The Casio Exilim EX-S880 is a sleek, pocket sized digital camera. In fact it is one of the slimmest digital cameras on the market. It has 8 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens. Apart from its size one of the biggest attractions of the Exilim EX-S880 is its ease of use. Set up as a simple point and shoot camera it is suitable for someone who is looking for a straightforward, snapshot camera.
Image Quality Casio Exilim EX-S880 test shots
Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
The first point I noticed is that the sharpness of the photo is below the standard I look for. It is acceptable in the centre of the photo, but falls away as you move out towards the edges.
The Exilim EX-S880 also struggles with sun glare. The result of this is a loss of detail from light areas in the photo. This also causes some of the blue lines on the boats to appear with a purple tinge.
Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
When it comes to focusing this is always a tough test for smaller compact cameras with the scene somewhat distant. It is not a bad attempt although focusing again gets softer towards the edges.
Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the lens zoomed in to its full capacity focusing problems are evident again. It can be difficult to build high quality into the lenses of these very small cameras.
Outdoor Portrait
This photo was taken in good light, but in the shade. I used the shady white balance setting. This helps to give a boost to the colours. Despite the fact lighting was good I think this photo is darker than I would like it to be. One plus point is that focusing is much better than in the outdoor scenic shots. This is likely to be down to the face detection focusing.
Indoor Portrait without Flash
This is a fair effort, but it does have quite a strong, orange colour caste. To compensate for less light the Exilim EX-S880 has automatically increased ISO. This has lead to noise being introduced to the photo. This will affect picture quality, especially if you are planning larger prints.
Indoor Portrait with Flash
By turning the flash on I was rewarded with a sharper photo. I would like to have seen a bit more power in the flash to brighten the photo. There is no red eye showing in the shot.
Colours
A lot of the Casio digital cameras I have tested have a tendency towards producing strong colours. This is not necessarily a good or bad point as some people go for strong colours whereas others prefer something a little gentler. For me some of the blues can be over strong.
Macro
With a minimum focusing distance of 15cm the Exilim EX-S880 is not really built for close up photography. The macro test shot you can see has been heavily cropped. Focusing is not as sharp as with most other cameras.
ISO 400
Moving the ISO setting from automatic to ISO 400 adds noise to the photo and reduces the quality. The amount of noise added is roughly average when compared to other digital cameras.
ISO 800
At ISO 800 quality really falls away and the Exilim EX-S880 starts to struggle noticeably with picture quality.
Overall
The problems I found with sharpness suggest there are many better pocket sized cameras when it comes to picture quality. I also found some of the photos a little dark.
Shutter Lag
I was able to take one photo in 0.32 seconds and five in 21.12 seconds. The time for a single photo is average, but the time for five is slow. There were times when the camera seemed to freeze in between shots. Strangely turning the flash on resolved the problem. A single shot took a quick 0.35 seconds while five took a respectable 15.11 seconds.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Style: As I mentioned at the top this is a very slim camera. In fact you will be hard pressed to find many slimmer. It is available in red, sliver and charcoal.
Dimensions: 94.5 x 60.4 x 17.3mm
Weight: 128g
Batteries: Lithium ion (NP-20). A battery and charger are supplied as standard. Casio estimates you should be able to take around 220 shots before a recharge is needed.
Memory cards: There are 10.8 megabytes of storage built into the Exilim EX-S880. I was able to take seven photos before the internal memory was full. The camera is also compatible with SD and SDHC cards.
Click here to save money on SD cards.
Ease of use rating: Good. This is one of the strengths of the camera. There are a couple of points worth mentioning. The first is that you can display key menu settings on the right hand side of the LCD screen. This makes it very easy to check your settings and it is also simple to change them. The placement of the zoom controls can make it difficult to find space for your thumb on the back of the camera. This can make it harder to hold steady.
Points I like:
Simplicity - simple design - LCD screen shows key menu options
Where it could improve:
Sharper images - brighter shots
Alternatives
Other digital cameras under 20mm wide to consider are the Canon IXUS 70 and Canon IXUS 75.
Verdict:
It is difficult to find a truly thin digital camera that offers exceptional picture quality. The Casio Exilim EX-S880 tries hard, but does not quite hit the heights when it comes to the quality of photos it produces. That's a shame as I found it very easy to use.
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
| Casio Exilim EX-S880 Summary |
| Description: | 8 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom |
| Ease of Use: | 9 |
| Features: | 8 |
| Colour: | 7 |
| Macro: | 6 |
| Indoors: | 8 |
| Value for Money: | 8 |
| Style: | 8 |
| Movie Mode: | 8 |
| Image Quality: | 7 |
| Build Quality: | 8 |
| Total: | 77 |
| Verdict: | This camera scores well for its small size and ease of use. I did find the camera struggles with focusing once you get any real distance in the shot. It was able to handle closer subjects better. It is an incredibly slim camera. |
| Review Date: | December 2007 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images Features |
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