3. Modes of Operation

The camera has essentially three different modes of operations which are controlled by the mode switch in the rear. The record mode has the most options of course and the EX-M2 is essentially a mixture of still shot recording, audio recording and audio/video recording.

3.1 Recording

When the switch is set to REC, the camera is set to a basic image capture mode. To take the picture seen on the LCD screen, just press the shutter release. The EX-M2 captures pictures fairly quickly. Though the EX-M1 was a bit snappier than the new EX-M2, the EX-M2 is still is a good deal faster than the likes of the Canon G1/G2.

Basic Image Recording

3.1.1 Basic Image Recording

While you're in basic image recording, you can also use the digital zoom by moving the controller up and down. You can zoom to a maximum of 4X. By default, the flash is in auto mode but you can modify this through the menu. The flash can be turned on/off and can also be set to fire a preflash to counteract red eye.

You can also set up a self timer within the menu which will fire the shuttle release 10 seconds after the shutter is pressed.

Other options that can be accessed through the menu include setting the picture size of the camera. The original EX-M1 had a default resolution of 1280 x 960. The EX-M1's default resolution is now at 1600 x 1200 and can be set as low as 640 x 480.

Selecting an image size	and quality

There are a couple of other features in the EX-M2 that are now common on many digital cameras. You can set the following features through the menu settings:

1. Exposure Compensation (EV Shift). Use this setting to manually adjust the lighting of your subject. This feature helps to provide better results under certain lighting conditions.

EV Settings

2. White Balance: This setting lets you make adjustments to the camera to compensate for the different sources of light out there.

WB Settings

3.1.2 Best Shot Mode

You select this mode while you're in REC mode by rocking the controller to the right. Once you are in the Best Shot (BS) mode, you can then select a set of preset settings by clicking on the controller. Once the controller is clicked, you are shown various labels on the LCD screen that will hopefully match the scene that you are composing. Not all pictures taken in the BS mode will be perfect so try different settings. Sometimes you'll find that the BS mode is indeed not the Best Shot possible.

Best Shot Mode

Portrait Mode	Scenary Mode
Night Scene Mode	Retro Mode
Twilight Mode	Monochrome Mode

3.1.3 Movie Mode

The camera can act as a mini camcorder recording short 30 second clips. These clips are saved in the AVI format using the Motion JPEG format promoted by the Open DML Group. The image resolution of the videos are at 320 x 240. With the built in memory, you can record up to 80 seconds of video. A 64 meg SD card can hold up to 410 seconds of video with each clip being 30 seconds long at maximum.

Movie Mode

3.1.4 Recording Audio

The EX-M2 can record audio in various ways. Audio is recorded in WAVE/ADPCM format which is essentially a Windows format.

1. Record Audio
The Exilim camera can act as a simple voice recorder letting you record 30 seconds of audio at any given point. You can record up to 50 minutes of audio with the built in memory. However this isn't the only mode of operation.

Voice Recording

2. Take a picture and then record Audio
Almost like annotating a picture, you can capture a scene with your Exilim and then take notes about the shot that you took. The picture is your standard JPEG shot with a WAVE file coupled to the JPEG image. Up to 30 seconds of audio can be captured in this mode. Using this mode is pretty straightforward. Select this recording mode and then press the shutter release to capture the picture. Select the shutter release once more to record audio and that's it!

Adding audio to a snapshot

First take the picture	And then record the sounds

3. Add audio to a picture taken before hand.
This is known as the "After-Recording" feature and it actually belongs in the playback section of the camera. You select a picture that you have taken previously and then select DUBBING in the menu to apply a sound track to the image. You can take a maximum of 30 seconds of WAVE audio.

3.2 Play back

Selecting the middle section of the switch puts the EX-M2 in playback mode. In basic playback mode, you can check out the pictures, videos, and audio clips that you have taken using the controller.

Using the menu options, you can zoom in on a given picture to see the shot more clearly. You can even resize a picture in case you don't need the image to be stored at a given resolution. The image can be resized to 640 x 480 or 320 x 240.

Resize an image

3.2.1 Favorites

The EX-M2 allows you to store images in a "favorites" folder stored within the internal memory on the camera. You can select an image as a favorite by using the menu options. Once a picture is selected as a favorite, a copy of the image is stored in the folder at 320 x 240 resolution.

Selecting a favorite

3.3 Audio

The original Exilim (EX-M1) could play MP3 files but it was soon discovered that it could only play MP3 files sampled at 44.1 KHz. This was never mentioned in the Casio documentation of the EX-M1 so a number of people discovered to their dismay that they could not play their MP3 collections.

With the EX-M2, Casio has extended their support of MP3 files to support sample rates of 32, 44.1 and 48KHz. If you have anything else then you are still out of luck. The supported bit rates run from 32 kbps to 320 kbps and the camera is also variable bit rate compatible.

In order to play MP3 files, you need to create an AUDIO folder in your memory card. In order to perform this procedure, you will need to have your camera connected to the computer and be turned on. The camera will essentially look like a hard drive to your system. At the root of your drive, make sure that the AUDIO folder exists. Place all of your MP3s within this folder and your Exilim will play the music from here. You can place sub directories within the AUDIO folder as well.

You set a playback sequence to the music files by creating a text file called "PLAYLIST.TXT" and then specifying the audio files to be played back in the order that you want. Make sure that this file is a text file and not some proprietary file format like the WORD DOC format.

3.3.1 Remote Control

The remote control has not changed from the EX-M1. Those who own an Apple iPod will feel at home with the EX-M2's remote. All your basic modes of operation can be found on the remote. There is a very nice LCD that displays the current title being played back. You can control the volume level through this remote as well as playback operations. The headphones are actually separate from the remote control but the remote control interface to the camera is a proprietary interface. If you break the remote control or cable, then your music listening days with the EX-M2 are over. There's no way to connect a simple stereo headphone jack to the camera.

Back, Forward, Pause, Play/Stop	Lock, Select, Volume Down/Up

The Remote with the headphones

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