thompson06
03-30-2005, 11:28 AM
My SD500 is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, and although I am excited, just wondering what people's thoughts were. I don't pay much attention to E18, but it has now been mentioned as still happening in the SD500. And I know that the Casio has not been released yet, I just wanted to see how people would respond to this posting by someone else in the Casio Forum: (sorry to copy and paste someone else's posting, but it was written to be read in the first place)
Exilim EX-Z750 Update
Also I found out by speaking to technical support at 1-800-435-7732 that unlike other compact and ultra compact cameras, the EX-Z750 does something no other camera in this class does: It has a super quiet optical zoom motor and so not only can you use digital zoom during movie recording you can also use optical zoom (and also during playback). That means you can zoom into your movie scenes at 24X combined optical plus digital zoom!!! Only the special super zoom cameras from Panasonic, Minolta, Canon and Sony can do this and they are much much bigger cameras (and more pricey).
Although it's true that you might compromise some picture quality by purchasing the Casio versus Sony or Canon's ultra compacts do note that the Casio P700 won a DIMA award for best in it's class and the older Casio EXZ55 as detailed on Steve's Digicam reviews offers picture quality on a par with any other 5 megapixel camera including color quality. Note too that few users can discern much if any differences in print quality below 8" x 10" (which few have 13"x19" printers) when comparing 7 and 8 megapixel cameras because the printers themselves are limited to approximately a 300 dpi print quality and can't resolve the greater resolution afforded the current generation of digital cameras. Only when you get to 17" x 21" and larger is there much discernible differences. Yes, colors and saturation are different but easily changed either via print controls or camera controls or by PC software. So don't put too much emphasis on print quality. Instead put the emphasis on features & specifications because most of these new generation cameras are so close that only on PC's with high resolution LCD's are there really any discernible differences (personally I believe the Nikon 8800 and Minolta A200 have just about the best picture quality in Non-SLR cameras). But the Casio's are not far behind (if any) now with new generation digital processors. Comparing apples to oranges is a problem around the world so don't compare older generation Casio cameras with the new ones!
So comparing features between the Casio EX-Z750 and the new Canon SD500 which got very good reviews (on this website: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/c...iew/index.shtml) here is a summary of Casio EX-Z750 advantages over the Canon SD500:
Optical AND digital zoom during movie recording
Base mount for transferring pics and charging.
2.5" LCD screen versus 2.0"
30 scene modes versus 10
.88" thin versus 1.04"
175 grams weight with batteries versus 200 grams
Full Manual focus versus none
6 movie modes versus none (including silent)
4 Art Best Shots versus Color swap
Auto Macro versus manual
More versatile histogram (on screen during framing)
8x digital zoom versus 4x
Full voice recorder (w/voice annotation)
Battery CIPA 325 shots versus 160 shots (and cheaper)
Motion (single and collage) Prints from movies versus none
HTML in-camera album/website creator
Burst mode 2fps equal to Canon's 2fps continuous
Included album software
Included Movie editing software
Ex button for quick access to many manual controls
Alarm
Free focus option (anywhere on screne)
Past movie function
Dual capture continuous shutter (outputs framed and zoomed)
Faster startup (slightly)
Icon help (great for beginners or new users)
On-screen gridlines
ID photo function
Triple timer (3 shots taken back-to-back self timer)
Customized welcome screen (take that Microsoft!)
Favorites folder
Button customizer
That said, the Canon SD500 has these advantages:
2fps continuous versus 1.1 fps continuous
1/2000 shutter verus 1/1600 shutter
60fps movie mode (at 320 size)
stronger flash to 15' versus about 9'
zoom movie scrolling
stitch assist mode
10 shot timer verus triple timer
closer macro (5 cm versus 10 cm)
more user friendly
Considering that the Casio burst mode is equivalent to the Canon's continuous it's doubtful many users would consider that to be much of an advantage which few people take more than 5-6 pictures of a scene anyway.
I do love Canon's (& Sony's) photo quality. But after comparing picture quality on the EXZ55 versus the other equivalent 5 megapixel Canon & Sony cameras (not 7 megapixel) I can only see minor differences even on my huge HP L2335 23" LCD screen and almost no discernible differences in print quality of the EXZ55 on 8"x10" prints using my Canon IP4000 printer versus almost any Canon prints (even 8 megapixel prints from SLR's). All comparative prints were done using Steve's digicam sample pictures.
