Auto Mode
The Auto mode would be more appropriately titled a Program mode, because it offers full access to the manual controls on this digital camera. There are hosts of automated Scene modes, but no true Auto mode.
Movie Mode
The headlining feature of the Casio S10 is its Apple-friendly Movie mode. It records at several resolutions in the H.264 format up to 4GB at a time. There is wide 848 x 480-pixel video, standard 640 x 480-pixel video, and e-mail-friendly 320 x 240-pixel video. The top two resolutions record at 30 fps, but the smallest records at 15 fps.
The mono audio is recorded in the AAC codec “enabling replay on Apple’s iPod and other such devices,” according to Casio’s press release. The videos can be dragged and dropped to iTunes and then to iPods or iPhones or other Apple devices. Casio states that the video works “seamlessly” with iLife’08. This is an advantage over other digital cameras’ movie modes that require you to reformat the video before uploading to YouTube.
The Casio S10 has a movie button that is separate from the shutter release button so that movies can be taken at any time without having to enter a menu. This is convenient and also allows you to take full-resolution photographs during the video. This feature isn’t flawless. When you take a picture, there is a jump in the video. Casio’s video seems to close the gap around the picture, though, so the video is strung together and there is no black-out, but definitely shows a jump in the action and audio.
If you want to use the YouTube Movie mode, you will have to enter a menu. It is grouped in the Best Shot modes along with the Silent and Prerecord Movie modes. Despite their presence in the menu, you still have to use the designated movie recording button instead of the shutter release. The Prerecord mode works well for those can’t-miss shots, like catching the birthday boy’s face as he walks into his surprise party. The mode records continuously and saves about three seconds before you push the shutter release button down, and then continues until you push it again. The Silent Movie mode records 15 fps and casts a sepia color tone – and doesn’t record audio.
The digital image stabilization is available, along with digital zoom, but there is no optical zoom available. Movies can be played back with VCR-like control, and the volume can be adjusted so you can hear it on the mono speaker. In the Playback menu, you can create motion prints that are like 9-frame filmstrips or pull single frames for low-resolution images. You can also cut video clips at the beginning, middle, and end.
The Casio Exilim EX-S10 will likely attract the younger generation that carries iPods around in their pockets while “wearing” their skinny cameras. The ability to upload videos to Apple products by dragging and dropping will make this a popular camera. It can also upload easily to YouTube, another big plus for the generation of photographers who are social networkers. The actual quality of the video is still to be determined. It looks decent on the 2.7-inch screen – albeit funky colored, although that could be from the flashing blue lights above my head – but we’ll pass on more details once we get this into our imaging lab.
Drive / Burst Mode
The Casio S10’s Continuous mode can be found in the Panel and Recording menus. Drive options include Normal, High Speed, Flash Continuous, and Off. The speed of this little camera isn’t very impressive; Casio publishes its startup time at 1.2 fps and its normal speed Continuous mode at one second between shots. That seems conservative. Maybe this is just a preproduction qualm, but the S10 I looked at took nearly two seconds between shots in the normal Continuous mode. The High Speed mode was much faster at 4 fps, but the resolution was sliced to a nearly unusable 1600 x 1200 pixels. The burst lasted for a long time, though: I took about 40 shots and the camera was ready to go for more. There is also a Flash Continuous mode that takes 3 fps but limits the flash power to about arm’s length, making it very impractical.
The self-timer delays for 10 and 2 seconds, or for 10 seconds with a three-shot burst.
Playback Mode
The Playback mode is accessible from the button to the upper left of the multi-selector. Images are shown one by one and can be scrolled through with the frustrating multi-selector that doesn’t seem to move the way I want it to. It is very difficult to scroll left with the tiny size of the selector and its hard-to-push ring. Navigation is awful, but viewing images themselves isn’t so bad. The 2.7-inch LCD and its good resolution are conducive to viewing images.
You can zoom in up to 8x on images with the zoom ring. You can also zoom out to a 12-thumbnail index view and even view a calendar. Below is the Playback menu with its vast editing and viewing options.
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Slide Show
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Start, Images (All Images, Stills Only, Video Only, One Image), Time (1-5, 10, 15, 30, 60 minutes), Interval (1-30 seconds, Max), Effect (Pattern 1-5, Off), Cancel
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Layout Print
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2 images, 3 images
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Motion Print
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9 frames, 1 frame, Cancel
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Movie Editing
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Cut Beginning, Cut Middle, Cut End, Cancel
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Dynamic Range
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Expand +2, Expand +1, Cancel
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White Balance
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Daylight, Cloudy, Overcast, Fluorescent N, Fluorescent D, Tungsten
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Brightness
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-2, -1, 0, +1, +2
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Keystone
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Correct, Cancel
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Color Correction
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Trim, Cancel
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DPOF Printing
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Select Images (0-99, Date Stamp), All Images, Cancel
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Protect
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On, All Files On, Cancel
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Date/Time
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(set date and time)
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Rotation
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Rotate, Cancel
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Resize
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7M, 4M, VGA (when set to 10M)
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Trimming
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Trim, Cancel
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Dubbing
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Start, Stop
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Copy
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Built-in to Card, Card to Built-in, Cancel
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The dubbing option is the voice memo that can record up to 30 seconds for each image. There are lots of features in the Playback menu for editing and printing. The layout print feature is something only found on a handful of digital cameras. The dynamic range expansion and keystone options are rare, too. The Keystone option allows you to tilt photos that are slightly off-kilter. The Color Correction mode always employs that feature before correcting the colors for some reason. There is no simple automatic fix, like on some digital cameras.
Leaving the Playback mode isn’t as simple as entering. Pushing the playback button again doesn’t work. Pushing the shutter release button won’t do it, either. You have to push the button with the camera icon on it to return to shooting. That makes sense on this camera, but isn't how it’s done on most compact digital cameras.
Custom Image Presets
Casio digital cameras are known for their liberal amounts of Scene modes. The Casio S10 is no exception, with 36 Best Shot modes. The list appears when you push the “BS” button to the lower right of the multi-selector. The list shows 15 scene selections per page, with each scene showing up as a sample photo. When you scroll onto a scene, the text title appears at the bottom of the LCD and you’re given the option to zoom in for “details” or an explanation of what the mode does. The explanations aren’t anything mind-blowing. The “For YouTube” mode states: “Record video optimal for YouTube.”
Get ready. Here is the list of BS modes on the Casio Exilim EX-S10:
Auto, Portrait, Scenery, Portrait with Scenery, Self-Portrait 1 person, Self-Portrait 2 people, Children, Sports, Candlelight Portrait, Party, Pet, Flower, Natural Green, Autumn Leaves, Soft Flowing Water, Splashing Water, Sundown, Night Scene, Night Scene with Portrait, Fireworks, Food, Text, Collection, Auction, Backlight, Anti-Shake, High Sensitivity, Underwater, Monochrome, Retro, Businesscards & Documents, Whiteboard etc, Silent, Prerecord Movie, For YouTube, Voice Recording, and Register User Scene.
The Register User Scene allows you to create your own combinations of the exposure settings, a feature that has been implemented on many Exilim digital cameras of yore.
