Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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73 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Happy So Far..., March 8, 2008
I have been searching for the right ultra portable camera with particular features and have been trying several. I've settled on this one. First, the camera is nearly the size of a credit card and is perfect for taking along to the park or backyard or anywhere you don't want to drag the larger SLR. Second, of all the cameras I've tested (Lumix TZ3, Kodak V1253, Canon SX100 and Casio S880), this delivers as good if not better picture quality. All these cameras take quality photos, but depending on the circumstances, some are better than others. The S10 was the best overall. Rich, deep colors outside and very good low light flash inside. And at 10 megapixels, you get a lot of real estate to work with in the editing room. Third, it has widescreen (16x9) video capture. Excellent quality. It's even better than the Kodak which boasts HD @ 720p. Furthermore, the video capture is accessible by a single recording button next to the view finder so you don't have to switch modes, you just have to press a button. That in and of itself is worth keeping the camera. Fourth, the camera is packed with features. Like any compact digital cameras, you have to experiment with your ISO and shutter settings to get the right results, but I've done some extensive testing and this camera really delivers, even in auto mode. Fifth, and one of the most important things for me, the movies from this camera ARE compatable with iMovie '08. Other Casios are not. They use AAC audio on this one for some reason and it is recognized by iMovie. Sixth, I like being able to shoot my stills in 3:2 aspect ratio so I don't have to crop every photo I want printed. This camera has that option. It also has burst mode and is quite good.
The only cons I have noticed so far is that it's hard to get a good, clean shot of a moving subject in low light. Flash isn't strong enough and the photos usually end up blurry. This is true with every compact camera I've tested. The camera's size also takes a little getting used to. Because it is so small, it is easier to get camera shake when trying to shoot -- something that just takes some practice. I'll continue to use and update this review if necessary, but so far I'm very pleased.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Still good, but not as good as the previous model, December 20, 2008
I'm a die-hard fan of the Casio Exilim S line since the very first model came out. I haved owned at least 5 different models and usually buy the newest one as soon as it's out. Casio has a track record of making each one better than the last, but I think they slipped a little bit on the EX-S10.
The EX-S880 is the previous 8MP model, and I'm going to recommend that you buy that instead of the 10MP version. Why? Image quality. I really feel that the image quality and light sensitivity is significantly worse in the EX-S10 than the previous product. I have been regularly frustrated with images that turn out with bad white balance and slow shutters resulting in blurry pictures. And don't even think about taking a serious shot with anti-shake... it's a digital processing correction, not optical stabilization like on larger cameras, and so as a result it adds a *lot* of noise and grainy distortion to images. Unless I'm desperate to get a shot, I always leave anti-shake off (but this was true in previous generations as well).
Compared to the last model, Canon also changed to a different battery, which is a little larger capacity I think. The old battery was pretty great, and I like that it had been the same for several models. Over time I'd built up a good collection of spares, but now I have to start over for the new battery size.
So...IMHO, buy the older model, you'll be happier. I mean, really this is for snapshots, right? There's no *real* reason you need 10MP to print postcards or even 8x10, it just gives you a bit more flexibility to crop or zoom, but 8MP is *juuust fine*. Personally, I'm switching back to my EX-S880 I think.
In general, what I like about Casio's cameras is:
* Great scene modes. The "Best Shot" feature has a huge variety of really cool scene modes, including "white board" mode. I have used many of these, such as portrait, backlit, landscape, landscape with portrait, night scene, white board, ...it goes on. Really useful.
* Well-organized UI for features, although maybe it's just easy for me because I've used these cameras for so long.
* Fantastic video capability. This camera takes great movies, and I use that feature all the time. I wish you could zoom in and out while capturing though.
* Beautiful big LCDs. However, I feel that on the EX-S10, the camera really can't make the best use of the LCD. Almost every picture I take on the S10 *looks* blurry and soft in review on the LCD, but when I put it on the laptop, it is usually great. I can only conclude that the scaling algorithm they're using to shrink a 10MP image down to that tiny number of pixels in an LCD (uh, .077MP) doesn't work so well for maintaining some sort of sharp image. This sounds like a nit-pick, but in reality it really freaks me out and makes me not feel very confident about the images I'm capturing.
* Beautiful, sturdy build. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped my Casios over time. Maybe that sounds bad, but the point is that I've never broken one. Okay, I did crack the screen on my EX-S770, but I think something heavy was placed on it, not a drop. Usually I put some of that plastic scratch film on the screen and forego a case, because with a case it would be too bulky to put in my pocket and too awkward to whip out quickly for some snaps... which would defeat the purpose. Sure, my cameras get a bit scratched, but not much. The case is a beautiful paint color and it's metal, so it takes the abuse really well.
Here's what I don't like...
Stupid proprietary USB connector. I've always hated the fact that the only way to get data off the camera without pulling the card is to use Casio's proprietary dock... there's not even a cable you can plug into the connector. I really wish they would switch to the now-available "micro-usb" which is smaller than the more common mini-B, but standard. When I buy these cameras, I never bother to take the docks or the software out of the box, I really don't like installing custom buggy photo software that puts stuff all over your computer. So, I always pull the card to download my images.
Disappointing low-light performance. As I mentioned already, the low light performance on this particular model is not as good as it should be. The camera is always slowing down the shutter to very long delays and complaining that there's not enough light.
Anti-shake is very grainy. Sure, you get the shot when you might not otherwise, but the image will likely be grainy and have lots of digital noise (pixels that are off-color from what they should be, like green, red, and blue specks floating around).
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, June 17, 2008
This camera is absolutely amazing. i had the older version previously but unfortunately i dropped it too many times for it to survive. So i upgraded to the newer version and i couldn't be happier. The display is gorgeous as are the outcomes from the camera. Cameras have come a long way with Mega Pixels and this definitely shows incredible capabilities. The zoom feature is great and i love that you have the ability to rotate, edit, and crop pictures and video files. I recommend this to everyone i know and i hope by reading this you will consider it 100%
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