360° Coverage I4U Face-Off: Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 versus Casio Exilim S20

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I4U Face-Off: Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 versus Casio Exilim S20

Jan 1 2010, 12:00am CST | by

I4U Face-Off: Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 versus Casio Exilim S20
 
 

Casio Exilim S20 sells for $242.89 at Amazon.com.
Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 sells for $249.99 at Amazon.com.

sony dsc-u50 reviewcasio exilim s20 review
Introduction:

 We had the opportunity to compare two of the best small pocket sized Digital Cameras in our I4U Lab. The Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 and the Casio Exilim S20, the latter we recently selected as the Best Small Digital Camera of 2003. This award was based on comparing the features and especially the size, where the Casio Exilim S20 is unbeatable. The DSC-U50 has double the volume of the Exilim S20 as you can see in our Small Digital Camera Size Chart. 
We focus in this first hand review on how to make a decision between those two digital cameras when compared directly. We made some very interesting observations.


The Face-Off:
Both Cameras certainly have their coolness factor. The Sony DSC-U50 comes in orange and silver in the US. There is supposedly a pink version available in Japan. Plus it has the swivel lens, to make it easy to shoot self portraits. The Sony is small but thick. The Casio S20 is thin very thin and small form factor. It has a bigger screen than the Sony. The Sony display screen is 1", the Casio sports a 1.6" display which makes a big difference. The display is also much faster on the Casio than on the Sony. On the Exilim I can flip through the photos with no delay. With the Sony there is a short load delay between photos. 
The user interface of the Casio S20 is just beautiful. Every mode has a little multimedia icon visualizing what the mode is about. The Sony has a functional but rather standard menu. 
To compensate for not having a swivel lens Casio has a feature called couple shot, where it basically enables digital merging of two photos taken at different times. That is quite a fun feature and works surprisingly well. It somehow detects where to merge the two photos and make it seem as one.
The Casio has a digital zoom function that works pretty well, the Sony only has pre-set auto zoom. For close-ups the Sony can get close to 10cm from the object the Casio does not get that close. 
That brings us to a surprising observation that we made when taking photos with both Cameras. The Sony DSC-U50 just makes better photos. We did not play around and try all modes and adjustments on the Casio to optimize the photos. There are some ways to optimize the photos, but those Cameras in our opinion should be optimized for point and shoot. The Casio claims that mode, but in reality the Sony just makes warmer and richer Photos. The Exilim photos have hard colors and are not as vibrant and deep. See sample photos below. The Flash on the Sony is also better and has a wider reach then the Casio one. 

The Casio Exilim S20 comes with a cradle the Sony does not. The Casio can be charged all the time in the cradle. The Sony relies on rechargeable batteries that need to be charged outside of the Camera, when they are completely empty. That is a bit of a hassle and a actually quite outdated. 


Sample Photos:
Sony Cybershot DSC-50 
Casio Exilim S20 
Click on Photos to see them in 640x480 resolution

Conclusion:
If you want to own the state-of-the-art smallest digital camera (only the Sony Qualia is smaller with the same feature set, but way out of the Casio price-range) then the Casio Exilim S20 is the one. The menu and the features are just very fun and the small size is turning heads.
The Sony is stylish less gadgetry, a bit behind in technology but just makes great photos with ease. This is a big big plus for the Sony.

The Casio Exilim S20 sells for $242.89 at Amazon.com.
The Sony Cybershot DSC-U50 sells for $249.99 at Amazon.com.


Specifications:

Sony DSC-U50 Casio Exilim S20
  • Imaging Device: 1/2.7 inch 2.0 Megapixel Super HAD CCD
  • Recording Media: Memory Stick Duo Media, Memory Stick PRO Duo Media
  • Focal Length: 5.0mm
  • 35mm Equivalent: 33mm
  • Aperture: f2.8
  • Focus: 4-Step Manual Preset with Auto
  • Minimum Focus Distance: 3.9 inches (0.1m)
  • Macro Focus Distance: Auto/Selectable
  • Shutter Speed: Auto (1/8 - 1/2000)
  • Color LCD: 1.0 inch 64K Pixels Hybrid LCD
  • Flash Modes: Auto/Forced On/Forced Off/ Red-Eye Reduction
  • Red-Eye Reduction: On/Off
  • Flash Effective Range: 1.6 - 6.0 feet (0.5 - 1.8m)
  • White Balance: Auto/Daylight/Cloudy/Fluorescent/Incandescent
  • Picture Effects: Solarize, Black and White, Sepia, and Negative Art
  • ISO: Auto
  • Scene Modes: Soft Snap, Illumination Snap, Twilight, Active Outdoor, Vivid Nature
  • Self-Timer: Yes, 10 seconds
  • Still Image Modes: JPEG (Normal)
  • MPEG Movie Mode: MPEG Movie EX (320 x 240) without audio, Video Mail (160 x 112) without audio
  • USB Terminal: Yes
  • Memory Stick PRO Duo Media Compatibility: Tested to support up to 1GB media capacity; does not support high speed transfer function; does not support Access Control security function
  • Supplied Software: Pixela ImageMixer Software for Sony v1.5, USB Driver
  • OS Compatibility: Windows 98, 98SE, 2000, ME, XP Home and Pro. Mac OS 8.5.1/8.6/ 9.0/ 9.1/ 9.2/X (10.0, 10.1, 10.2)
  • Supplied Accessories: : AAA Rechargeable NiMH Batteries (2), BC-CS2 Battery Charger, USB Cable, MSG-M8A 8MB Memory Stick Duo Media, Neck Strap, Software CD-ROM
  • Dimensions: 4 x 1 5/8 x 1 inches (99.9 x 40.5 x 24.9mm)
  • Weight: 4.7 ounces (132g)

