Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

The Casio EX-S200 produces images of above average quality. The biggest issue is noise and loss of detail at relatively slow ISO speeds. The 1/2.3 inch, 14.1 megapixel sensor recorded noise-free images at ISO 50-100, but there's already some noise and slight softening of detail at ISO 200. ISO 400 shows a little more noise and colour desaturation, and ISO 800 and 1600 are significantly worse, with obvious loss of fine detail, colour desaturation and even more noise. The fastest setting ISO 3200 isn't worth using at all.

The Casio EX-S200 handled chromatic aberrations quite well, with fairly limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and generally at the edges of the frame. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with a little red-eye and adequate overall exposure. The night photograph was poor, with the maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds not being long enough for most after-dark shots, resulting in under-exposure.

Macro performance is also disappointing, only allowing you to focus as close as 8cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Casio EX-S200 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the moderate zoom range.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Casio EX-S200. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 50 (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)

Focal Range

The Casio EX-S200's 4x zoom lens provides a focal length of 27-108mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

27mm	108mm

File Quality

The Casio EX-S200 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

14M Fine (5.57Mb) (100% Crop)	14M Normal (2.93Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Casio EX-S200 suffered from some fairly obvious chromatic aberrations during the review, with purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

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

Macro

The Casio EX-S200 offers a Super Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 8cms 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-S200 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 (27mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (108mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (108mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, the Auto setting caused a tiny amount of red-eye, which the Red Eye Reduction option removed at the expense of fine detail and colour fidelity.

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

Night

The Casio EX-S200'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 50. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Casio EX-S200 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/5th / 27mm
1/2 / 108mm

Single Frame SR Zoom

Single Frame SR Zoom electronically extends the S200's zoom range by a factor of 1.5x to 6x.

Off	On

Single Frame SR Quality

Single Frame SR Quality promises to deliver images with improved clarity and resolution.

Off	On

Lighting

You can use this setting to optimize the balance between bright areas and dark areas when shooting images. You can choose from three settings, Off, On and Extra.

Off	On
Extra

Landscape Mode

The Landscape mode makes colours more vivid, filters haze, and performs other processing that enhances the beauty of natural scenery. You can choose from two settings, Vivid Landscape or Mist Removal, with Off, +1 (Weak) and +2 (Strong) strengths available for both. Here is an example of the Vivid Landscape setting.

Off	Vivid Landscape +2

Make-Up Mode

The Make-up mode smoothes the skin texture of the subject and softens facial shadows caused by harsh sunlight for better looking portraits. You can set one of 13 levels in the range of 0 (no correction) to +12 (maximum correction).

Off	Standard +6

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Casio EX-S200 camera, which were all taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Turned On

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

BRear of the Camera / Set Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Casio EX-S200 is virtually identical to the Z800 model that we reviewed last week, delivering a versatile wide-angle lens, large LCD screen and HD movie recording in a super-slim chassis. Unfortunately the same below-par image quality and over-simplified user interface detract from the S200's overall appeal, and ultimately we'd pick the slightly fatter but actually more compact and crucially cheaper Z800.

The S200's 4x, 27-108mm lens is versatile enough, covering everything from wide-angle landscapes to head and shoulder portraits, and mechanical stabilisation helps to ensure that most of your shots will be sharp. We have reviewed other comparably sized compacts with bigger zoom ranges though, so it's worth looking around if you need a longer focal length. The 2.7 inch LCD screen is adequate enough for a 2011 camera, while the HD movie mode has been improved on previous Casio compacts with the ability to use the zoom lens during recording and a handy one-touch record button.

Ease-of-use is fine for beginners, with the S200 doing virtually all of the heavy lifting if so required, but the need to almost constantly dip into the rather convoluted dual menu system slows things down for more experienced users looking for greater control. It takes no less than 8 button presses, for example, just to change the ISO speed, something that absolute beginners may never actually do, but which the rest of us will find frustrating.

Image quality is also only satisfactory, with noise and loss of detail at relatively slow ISO speeds, a limited maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds, and a disappointing 8cm macro mode. This isn't the camera to buy if you're looking for the best ever image quality, especially when used in low-light conditions, but the EX-S200 does produce well-exposed and accurate photos that will please the majority of its target audience.

Which leaves us with a well-built, very slim and compact but ultimately unremarkable camera that is a little over-priced compared to the Z800 - you have to pay a premium just to get the slimmer body. The Casio EX-S200 is still a simple and effective point and shoot for all the family, but we'd save the cash and opt for the cheaper Z800 instead.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	3.5
Ease-of-use	3.5
Image quality	3.5
Value for money	4

Specifications

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