<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: BEST DIGITAL CAMERA OUT THERE!
Review: I am an advanced amateur photographer who uses a Hasselblad and a large format Wista. I had previously owned a Canon Powershot S100 which was ok but I found the battery life was terrible. I carried 4 batteries with me at all times to make it through one day. When I found the Casio Exilim I was so impressed, as time has gone by I am more impressed. I rarely have to charge the battery and I take hundreds of pictures and videos with it. I never worry that the battery will die in the middle of an event. I use a 1GB SD card which allows me almost one hour of video. It takes incredible photos, professional quality yet is still small enough to carry in my bag. The preset settings are fun to use and I have created some beautiful portraits. The menus are extremely user friendly even if you don't want to read the manual. It has a solid feel to it and even comes with a remote control. It is in my opinion the best compact digial camera on the market...
Now they have a 7MP version which gives you even more detail.
Devorah
New York, NY
Rating: 
Summary: Make that 4.5 stars (no option for halves!)
Review: I bought this camera, after a long, extensive, detailed search, to replace my venerable Casio QV-4000. I originally shyed away from another Casio because they are not a mainstream player in the camera market. But after a few rounds of re-evaluating what my priorities and needs were, this one met all my requirements for a replacement:- (Much) Faster startup, shutdown, and between-shot times
- No lens cap!
- Much smaller and lighter than the QV-4000
- More zoom
- Larger image
- Good quality optics
- No loss of manual controls
- LCD is actually usable in direct sunlight! This one has all those features, plus several new and other things I might not have even thought of. Probably one of the most useful, after the bigger zoom, bigger CCD and faster startup, will be the ease in *getting at* the various controls. Though you can point and shoot just like any camera, you can make all sorts of settings with remarkably few button pushes. A reviewer elsewhere mentioned how this camera doesn't use the CF memory format of the older Casios. Duh, look at the size of the camera! It's amazingly small, considering what it packs. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of a paper manual in the box. You have to read it off your computer or use a ton of paper to print it. Notice you can download it here from Amazon to find out a lot about the camera. It starts and behaves very fast. Scrolling through photos in playback is lightning fast. I also like the *small* battery charger, and the fact that it doesn't have a big annoying cord. Just plug it straight into the wall; great for travel! I like the large 2" LCD. I could see it fine outside on a sunny day. It has plenty of resolution for my 42 year old eyes. It would be nice if it could zoom in a little closer, but 8x is good. I also like the Best Shot feature, where the soft focus mode is very cool. Also having fun with the high-speed modes, including the one that makes 25 tiny pictures in very rapid succession on a single frame. There is also a feature carried over from my older Casio, which I didn't see mentioned in any reviews. The flash does have three power levels. This is great if you want to "overflash" a subject that's further from the camera, or lighten it up for some gentle fill. Highly recommended if you like a camera with lots of controls and features. I'm sure this is currently the most functionality you can get in a camera of this size with these major features. If you're like me you need a decent-sized card. Get the Sandisk Ultra II. Best price from a reputable vendor I found right here. Also an extra battery, though the one that comes with it is supposed to be long-lasting. Some weak points:
- Though I hated the dangling lens cap on my previous camera, I worry about the delicate lens shutter on this one. Certainly not as strong or protective from dust and moisture as a cap, but that's what a case or bag is for.
- Flash is a little weak, with short range. I guess this is to be expected from a tiny camera.
- Folder and filenames no longer have the date in them. This was real handy with my older pictures. Wherever you stuck one, you could always reference when it was taken.
- No user-friendly RAW mode. Though you can access it through an undocumented diagnostic and setup menu, there is no common software to work with the files. It would be nice if Casio enabled this. That list is all minor stuff for me. My rating of 4.5 is just to say there's room for improvement, which is always true. I'm glad I chose this camera, even though the price has already dropped $30 in the week or so since I ordered it. Oh the fun of being an early adopter!
Rating:
Summary: Great great camera
Review: I love this thing!
I am a first-time digital camera buyer and really a novice to photography. I wanted to find a camera that wasn't to big and that was most importantly easy to use. When researching my purchase I made the decision to obtain a camera that has a larger than 3X Optical Zoom - this narrows down the list considerablely.
