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5. Casio Exilim Pro EX-P600

Casio Exilim Pro EX-P600

Posted by T3 Online on Fri 13 Aug 2004

It's chunky, pricey and tricky. So why are we so excited about this new Casio?

From velvet cloths to pentaprisms to LCD displays, the story of photography is the story of viewfinders. Modern digital cameras have given us the most accurate viewfinders yet; pixel-perfect screens that can shoot above crowds and instantly play back shots. But few have tried to be more than an optical viewfinder with static icons. Until now.

With the EX-Finder display on Casio's first Exilim Pro camera, the six-megapixel P600, this is set to change. Instead of a list of numbers hiding in the corner, the bright two-inch display comes on like The Terminator's internal video feed. Focusing lines and circles run rampage across the screen, a live (RGB) histogram flickers in the corner, numbers scroll up and down as you zoom, and animated icons represent numerous focusing and exposure options. Casio believes it allows "advanced users to intuitively understand the camera and instinctively make the correct adjustments", but we had to struggle not to intuitively drop the camera and instinctively run off screaming. Luckily, the menus are simple and it's easy to choose a more traditional display mode if you're not advanced enough for the EX-Finder.

Whichever display you choose, there are full manual-exposure and focusing options, dozens of scene modes and the best bracketing options yet seen on a compact camera (where the camera takes three, slightly different shots automatically). A dedicated button also allows instant access to advanced stuff like ISO sensitivity, white balance, metering and focus modes.

This is one fast cam, too. The startup time is just two seconds and the continuous-shooting mode manages a nippy three-frames-per second. All this high-speed action is brought down to earth by a noisy and less-than-rapid 4x Canon zoom lens, though the sharp, distortion-free images are worth the wait.

Detail from the six-megapixel sensor is simply superb, with not a trace of digital artefacts or grainy noise to be seen. It's worth boosting the saturation, though, as the P600's default colour reproduction is a little dull.

This may not be the complete semi-pro camera some were hoping for, but it's damn capable all the same.

FEATURES:
6 megapixels. 4x optical zoom. 320 x 240, 15fps movie mode. 9MB memory and SD card slot. 260 shots (CIPA) battery life. Weighs 260g.