Casio Exilim EX-S100

Reviewed April 2005

Characteristics

The 2.8 zoom lens of the EX-S100 is composed of 6 elements in 5 groups and has a focal length of 4.8 to 13.5mm, equivalent to a 36 to 102mm. Although under the control of the camera, two apertures are provided, and with the lens at the wide angle end these correspond to f4 and f8, while when the lens is at the maximum telephoto, the apertures become f6.6 and f13.3.

These apertures are combined with a shutter speed range that normally covers from 1/8 second to 1/2000 second, but which can be as long as 4 seconds when the camera is set to the Night Scene mode.

The Exilim EX-S100 provides a choice of five image sizes, and any of them can be saved using one of three JPEG compression levels, Fine, Normal and Economy:

• 2048 x 1536 pixels,
• 2048 x 1360 pixels (3:2 format),
• 1600 x 1200 pixels,
• 1280 x 960 pixels,
• 640 x 480 pixels.

• REC Mode selects the recording mode:
  • Snapshot: the default still image capture mode, corresponding to a Program AE mode.
  • Best Shot: offers a selection of 23 pre-programmed Scene modes, each of which applies specific camera settings that are best suited for the subject and provides a description of what the mode does. And also offers one user customized mode.
  • Movie: records a movie with sound at a frame size of 320 x 240 pixel for as long as there is memory space. The Movie mode uses Pan Focus (see the Ergonomics section) and, while the optical zoom is disabled the digital zoom can be used.
  • Audio: adds an audio recording after a still image has been captured. Up to 30 seconds can be recorded. (Audio can also be added to an already recorded image.)
  • Voice: records monaural sound. With a 256 MB card, up to 17 hours and 37 minutes of audio recording can be made, longer than the battery will last.

• Self-timer selects the self timer delay: 10 seconds, 2 seconds, X3 (uses a 10 second delay then captures 3 images sequentially), or Off.
• Size: sets the image size as explained above.
• Quality sets the compression level: Fine, Normal or Economy.
• EV Shift: serves to adjust the exposure compensation ±2EV in 1/3EV increments.
• White Balance: Auto, Sun, Cloud, Shade, Fluorescent 1 (white fluorescent), Fluorescent 2 (daylight fluorescent), Incandescent, Manual (user set under the ambient lighting).

• ISO serves to set the CCD sensitivity: 50, 100, 200 or 400 ISO, or Auto (between 50 and 200 ISO).
• AF Area: selects between the Multi AF system which automatically picks the focus point from a wide area containing 7 focus points, or the Spot AF which focuses exclusively at the centre of the frame.

• Auto PF: On or Off. Controls the Automatic Pan Focus mode. When On, if the shutter release is pressed all the way down without pausing, the camera switches from Auto focus to Pan focus, avoiding the slight delay caused by the AF operation. If the shutter release is pressed to the halfway point and held, the AF operates normally.
• Sharpness: serves to adjust image sharpness over a range of ± 2 increments.
• Saturation: controls colour saturation over a range of ± 2 increments.
• Contrast: controls image contrast over a a range of ± 1 increment.

• Flash Intensity: controls flash output over ± 2 increments.
• Flash Assist: Auto or Off. Automatically increases the image brightness when the subject is too distant for the flash to light it effectively.
• Grid: On or Off. Controls the composition grid that can be superimposed on the monitor.
• Digital Zoom: On or Off. Controls the 4X digital zoom. The digital zoom crops the central part of the frame and interpolates the cropped image to the currently selected image size.
• Review: On or Off. Decides whether a just captured image is briefly shown on the monitor while it is being saved.
• Icon Help: On or Off. Briefly displays a small text description for the icon associated with a setting change.
• L/R Key: assign a function to the Left and Right arrow buttons of the 4-direction controller (Rec mode, EV shift, White balance, ISO, Self-timer, or none).

The second section of the Recording menu is called Memory. The section contains a list of 11 settings, spread over two screens, that can be recalled (On or Off) after the camera has been turned off.

The settings that can be recalled are:

The third section of the Recording menu is Setup, and it contains options for basic camera settings. (See the Interface and Software section of the review for a complete listing of the options offered in the Setup menu.)

• Slide show: Serves to start a slide show with a selectable interval and a selectable overall play time.
• Favorites: allows selecting images as favorites and storing them in a private folder where its contents can be shown or not. An image stored in the Favorites can also be used as a start-up image.
• DPOF: serves to select which photos will be printed, how many prints will be made of each, and whether or not they will be date-imprinted. The EX-S100 is compatible with both PictBridge and Epson's USB Direct Print, allowing the camera to print directly to a compatible printer.

• Protect: allows making the images "read-only" preventing any accidental erasure.
• Rotation: serves to rotate an image in 90° increments.
• Resize: makes it possible to resize an image to 1280 x 960 or 640 x 480 pixels resizing down an image and saving it as a new image (2048 x 1360 and 640 x 480 images cannot be resized).
• Trimming: serves to crop an image. Images captured in the 3:2 format (2048 x 1360) or images with sound or movies cannot be cropped.
• Dubbing: allows attaching a sound recording (up to 30 seconds) to an already recorded image.
• Create Album: makes it possible to create HTML photo albums that can be viewed on a computer.
• Alarm: to set up to three alarms which can both ring and display a photo simultaneously.
• Copy: serves to copy images, movies, or audio recorded with the EX-S100 between its internal memory and a memory card.

The Casio Exilim EX-S100 has a 9.3MB built-in memory and is normally retailed without a memory card. However, the EX-S100 is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) and MMC (Multimedia) memory cards, and a card slot is available next to the battery in a compartment underneath the camera.

The chart below lists capacities for both the internal memory and a 256MB SD card:

Power for the Exilim EX-S100 comes from a thin Lithium-ion (NP-20). The battery is recharged in the camera using the cradle that is part of the camera's kit. The cradle, which includes an AC adapter to power it and recharge the battery, and provides a USB connection (2.0 Full Speed). Worth noting, the Exilim EX-S100 has no provision for an A/V (Audio Video) Out, or for connecting the camera to a television.