It came down to the Casio P600, Fuji E550, and Pentax Optio SV. I loved the compact size of the Optio and its 5X zoom. What killed it for me was it's painfully slow shutter lag. This may not bother some, but it really got to me.
The Fuji E550 is a great camera (very fast), but ultimately there were a couple of things I did not like. One was the fact that it only has a maximum 3 sec shutter exposure. I think this is really sad. If not for this, I would have bought it. The other is that the interface, much like the Pentax takes some deciphering.
This is why I bought the Casio. From the moment I picked it up, it felt comfortable. All of the buttons are where they should be. Everything is very very intuitive. I STILL haven't cracked the manual and I feel very confident that I know how to work almost all of the functions. Being a novice to digital photography, I did not know what the different icons meant, what the differnt options could do. If it isn't obvious from the Casio's excellent interface, it explains it for you! Don't know what a faster shutter speed will do for your picture? Don't worry, the P600 will show you an example.
There are 25 best scene modes (most are pretty gimmicky), but all are well explained on the large 2" screen. It has a 60 second maximum shutter opening resulting in some eye-popping night time and low light images. Add this is a great burst mode (continous is a bit slow clocking in at just under one per second, but the hi-speed is really great firing off as many as 6 images in two seconds)
Battery life is also great. The first two days I had the camera the screen was on constantly as I was perusing the menus, exploring the different options and reviewing pictures. I didn't have to recharge until the end of the 2nd day.
In short, the P600 has an excellent interface, sturdy design, intuitive controls. The only negatives for me were an awkward off-center tripod mount, and the unusual bulging lens that made packing and unpacking the camera from its carrying case (sold separately) a bit clunky.
All in all a really great camera.
Rating: 
Summary: USB port broke easily
Review: i purchase a casio exilim pro P600 last month the camera its good i enjoy taking pictures with it,,the image quality is perfect but sometimes if u make your own settings it will give u noise on your results....the down side just less than a month the USB port went-off/detach from the PCB board now i can't use the camera to load my pictures or view it on the video monitor...hope casio can see this problem so that they can improve the mounting of their USB port
Rating:
Summary: Leader of the pack!
Review: I would be classified as an advanced amateur. The P600 is my second digicam. I use a Nikon D100 for serious work, shoot in the RAW mode, edit on a color profiled monitor with Photoshop and print on a 6 color photo printer. I've owned 5 digicams over the last 8 years-none were perfect. There is always a trade-off when seeking portability, lens quality,speed, feature, ruggedness, low noise and resolution. At this time the CASIO P600 is the leader: 6 megapixels, 4x optical zoom high quality Canon lens, small size in a rugged body,quick startup, good ergonomics, big (2inches) viewing screen,unlimited movie mode, advanced menus and extensive features etc. This is the best compact digicam I've owned to date. Drawbacks: CASIO's somewhat spotty reputation for service,lack of a printed manual, relatively small amount of on-board memory, expensive proprietary battery (many others have this problem viz: Nikon, Canon etc.), limited software, inaccessable RAW mode, non-standard USB connection, lack of flash shoe (Canon G5 has one-Casio does have external flash sync) and few other nit-picky concerns. I considered the Olympus 5060 but it was bigger and bulkier, had less optical zoom, and lower resolution. It was close. You need to decide what features are important. I would point out that comments by other reveiwers about the lack of a memory card and difficulty with the USB connector suggest that they were very new to the experience of using digicams and might have been happier with a less expensive, simpler rig.
Rating:
Summary: Memory Card
Review: Ok I do like this camera very much, it has a lot of really good features, however the one disapointment I had was when i opened it up and there was no memory card, from what i can see you can get about 3 pictures on the camera with out memory card, but come on 3 pictures. So if you are interested in buying this camera please remember you kind of have to buy a memory card along with it.
Rating:
Summary: USB port is a big problem
Review: This camera has great features [and a 247 page CD-ROM manual] but is also easy to use without all the special settings. However, less than 2 weeks after I got it, the USB port broke while attaching the cable to download images - this happened even when using the supplied cable & being careful to insert it in the correct way. Now I may have to send it to their one US warranty center, in NJ, for repair. There is another review here with a similar complaint, & others elsewhere [now that I've had this problem & looked], so it's obviously not an isolated problem.
