Casio EX-V8 Performance

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Casio EX-V8 Performance

Timing and Performance

Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	3.1 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy.
Shutdown	1.4 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	2 seconds (2 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

Start up is fair considering the 7x zoom lens, which extends forward on power-up. Shutdown and buffer clearing are a little faster than average.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.5 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	1.6 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	2.5 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching is above average, except for displaying recorded images, which is on the slow side of average.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.161 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.391 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Full Autofocus, with Flash	0.446 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, flash enabled.
Prefocused	0.008 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Manual focus	0.162 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Shutter response is very good at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.161s and 0.391s respectively. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a blistering lag time of only 0.008 second. (Among the fastest on the market.)

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	2.87 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 7 shots.
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	2.34 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 18 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	Yes	Some cameras snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	1.83 seconds (0.55 frames per second); >20 frames total; 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.66 second (1.51 frames per second); >20 frames total; 0.5 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	3.61 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are on the slow side of average, at about 2.87 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera captured a maximum of 7 shots in single-shot mode before slowing down to clear the buffer. Continuous mode is slower than average, at 0.55 frames-per-second for over 20 large/fine JPEG frames, though performance picks up to 1.51 frames per second at the lowest resolution setting. The flash takes 3.61 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is pretty good.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	6,633 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are quite zippy.

Bottom line, the Exilim EX-V8 is quite responsive in the areas you'll need it most, though its continuous speed may not be fast enough at the largest resolution for fast action.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Slightly below average battery life for a Lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, (CIPA standard)	240

The Casio Exilim EX-V8 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is close to average, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Casio Exilim EX-V8 accepts SD/MMC memory cards, and includes about 12MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with 12MB Internal Memory		Fine	Normal	Basic
3,264 x 2,448	Images	2	4	6
3,264 x 2,448	File Size	4.9 MB	2.6 MB	1.8 MB
2,816 x 2,112	Images	3	5	8
2,816 x 2,112	File Size	3.7 MB	2.0 MB	1.4 MB
2,304 x 1,728	Images	4	8	12
2,304 x 1,728	File Size	2.7 MB	1.5 MB	953 KB
1,600 x 1,200	Images	8	14	24
1,600 x 1,200	File Size	1.3 MB	837 KB	498 KB
640 x 480	Images	34	59	80
640 x 480	File Size	349 KB	201 KB	148 KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)