Am I the only one who finds it funny that just a handful of years ago the word “selfie” didn’t exist? The geeky part of me thinks it’s major awesomeness that an English word has been invented for this. As an early adopter of internet and techie geekery, back then one of my besties used to tease me by calling me a “自拍 queen” coz I started doing the selfie-thing since a long time ago before it became common and popular today. (For some reason, there’s a Chinese word for it before an English one came along… 自拍 = selfie.)
And now, there’s a camera that’s designed to make taking selfies a snap! *pun intended* Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, introducing the Casio EX-TR35.
Casio first released the Exilim TR line of digital cameras in 2011, introducing a first-of-its-kind 360° rotating frame and 270° rotating display which revolutionised the photo-taking experience and became immensely popular among young women especially for its slim and lightweight design. The first time I laid eyes on the EX-TR35, the rotating frame and display grabbed my attention right away. The design of the camera, including the placement of the shutter button- which is at the side of the swivel for ergonomic comfort, has been carefully thought out for capturing selfies with ease and convenience.
I’m honored to be invited and present this camera at a media launch last month, sharing the features of this cool camera from Casio.
The latest and newest addition to the TR line, the ultra slim EX-TR35 is designed with a high-polarised pearl finish. Not only it’s a stylish sleek accessory, taking a selfie with it gets even more dynamic as you can choose from four shutter styles by either holding the frame, touching the screen, waving at the lens or control remotely via smartphone. Personally, I get a kick out of waving at the lens, and the camera is smart enough to detect that and snap the photo.
The Triple Shot function ensures users can select the best picture every time by capturing a burst of three consecutive images and even enhance them using up to 12 different Make-up modes, ensuring everyone in the frame is looking their best. Ah yes, I like this make-up mode tremendously because it gives the skin a flawless, airbrushed, smooth skin finish. The EX-TR35 does this really well because there’s a scale that you can choose from to determine the level of flawlessness you wish to attain; from 1-12, 1 being minimal and 12 being “K-Pop smooth”. j/k~ That’s not an actual term in the product instruction manual, but YKWIM.
There’s also a new Posing Shot function in the EX-TR35. With this one you can take on a fashion model persona and strike different poses for five successive shots prompted by the camera’s voice guidance. I think the lag between each one was just a second, so be prepared in advance and know what pose you’re gonna do before you trigger the shutter. Here’s an example taken using the Posing Shot, basically the images were taken successively at one go.
And what do you do with all these selfies? Why, upload and share them immediately on social media of course! With the EX-TR35, you can even create personalised short picture movies first, complete with background music and fun visual effects, before sharing them on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
I think it’s so smart that the camera automatically sets the video slideshow to 15 secs, which is the length for all videos uploaded on Instagram.
Back then, it wasn’t so easy to take selfies ok! There wasn’t front-facing LCD screen so there were plenty of trials and errors needed, such as not readily posed, not being in the frame at all, out of focus, etc. Had the EX-TR35 existed back in the early nineties when I first began 自拍-ing, I would’ve taken a bazillion more selfies than I already had. And now in the present day, it’s not enough to just have yourself solo in the photo. “Group selfies” – grelfies (?) is the in thing now and the more people that can squeeze into the photo, the better. Dunno how to do it? Here’s how!
Group selfie in progress. We look mad crazy silly doing this, and I love it! *doing geeky backflips of joy*
The resulting image. ;)
I heard that the earlier Casio EX-TR models were sold out within the first couple months, and even though the EX-TR35 is newly launched in the market, there’s already a long waiting list at major retailers. This is the ultimate selfie camera that’s flying off the shelves, folks! The new CASIO EXILIM EX-TR35 is available at all authorized CASIO and EXILIM retailers at SGD1199.00. There are three colors, all sporting an iridescent finish: White, Vivid Pink and Blue. The blue is a limited edition color, FYI (although personally I like the white).
Get the full specs and more info here at the Exilim TR product page.
x,
M.
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