Rating:
Summary: Memory Card
Review: You know when you buy something, having a high expectation, and when you get it, you're still amazed at how great it is? For me, this happened when I bought this camera. I knew this camera would be small, fast, and loaded with a ton of features, but I didn't know just how great it would be. I wasn't actually shopping for a 6MP camera, but all of the 5MP compact cameras really didn't cut it. But the combination of features on the EX-P600, combined with the 4x Optical Zoom (16x Digital) and 2.0" LCD said go for it. But when I started using the camera I realized I made a really smart move. Casio obviously spent a great deal of time coming up with an intuitive interface to access everything. In just a few steps you can set any feature on the camera, and the 2.0" LCD screen offers enough real estate to know what your doing. In simple point and shoot mode, the EX-P600 offers great pictures with little wait time between shots. Auto focus is a snap, and you don't need to think about anything else. I like the Best Shot mode, which lets you select from 25 different presets for optimal results in various settings. Portrait, Nighttime, scenery, etc.. It even has a coupling mode so you can take a picture of your friend, and have your friend take a picture of you, and have it be the same image. No more asking somebody to take your picture! If you want to get really into it, pretty much everything on the camera- focusing, exposure, white balance, color filters, are adjustable. You can even create custom presets and have it show up in best shot mode. You can not only access everything from a Menu, but it has a quick settings button where you can tab thru all the current camera settings. Some downsides are the camera doesn't come with an SD card, so you have to buy one separately, which adds on to the price tag. Also, it doesn't come with an AC Adapter, just an external charger, so you have to take the battery out to of the camera to charge it, unless you get the AC Adapter. It also has an "ex" mode where all this data comes up when you take a picture. The plus side is you can see all the settings on the screen, the downside is it looks like you're flying an F-16. But you don't have to have it on, the regular mode tells you everything you need to know. All in all, if you want a camera to last a couple of years, this is yet. The high resolution 6MP CCD will offer room when higher resolution printers come out, and the advanced feature set will let you have more creative control when you're ready for it, but it's not even too hard to figure out. This is a really smart camera, not just a good one. This camera even has a remote control, so no more running into the picture and wondering when the flash will be for those group shots!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Compact Camera With Easy To Use Features
Review: You know when you buy something, having a high expectation, and when you get it, you're still amazed at how great it is? For me, this happened when I bought this camera. I knew this camera would be small, fast, and loaded with a ton of features, but I didn't know just how great it would be. I wasn't actually shopping for a 6MP camera, but all of the 5MP compact cameras really didn't cut it. But the combination of features on the EX-P600, combined with the 4x Optical Zoom (16x Digital) and 2.0" LCD said go for it. But when I started using the camera I realized I made a really smart move. Casio obviously spent a great deal of time coming up with an intuitive interface to access everything. In just a few steps you can set any feature on the camera, and the 2.0" LCD screen offers enough real estate to know what your doing. In simple point and shoot mode, the EX-P600 offers great pictures with little wait time between shots. Auto focus is a snap, and you don't need to think about anything else. I like the Best Shot mode, which lets you select from 25 different presets for optimal results in various settings. Portrait, Nighttime, scenery, etc.. It even has a coupling mode so you can take a picture of your friend, and have your friend take a picture of you, and have it be the same image. No more asking somebody to take your picture! If you want to get really into it, pretty much everything on the camera- focusing, exposure, white balance, color filters, are adjustable. You can even create custom presets and have it show up in best shot mode. You can not only access everything from a Menu, but it has a quick settings button where you can tab thru all the current camera settings. Some downsides are the camera doesn't come with an SD card, so you have to buy one separately, which adds on to the price tag. Also, it doesn't come with an AC Adapter, just an external charger, so you have to take the battery out to of the camera to charge it, unless you get the AC Adapter. It also has an "ex" mode where all this data comes up when you take a picture. The plus side is you can see all the settings on the screen, the downside is it looks like you're flying an F-16. But you don't have to have it on, the regular mode tells you everything you need to know. All in all, if you want a camera to last a couple of years, this is yet. The high resolution 6MP CCD will offer room when higher resolution printers come out, and the advanced feature set will let you have more creative control when you're ready for it, but it's not even too hard to figure out. This is a really smart camera, not just a good one. This camera even has a remote control, so no more running into the picture and wondering when the flash will be for those group shots!
<< 1 >>
|
