Casio Exilim EX-FH2O

High-speed shooting is where this cam shines WITH ITS 20X OPTICAL ZOOM LENS and 9.1-megapixel resolution, the $599.99 Casio Exilim EX-FH2O resembles other big-zoom, non-SLR cameras such as the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS (p. 19) and the Panasonic DMC-FZ28. But the EX-FH2O hides a superpower beneath its mild- mannered exterior: exceptional speed.

In addition to its everyday photographic duties, this camera can shoot still images at up to 40 frames per second (fps) and movies (albeit tiny ones) at up to 1,000fps.

The EX-F1120 is smaller and less expensive than Casio's first high-speed camera, the EX-F1. Measuring 3.2x4.8x3.3 inches (IIWD), though, it's still not going to fit in a pocket. With its large, rubberized grip on the front and rubber thumb panel on the back, it's very comfortable to hold. Compared with its more expensive EX-F1 predecessor, you gain resolution (9.1 versus 6 megapixels) and zoom (20x instead of 12x) but lose the 60fps flash strobe mode, some resolution and speed in slow-motion modes, and the ability to snap stills while shooting HD video.

To shoot at the full 40fps speed, you have to drop down to 7-megapixel resolution. (You can shoot 30fps at 8 megapixels, but just 3fps at the full 9.1-megapixel resolution.) There's also a 5fps flash mode. The high speeds are excellent for analyzing sports performance: golf or tennis swings, gymnastics, diving moves, and so on. It's fun to experiment with this mode, capturing shots of a cat jumping onto a counter, a dog catching a stick, or a kid jumping into a pool.

The EX-FH2O is adept at movies, as well. It will shoot 720p HD video at 30fps. In high-speed mode, you can capture footage at an amazing 1,000fps, though that's a low, short-and-wide resolution of just 224)(56 pixels. More useful is the 210fps mode, which captures at 480x360 resolution. There's also an interim 420fps mode that captures at 224x168 pixels. The high-speed movie modes require a lot of light, however. Our interior shots with fairly bright lighting were dark and murky; these modes are most useful in the sunny outdoors.

Image quality is good but not exceptional. The noise-reduction feature causes a subtle loss of detail, resulting in somewhat soft images similar to those from Panasonic cameras, as opposed to the sharper images typical of similar Canon and Nikon cameras. Colors are vibrant and accurate for the most part, though yellows did have a very slight greenish tinge. In low-light conditions, both stills and videos have very noticeable noise.

In addition to JPEG stills and MJPEG AVI videos, the EX-FH20 can shoot Adobe DNG RAW-format photos, but only at ISO 100 or 200 and not in high-speed modes. The camera offers full manual aperture, shutter, and focus settings, as well as a Best Shot mode that gives you a visual menu of various presets such as Scenery, Children, Sports, Fireworks, Sundown, and Night Portrait. ISO settings of up to 1,600 are supported, and the lens features fairly effective image stabilization.

The camera has very few controls, relying on a mode dial, a directional pad, and a few buttons for adjusting settings. Though the menus are well labeled, accessing functions such as manual aperture/shutter settings can be confusing at first and may require quite a few button presses. The LCD screen is a very large 3 inches, though at 960x240 pixels, the resolution is a bit low for manual-focus purposes. The EX-FH2O uses standard AA batteries, making it easy to find replacement power when you're on the wad.



Performance-wise, the camera has a startup time of around 3.5 seconds. Shot-to-shot times are hard to quantify given the high-speed nature of the camera. Shutter lag is approximately 0.1 second. As a general-purpose zoom camera, the EX-FII20 is a decent but unexceptional performer, with only its 20x zoom standing out from the competition. But the high-speed modes give you an opportunity for unique shots, whether it's capturing sports, freezing wildlife in action, or just catching that fleeting smile on a fast-moving toddler's face. Though it sacrifices a bit of speed in certain modes compared with the EX-F1, its smaller size and lower price make it a more practical general-purpose camera than its predecessor. —Denny Atkin


Computer Shopper March 2009