Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EX-S880 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Anti-Shake Optical Zoom (Red)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Casio Exilim EX-S880 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Anti-Shake Optical Zoom (Red)

As a professional photographer I am often in need of a very small and dependable camera that I can use in informal and crowd situations.

Since we also were interested in adding some YouTube type material to our portfolio without having to drag around our more expensive video equipment we purchased the Casio Exilim EX-S880 8.1MP Digital Camera to see if the camera could perform to our needs and expectations.

Right out of the box we saw advantages to the design and the quality. We have not been disappointed in the photos or the video. The controls are conveniently and intuitively located. The instructions clear. The photographs surpass the expectations we had. The video quality is certainly as good, if not better, than we expected.

We would recommend this camera for the casual family photographer or for the professional interested in expanding their equipment options. We also recommend you go with the 4 GB SD memory card.

I bought this camera to take on vacation and shot literally hundreds of pictures, both indoors and out, including some videos. I am very pleased with the results.

The camera is nicely designed, easy to use, and has clear and intuitive menus. The outdoor pictures came out crisp and clear(my daughter commented how nice they looked when I emailed some of them). Indoor pictures with a flash were a little grainy, but no more so than with any other digital camera. Outdoor videos were not the same quality as with a video camera, but certainly acceptable enough so that I am not going to start dragging along my video camera. Indoor videos without a light were of course grainy.

Battery life was excellent. Although I brought a spare battery, I never needed it so long as I charged the camera at the end of each day.

I liked the ease of changing flash modes, and the ability to use a "soft flash" setting instead of regular flash to make people look more natural (e.g. someone sitting in the shade on the beach).

The camera has a host of features that you can read about in the manual.

My only minor gripe is that the camera itself does not have a USB port. Instead it is necessary to seat the camera in its charging cradle, which has a USB port. That meant taking the cradle on my trip even though I have a portable battery charger because without the cradle I had no way to download my pictures each day onto my laptop. However, the cradle is not that large or heavy, so it is only a minor gripe.

I recommend putting a screen protector over the screen(I used the same one as for my Palm TX and just trimmed it to size).

In short, the camera looks cool, takes great pictures, is easy to use for a beginner, and has a host of features for a more advanced user. This purchase was a winner.

This camera is amazing.
Pros:
- The build quality of this camera is..amazing. My father just bought a samsung and it was a hung of flimsly plastic, this casio is very sturdy, and has a nice weight to it. It does not feel cheap AT ALL.
- Videos- This is what MAKES this camera. You can take a picture by pressing the shutter release on the top of the camera, or you can take a video by pressing the record button on the back of the camera... like a real video camera. No more switching modes, no more oopsss it is a video, it is perfect.
- Mic. The audio quality of this camera is great too. I sometimes wish i could use it as a sound recorded because it is so clear. The reason it is so clear is because casio was smart and put the mic IN FRONT of the camera. So many other cameras have it on top, where your finger covers it.
- Video Quality- The camera takes video in higher quality than DV cameras. It is not as high as HD, but perfect for a small pocket size camera with video. Of course you can take video as long as your memory lasts.
-Pictures- Pictures are what you expect from a consumer camera with 7mp. Nothing to complain about, nothing to compare it to a pro camera.
-Color- The red is really nice :)
-Battery life- Lasts a long time, never had a problem with it running low during the day.

Cons-
-Video- Like almost ANY video camera that is not professional grade, shooting video in the dark degrades the quality a lot. It is still great for party videos to stick on youtube.
-Screen- For some reason when I take a picture and review it on the screen on the camera, it does not look sharp. Yet when I upload it to the computer it is fine and sharp. (not a big deal)
-Dock- You have to bring the dock with you if you want to upload pics, or recharge the camera. But most people have card readers and just take the card out and put it in the computer.

Overall:
I own a Nikon D100 and a D2h, and man only knows how many of these consumer cameras. This one is hands down the best camera in its catagory. Dont be cheap and try to save $50 by buying a cheaper model, this camera will last you, you will have fun with it, and in the end take a lot of pictures and video.

the camera itself is great, small, light, beautiful, etc. But what its not is durable. This camera cracks very easily, as is what happened to mine (not even a year old.) I took it to a large camera repair store, and when I told them I had a casio, they said they couldn't help me. When I asked for an explanation, I was shocked at what I didn't know. Casio doesn't sell parts of their cameras to any other companies. This means that no matter what has happened to your camera (minor scratch on screen, or entire camera is broken in half), if you want to get it fixed, you have to ship it into Casio headquarters. They provide parts, repair it, and ship it back. This takes a few months and costs minimum $200. In all honesty, you are better off getting another camera. I have a Casio with a cracked shutter button, and the only way I can fix it is to pay $250 for a camera that costs $209.

I bought this camera strictly to shoot videos. I shopped for harddrive camcorders, but didn't like the bulky size or price tag. No other camera this size or cost offers mpeg-4 video capture. Most competiting cameras use an .avi video file that strings together a series of still photos as frames. This creates a huge file type and inferior quality.

