Thin is in: The EX-S10 is touted as the world’s thinnest 10-megapixel camera.

Fashionable pocket-cameras keep pushing standards smaller and thinner. We like the quality and control of our DSLR gear, but we often end up hauling a bag full of hardware if we bring a camera along at all. Our backs welcome the battle to shave ounces and millimeters from pocket cameras. They’re often convenient and good-looking enough to make us leave the DSLR
at home.

The Casio Exilim EX-S10 comes in four different colors to match its lean, fashionable shape. At only 15mm thick and about the size of a deck of cards, the camera is easy to pack anywhere. Buttons are (understandably) small but the menus are fairly easy to navigate. Various options even show thumbnail samples of how they effect photographs.

The big, 2.7-inch screen brightly shows shot composition and reviews images. The camera can power on, telescope the lens, and shoot a photo in less than two seconds, making the EX-S10 ready for immediate imaging. We also clocked it at a respectable seven photos in ten seconds; you won’t have to wait too long for it to recover after each image before taking another.

Our 10.1-megapixel test photos showed average image quality, but didn’t stand out as better or worse than other cameras. In shaded daylight, colors leaned towards a blue tint. Worse, objects in shadows were often covered with a spackled layer of image noise. Object edges—especially those that were brightly lit—also glowed slightly as if subjects were radioactive. Quality improved under ideal lighting conditions, but we didn’t like the wide range in performance. Indoors, we captured images with fairly accurate colors, but noise appeared with or without the flash.

The bottom line. This beauty is capable of good photos in ideal light, but its go-anywhere shape means there may be some engineering compromises.

COMPANY: Casio

CONTACT: www.casio.com

PRICE: $250

Small, attractive form factor. Bright, big 2.7-inch LCD. Intuitive menu-navigation. Fires photos almost exactly with the shutter press. Face-recognition mode sets exposure on people..

Average image detail. Object textures blur together. Noise appears in shadows and throughout indoor photos.