In summary
Although somewhat pricey for a 5-megapixel camera with no optical viewfinder, Casio’s EX-P505 is small and sleek, with a nicely-designed and well-built alloy body and large vari-angle monitor. Ideal for photographers who want a lightweight and versatile digicam, its 5x zoom lens isn’t particularly fast, with six aperture settings, ranging from f3.3 to f7.4, depending on the focal length setting. However, the 5-megapixel sensor captures 2560 x 1920 pixel JPEG images that range in size from 2.1 MB at ‘Fine’ quality to 1.7 MB at ‘Normal’ and 1.3 MB at the ‘Economy’ setting and users can record MPEG-4 motion video clips with stereo audio at 30fps VGA resolution. . . [more]
Full review
Rating (out of 10)
Build: 9.0
Ease of use: 8.5
Image quality: 7.5
Value for money: 8.0
Although somewhat pricey for a 5-megapixel camera with no optical viewfinder, Casio’s EX-P505 is small and sleek, with a nicely-designed, well-built alloy body and large vari-angle monitor. Ideal for photographers who want a lightweight and versatile digicam, its 5x zoom lens isn’t particularly fast, with six aperture settings, ranging from f3.3 to f7.4, depending on the focal length setting. However, the 5-megapixel sensor captures 2560×1920 pixel JPEG images that range in size from 2.1MB at ‘Fine’ quality to 1.7MB at ‘Normal’ and 1.3MB at the ‘Economy’ setting, and users can record MPEG-4 motion video clips with stereo audio at 30fps VGA resolution.
Video capture is one of the P505’s stand-out features. For starters, the zoom lens is usable when you’re shooting video clips, which means you can zoom in at top picture quality – and the zoom motor is quiet. The camera also supports four movie modes, three of which offer substantial benefits for users. In addition to the normal setting (push shutter to start/stop) there’s a novel, Past Movie setting, which starts recording before you press the shutter, saving the last five seconds captured when the shutter release is pressed so you can go back and recover missed action. There’s also a Short movie setting that records from four seconds before shutter press and for four seconds after, and a BestShot movie with six pre-programmed scene modes. High-speed SD cards are required for most modes, with the length of movies being limited only by available memory.
The P505 starts immediately when the monitor is opened and switches off when it’s closed, and there’s an additional power button on the top panel, between the mode dial and the pop-up flash. A button behind the flash head sets the flash modes and the P505 includes Casio’s Flash Assist setting, which provides exposure compensation for areas not reached by the flash. Flash output adjustment is also provided.
Icon Help, which displays information about the setting you have selected on the LCD screen, is also provided and the P505 has a new EX-Finder button, which displays focus and metering areas, white balance and ISO settings in real time for quick adjustment. The mode dial has settings for auto (‘Snapshot’), A, S and M shooting modes, plus the standard Casio ‘BestShot’ mode (with illustrated scene settings), four Movie modes, and a Play mode. Snapshot mode is ideal for point-and-snap beginners, who can easily graduate to changing settings like ISO and White Balance before moving on to full manual control. The large, clear display makes function settings easy to read, and they are also simple to change.
The lack of an optical viewfinder means the P505’s power consumption will be higher than average, although a full charge covered all our tests. The screen also needs to be angled carefully for decent viewing in bright outdoor lighting, and this can make composing shots difficult at times. The lack of a burst mode will also limit its usability for some photographers. We were able to record shots at approximately 2.4-second intervals (3.2 seconds with flash) by repeatedly pressing the shutter button but that’s not really continuous shooting.
Otherwise the P505 proved quite responsive, with an average capture lag of 0.65 seconds, which reduced to less than a tenth of a second with pre-focusing. It took just over two seconds to power up and shut down, regardless of whether the button switch or the LCD-opening method of starting it was used. Image files were processed within approximately two seconds, with large files taking marginally longer than small files.
The test camera’s picture quality was quite variable. Shots taken in bright outdoor conditions were rather contrasty but had modest saturation levels and enhanced sharpening. Most hues were recorded with acceptable accuracy, but shots taken with the auto white balance had a strong orange cast under incandescent lighting and a slight green cast with fluorescent lights. The pre-sets and manual measurement modes corrected both problems. Moderate chromatic aberration was detected with Imatest but the general performance of the lens/sensor combination was well above average. However, our tests found digital zoom shots to be fairly soft. The camera’s 60-second shutter speed allows really long exposures to be made after dark. Shots taken at ISO 100 were noise-free but noise was quite visible in long exposures at ISO 400. The pop-up flash easily illuminated a medium-sized room at ISO settings of 100 and higher. [23]
IMATEST RESULTS
Resolution is generally high with little potential for aliasing (‘jaggies’) and a smooth edge profile. This camera should produce high-quality prints at sizes between A4 and A3.
Chromatic aberration is detectable at a low level. Problems should only be visible at high magnifications.
Colour accuracy is good and saturation is close to normal. Any colour errors shown should be easily correctable with editing software.
The above chart confirms the L*a*b* colour error results and suggests that noise could be problematic at high ISO settings.
Specifications
Image sensor: 5.34 x 4.01 mm CCD sensor with 5.2 million photosites (5.0-megapixels effective)
Lens: 6.3-31.5mm f3.3-3.6 zoom (38-190mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 5x optical, up to 8x digital
Lens multiplier factor: 6.1x
Dimensions (wxhxd): 99 x 56 x 74 mm
Weight: 215 g
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.2); Movies MPEG-4 (VGA at 30 fps and QVGA at 15 fps with audio)
Shutter speed range: 60 to 1/2000 sec.
Focus system/range: Contrast-detect TTL AF: range 40 cm to infinity; macro to 1 cm
Exposure metering/control: Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted, Spot metering, P, A, S, M plus 22 BestShot settings (5 BestShot scenes for movies)
White balance: Auto, preset (7 modes), manual
Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, On, Off, Red-eye reduction; range 0.4-3.0 m
ISO range: Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400
Sequence shooting: movie capture only
Storage Media: 7.5 MB internal plus SD/MMC slot; internal memory holds 3 high-resolution images or up to 75 VGA shots
LCD monitor: 2.0-inch TFT (84,960 pixels)
Power supply: NP-40 Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
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