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Casio Exilim Card EX-S880

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Performance

In our lab's performance tests, the EX-S880 showed mixed results. After a 1.5-second wait from power-on to first shot, we could snap a new photo every 1.8 seconds with the onboard flash turned off. With the flash on, however, that wait increased to 2.8 seconds.

The shutter felt responsive enough, lagging just 0.5 second with our high-contrast target and 1.1 seconds with our low-contrast target. In burst mode, the camera captured 10 8-megapixel photos in 9.6 seconds, for a disappointing rate of less than 1.1 frames per second.

Image Quality

Softness plagues the EX-S880's photos. Noise stays low through ISO 400, but becomes a blanket of snow at the camera's maximum of ISO 800. The camera reproduces color fairly well, though it tends to oversaturate, making some colors look garish at times.

The camera's automatic white balance does a good job in most lighting situations, but incandescent-lit shots can come out slightly too warm. Unfortunately, the massive softness nullifies most positive points, and Casio's noise reduction processing only exacerbates what looks like a soft lens to begin with. While the camera technically takes 8-megapixel pictures, very little appreciable detail finds its way past the blanket of blur, making things such as text and the textures of fabrics hard to discern when shooting at ISO 200 or above.

The Casio Exilim EX-S880 tries to slide by as an upgraded S770 with a higher resolution and a different image processor. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet the standards set by its predecessor. While a new image processor usually means faster performance, the S800 performs slower and photos are terribly soft compared to the older camera.

The addition of face detection and YouTube uploading software present mildly handy features, but they really don't justify purchasing the S880 if you can still find an EX-S770. Alternately, you might want to look to another manufacturer. For example, Sony's DSC-W80 is in the same price range and only a little larger in size, and it scored well in our review.

 
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