Before buying this camera, I spent 5 days watching video samples online and I must say this camera's video quality can compete with any other brand/model.

Plus, the S880 has a button layout that is simply outstanding. One button snaps a photo while another shoots the video. No need to toggle through menus. I wish Casio would incorporate this into their other camera models - especially the 7x zoom models.

I bought a 8gb Class 6 (fastest speed) SDHC card that gives me over 2 hours of video at the best setting. I couldn't be happier!

p.s. I haven't tried the YouTube software because I use Adobe Premiere for my video editing. But the included YouTube software makes the entire video upload process very easy. And you can even edit your videos in the Casio camera's menu. Casio left nothing out.

Most reviews say the pictures are soft..... I think these reviewers are blind, the pictures are even better then on my sony t70,the battery last forever and is simple to use, my Sony dies after a couple days and a few pics, this stay fully charged.

This is my 3rd casio, I always buy the latest and greatest Sony, then always go back to my Casio.....

This a very good camera that seems to take great pictures and great 16x9 video. However, the reason I bought this was because of a great big sticker on the outside of the box that says "MAC USERS - IPHOTO COMPATIBLE!" They even court Mac users on their website. It does work with iPhoto. Most cameras do. However, despite featuring mpeg-4 compression video, it is NOT compatible with iMovie '08. This is because the AUDIO is not supported by Apple. For many of you, this will not be an issue, which is why I still gave the camera 4 stars (I haven't used it enough to warrant 5 stars yet). But I have been personally frustrated by the lack of information about which cameras will and will not work with iMovie '08 (because it seems that so few actually do). So I hope this helps for some of you Mac users out there.

I bought my camera in July 2007 and LOVED it...awesome photos, simple to use, fast shutter speed, etc. I am a trained photographer but wanted a small camera to take with me on trips and to parties, etc., and the size and price was fantastic...SOLD! For once, I did not get an extended warranty, and that was my biggest mistake.

In October 2007, I took the camera to a friend's wedding and it suddenly turned itself off, with the lens still partially out, halfway through the reception. I figured I must have not charged the battery enough, and placed it back in its case to take home, disappointed I only got about a dozen photos from the wedding.

Upon charging the battery, I realized the camera had died, so I dug out the box and called Casio. I then went through a relay to get the camera shipped out for service...three feet of bubble wrap and Express Mail, for starters. Three weeks later, I got a letter in the mail demanding over $100 for repairs, or a "ransom" of a small amount of money to get it back, unusable. If I did not respond promptly, I would never see my little camera again. So I called and talked with someone, who said they hadn't actually looked at it yet (how did they know how much to charge then??) Another person got on the phone (a "tech") and informed me I must have dropped the camera because there was severe damage to the outer lens. Uhm, no. After "negotiating" for two weeks, I was able to reduce the "fix fee" to about $80 with shipping and "service." I figured this was better than out and out buying a new camera (they have since gone down in price, ironically enough). I got the camera back over a month later and have used it sparingly, since my job requires a "fancier" model. Two days ago I tried to turn it on to view photos...and...nothing. It's dead, again. It is NEVER removed from its case unless it's in use, I store it in a fireproof/dirtproof container, and I have maybe taken 10 photos on it since I received it back in December...it's NEVER EVER been dropped, scratched, bumped. I also am the only one who's ever taken photos with it.

Clearly, this is a lemon, and there is no way I'm going to get Casio to repair it again...and even if they agreed, I have already essentially bought this camera one and a half times over. The sad part is, I really love this camera and did not intend to buy another point and click for some time. I do not think every version of this camera is a lemon (and let's face it...they happen), but I will definitely think twice before contacting Casio customer "service" again.

Two lessons learned:

1. Buy the extended warranty.
2. If you must send it in for repair, borrow a camera and take closeups of it before shipping it off; otherwise you will be blatantly accused of negligence, no matter how much you baby your property, like I do.

I got this with my Christmas Gift Cards for Best Buy. I chose this over a sony camera that nearly cost the same and it had better features, quality, size, etc. I also went with familiarity. I have always liked Casio Cameras, this is our second one that we have. The other one is my sister and I needed one for my self. I went with this one because it had a little bit more features than the upgraded one from hers. I really like it and have gotten some great photos. I like to dock the camera than take out the batteries. It's also great for videos, after my camcorder died I've been using the camera for videos and they look great for it to be a camera. I would recommend the camera to anyone who wants a easy camera to use to take high quality pictures.Casio Exilim EX-S880 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Anti-Shake Optical Zoom (Red)

Awesome awesome awesome! Any picture you see of this camera does not do it justice. It is great looking and very functional! I purchased this as a gift for my girl friend for Christmas from 6th Avenue Electronics. It arrived fast and it was in perfect condition. I pulled it out to check for ANY impurities couldn't find ONE! I would definitely encourage any one looking for a compact, attractive, fun, easy to use point & shoot camera to pick this one up! You wont be disappointed! I promise!