There are so many questions what camera I use and what I would advise you to buy. All my pictures were taken with Casio Exilim S600. Do not believe any of those editors and advisors claming to be independent that you need to purchase something for at least 3000 USD or it should be Sony, Kodak or Canon to take a decent picture.

 

Width3.54 in.

Depth0.63 in.

Height2.32 in.

Weight0.25 lb.

If you come to the Caribbean you need a small and easy to put in the pocket so you can have it when the things are happening. It must be reliable, easy to set and cheap camera. You pick it up and shoot. If you need to set it for special circumstances you must be able to do so fast. And last but not least it has the killer looks.

With Casio you press the BS (best shot) button and access the specialized menu where you can choose from dozens preset settings or add your own. You have all histograms and other helpers to make serious pictures. And I dare to say that my pictures are of the same quality as those of the professional cameras or even better on day light.

You can do DVD quality movies pressing on a single button.  I think it is the slimmest camera with proper optics and 3X optical zoom. And there is a huge screen to get real feeling how your picture will look.

If you are ready to compromise on the picture quality, go for the new Olympus Stylus S770( I shot the turtles under water with one of these, borrowed from a friend). It is water resistant up to 10 meters ( 33 feet) and I have seen it surviving a drop from 2 meters on stones.

Many people do not believe that I use Casio Exilim, but I have had S500 and S600 and they are both making the same awesome quality pictures. Look at the sharpness and the colors. I saw recently a professional photographer shooting with S500. He just asked me not to mention his name. He believed that his colleagues are unable to recognize that he is using a pocket camera.

Well I am not a fanatic. I agree that the Exilim is lacking the muscle to do very good pictures in dark places. The flash is excellent though. The only way to believe it is to try it.  As one of the girls here rightfully said, lets leave the big cameras to the men with small ….. : )

CONTINUATION

 If this is not a jinx I don’t know what could be!

People from everywhere called me to tell me how much they love their Exilims… but I lost mine.  

Sad day! 

We went doing something called River Tubing in Dominica. You sit in bright yellow river tube ( inflatable ring with bottom ). You must wear a bathing suit and leave all unnecessary items that you don’t want to lose, at home. (eyeglasses, watches, rings, favorite hats, jewelry and cameras are commonly lost during tubing.) I took mine. Three times different good people came to ask me to leave it. I still decided to take it in the water. I took the best pictures of waterfalls and rapids

…  and dropped it in the water… 

On the ship there are no Casios available. I needed a camera immediately so I followed my own advice and bought Olympus Stylus S770. If the good people from Casio are reading this, please send me one Exilim! And if you could send me the new S880 : )   I like it! I promise to take thousands of excellent pictures!