After my old trustworthy Casio EX-Z55 took its last viable photo, it became clear that I would be seeking out a suitable replacement. Considering the life that digital camera had led and how well it had performed for that whole time, it seemed logical to choose a Casio Exilim as a replacement. Slim, sleek, and small the Casio Exilim EX-S880 looked to be perfect on the exterior. Even the 2.8" screen was great. Unfortunately things didn't work out so well in our relationship (albeit very brief).
I purchased BOTH (yes, both) Casio Exilim EX-S880 cameras at Costco. The price was right, the features were right, and the look was perfect. Who knew that I wouldn't have to just return the digital camera once, but twice. Fortunately for this consumer, Costco has an excellent return policy. Before I explore what went wrong, I want to go into the features.
Casio has become one of the coolest digital camera manufacturers in the last few years. The cameras are very, very slim and often come in a variety of colors. My Exilims were both black and pretty sleek looking. I'm also a fan of their numerous "best shot" options which in this model have gone beyond simple photography and into even You Tube ready video. As I already mentioned, one of my biggest requirements is a large LCD. The Casio EX-S880 comes complete with a Super Bright 2.8" LCD screen. It is easy to see in many situations. This camera does not feature a viewfinder (unfortunately).
As for the megapixels (one of "those" things that people often point to, but in truth aren't that important), there are 8.1. You can invest more than the $189.99 I did (twice) in this camera and get something with higher megapixels, but with that said you can print huge sized and perfectly sharp images with much lower resolution. The one sample I got to power up (the other never did) took lovely photos. Outdoors they were clean and bright and indoors they were not grainy.
In addition to the size of the LCD, I like to ensure that the optical zoom is up to snuff. Optical zoom is, after all, much cleaner than digital. The EX-S880 comes with 3x optical zoom and up to 12x digital (3x optical plus 4x digital). The function worked well and quickly. As with pretty much all current digital cameras, it also can function on some level as a video camera. It worked very easily simply by pushing the typical circular red record button. It records MPEG-4 video at 30 fps and 640x480 resolution.
A few other nifty things are featured on the Casio Exilim EX-S880. First of all, software is provided with the camera that will automatically upload to YouTube without needing to log in. I personally did not experiment with that bit--I never had time. I did however get a brief chance to explore the face recognition function. It worked well and did allow me to focus on particular subjects. Casio also has a Frame/Focus Lock that is marketed as making fast subjects easy to catch on screen. The final cool little tidbit is that you can upload maps, text files, email, web pages and the like to your camera. Your camera makes them .jpg files which allows you to look at them simply by pushing the data button on the top left of the camera. Once again, my experiences with the camera did not allow me to explore that function though it does seem to be a very useful thing.
I had hoped for a good camera. I ended up with two clunkers. The first actually never even powered up. I followed the directions, charged the battery via the dock, and tried after a night of charging to turn it on. It never turned on. I quickly returned it to Costco and purchased the same. exact. model. I brought it home, charged it, and everything seemed to go well. At least at first.
I did get some time fiddling with the settings of my second camera. I was pleased with the included magnetic leather case, the size of the camera, and the clarity of the screen. I was more than a little dismayed by the tiny buttons (in particular the minuscule power button on the top). The zoom button was also a bit difficult to deal with, but the overall navigation was easy. Most everything resembled the functionality of my old Casio. I packed up the camera and dock and promptly went on vacation.
Unfortunately the Casio EX-S880 did not last two days on our 8 day vacation. My husband had it in the case, in his cargo pocket. It was safe and he hadn't used it in any inappropriate ways. He took it out of the hard sided case and the LCD had cracked on the inside. It was only a quarter functional (lower left) and there was an obvious crack in the lower right (not through the external protection, simple inside). Anyway, from that moment on it was useless to us and I was completely unable to capture my special memories. Talk about frustrating!
Not only was my first camera a bust out of the box, but the second one proved the EX-S880 is amazingly fragile--not what a growing family can use. I think this Casio Exilim has everything a person could want. It's ambitious and cool looking, but since it doesn't function (not even "as advertised," not at all) I can't recommend it to anybody. I'm very angry with this purchase and would recommend any future buyers to look elsewhere. Maybe to the Powershot Digital Elph I just picked up instead? Only time will tell...
Standard Bundled Casio Accessories:
* Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Battery (NP-20)
* Cradle (CA-34)
* USB Cable
* AV Cable
* AC Adapter
* Strap
* CD-ROM (2)
* AC Power Cord
* Basic Reference
(I also received a case and 1 GB SD Card from Costco)
Technical Details:
* Effective pixels: 8.1 million
* Imaging element: 1/2.5-inch square pixel color CCD
* Image file format: Still: JPEG (Exif v.2.2), DCF standard, DOPF compliant
* Audio: WAV (monaural)
* Recording media: SDHC card, SD card, MultiMediaCard, MultiMediaCard Plus compatible
* Image size: 3,264 x 2,448, 3,264 x 2,176 (3:2), 3,264 x 1,840 (16:9), 2,816 x 1,728, 1,600 x 1,200, 640 x 480
* Movies: 848 x 480 (UHQ wide/HQ wide), 640 x 480 (UHQ/HQ/normal), 320 x 240 (LP)
* Still image data size: Built-in flash memory: 2 shots (fine), 4 shots (normal), 7 shots (economy); 1 GB SD memory card: 210 shots (fine), 393 shots (normal), 579 shots (economy)
* Movie data size: Maximum recording capacity per file: 4 GB; built-in flash memory: 10 seconds; 1 GB SD memory card: 18 minutes, 53 seconds
* Shutter release time lag: 0.008 seconds
* Image playback: 0.1 second per image
* Shot to shot time: 1.6 seconds
* Continuous shutter: 1.0-second intervals
* High-speed continuous shutter: 4 frames per second (maximum)
* Maximum aperture: f/2.7 to 5.2
* Focal distance: 6.2 to 18.6mm (35mm equivalent: 38 to 114mm)
* Optical zoom: 3x
* Focus modes: Auto, macro, pan, infinity, manual
* AF area: Spot, multi, or tracking
* Focus range: Auto: 15.75 inches to infinity; macro: 5.9 inches to 19.69 inches; manual: 5.9 inches to infinity
* Monitor: 2.8-inch TFT color LCD (14:9), with 320,400-pixel resolution
* Power: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
* Battery life: Roughly 220 still images; 4 hours continuous playback; 5 hours and 10 minutes voice recording
* Warranty: 1 year parts and labor
Related Reviews:
Casio Exilim EX-Z55
http://www.epinions.com/content_167631097476
Kodak EasyShare DX6490
http://www.epinions.com/content_123337805444 
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