Casio Exilim EX-P505 Miami FL

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Originally published at Internet.com

When first encountering the Casio Exilim EX-P505, most people will be surprised at its size. While its shape is not one of those that allow the camera to be easily slipped into a pocket, the P505 fits comfortably on the palm of an open hand and yet offers a 5X optical zoom to match its 5-megapixel resolution.

The Casio EX-P505 has remarkably few external controls. The top right of the camera, directly above the grip, supports the 2-stage Shutter Release and the zoom control around it. As is common, the zoom control not only serves to adjust the zoom lens position — indicating the wide angle side and the telephoto side — but it also controls digital zooming when the camera is in Playback mode: Displays thumbnails of the captured photos, presenting 9 per screen. Magnifies any portion of an image on screen up to a maximum of 9X.

The Casio Exilim EX-P505 has no optical viewfinder and instead is equipped with a 2-inch, 84,960 pixel LCD monitor.

Although a Power button is provided on top of the camera to the right of the speaker, the Casio EX-P505 can also be turned on by simply opening its folding LCD monitor. It can be turned off that way as well. The only other control on the top right of the camera is the Mode Dial. The dial offers 10 position, and the red camera icon identifies the Snapshot Mode:

The simplest mode, the Snapshot mode is Casio's term for the Auto mode. The camera sets the aperture and selects the shutter speed, but most other controls can be adjusted at will by the user.

Moving up the dial, the next position is the Best Shot mode, a term that is used by Casio for the camera's 22 Scene modes, and a 23rd mode, that is user-created, and is able to retain pre-selected parameters:

Each of the 22 Best Shot modes includes a sample image and a short description of the mode's use and settings: Portrait Scenery Portrait with Scenery Children Sports Candlelight Portrait Party Pet Flower Natural Green Soft Flowing Water Splashing Water Sundown Night Scene Night Scene Portrait

Fireworks Food Text Collection Monochrome Retro Twilight User-created Aperture Priority: provides control over the apertures of the P505, starting at f3.3 through to f7.4, while the camera selects the shutter speed from a range of 1/8 second to 1/2000 second. Shutter Priority: provides control over the shutter speed of the P505, from 60 seconds to 1/2000 second.

Manual Mode: provides control over both the aperture and shutter speed of the camera.

The next four position on the dial are to capture movies, using any one of 3 frame sizes: * HQ: captures a 640 x 480 pixel image size at 30 frames per second. * Normal: captures a more compressed 640 x 480 pixel frame size at 30 frames per second. * LP: captures a movie with a 320 x 240 pixel frame size at 15 frames per second.

In all cases, sound is captured in stereo using the microphones embedded in the pop-up flash's cover, the optical zoom remains useable, and the length of the movie is only limited by the amount of memory space available. Past Movie Mode: uses a 5-second buffer that is continually updated so that when the shutter release is pressed the recording actually starts 5 seconds previously. The mode is intended to help capture fast-moving action.

Short Movie Mode: the camera records a short movie (8 seconds maximum) that starts before the shutter release is pressed, and ends after the shutter release is pressed again. The length of time that is captured prior to the shutter release being pressed (0 to 5 seconds), and the length of time recorded after the shutter release is pressed can be specified (0 to 8 seconds).

This mode also offers an additional feature called Motion Print which makes it possible to capture a still image. Two types are available: * 9 Frame: captures an image when the shutter release is pressed while recording a movie, and displays it on a background of 8 frames at an image size of 1600 x 1200 pixels. * 1 Frame: captures a single frame when the shutter release is pressed at an image size of 640 x 480 pixels. Best Shot Movie Mode: provides a selection of 5 scenes, typical subjects for movies: Portrait, Scenery, Night Scene, Fireworks, Silent (monochrome, no sound and with a lower frame rate to mimic the look of an old movie), and User Scene which, as with the Scene modes, allows the user to set specific camera parameters that can be re-used. Movie Mode: is the standard movie mode.

The last mode on the Mode Dial is the Playback mode , used to review captured images and videos.

More controls are arranged to the right of the LCD monitor, starting with the MENU button which simply displays the menu that corresponds to the current camera mode.

Immediately below is a four direction control that serves to navigate menus and options, select aperture and shutter speed with the A/S/M modes, and move from one image to another when the camera is in Playback mode. Moreover, in the recording modes and if enabled in the menu, the right and left arrows can be assigned to a particular function. Similarly, when the camera is set to the Playback mode, the down arrow can be used to delete an image.

And, at the centre of the 4-direction button is the SET button which is used to confirm selections, and in some cases call up short descriptions/explanations of some functions or modes.

The last button, DISP (Display), controls the information superimposed on the monitor. In the Recording mode the default setting superimposes the current settings for the shooting mode, the image size and quality, the number of images remaining, ISO setting, date, time, battery state, exposure compensation if any and the AF brackets. In addition, when the shutter release is pressed halfway, the camera displays the selected shutter speed and aperture. Pressing the DISP button once displays the EX Finder, a display specific to Casio cameras that overlays a "Star Wars" like display on the image (see screen capture at left). Pressing the DISP button a second time reverts to the more traditional information display, but adds a real-time histogram showing the distribution of brightness in the frame. A third press of the button clears the display of all superimposed information with the exception of the AF brackets, and a fourth and final press of the button returns to the default display.

In Playback the DISP button performs a similar function. At first an image is displayed along with some basic information. Pressing the button once adds a histogram for the image along with the shooting parameters. Pressing it a second time removes all superimposed information.

Two more external controls for the P505 are positioned on the left side of the lens barrel. Starting on the left:

Serves to choose the Focus Mode: * Auto Focus: the default, has no indication shown on the monitor and offers a focus range of 40 cm (1.3 ft) to infinity for still images, and 10 cm (3.9 in.) to infinity for movies. * Macro: provides a focus range of 1 to 50 cm (0.4 to 19.7 inches) * Pan Focus (reserved for movie modes): fixes the focal distance at the lens' hyperfocal, eliminating the possibility that the AF noise will interfere with the recording. * Infinity: sets the focus at infinity to ensure a sharp image of distant subjects. * Manual Focus: allows for manually adjusting the focus using the left/right arrow buttons while the camera magnifies the centre of the frame and displays a distance scale.

The EX button displays a shortcut menu to 4 of the most commonly needed menu items: white balance, ISO, Metering and AF Area. (See the Characteristics section of the review for more information).

The last external button of the P505 is for selecting the flash modes.

Located directly behind the pop-up flash, the button cycles through the available flash modes one at a time:

Auto (the flash will pop-up automatically if the camera decides it is needed), Forced Off, Forced On, and Red-eye Reduction. The Casio Exilim EX-P505 is an unusual and somewhat contradictory camera. Its very compact size places it in the realm of the pocketable cameras, but its shape makes it a touch awkward to simply slip into a pocket and although small, the camera still requires a pouch to be carried easily.

Likewise, we expect that most people with larger hands will find it a touch too small to use comfortably. Indeed, with the index finger resting on the shutter release, there is only space for the middle finger to curl around the "grip" area.

Similarly, its 2-inch LCD monitor is reasonably large in view of the overall size of the camera, but its resolution is only average and it can become difficult to see at times, making the lack of an optical viewfinder noticeable.