Casio Exilim EX-S2 2MP Digital Camera

by Casio

Product Details

Product Manual [2.85mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 5 x 3 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006MZ09
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,130 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 20, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Casio calls their Exilim EX-S2 a wearable card camera, and it lives up--or should we say down--to that name. About the size and heft of a deck of cards (at .44 inches, it's even a bit thinner), the EX-S2 can be worn around the neck and barely be noticed.

And Casio packs what it can into the tiny frame. The camera captures 2-megapixel still images and AVI movies (without sound) at 320 by 240 pixels. Its 1.6-inch TFT LCD is bright enough to use for framing shots and viewing captured images in daylight. And the built-in flash carries about six feet--some indoor images taken farther than that from our subjects appeared a little dark.

But, otherwise, images proved to be bright and crisp, with rich and realistic colors. Outdoor images were as good as much larger and more expensive cameras, while indoor shots within the EX-S2's flash range were sharp enough to print out.

The tiny docking station that ships with the camera recharges the battery and provides a link to your PC (you can't connect the camera to your computer without going through it). The EX-S2 includes 12 MB of internal memory that can be expanded by purchasing an optional Secure Digital memory card.

Of course, the small size does constrain the camera features. There's no optical zoom on the EX-S2--only a 4x digital zoom instead of a preferred optical zoom. And the 2-megapixel limit is best for snapshots and medium-quality enlargements up to 8 x 10.

But if it's portability and ease of use that you want from your camera, you won't find many that will fit as snugly in a pocket or around your wrist than this miniscule yet still powerful device. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• Extremely tiny and lightweight
• High-quality images
• Good features for its size.

Cons:

• No optical zoom
• Only 2-megapixel resolution

Product Description

MD) AA) CASIO EXILIM EX-S2

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely fantastic, November 12, 2002

By 

"maimaipanda" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Exilim EX-S2 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

I bought this camera when it first came out in Japan, (where curiously enough it's considerably cheaper) despite heavy competition from a bunch of other ultra-sleek hi-tech japan-only models, and I have to say that I've never looked back.
The good points:
form factor- you can't believe how small and portable this camera is. bring it out and instantly draw a crowd! It is the best for taking those "spontaneous" shots - I bring it with me wherever i go, and it won't cramp your style either (ever try and go to a party hauling a big clunky camera around..?)

battery life- uses a proprietary (lithium ion?) battery - the charge seems to last forever. I've taken dozens and dozens of pictures with this camera (using flash + LCD on) and still never had the battery run out of juice.

menu/features- the menu system is fantastic, yet intuitive, and gives you a wide range of control over things like white balance, etc. the camera recharges *amazingly* quickly after using the flash, and is capable of taking shots in quick succession with almost no lag time. The screen is amazing (plus you can zoom in on the picture you're displaying!), and doesn't chew up batteries either. Plus you can take excellent quality video clips (up to 30 seconds).

The not-quite as good:
resolution: this camera is listed on amazon as being 2MP, but my model clearly says 1.82 MP. This is evident if you look at the pictures as well (even on the highest quality setting). Furthermore the 1600x1200 mode *is* interpolated, contrary to what the reviewer below said. I generally take picures in 1280x1024 and then reduce them in photoshop to 800x600, which produces quite nice results. but the end, the pictures it produces can't compare to higher resolution digital cams.

digital zoom: like all digital zooms, it bites. well, you can't have it all at this size, and i generally don't find myself missing an optical zoom anyway.

software: not the best (nor so bad as to be unuseable) but (under win XP), you can do away with the software completely and just manipulate the camera and files direcly like any other attach USB drive.

One final thing - a lot of the specs listed on amazon are completely incorrect - the camera uses SD cards (not type II CF) and certainly doesn't use 4 AAA batteries!!

All in all, this is an absolutely fantastic camera which will inspire instant lust in all who gaze upon it. I can't recommend it enough, as long as you're not looking to take ultra-high resolution professional images. Buy this at once!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Small, cool, fun, OK picture quality, November 13, 2002

By 

Seattle consumer "contrarian" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Exilim EX-S2 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

I admit, I bought the thing because of the cool factor. And yes, you will get people gawking at this gadget in public. And I guess I knew going in that it was just for fun pictures, nothing serious.

Given that, it performs well. But yes, the shutter slows way down in low light causing more blurry pictures than I'd like. And the flash is only good for a few feet (up to 6ft according to the specs). But if you can learn to live with its shortcomings, it's a fun little gadget.

It has many very useful functions like white balance and exposure compensation, all within its very intuitive menu system. And you can customize the joystick to control a given feature during recording (flash mode, exposure, white balance).

I thought the tiny joystick would be a problem with my big thumb, but it's not a problem once you get used to it.

Digital zoom is fairly useless with a 2 megapixel camera; just blows things up and makes them blurry.

The built-in memory won't hold very much, so you pretty much need an extra memory card... But if you must have it (and I did), go out and get one!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll wonder how you ever lived without this!, November 15, 2002

By 

Eric Bloom (Lawrence, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Exilim EX-S2 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

After extensive research, in October 2002 I found that the Casio Exilim EX-S2 is a wonderful camera. The things that I love about it is that I keep it in an old billfold so I can have it with me all the time. It powers up in about 1 second, and you are ready to take up to about 17 pictures on 1600x1200 resolution without interpolation. If you want to take more, the camera has an expandible memory card slot. The battery lasts for several uses, even with flash on. The zoom feature is not really worth mentioning, and the flash works best in the 3-10 foot range. The cradle is 1x USB. WindowsXP automatically knows when you hook up the camera, and downloads your pictures within seconds. Leave the camera on the cradle to charge. Its that easy!! The absolute best feature of this camera is the viewscreen. Moments after you take your picture, you can view it, and even zoom in to make sure you got the image you wanted. How anyone could use traditional film is beyond me!