Editor's Choice 2007: Ultrathin Compacts

Despite its slim proportions, this camera packs not a 3X zoom, nor a 5X zoom, but a 7X zoom -- the equivalent of 38-266mm in 35mm terms, and with a decent maximum aperture of f/3.4-5.3. Casio does this trick by way of a periscopic lens design, with the zoom fitted horizontally inside the camera body and a mirror that bounces the subject image sideways into it. The image relayed by that long lens is steadied with a shifting CCD.

If you're not impressed yet, the V7 records video with stereo sound, still a rarity even among high-end digicams. And in keeping with Casio custom there are lots of specialized scene modes, some of them useful. Business Card and White Board modes not only adjust settings for their respective subjects but also square up skewed perspective. And ID Photo converts a head-and-shoulders portrait into five different sized images in one frame.

American PHOTO Editor's Choice 2007
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