Unlike some other point-and-shoot cameras, the EX-S10’s macro mode isn’t immediately obvious. It takes a few button presses to set macro focus mode. The smallish buttons which are placed rather closely does not help in this situation either; even for me with small fingers, these buttons are difficult to press and selecting the correct button takes a bit of getting used to.

One thing puzzling was the shutter button, which does not switch to shooting mode when it is pressed during play mode. Most compact cameras have this function. But Casio has decided to place a dedicated shooting button, and a video button on the back of the camera. This makes shooting things slightly inconvenient because the finger automatically moves to the shutter during crucial moments, only to find that it’s not the correct button.

The 2.7-inch wide Super Clear LCD is a welcome as it boasts amazing clarity even when shots are previewed under bright sunlight; you would have no problems with contrast under sunlight.

The camera also boasts of a Youtube Bestshot mode, which shoots videos in Youtube format; it is convenient as no formatting is needed before uploading the files to Youtube.

There are about 36 Bestshot modes, including an auto-shutter Self Portrait mode, a Prerecord Movie mode, and High Sensitivity. The Self Portrait mode allows you to capture two people in the frame after pressing the shutter and waiting for it to click. The idea is that the shutter will be activated only when the camera detects two faces within the frame. If one of the subject is not within the frame, you’ll have to bear with your pose until both of you get into the correct position.

The other new Auto Shutter modes – Detect Blur, Panning and Smile are pretty unique. The Detect Blur detects movement and takes the picture when a subject stops moving. The Panning mode takes the picture when a moving subject reaches the edge of the frame. And the Smile mode takes the picture when the subject smiles.

If you’re using any of the 36 Bestshot modes, beware of the flash, because even if you have disabled flash, the camera automatically switches it on with most of the Night Scene modes (except for High Sensitivity). There is also no warning as to how long the shutter will take to capture images in the dark.

As with most compact cameras, you are unable to adjust the shutter speed or aperture. However the EX-S10 provides you with in-camera editing features that lets you edit your movies and pictures - you do not need to get back to you PC.

The camera shoots well in daylight and with flash at night. Colours are vibrant and radiant for shots taken in sunlight, but the colours are not so dynamic when pictures are captured indoors. Dull or dark coloured surfaces have a tendency to appear convoluted, with red and green spotting. The camera shoots moderately well in the dark, but as with most compacts, expect to see grainy images as the ISO is turned up.

To sum it up, for S$499, this 10.1-megapixel camera is affordable and comes with lots of features which are impressive for its small size. It works best for most shots; one will have to be realistic as compacts have limitations.

Quick Bites:
S$499
Casio
http://exilim.casio.com/browse_cameras/exilim_card/EX-S10/

Quick Specs:
3X optical Zoom
Hi Speed USB
Accepts SDHC, SD, MMC, and MMC-plus cards
Built-in Flash memory: 11.8 megapixels
Recording capacity: Up to 426 shots (on 1GB memory)
Maximum movie recording time: 10 mins