The Casio Exilim EX S600 Review - the Thinness comes at a Price

Casio Exilim EX S600 Review

If you always wanted a super slim digital camera that could make for a real point-and-shoot experience, the Casio Exilim EX S600 s perhaps the model you've been waiting for. What makes it really perfect for the point-and-shoot photographer is that it has a bigger set of scene modes than almost any other camera on the market - 35 of them for just about any picture situation you can throw at it. And if that isn't quite enough for you, user definable presets are available too - 999 of them.

How intelligent is the Casio Exilim EX S600?

Pretty much totally, would be the answer to that. Do you have kind of a tendency to take your pictures when the light is low? No problem. It handles low-light situations wonderfully - right up to ISO 1600. Do you have a slightly (or very) unsteady hand? No problem - the image stabilization technology on this camera is pretty world beating. There is virtually almost no shutter lag on this camera, and the video capabilities s are just unbelievable for a camera in this class. So, it has all the technology it needs to anticipate any kind of situation. Does that mean it's perfect? Well, hardly.

The best technology for every photography situations won't make up for a mediocre processing engine and sensor. To begin with, the 2.2 inch LCD on the back of the camera practically disappears in bright sunlight (the image disappears, and not the LCD itself, you understand). The 3x zoom happens to be one of the least powerful on the market; as for the image quality, most shots don't turn out all that sharp. It only happens because somehow, the auto focus system never manages to land on an image with perfect calculation. Also, the camera's processing is a bit unsatisfactory. Any darkness in a picture such as a shadow, tends to get quite unreal-looking. With high contrast edges, there is a purple fringe around everything. Still, the photos are beautifully colorful, if that's what you're looking for.

The camera does have its pluses - its video recording and its form factor - are its real selling points. HQ video mode though is a mere 640x480 pixel. The Casio Exilim EX S600 has lots of scene modes, and a useful little 5 second capture mode. Let's say that you want to capture video in an action scene. Only, you don't know when the money shot will come. You just keep the button pressed, and it keeps recording. But it only saves the last 5 seconds. The moment you know you have your money shot, you release the button, and everything gets deleted except the money shot. For many people, the camera will sell itself for its spectacularly thin form factor alone.

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