Casio EX-S500

Posted 10/21/2005 at 10:57am | by

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If slipping the ultra-compact, ultra-light, ultra-thin Exilim S500 Card Camera into your shirt pocket doesn’t make you feel at least a little bit like 007 on vacation it’s likely no camera ever will. Not only is the S500 sexy, it’s also style conscious—coming in three color variations. Despite its diminutive size and weight, the camera feels quite durable, thanks to its stainless steel–clad body.

The S500 delivers in the performance category, too. Not only is it relatively speedy (power-up to first shot takes less than two seconds, and images can be shot sequentially in intervals of less than two seconds, as well), but pictures look very good across a wide range of conditions. Outdoor shots were nicely exposed and saturated, and indoor performance was excellent, even under moderate-to-low lighting conditions, thanks to the S500’s very capable auto-focus and flash. Image noise crept into our pictures at 200 ISO, and even more so at 400 ISO—but not at unacceptable levels.

The S500 offers 29 preset “Best Shot” program modes, covering just about every conceivable shooting situation. And you can customize your own modes, too. While these presets make the camera very friendly to less-experienced shooters, it can be frustratingly slow to switch among them. The entire camera operation is controlled with buttons, which also makes fine-tuning the external 3x optical zoom a bit tricky.

You’ll need to rely on the 2.2-inch LCD display for composition—there’s no viewfinder. We didn’t miss it, though, because the LCD works acceptably even in bright outdoor situations, and it brightens automatically in low-light conditions. Interestingly, while the camera boasts “anti-shake” technology, we noticed little difference between shots taken in low light with the feature on or off.

The camera also offers several movie modes, which will give you serviceable clips—though of quality far below DV cameras, which is to be expected. The Past Movie mode is noteworthy as it continuously stores images in its 8MB of onboard memory, so you can retrieve a clip beginning five seconds before you depressed record.
A super slim formfactor with superb performance, the S500 is tough to beat.
--Steve Klett

Month Reviewed: Holiday 2005

Verdict: 9

+ Pixel-icious: Small, lightweight, durable; loads of features; good quality pics.

- Pixel-sickish: Menu modes are tough to nvigate quickly; twitchy zoom controls.

URL: www.casio.com