So as you guys may or may not know, besides my undying love for all things beauty-related, I’m actually somewhat of a geek, having worked in a gadget magazine before (and psst, I’ve even worked for a luxury watch magazine too!). Anyhoos, I wouldn’t dare call myself an actual photographer, but I do find myself taking a keener interest in cameras and photography because of the photos I need to take for my blog reviews and Instagram.
I own several cameras (Samsung, Canon, Casio – paid for by yours truly), and you know what? After spending some time with the new Casio ZR3600, I’m pretty sure that it would be a good fit for most of you out there (and no, I’m not paid to say so, and no, I don’t even get the camera for free, so you can trust my unbiased judgement).
Why you should get the ZR3600
First and foremost – this is a good selfie camera. The screen flips up 180 degrees so you can do a wefie/travel selfie with background scenery. Of course, the TR series does a much better job because it rotates 270 degrees (but do we all really have 1.4k to spare?). A plus point is that the ZR3600 has a shutter button on the front of the camera, so it really makes selfie-taking a lot easier.
Secondly, it has a Makeup Mode that makes everyone look good, in a believable way. I’m not talking about super washed-out full-on Ju-on white faces; I’m talking about a slight brightening of the skintone and smoothening out of the skin texture – these two functions can be adjusted to levels that you like.
Thirdly, all aesthetic-enhancing functions aside, this Casio ZR3600 is a pretty decent camera for attaining similar effects as a DSLR (note that I say “similar”, because it cannot recreate the exact, but it gives a pretty damn good alternative). Most of their effects can be attained by rotating the knob on the top (which yes, yes, even I have it set on Auto most of the time). Some notable functions that I like include:
- Under BS (Best Shot): Magnifying Glass, Blurred Background, All-in-Focus Macro
- Under Art: HDR Art, Toy Camera, Soft Focus, Pop, Sepia, Monochrome, Miniature, Fisheye, Sparkling Shot, Crystal Ball.
Check out the following shots to see how they look😀 Psst: None of the photos in this post have been edited – only resized/cropped, so you can judge the quality of the photos / colours / lighting for yourself.
BS: Blurred background / Bokeh effect
This has got to be my favorite function of the Casio ZR3600 – the ability to blur out the background, giving you that pro-looking bokeh effect.
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Art: HDR Art
I guess if you’re feeling somewhat artsy without being fartsy, you can add a touch of different to your usual photos.
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Art: Toy Camera
This gives your shots that vintage, old-school feels. Or if you’re feeling emo nemo too.
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Art: Soft Focus
I’d call this the opposite of Toy Camera (which gives you darkened edges for that vintage feels) – Soft Focus gives you brightened edges for that softened overall feels.
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Art: Miniature
This is interesting – it’s kinda like selective focus? You can adjust the area that you want to focus on using the aperture ring.
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Art: Fisheye
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Art: Crystal Ball
Now this is a fun one – It takes photos as though it was through a crystal ball (although I prefer to call it a water droplet). Not the most suitable for a profile shot, but it makes good fun!
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Art: Sparkling Shot
This rocks my socks man – I can haz anime sparkles shooting out from my eyes and be Sailormooooon. Or not. It adds sparkles to (presumably) the brightest spots on your face. You can’t adjust where to place the sparkles though. Oh well.
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As you can tell, this camera has a surprisingly large variety of camera effects for you to play with. It also has a Wifi connection, so you can just connect your phone to your camera, transfer the images over, and immediately share it on your social media / with your friends. All you need is to download the Exilim app. And if you’re not convinced yet – the ZR3600 works well in low light conditions (i.e. that candlelight dinner), and has a relatively fast shutter response.
Simple specs at a glance:
- Number of effective pixels: Approx. 12.1 mega (million) pixels
- Zoom: 12x optical zoom, 24x Multi SR Zoom, 4x digital zoom,
- ISO (still images): Auto / ISO80 / ISO100 / ISO200 / ISO400 / ISO800 / ISO1600 / ISO3200 / ISO6400
- Battery Life: 425 (shots), 1 hr 30 mins (movie recording time)
The latest EX-ZR3600 is available in three colours (Pearl White, Pink and Lavender), and retails at a Suggested Retail Price of SGD599 at all Casio Authorised Retailers4 from March 2016. Full specs available on request😀
