By Ron Eggers

February 1, 2005 — Casio's latest EXILIM digital camera, the PRO EX-P505, delivers 5-megapixel digital still images and extended, high-quality video. It features a 5X optical zoom lens, a 5-megapixel CCD, the company's EXILIM imaging engine and a 2-inch TFT color rotating display screen. It also offers the same "user friendly" manual operation mode that's available on the Casio EX-P600. In fact, manual operation is so easy, virtually anyone can begin taking great shots right away.

The new Casio features a 5X optical zoom lens (10 lenses in 8 groups, including aspherical lens), which is the equivalent of a 35mm 38-to-190mm lens. The 5X zoom has macro focussing capabilities down to 1cm as well as an 8X digital zoom.

The EX-P505 has both aperture and shutter priority automatic settings, in addition to a manual exposure mode that offers complete manual operation. The P505 features multi-pattern light measurement by image element, center-weighted light measurement and spot measurement. Its focusing modes include contrast-detection auto-focus; spot, multi and free auto focus, a macro mode, a pan focus mode for video, an unlimited distance mode and manual focus. Shutter speeds range from 60 seconds to 1/2000 of a second.

The new EXILIM digital camera uses MPEG-4 video technology to generate high quality, 640 by 480 pixel video at 30 frames per second. Its "Movie BEST SHOT" function lets users select from sample scenes for a wide range of shooting styles. The "Short Movie" function lets users capture short movies during a single shutter, while other functions can be used to obtain a still image from a movie.

The camera features a startup time of 0.8 seconds and a release time lag of 0.01 seconds. In other words, images are captured approximately 0.01 seconds after the shutter is released. It has an internal flash; it uses a dedicated lithium-ion rechargeable battery; it supports USB 2.0 connectivity and SecureData memory cards. The EXILIM PRO EX-P505 will be available at the end of February, with a MSRP of $499.99.

(Contact Ron Eggers at Newswatch@earthlink.net)