Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EX-S100 3.2MP Digital Camera with 2.8x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The new Casio Exilim EX-S100 continues the company's tradition of making super-thin, credit card-sized digital cameras, only this time it has a retractable 3x optical zoom which is just amazing to watch as it comes out and goes in. Supposedly Casio engineers had to invent a new kind of ceramic lens to make it fit inside the EX-S100's thin (~0.6") body. It weighs less than 5 oz. even with its proprietary LiIon battery.

The image quality on this camera is typical of consumer-grade, cmopact digital cameras, which is to say it's acceptable for everyday shots. The first reviewer had a good point that this camera is perfect as a second digital camera; I think it's good to have a more powerful camera that gives you more controls and more pixels if you want to do any semi-serious photography (e.g., travel photography). The EX-S100 is perfect for carrying around and snapping pictures in the park, on the street, or at a party. Its relatively fast recycle time also makes it easy to use when you are in the mood for candid shots, plus the 2.8X optical zoom helps pull things closer. (The optical zoom is important here since its 3MP resolution does not allow for a lot of cropping.)

The LCD screen on the back is big and bright but the resolution could be better. This means the image on the LCD is a bit coarse. This sucks because this camera doesn't have an optical viewfinder.

This last point raise an important performance issue: because the camera is light and doesn't have a viewfinder, when you compose your shot through the LCD, be sure to hold the camera very steady! Don't pinch it hard. Just relax but keep your arms, wrists and hands steady. Press the shutter after you insale and as you hold you breath. Learn to use your thumbs to counter-act the downward force from the press-down on the shutter. This simple tip should steer you clear of lots of blurry pictures... after you practice. :)

This camera is definitely the hottest digital camera this holiday season, hence the price premium for a 3MP shooter. Is 3MP enough? I think it is for most everyday situations. If you plan to crop a lot later on and still want gorgeous 6x4" or larger prints, you should consider a 4MP or 5MP camera. But I bet 95% of us consumers don't crop 95+% of the time, and this Exilim is really to be used as a point-and-shoot, so the 3MP is not a real issue. As I mentioned, the overall picture quality of this "card cam" (I think that's what Casio's calling them now) is pretty good, better than 3MP digital cameras from just a couple years ago.

So, if you want an impressive second digital camera or just want a thin and small and stylish camera for everyday photography, the Exilim deserves a serious look.

PROS:
-big screen
-if set to high sharpness it takes amazing pictures
-very small
-simple to use
-fast start up
-lightweight
-attractive design
-comes with a dock
-movies go as long as there's free space on the memory card
-movies with sound
-many sceen settings

CONS:
-the screen could be better but it's still pretty good quality
-no carrying case
-average picture quality...which is now a problem for me because i'm getting more into photography...

This camera is definately worth the $220 that I spent. (walmart.com)

I tested the cam for about two weeks. Overall this cam has many features but the performance in low light without flash is not good.

I will mention only specific things that are not in the other reviews:

pros:

-- good outdoor daylight pics [all digital cams above $150 are good enough in this area]
-- good pics with flash
-- can use digital zoom during movie
-- can use continuous focus during movie but the sound of the moving lens will be recorded also
-- has an alignment grid that helps a lot if you frequently shoot text (can be turned on and off). It helps to check if the cam is exactly parallel to the text.
-- lack of barrell distortion when shooting text in macro mode (a rectangle doesn't look 'swallen')


cons:

-- noisy pics indoors in incandescent light without flash
-- noisy videos indoors in incandescent light
-- too dark videos indoors in incandescent light (exposure compensation doesnt help)
-- problems focusing indoors without flash even during the day

Ok, so the max resolution is 3.2 MP. In and of itself this isn't a problem . For years I toted around a Sony DSC-P30 (see my other reviews) 1.3 mp camera with great quality that I could print out to 5x7. I guess i've been spoiled by my Nikon 5700 and 8800. For what you pay for in this camera, you get mariginal results. OK 3.2 mp isn't gonna cut the mustard at 8x11 or higher print size. The image quality is nothing your gonna desplay at a gallery. However for point and shoot events like a party, this camera comes into its own. Its form factor is tiny and I imagine anyone that buys this camera is looking for something small. When I don't wanna lug my huge Nikon 8800 around, this is what I take. I hope its not a fleeting moment at the party because it takes 3 plus sec between shot to shot with flash on this camera and there is no burst mode (Casio give us one with a software update!) For the casual photographer this will work just fine. For the price it can't be beat esp for the low 200's that its offered for online. Color reprudction is of but stick to bright natural light, otherwise the camera will default to iso 200 for scenes, noise fillled, that don't really need that setting. I use this camera at parties for the small form factor and not really for the quality. 5 x 7's are fine. Anything larger is not. Its a great cool looking camera but by no means the best in photo quality. Future gererations of the ceramic lens i'm sure will be great but because of the slow shutter lag I have to resign this to party events when a samll camera is required or for ebay photos. Plese see my test shots then look for my others for the Niknon 5700 or 8800. You be the judge. Personnaly i like the camera for its small size but the quality left me wanting. For ebay its fine for practical imaging, you let me know.

My first digital camera and i'm rather pleased with myself. After reading amazon usa reviews of the ex100 i picked up a "bundle" that included the ex case and a 512 meg memory card. The camera itself is tiny, very well built and simplicity itself to operate. It will suit "snappers" rather than diehard camera junkies, such is the limitation of 3.2 megapixels. Overall at its current discounted price its a real no brainer of a bargain.