So which would I buy? Well thats a tough question considerng the new Sony W7 and Nikon 7900 will be out soon too. But all things considered-features, size, battery life, movie zoom I think Casio is the current hands down winner at this time. It's an incredible set of features in such a tiny package. And the 24X movie zoom will be great when I go to hawaii for one of my kids wedding!!
Exilim EX-Z750 Update
Also I found out by speaking to technical support at 1-800-435-7732 that unlike other compact and ultra compact cameras, the EX-Z750 does something no other camera in this class does: It has a super quiet optical zoom motor and so not only can you use digital zoom during movie recording you can also use optical zoom (and also during playback). That means you can zoom into your movie scenes at 24X combined optical plus digital zoom!!! Only the special super zoom cameras from Panasonic, Minolta, Canon and Sony can do this and they are much much bigger cameras (and more pricey).
Although it's true that you might compromise some picture quality by purchasing the Casio versus Sony or Canon's ultra compacts do note that the Casio P700 won a DIMA award for best in it's class and the older Casio EXZ55 as detailed on Steve's Digicam reviews offers picture quality on a par with any other 5 megapixel camera including color quality. Note too that few users can discern much if any differences in print quality below 8" x 10" (which few have 13"x19" printers) when comparing 7 and 8 megapixel cameras because the printers themselves are limited to approximately a 300 dpi print quality and can't resolve the greater resolution afforded the current generation of digital cameras. Only when you get to 17" x 21" and larger is there much discernible differences. Yes, colors and saturation are different but easily changed either via print controls or camera controls or by PC software. So don't put too much emphasis on print quality. Instead put the emphasis on features & specifications because most of these new generation cameras are so close that only on PC's with high resolution LCD's are there really any discernible differences (personally I believe the Nikon 8800 and Minolta A200 have just about the best picture quality in Non-SLR cameras). But the Casio's are not far behind (if any) now with new generation digital processors. Comparing apples to oranges is a problem around the world so don't compare older generation Casio cameras with the new ones!
So comparing features between the Casio EX-Z750 and the new Canon SD500 which got very good reviews (on this website: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/c...iew/index.shtml) here is a summary of Casio EX-Z750 advantages over the Canon SD500:
Optical AND digital zoom during movie recording
Base mount for transferring pics and charging.
2.5" LCD screen versus 2.0"
30 scene modes versus 10
.88" thin versus 1.04"
175 grams weight with batteries versus 200 grams
Full Manual focus versus none
6 movie modes versus none (including silent)
4 Art Best Shots versus Color swap
Auto Macro versus manual
More versatile histogram (on screen during framing)
8x digital zoom versus 4x
Full voice recorder (w/voice annotation)
Battery CIPA 325 shots versus 160 shots (and cheaper)
Motion (single and collage) Prints from movies versus none
HTML in-camera album/website creator
Burst mode 2fps equal to Canon's 2fps continuous
Included album software
Included Movie editing software
Ex button for quick access to many manual controls
Alarm
Free focus option (anywhere on screne)
Past movie function
Dual capture continuous shutter (outputs framed and zoomed)
Faster startup (slightly)
Icon help (great for beginners or new users)
On-screen gridlines
ID photo function
Triple timer (3 shots taken back-to-back self timer)
Customized welcome screen (take that Microsoft!)
Favorites folder
Button customizer
That said, the Canon SD500 has these advantages:
2fps continuous versus 1.1 fps continuous
1/2000 shutter verus 1/1600 shutter
60fps movie mode (at 320 size)
stronger flash to 15' versus about 9'
zoom movie scrolling
stitch assist mode
10 shot timer verus triple timer
closer macro (5 cm versus 10 cm)
more user friendly
Considering that the Casio burst mode is equivalent to the Canon's continuous it's doubtful many users would consider that to be much of an advantage which few people take more than 5-6 pictures of a scene anyway.
I do love Canon's (& Sony's) photo quality. But after comparing picture quality on the EXZ55 versus the other equivalent 5 megapixel Canon & Sony cameras (not 7 megapixel) I can only see minor differences even on my huge HP L2335 23" LCD screen and almost no discernible differences in print quality of the EXZ55 on 8"x10" prints using my Canon IP4000 printer versus almost any Canon prints (even 8 megapixel prints from SLR's). All comparative prints were done using Steve's digicam sample pictures.
So which would I buy? Well thats a tough question considerng the new Sony W7 and Nikon 7900 will be out soon too. But all things considered-features, size, battery life, movie zoom I think Casio is the current hands down winner at this time. It's an incredible set of features in such a tiny package. And the 24X movie zoom will be great when I go to hawaii for one of my kids wedding!!