 
  • Recording Element: 1/2.7-inch square pixel primary color CCD (2.11 million total pixels; 2 million effective pixels)
  • Image File Record Format: JPEG (Exif. Ver. 2.2), DCF standard, DPOF compliant
  • Recording Medium: Built-in flash memory (10MB), SD memory card/Multi Media card
  • Recorded Image Sizes(Image Size(Pixels): Resolution, Approximate File Size, Number of images with the built-in memory (10 MB), Number of images with a SD Memory Card(64 MB)): 1600 x 1200: Fine, 1050KB, 8, 53; 1600 x 1200: Normal, 710KB, 12, 79; 1600 x 1200: Economy, 370KB, 24, 154; 1600 X 1072: Fine, 910KB, 9, 60; 1600 X 1072: Normal, 610KB, 14, 90; 1600 X 1072: Economy, 300KB, 28, 176; 1280 X 960: Fine, 680KB, 13, 82; 1280 X 960: Normal, 460KB, 20, 126;1280 X 960: Economy, 250KB, 35, 221; 640 X 480: Fine, 190KB, 46, 294; 640 X 480: Normal, 140KB, 61, 386; 640 X 480: Economy, 90KB, 98, 618
  • Image Deletion: Single image; all images in memory (with memory protection)
  • Lens: F3.5, f = 5.6mm (equivalent to 37mm in 35mm format)
  • Focusing: Fixed focus with macro mode
  • Approximate Focus Range: Normal: 31.5" to infinite; Macro: 11.8"
  • Zoom: Digital 4X
  • Metering: Multi-pattern by imaging element
  • Control: Program AE; Exposure Compensation: -2EV to +2EV (in 1/3EV steps)
  • Shutter: CCD electronic shutter/mechanical shutter; 1 to 1/8000 shutter speed (including Night mode)
  • Aperture: F3.5 (fixed)
  • White Balance: Auto; Fixed (4 modes); Manual
  • Sensitivity: Auto, ISO64, ISO125, ISO250, ISO500
  • Recording Modes: Snapshot, macro, Best Shot
  • Self-timer: 10 seconds or 2 seconds; Triple Self-timer
  • Built-in Flash: Flash Modes: Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Red Eye Reduction; Approximate Range: 2.64 ft. to 4.92 ft.
  • Viewfinder: Monitor screen and optical viewfinder
  • Monitor Screen: 1.6-inch digital interface TFT color LCD (84,960 pixels; 354 x 240)
  • Playback Functions: 4X zoom; rotate; flip; calendar; Photo Stand (slideshow); startup image; Image Roulette
  • Timekeeping Functions: Date and time recorded with image data; auto calendar up to 2049
  • World Time: 162 cities (32 time zones); city names; date and time; daylight savings time
  • Other: Trimming; resize; histogram; album feature; Favorites folder; copy; customize key; alarm with image
  • Input/Output Terminals: USB cradle contact terminals
  • Power Requirements: Special lithium ion battery
  • Approximate Battery Operation: Continuous Image Recording: 2 hours (720) shots; Continuous Image Playback: 3 hours; Continuous Audio Recording: 2 hours 50 minutes
  • Dimensions/Weight: 3.27 (W) x 2.08 (H) x .44 (T) inches(excluding projections) / Approximately 2.78 oz (excluding batteries and accessories)
  • Bundled Accessories: Lithium-ion battery; USB Cradle; USB Cable; AC Adaptor; Strap; CD-ROM

 


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<a href="/latest_stories/all/all/2" rel="author">Luigi Lugmayr</a>
Luigi Lugmayr (Google) is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com.

 

 

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