Casio Exilim EX-H10 Comments

IQ score of 8/10 seems about right for a compact camera, however there are a few points to IQ that didn't get mentioned in the review and are bleeding obvious from what I can make out of sample shots and camera's specification:

- there's visible edge preserving smooth type of noise control applied on even the lowest ISO settings. Small detail is pretty much lost with it so forget about printing small crops out of original JPeGs.

- Lens might be good compared to latest Samsungs you reviewed, it is still a rather slow performer with 3.2-5.7 at 24-240mm range compared to similarly priced Panasonics (even certain Canons), especially at the farthest focal points and overall sharpness at any focal distance hardly impresses.

- Dynamic range is really not improved at all with "Extra Lighting" feature. At best, it is what the name suggests, about +1E stop sensor sensitivity increase. Highlights will get burnt out even more but you'd get a bit more of shadow detail out in a visible range JPeG compression won't flatten out.

All in all, it seems a fairly reasonable compact camera and all this won't matter much to a casual user on a family picnic. Shame about the white balance, tho I'd guess that's something Casio can mend with a new firmware update. Still, no replacement for my aging TZ5 :( What I'm waiting/searching for is close to LX3's image quality (even if on smaller resolution sensor, anything over or around 5MB is plenty if it would mean noise is better controlled) all-in-one in a pocket friendly priced and sized package and a fast, medium range lens. Too much to ask for?

Take care and thanks for making my morning coffee time more bearable with all the new and interesting reviews ;)

I have to totally agree with miha! These high range compacts just cannot tick the right baxes,time the manufacturers lowered their aspirations and produced compacts that put iq as a priority.

Hi

Random question. Are there any compact cameras (or DSLRs) that come with an option for an external microphone?

Comparing this camera to a TZ5 is unfair, since the TZ5 a lot thicker and no where near as pocketable.