Customer Reviews

Casio Exilim EX-S2 2MP Digital Camera

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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!

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!

I've been using this camera for a little over two months now and I have to say I love it. It's extremely easy to use and takes great quaility pictures.

pros.
very fast startup time - you can start shooting within about 1 second after hitting the power button.

very quick review time for recents pictures - easily scan through your photos quickly and delete on the fly.

thumbstick is easy to use, very intuitive - i never once picked up the manual. just used the 'menu' button or moved the thumbstick to control all features.

upgradable - i added a 64 meg sd ram card in addition to the 12 meg onboard.

requires no software - just plug it in the cradle and turn it on and windows will instantly see it as another drive!

LIGHT AND SMALL!!! - it's the size of a credit card!! fits in a shirt pocket with tugging down on your shirt. so small, the wow factor on this thing is great!

great screen quality - a generous 1.5" screen on a camera this small.

OVERALL - just an excellent camera well worth the money!!

overall - well worth the investment for web and family and fun photos. will take up to a 1600x1200 image with no problem. fun camera all around

great battery life - no joke, i took over 150 pictures with flash each time before i got low on the battery. it charges quickly too! and you can turn off the screen if you don't want to waste battery life.

cons
no optical zoom...the digital zoom is worthless but who cares. it's tiny!

must use cradle to charge - which is kind of a hassle but the battery life is good so it's not a big deal.

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.

All in all, a fun toy that would be a lot more fun at $200. But if you must have it (and I did), go out and get one!

I use a digital camera entirely for electronic viewing and for e-mailing photos, so I don't need huge megapixel resolution. I have had other digital cameras, but the features I really like about this one are, in order of importance to me:

1. FAST shutter response - due to the fixed focus lens, there is almost no delay between pressing the shutter release and getting the shot. Some cameras take so long to focus and capture that you miss the shot you were after.

2. Very small and lightweight - I usually have it in my pocket or briefcase. The slim size and flush lens keeps it from getting hung up in your pocket.

3. Fast power-up and down. Also, no waiting for a lens to extend or retract.

4. Good battery life - especially long, since I mostly use the optical finder.

It has a menu feature that allows you to reduce the size of a stored image for e-mailing. This saves you from having to run it through Photoshop to reduce the size.

The stand/charger works flawlessly. Set it in, press the "On" button, and the camera appears on you desktop. Very convenient to have it connect and charge without extra cables.

The SD cards hold plenty of pictures and are reasonably priced . I recently ordered a 128-meg card for [money].

Drawbacks? -
The main drawback for me is that the only way to charge the battery is inside the camera, in its cradle. It would be nice to have a way to charge the battery only, so an extra can be charging while the camera is in use. If a separate charger doesn't come along, I might try making one.

There are some people who take one glance at the digital camera section in the electronics store and one minute later say "that one." However, if you are like me, there are some people who do lots of research. They agonize over every little detail, every word in the reviews and tech specs, and a month later hold there breath and make a decision.

With such a wide variety of digital cameras out there, I narrowed down on the tiny ones, only becuase the whole point of taking pictures is to capture a little moment that would be otherwise forgotten. Who wants a large clunky camera to lug in a camera bag everywhere???? The second someone says "Where is the camera" some people would be unclipping there carrying cases, opening up the pop-up lens, finding the right mode, waiting for it to start up, get it into focus and by then the moment is gone.

But for me and all other Exilim/ tiny digital camera owners,this slick Casio powers up in seconds time and one more second to take the picture with flash. It is that simple. The design is very intuitive and the menus are extremely simple and friendly. Two modes; play or record. A shutter. A power button. A menu button and the little dial. That is it. The camera is so light you can put the strap over your hand to control it and use the other to instruct your posers.

Image quality is not supreme, but the difference between this and higher resolution cameras (to me, an amateur) doesn't seem dramatically significant. Most of the my pictures will be printed no larger than 5x7 or emailed and Adobe Photoshop or Elements can change your photos to make them look so much better that (to me) to quality is good enough for me. Plus I am not going to hang my photos on the wall...maybe a little 4x6 here and there.

The battery life is absolutely wonderful! Not once have I ever ran out of juice. The cradle is convienient and the little usb cover was lost on the sixth day. Flash is ok, and the manual controls are right there for you to use with ease. Best shot mode is great to get the perfect shot without tinkering with manual settings for ten minutes. Zoom, well, there is not one. Digital is so horrible it needn't be mentioned. But you can just as easily move a few feet and get the same results if not better of a camera just zooming from one location. I generally like to be farther away so I can crop (the exact same thing as zoom, just more precise and better quality) on the the computer.

Overall, this camera is made of quality, looks like quality, pictures are OK quality. If you still want tiny, but want more of a resolution, I cannot recomend enough the Konica Revio model enough. However, at [$$] more, still a good price for there type, wasn't worth it for me. Buy for your needs and tastes! For me, this camera is perfect for my needs and taste. If you value size/ease of use/portability and looks over genral image quality and features, this camera is for you. Sorry
to be so extensive. But this camera rocks!

Don't get me wrong, its a decent camara but no more then that. Think about why you are buying a camara before you pay [$$] for this one. I would think the most important thing would be picture quality, with this camara you really don't get that. The pictures are not very good when compaired to other camaras in its price range. Also think about how since the lens is fixed you cannot take a closeup picture of anything. It says in the owners manual that you the closest you can get is 1M. Think if it as you can't take a picture of text and read it as it will be too blury. The flash is also very weak as other people are saying. Don't get sucked in because of the "cool" factor of the camaras small size. I had one for a month then bought a Canon S200 to replace it. It's slightly more then double the size but there is no comparison in picture quality.

The value of this camera is its size and convenience. It does not take great photos, but for the most part, outdoor pix are not too bad. I compared exact shots from my olympus 2 and 3 megapixel, and the colors from the casio were a little washed out- not true to color. Indoor shots with low light are bad, as the flash is so small it does not produce very good photos. These are the drawbacks. I got this camera to have when I don't want to carry my larger camera and to take places that I would not otherwise have taken the other. It is cool and will draw a crowd. You will need to get an additional SD card if you want to take any number of pix, but they are cheap ... Final note, the usb/charging cradle that came with it is very nice and works well- I did not install any of their software as Win XP immediatley picked up and installed the driver.

I bought this visa-card size camera one month ago at a Radio Shack store and the camera is just great, if you can overlook one tiny trade-off: there is no auto focus. This is to tell future buyers that they can save the extra 27 dollars they would have to spend for the leather case. Instead, I suggest you to go buy a set of playing cards with soft plastic case that you can find at any Borders store and use the case for storing your new camera.