Casio Exilim EX-P505 Digital Camera Review

Likes

- zoom is very responsive - cool movie modes - nice 60-1/2000 shutter speed range - lots of live views - fold-out LCD monitor - flash compensation

Dislikes

- the buttons are too small and blend into frame - menus are unnecessarily convoluted and confusing - too many essential menu functions are hidden - LCD solarizes easily - useless software - user manual on CD-ROM

Conclusion
The Casio Exilim EX-P505 is the Swiss Army knife of digital cameras; it tries to impress every segment of the market there is. It can impress point-and-shoot users with its automatic and extremely comprehensive list of best shot scene modes. The P505 also has manual functionality for those more advanced photographers. For those camcorder enthusiasts, there are four movie modes that shoot at full VGA resolution at 30 frames per second. The EX-P505 attracts kids with its extensive sound menu and toy-like size and feel. This Exilim aims to be a hybrid model with its camcorder-style LCD screen that rotates and its 5 megapixels of still imaging resolution.

While it does have lots of flashy and seemingly cool features, its basic functions are the parallel to those found on cheaper digital camera models – with the exception of its video recording capabilities. The four movie modes go above and beyond what any other compact digital camera can do in terms of video. The EX-P505 records stereo audio simultaneously and even has a unique Past Movie mode. For the $399.99 retail price, photographers can get a chunk of technology that will record their memories to JPEG or MPEG-4 files. The Casio Exilim EX-P505 has a small body and confusing menus, but its nice 5x optical zoom lens and cushy movie modes make this digital camera a contender in many market segments.