Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14.1 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

As with most Casio compacts, warm, well-saturated colours are the order of the day. Generally there was little in the way of visible blur from camera shake, though inevitably we did get the very occasional soft shot, particularly when shooting at the telephoto end of the zoom. Pixel fringing was also evidenced on close inspection between areas of high contrast, though again this can be expected so passed the test for acceptability.

We noticed too a slight loss of definition towards the corners when shooting at maximum wideangle setting; again not totally unexpected, given the much wider than average 24mm equivalent, as is some visible barrel distortion - disguised much better when shooting natural landscapes rather than man made ones.

With a broad light sensitivity range starting out at ISO 64, up until ISO 400 a sharp level of detail is maintained, fractionally softening when we come to ISO 800, and more pronounced a degradation on close inspection between that setting and ISO 1600. The latter is still very usable however - not bad at all a performance from this class of compact.

At top ISO 3200 detail has softened across the image to limit the appearance of noise and it is beginning to take on a fuzzy, watercolour-like effect. Again the Casio EX-H15 delivers far from the worst showing we've seen at this setting - especially given the high pixel count on offer.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Casio EX-H15. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 64 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% Crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Casio EX-H15 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with a small amount of purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Casio EX-H15 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 7cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Casio EX-H15 are Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Soft Flash, and Red Eye Reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (240mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (240mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red Eye Reduction caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye Correction	Red-eye Correction (100% Crop)

Night

The Casio EX-H15's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds in the Night scene mode, which isn't good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 4 seconds at ISO 64. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

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hd video, hd, 3 inch LCD, 720p, wide-angle, 14 megapixel, travel-zoom, travel, 10x zoom, casio h15, ex h15, ex-h15, Casio EX-H15 Review