Digital Camera News and Reviews

Casio EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10

Casio has announced a new compact ultrazoom camera called Casio EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10. Casio claims that the camera is the “world’s thinnest and lightest camera” in its class. The EX-H10 feature 10x optical zoom and a 12.1 megapixel sensor.

Some key features for the Casio EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10 digital camera:
-12.1 megapixel sensor
-10x optical zoom lens (24-240mm)
-3″ LCD screen
-image stabilization
-HD video mode up to 1280×720 pixels
-1000 shots battery life

It is not known when the Casio EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10 will be available on the marked, but it will cost about £300.

Press release:
CASIO Releases EXILIM Hi-Zoom Compact Digital Camera with Wide-angle 24 mm, 10X Optical Zoom Lens
Battery Life of 1,000 Shots,*1 Perfect for Travel
World’s Thinnest and Lightest*2 Camera in its Class
More advanced Dynamic Photo function

TOKYO, June 11, 2009 – CASIO Computer Co., Ltd., today announced the release of another groundbreaking digital camera, the EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10. With a thin, compact body and a wide-angle 24mm, 10x optical zoom lens, this new model can also take 1,000 shots*1 on a single battery charge – making it the perfect travel companion.
*1. When photos taken in accordance with Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) standards.
*2. As of June 11, 2009, based on a CASIO survey of digital cameras with a 10X or greater optical zoom lenses.

At the heart of the new EX-H10 is the EXILIM Engine 4.0, which delivers higher image quality and lower power consumption in an even more compact package. The new Engine’s Multi-CPU*3 is specifically designed for high-speed image processing. Reflecting CASIO’s quest for perfection, the new camera provides the best in basic photographic functions – beautiful imaging with reduced noise and long battery life for many hours of use. A high-performance 12.1-megapixel model, it also boasts a lens with outstanding optical capabilities – from wide angle to telephoto – and it features a number of CASIO’s totally original photographic functions.
*3. A package comprising a high-speed dedicated image processing CPU in addition to the usual high performance CPU.

Wide-angle 24 mm, 10X optical zoom lens
Only CASIO could find a way to pack a 10X optical zoom lens, large, 3.0-inch monitor and a CCD-shift image stabilization mechanism into such a slim, compact camera body, just 24.3 mm thin, convenient for travel. With wide-angle starting at 24 mm (35 mm film camera equivalent) all the way up to 10x telephoto zoom, the photographer is ready for any scene – from huge buildings and other wonders at tourist destinations to distant figures in a landscape.

1,000-shot long battery life
CASIO has reduced energy consumption by improving the circuitry and operational controls and designing a higher capacity battery to enable the user to take 1,000 shots on a single full charge. This provides a fantastic solution for people on the go. Now a delighted camera owner could take 100 shots every day on a 10 day holiday without ever needing to recharge, eliminating the need to bring a charger. The long-life battery gives users about 11 consecutive hours of viewing on a single charge.

New Landscape Mode
In addition to CASIO’s popular Makeup Mode that creates beautiful pictures of people’s faces, this new camera also features the new Landscape Mode for creating beautiful landscapes. Unlike earlier landscape photography modes, which enhance the saturation of an entire hue, users can now select between the Vivid Landscape option that uses image analysis to determine and vividly enhance only the most important colors in the landscape and the Mist Removal option that makes weather-affected misty scenes look clear and bright.

More advanced Dynamic Photo function
CASIO’s original Dynamic Photo function, which creates composite moving images using the camera’s own high-speed image processing technology, now does even more. When a moving subject is cut out of a number of images that have been shot and combined with a different still shot that forms the background, the size of the subject can be changed to suit the background image. Next, the Dynamic Photo thus created can easily be converted in-camera into a Motion JPEG movie file. Moreover, moving graphics such as hearts and bouquets are included so that users can have fun decorating their still images using the Dynamic Photo function. CASIO not only makes sure users have fun taking and viewing photos, but also provides great new ways for them to enjoy the fun of creating original images, right on the camera.

EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-H10
A powerful zoom, compact digital camera with long battery life, perfect for a vacation
Beautiful images with 12.1 effective megapixels
This camera’s 12.1 megapixels of high-resolution imagery can render extremely fine detail in the subject. Moreover, the advanced image processing capability provided by the EXILIM Engine 4.0 ensures that color reproduction is clear and bright, and that images have a rich tonal gradation.

Wide-angle 24 mm, 10X optical zoom lens
This lens delivers all the freedom of zoom photography – from a wide-angle 24 mm useful for shooting in a small room or for photographing large subjects, to a 10X optical zoom that brings distant subjects right up close. The camera also has a CCD-shift image stabilization mechanism.

Long battery life allows 1,000 shots on a single charge*
The low energy requirements of the circuitry and operational controls, particularly the EXILIM Engine 4.0 coupled with the high capacity battery, make it possible to take 1,000 shots on a single full charge.
* Photography based on CIPA standards. Calculations based on an ambient temperature of 23 C; LCD monitor on; zooming back and forward from the wide end to the telephoto end every 30 seconds; flash used once every two shots; and the power turned on and off once every ten shots.
Photo modes that make the most of the camera’s high-speed image processing technology

Landscape Mode
The model has a dedicated button for beautifully photographing landscapes. Users can choose between the Vivid Landscape option, which vividly enhances only the most impressive colors, or the Mist Removal option, which produces clearer pictures when the atmosphere is misty.

Makeup Mode
The camera has a single dedicated button that helps create beautiful pictures of people’s faces. This function ensures that faces are correctly focused and well exposed, adjusts the smoothness of skin, and softens facial shadows caused by sunlight.

Handheld Night Scene function or Lighting function
The camera can automatically detect difficult situations, such as night scenes where there would normally be camera shake, and backlit scenes where faces or backgrounds can be poorly exposed, and then make the most appropriate settings. All the user has to do is to press the shutter button to take great pictures.
Dynamic Photo function for creating composite moving images
This function lets the user cut out images of a moving subject that have been photographed and combined them with a different still image that forms the background, right on the camera, without the need for any editing on a computer. In this way, a picture in which only the subject moves can be created. To further popularize the “fun of making images,” CASIO has now improved its revolutionary Dynamic
Photo function in the following ways:

* It is now possible to expand or shrink the size of the cut-out subject to suit the still image that it will be combined with.
* A Dynamic Photo can be converted into a Motion JPEG movie file right on the camera.
* Eight different moving graphics (such as a heart and a dinosaur) are included so that users can have fun decorating their still images.
* Using computer software that comes with the camera, users can transfer still images from a computer to the camera to create a Dynamic Photo.

High Resolution HD Movies
The camera also features an HD Movie function. Just press the dedicated Movie button to take beautiful movies at 1280×720 pixels.