recommendation.

These people don’t know their cameras from their calculators.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to hang on to my casio, because in the auto mode, everything works like a charm. I’ll just steer clear of the Best Shot settings, because the results are the same across ALL of the casios I’ve tried, blurred and underexposed.

The nikon is at least $29 more, and the $74.95 price tag is as cheap as I’m likely to get. Already, the price of the exz33 is $92.95 at Amazon. At this price point, I recommend getting a nikon s220. I don’t know if nikon’s tech support is a clueless as casio’s.

Bottom line, don’t expect much from casio’s tech support.

Rating: 3 / 5