Wow! Casio really did a great job in designing this camera. It's very small; when I got it out of the box I was a bit shocked at its size. It feels solid in my hand. The on/off button is nice and discreet; a cinch to turn on, but it wont turn on inside your pocket, thats for sure. The rechargable battery is just icing on the cake; it fully charges in less than two hours!

This is a camera for a person who wants great quality pictures, but doesn't want to spend all their money on a 5 megapixel, 2.5 inch screen monster. I turn the size to 1 megapixel size anyway so the pictures don't take up a ton of space on my hard drive. 3.2 megapixels is more than enough. Highly recommended for a first time camera buyer.

If you fit the following criteria you should (must) buy this great camera.

-Want a small bring-it-everywhere camera.
-Want a quality constructed camera without any cheap plastics.
-Want a big screen
-Want a camera that uses a dock (this one comes with one)
-Want a camera that all your freinds will say "WOW" over.
-Want a very easy camera to use with tons of shooting options
-Want movies with sound
-DON'T need a camera to print huge prints (bigger then 8 x 10)

If you said "Wow, that sounds like me" to at least half of the above I strongly recomend that you purchase this camera.

I just got it and I am extremly happy.

This camera is very nice!! Considering that I was a little skeptical due to reading a few (not many) negative reviews. The camera is very small and stylish!! I tried to take a picture in the dark, and this camera made the photo capture look like I had all the lights on!! For those of you considering to buy this camera, it's a good buy for those that want a point and shoot camera. The controls are very easy to use, and I like the fact that I can customize camera startup to display my most favorite photo selection on the 2.0" lcd screen!!

I have a big and bulky Nikon Coolpix 8700 camera but I needed something handy for my sightseeing trip to Japan. After looking over about a dozen smaller cameras, I picked this one. I haven't regretted it my decision!

First, the looks of it: It is the most awesome hi-tech looking camera I've ever seen! And it feels sturdy (all metal case). Not cheap like some plastic body cameras. It feels "expensive"!
I've had people compliment me on the camera and ask about it.

Next: it is so tiny! And I really didn't need 8MP for snapshots. The 3MP of this camera has is quite enough for snapshots. The camera has an internal memory but you'll really need a memory card (I bought 512Mb card). I also bought a leather carrying case which can be strapped to a belt. That is how I was carrying it most of the time. Camera is also small enough to be stuffed into a shirt pocket.

The LCD screen is very big and easy to see in all conditions except in direct sunlight shining from the back.

Also, the tiny LiIon battery has an incredible life. I just put it in the charging cradle every night and took pictures all day. Never ran out of power.

While on the cradle, it can be hooked up to your computer via a USB bus. I don't even use any of the software which came with the camera. My PC sees the camera as a USB storage device. I just manually copy the images wherever I want and then edit them using my favorite Image Editing software,

It has zillion of features (most of which I'll probably never use). But I did play around with it to see what can be done.
With a little tripod and some setting changes, you can also take some great night shots (using the timer release of course). When used in this mode, the shutter's open time is longer than normal and it processes the picture differently, making it quite a bit less grainy than when taking night shots using standard shooting modes.

I also love the quick power up, quick focus and no shutter lag!

And the way all the controls are laid out is very intuitive and easy to learn.

There are many other features and other items already covered by other reviewers - so I won't go into them.

Things I wish the camera did better:

LCD display in low light conditions is quite dark (it doesn't "brighten" the display like some other cameras do).

Since it is so tiny, it has a very weak flash. It doesn't do well in dimly lit rooms if the subjects are not right close to the camera. But, this is not surprising considering the size of this camera (no room for a big capacitor) and the flash tube itself is miniscule. Also, part of the problem here is that the largest aperture of the tiny lens is F4. Pictures taken in the dark can also be a bit grainy. But in daylight this camera works great.

The lack of full printed manual is also a negative. Nice full manual is included on the CD (in pdf format) but you only get a skimpy printed manual which doesn't cover any of those more advanced features. I already know the basics. And while some people can deal with manuals viewed on the computer screen, I really need a paper manual. So, I printed it and had it bound. It helped me quite a bit to gain the insight into all the features.

So far I've taken hundreds of pictures (and some movies) with it and I am extremely happy with this tiny CASIO! No mechanical problems either. As people in New England say: Wick'd awesome!

And CASIO has been making digital cameras for a very long time. In the mid 90s I've bought a QV-100 (which I still have, and it still works). That was a first digital camera made which used LCD screen and had a tiltable lens! It had a mind-blowing VGA (640x480) resolution! :-) And it downloaded pictures via a serial port. Now, CASIO is still making great, leading-edge products.

You might want to know about the NEW Exilim EX-S500 I just found out at:
[...]
It's quite amzing that they kept the size and weight almost identical as EX-S100 which are most important to me.

[EX-S500]

Dimensions: 90 (W) x 59 (H) x 16.1 (D) mm
Weight: Approx. 4.05oz/115g

[EX-S100]
Dimensions 88(W) x 57(H) x 16.7(D) mm
Weight: Approximately 113g

I was waiting for EX-s100 on Amazon to be in stock again to order it. Thought you'd like to know another option to choose from.