Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1 60 frames per second stills camera with HD movie capabilities
Think of a Casio camera and a model from the compact EXILIM range is most likely to spring to mind. Casio has never really ventured far from the safety of its popular and thoughtfully designed compact range, other than the ‘prosumer’ model, the EXILIM Pro EX-505. So it’s with anticipation that the EXILIM Pro EX-F1 steps into the limelight. The ‘Pro’, we assume, stands for ‘prosumer’, as although the camera boasts some impressive specifications, this is not an SLR.
A first look at the Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1 shows it to be a stylish and well crafted model with a large 7.3-87.6mm, 12x optical zoom lens and a generous 2.8-inch TFT colour LCD monitor. The camera is surprisingly lightweight considering its size, weighing in at 671g. In some ways it can be looked upon as a blessing to have such a lightweight prosumer, especially if you want to carry the camera around all day. However, the plastic casing does feel a little flimsy and cheap.
Controls on the EX-F1 are well positioned and it’s easy to adjust settings whilst keeping a good grip on the camera. The EXILIM Function Ring on the lens works well as a focus ring, although it would have been nice if this worked as the zoom control. Instead, zoom is controlled with a switch surrounding the shutter button.
Casio has always managed to give great scene mode options with its ‘Best Shot’ control. Through this you’re able to pick the most suitable shooting settings for scenarios like ‘Soft Flowing Water’, ‘For YouTube’ and ‘Digital Panning’. Although the EX-F1 has a fully auto mode as well as Aperture priority, Shutter priority and Manual mode, it’s good to see that Best Shot is still there, with more choice of modes than ever before. This is a great option if you want to get the best out of an unusual scene but don’t want to have to work out adequate manual settings.
Next to the BS, A, S, M dial, another dial sits adjacent to the camera’s hot shoe, allowing you to adjust the frame capture settings from a single shot to, among others, self-timer, bracketed shot and high-speed capture. This latter is the main selling point of the Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1: it’s capable of capturing up to 60 frames per second in high-speed continuous shooting mode. The rate at which shots can be taken (provided the lighting is adequate) is pretty phenomenal and means that capturing subjects such as high speed sports is a doddle.
This is one of the biggest reasons for purchasing this camera over an entry-level SLR. Of course, with such a rapid shooting rate your memory card would soon fill up to capacity if it automatically saved out all frames. However, after your finger lifts off the shutter button the camera gives you the option to review all frames. It then works through the captured images like a slideshow and you ‘save out’ the best from the crop by re-pressing the shutter button.
As well as manual shoot settings the EX-F1 has eight different white balance settings including manual white balance adjustment. There’s scope for +/- 2 EV compensation as well as three different focusing and metering options. Once you’re in any menu mode it’s easy to select your options using the rotating dial that surrounds the directional control pad.
One of the biggest bugbears of the Casio EXILIM EX-F1 is the included lens hood. This is a real pain to attach, awkwardly fixing onto the lens. Once it is on, shoot with flash and the hood causes a shadow at the bottom of the frame. Of course, you could argue that if you’re shooting with the internal flash then there’s no need to have the lens hood on in the first place. However, it’s such a pain to get it on and off that you’ll most probably want to leave it on during the day.
The EX-F1 isn’t just for digital stills, however. On the far, top-right-hand side of the rear of the camera sits a ‘record’ button. If this is pressed whilst in a suitable capture mode then the camera records up to 29 minutes of ‘high-def’ video (1920 x 1080 FHD, 60 fields per second), although smaller and high-speed movies are also an option.
Unfortunately, for stills images the Casio Pro EX-F1 is only capable of capturing 6.0 effective megapixels on its high-speed CMOS sensor - a low figure by today’s standards. However, it is capable of capturing RAW files as well as JPEG to give you a bit more control over your shots during post-production.
RAW files captured on the camera will give you the opportunity to print a photograph at a maximum size of 2,816 x 2,112 pixels. If this isn’t a problem for you, the quality of the stills is good: colours are well saturated and representative of the environment in which the shot was taken.
The added face-detection option does a good job of keeping portraits sharp and, provided the right scene or manual settings are chosen, then there’s very little need to tweak levels or colour settings in image editing software.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
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