3. Highlights
So let's get to the heart of this camera. Understand one thing - it is not meant to replace your high end 3-5 Mega Pixel camera. If you are aiming for high quality pictures that can be printed on a 8x10 sheet of photo paper -forget it, you'll want something like the Canon G2 or a Nikon 995 or higher. However, if you have the need for a second camera that can be used on the spot for quick picture taking and can be very portable, then the Casio Exilim fits the role just nicely.

The first thing you will notice about the EX-M1 is how quickly the camera starts up after you press the power button. Those of who own a Canon G1 or G2 will know what I am talking about when I say that digital cameras can be slow on startup. Unofficially, I timed the startup time to approximately 1.5 SECONDS! Wow. A lot of this of course is due to the sheer fact that there aren't that many components that need to be prepped by the camera. There is no optical zoom to adjust and since we're dealing with a fixed focus lens, all this adds to a fast startup time. But that's only the beginning! Camera operations are quick too and I'll go into details of that in the following sectons.

This camera has basically the following major features:
3.1 Capture Pictures
The effective resolution of the CCD is 1.24 megapixels thus the normal resolution of the stills taken comes out to 1280 x 960. Through the built in interpolation, you are able to get as high as 1600 x 1200. The other modes of picture taking are: 640 x 480 and 320 x 240. The 1600 x 1200 interpolation isn't bad but you'll probably want to stick with the normal 1280 x 960 and perform s/w interpolation with some other program out there. Some of the shots that I took at 1600 x 1200 came out a bit more blurry than I would like them to be. You'll also save some space on your media.

1600x1200	1280x960

Pictures taken with this camera are pretty good considering the low resolution of the CCD. When compared against the output from a Canon G1, it's still very clear that the G1 wins hands down. However the EX-M1 holds it own and you won't be disappointed at the quality of the pictures. The built in flash is good enough for most situations where extra light is needed. The approximate effective range of the built in flash is for objects within 1 - 2 meters away.

Now when I said earlier that camera operations were quick, I wasn't kidding. You can easily take pictures every 1.5 seconds or so though the flash doesn't recover that quickly unfortunately. The flash takes approximately 4 seconds to recharge but if you're in outdoor, well-lit settings, then taking pictures quickly would not be a problem.

The TFT color LCD screen is just a pleasure to use. In fact, it's pretty amazing that Casio even managed to fit an LCD onto this small device. When compared to the Logitech Pocket Digital, the EX-M1 just crushes it hands down. The screen is just beautiful and bright. I was easily able to see my subjects during the daylight sun. At 1.6 inches, the screen is also decently sized given the small size of the camera itself. Casio claims that the Exilim is the first digital camera that uses a digital interface for its TFT interface thereby eliminating the need for a ADC (Analog to Digital Converter). This reduces the circuit board of the camera by 10 % according to Casio. Personally it's not that big of a deal except that you save even more space internally. At 1.6 inches, using a digital interface really isn't going to buy better picture quality.

You can do a number of other things while taking pictures with your EX-M1. Here are a list of other features that can be tweaked with this camera:
- Exposure Compensation (EV Shift). This essentially lets you change the exposure setting (EV Value) manually to adjust for the lighting of your subject. You can get better results for certain situations. The range for the exposure compensation is from -2.0 EV to 2.0 EV in steps of 1/3EV
-White Balance Adjustment - You can adjust for the different types of wavelengths emitted by light sources.
- Night Scene Mode - You can use this mode in conjunction with a flash for slow sync shooting of people against a low light or night scene background.

Sample Pictures taken. The link shows the actual image taken at 1200 x 960

Empire State Building	More ESB	ESB again

right by MSG	Another shot

3.2 Record Audio
Audio recording is broken down into two modes for the EX-M1. You can record an audio clip that is coupled with the still picture you just took. You can also record your voice.

3.2.1 Adding audio to a snapshot
When you're in this mode, you take a picture first and then you are asked to record an audio clip that is up to 30 seconds long. The audio is recorded in the ADPCM file format and stored with the standard .wav extension. The picture is stored in a separate JPEG file with the same filename as the audio file but with a different extension of course. This feature is great to let you record any thoughts you might have on the picture that you just took. There have been plenty of instances where I took a picture and then later on, I had to think about what exactly it was that I took and why.

Here is a sample shot:

and the audio recorded for the shot (18K)

3.2.2 Recording your voice
Recording your voice is a bit different with the previous mode in that you are allowed up to 50 minutes of voice recording with the built in 12 MB memory. (dependent upon your storage space of course). This mode is great for those who like to keep audio notes during the day. Have something to remember? Use this to jot down your thoughts. The audio is recorded at 32 kbps - (8 kHz sampling rate at 4 bit sample size) mono level. Audio is recorded in the IMA ADPCM format. IMA stands for Interactive Multimedia Association and ADPCM is Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation.

Here is a sample of my voice (19.5K) captured using the EX-M1.

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