No so much a review as it is my impressions with this compact superzoom point and shoot camera. I won´t be going into all the modes and such skipping forward to the parts I found useful.
Last year I had the chance of using the somewhat unique Casio Exilim EX-FH20 superzoom camera and with the only intentions of using it as a video camera as I knew it features a capable video. I brought the camera with me on three occasions all with the goal to use the video mode.
The videomode is quite unique featuring the HD resolution of 720p and various high framerate modes each their own resolution, all the way up to 1000 FPS. Everything was shot using manual focus and by using the screen. Not the easiest task especially since you have to pre-focus before each video take.
I found the video quality in 720p to be surprisingly good and the 1000FPS mode to be for fun only since the resolution is very low. For High framerate takes I ended up using the 210 FPS mode. The videomode showed great colors and noise control but with some oversharpening artifacts especially seen in 720p. But you can´t have it all. Remember this isn´t labeled as a videocamera so to sum it up I was more than satisfied. In the 720p I used the wideangle 26mm constantly while zoomed all the way to 520mm (35mm Equiv) using the 210 FPS since I wanted to capture anything other than landscapes using this mode.
720p mode – 26mm
210FPS mode – 520mm
I ended up using it as a camera also on the very last trip, since it would be more than usefull when shooting landscapes with the wide angle capable 26mm (35mm Equiv) zoom lens.
Lesbos 09 – Consisting of 6 stitched in Autopano Pro
Downloadable sample (Right click as choose “save as..”)
Click HERE if you want to see a larger 4178 x 900 version.
Conclusion
Needless to say I´m quite satisfied by how the camera performed. The 210fps impressed me the most but the overall image quality was surprisingly good. Surely its not a photographers tool as I feel the Sigma Dp2 is but more a compact camera that does it all.
