Casio Exilim EX-P505 Digital Camera Review

Manual Control Options
The Casio Exilim EX-P505 has several manual controls available. While this model is marketed more for novices, the inclusion of manual controls makes the P505 a viable option for consumers who want to develop their photography skills. After novices are bored with the automatic settings, they can dabble with the exposure compensation, then the shutter speed and aperture. Manual white balance and manual focus are also available.

Focus
Auto (7.5)
The auto focus can be selected with the silver button on the left side of the camera. The same button can select Manual, Macro, or Infinity focus. Once the auto focus is selected there, the user must enter the recording menu to change the auto focus area. When the Spot focus is selected, a frame appears in the center which turns red when out of focus and green when focused. The Multi AF mode puts two frames on the LCD screen. The Free AF lets the user choose where the point of focus will be by letting the user scroll the multi-selector vertically or horizontally on sliding bars until the desired point is found. These auto focus options are plentiful and give photographers full reign over this contrast detection system. The Casio P505 can focus as close as a centimeter in the macro mode, which is also quite impressive. There is pan focus available in the movie modes, which is extremely helpful when shooting moving objects. Otherwise, the movie's auto focus is a little slow and takes a few seconds to readjust to moving subjects. Beware of the Casio Exilim EX-P505's auto focus performance in low light. The camera doesn't have an AF illuminator, so it has trouble focusing in dim lighting.

Manual (3.0)
The manual focus can be accessed from any of the still shooting modes by the silver button with the flower icon on the left side of the lens. Once selected, a yellow box appears in the center of the LCD viewfinder. A sliding bar appears below it with arrows pointing left and right to focus. Once the left and right arrows on the multi-selector are pressed, the view in the yellow box becomes larger. It does this so photographers can see clearly if the subject is focused. However, if the subject is not in the central yellow box, there is no way to manually focus on it.

Metering (7.0)
The Casio Exilim EX-P505 uses Multi-pattern light measurement as its metering default in most situations, but also has Center-weighted and Spot options available. The camera defaults to Center-weighted when the exposure compensation is set to a value other than zero. The metering options have live views in the menu, so it is easy to choose the mode that will make the picture look best. The multi-pattern option measures light from several different areas, while the Spot measures from a tiny point in the center of the screen. The Center-weighted option measures from a slightly larger area, obviously in the center.

Exposure (7.0)
The exposure can be manipulated with the shutter speed or aperture controls, as well as the ND filter that darkens the picture by 2 exposure values. There is also an exposure compensation option called “EV Shift” in the recording menu. The live view makes it easy to choose a value in the P505’s standard range of +2 to -2 in 1/3 steps.

White Balance (7.5)
The white balance can also be accessed from both the EX and the Menu buttons. Like the ISO, the white balance has live views although they are more easily seen in the EX menu. There is an automatic mode and seven preset modes: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Incandescent, and Flash. All of the preset modes are depicted as icons in the menu. There is a manual white balance function that works quite well and is intuitive to use. Once selected, a box appears in the screen in which photographers can frame something white. Text commands read, “Shutter: Adjust,” then “Adjusting” and finally “Complete.” This setup is simple; even newcomers to digital photography can figure out the manual white balance on the Casio P505.

ISO (7.0)
There are two ways to access the ISO option: through the silver EX button on the side of the lens or the Menu button on the back. The Casio EX-P505 has an automatic ISO option, as well as 50, 100, 200, and 400 ISO ratings. In both menus, there is a live view of the options. However, it is easier to see the difference in the EX menu because there is less to clutter the screen. The higher manual ISO settings have more noise than the lower settings; see the testing section for more information about this.

Shutter Speed (6.5)
The shutter speeds of the Casio Exilim EX-P505 can be automatically or manually adjusted. The shutter speed information appears on the right side of the LCD screen and can be adjusted by pushing the right and left arrows on the multi-selector. When the Set button is pushed, a separate “Shutter Speed” menu appears that shows two small pictures of a shower head, one with a “Slow” label and the other with a “Fast” label; the “Slow” picture shows a stream of water coming from the shower head, and the “Fast” picture shows individual droplets coming out of it. The Casio P505 has 52 options ranging from 60 seconds to 1/2000th of a second. The full range is available in the manual and shutter priority modes, but it is truncated to 1/8-1/2000th of a second in the aperture priority mode.

While these speeds are admirable for a compact digital camera, the P505 has a little quirk to it. The fastest shutter speed is dependent on the aperture. To shoot at 1/2000th of a second, users must also use f/7.4. To shoot at 1/1600th of a second, users must select f/6.2 or higher. In order to snap a shot at 1/1250th of a second, photographers have to select f/5.2 or higher. And finally, users must use f/3.7 or higher to use the 1/1000th shutter speed option. The Casio P505 houses an electronic and mechanical hybrid shutter that performs at these speeds.

Aperture (6.0)
The aperture can be manually adjusted just above the shutter speed on the LCD screen – or users can leave it up to the camera to select it automatically. As was previously mentioned, this digital camera’s faster shutter speeds are linked to the aperture. And the aperture is linked to the P505’s optical zoom lens. The camera’s maximum aperture is f/3.3, which only changes to f/3.6 when zoomed into the telephoto portion of the lens. This is pretty wide for a zoom shot. The Casio EX-P505 offers six apertures in its f/3.3-f/7.4 range, but the exact ratings differ according to the zoom level. Just like the shutter speed menu, the aperture has a secret menu available when the Set button is pushed. The setup is the same with two pictures, one depicting a flower with a blurry background (“Large” aperture opening) and a flower with a sharp background (“Small” aperture opening). Overall, the setup is catchy but the selection isn’t that great. The Casio P505 could do better in low light if it had an aperture of f/2.8; the maximum aperture of f/3.3 seems a bit lacking.