Casio Exilim EX-P505

Posted 08/26/2005 at 12:26pm | by

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A lot of sweat and R&D dollars were obviously spent making the Exilim P505 camera stylish and ultra-compact. Sadly, all this engineering- and marketing-muscle effort is lost on us. The P505 is a capable 5.1-megapixel camera, jam-packed with features, but Casio’s focus on delivering the smallest possible formfactor has resulted in a camera that sacrifices practicality for looks.

What is the point of making the camera’s body so small it’s a challenge for users with even average “man hands” (let alone the big meaty variety) to navigate its buttons, if the 5x optical zoom lens is too big to let you slip the camera into your pocket? If, however, you plan on toting your camera around in a purse, backpack, or (horrors!) a “man purse,” the P505 might be worth a look—particularly if you require above-average video performance.

The camera produces good-looking MPEG-4 video (640x480, 30fps, AVI format) that won’t torture your eardrums—thanks to dual stereo microphones. The extra bulk from the lens actually makes the camera easy to balance and shoot with one hand. And the P505 sports a generous mix of newb- and enthusiast-friendly program modes, making the camera suitable for a wide range of skill levels.

The P505’s still-image capabilities are just average outdoors (where the 2-inch LCD can be tough to use). Indoors, however, it ups its game. The powerful flash lights a fairly large room with ease and is excellent for portrait use. And the macro mode is also very good. In challenging low-light situations the camera does have some auto-focus issues, which would have been helped by a focus-assist lamp.

We’d be able to more easily forgive the P505’s shortcomings—average still-image quality; lack of a focus-assist lamp, viewfinder, and continuous-shooting mode; and relatively high price—if it were truly an ultra-portable camera. It’s not, so we’d rather have a slightly bulkier body, a bigger LCD, and (most of all) better pics, than the camera’s compact “wow factor.”
--Steve Klett

Month Reviewed: October 2005
Verdict: 6
URL: www.casio.com