Cameras destined for movie stardom

Lori Grunin
Senior editor

Updated March 7, 2006

While we've yet to see that most desired of consumer electronics products--a terrific still camera that's also a terrific camcorder--cameras seem to be getting much better at doing double duty. And rather than just trying to cram two sets of features into a single unit, manufacturers are innovatively taking advantage of the speedier innards required for movie capture to transform the paradigm of so-called still photography. For instance, several of these cameras will continuously buffer the streaming movie, then capture an interval before and after the shutter is pressed, making it easy to snap a photo of that decisive moment. True, we're at the beginning of the curve for this type of combination capture device. It eventually might all end up in your phone, but it has to start somewhere.

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Product name	Casio Exilim Pro EX-P505	Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M2	Casio Exilim EX-Z750	Canon PowerShot S2 IS	Kodak EasyShare V570

Review date	May 25, 2005	March 6, 2006	May 11, 2005	July 15, 2005	January 18, 2006

Editors' rating (Editors' rating explained)	7.2 Very good	7.4 Very good	7.6 Very good	7.7 Very good	7.2 Very good

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Review summary	This camera comes close to successfully combining high-quality photos with acceptable-quality video.	The Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M2 takes quality stills and videos, if you can get past its awkward design.	The Casio Exilim EX-Z750 marries form and function with a great design and satisfying manual controls.	An excellent feature set and improved performance make the Canon PowerShot S2 IS megazoom camera even more attractive than its predecessor.	The equivalent of a fixed-focal-length 23mm super-wide-angle lens coupled with a second, narrower 3X zoom gives the dual-lens ultracompact Kodak EasyShare V570 extra versatility, whether shooting indoors or creating three-shot panoramas.

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Basic Specs
Video input type	Digital camera	Digital camera	Digital camera	Digital camera	Digital camera

Digital zoom	8 x	6 x	8 x	4 x	4 x

Effective sensor resolution	5,000,000 pixels	5,090,000 pixels	7,200,000 pixels	5,000,000 pixels	5,000,000 pixels

Still image format	JPEG	JPEG	JPEG	JPEG	JPEG

Lens aperture	F/3.3-3.6	F/3.5-4.4	F/2.8-4.0	F/2.7-3.5	F/3.9-4.4

Optical zoom	5 x	3 x	3 x	12 x	3 x

Manual focus	Automatic , Manual	Automatic , Manual	Automatic , Manual	Automatic , Manual	Automatic

Memory storage capacity	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	16 MB	Info unavailable

Flash memory form factor	Integrated	Info unavailable	Integrated	SD Memory Card	Info unavailable

Display (projector) diagonal size	2 in	2.5 in	2.5 in	1.8 in	2.5 in

Display (projector) technology	TFT active matrix	TFT active matrix	TFT active matrix	TFT active matrix	TFT active matrix

Service & support type	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	1 year warranty


Product name	Casio Exilim Pro EX-P505	Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M2	Casio Exilim EX-Z750	Canon PowerShot S2 IS	Kodak EasyShare V570

Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications

Price range	Check latest prices $329 from 1 store	Check latest prices $699 from 1 store	Check latest prices $429 from 1 store	Check latest prices $699 from 1 store	Check latest prices $400 from 1 store