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. (more…)
Tagged Under : Casio camera, Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1, EXILIM Pro EX-505
Canon HR10 camcorder Canon’s DVD-based HD camcorder
Choice, as every shopper recognizes, is both a godsend and a nightmare. It’s great to be able to compare lots of versions of the same basic product, but almost impossible to weigh up all the pros and cons accurately to make a swift decision to buy. This is particularly evident when buying a new digital camera, whether for moving or still pictures - especially as most digital cameras will perform both functions with varying degrees of success.
Canon’s HR10 camcorder is a case in point. Whereas its high definition predecessors recorded on hard drive (HG10) and MiniDV tape (HV20), the HR10 captures its images on 8cm DVDs and the quartet of formats will be complete shortly when the HF10 and HF100 are released with dual flash memory recording. So what are the advantages and negatives of the DVD version?
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Tagged Under : Canon, Canon Camera, digital cameras, HD Video lens, HR10 camcorder
Canon PowerShot G9 12-megapixel digital camera
Canon’s PowerShot G9 shoots still photos at a maximum resolution of 12.1 megapixels. That results in huge file sizes. At the best quality you are looking at about 5MB per file, sometimes more, sometimes less. Shooting at that quality gives you the potential for getting prints at up to A2 size: large enough for you to make posters from your photos.
You can, of course, scale things down in several increments, to 640 x 480 if that’s what you want. And you can scale up too, with the camera capable of shooting uncompressed RAW format files.
Video footage comes in at a maximum of 1,024 x 768 pixels and 15 frames per second, or 640 x 480 and 30 frames per second. (more…)
Tagged Under : Camera, Canon, Digital, Digital Camera, LCD, megapixel, powershot, USB
Canon Digital IXUS 960 IS high quality 12-megapixel digital compact
It’s becoming increasingly difficult, when buying compact digital cameras off the shelf, to tell one from another, as the standard rectangular silver casing seems to be the norm for the majority of the market. It therefore comes as a pleasant surprise, when removing the packaging from the latest Canon Digital IXUS, to see a more ‘battleship grey’ tone of titanium and a sexy, indented curve to the front and sides.
It feels solid and comfortable to hold, too, measuring 90 x 57 x 26mm and weighing 165g. One slight annoyance, however, was the frequent appearance of fingerprints on the circular surround encompassing the lens on the front. (more…)
Tagged Under : Camera, Canon, Canon Digital IXUS, digita camera, Digital, LCD, megapixel
Pentax Optio S10 stylish compact 10-megapixel digital camera
Pentax has been onto a winner since starting the Optio S series back in 2003, and with each succeeding model the company has been refining, improving and embellishing, so that you feel you own one of the most stylish and versatile compact digital cameras around.
For a start, the all-silver aluminium casing looks ultra-cool, with the camera logo etched into the front and further embossing on the top. It also feels satisfyingly weighty for a compact (130g with battery and memory card loaded) and the controls are designed to make it as simple as possible for you to point and shoot with the minimum amount of adjustments.
As with all the Optio S cameras, the lens is an SMC Pentax 3x zoom sliding lens that fits snugly into the body and takes seconds to become ready for action. Round the back is a 2.5-inch, 232,000-colour screen, a D-pad style control panel, zoom buttons, separate playback and menu plus a delete button.
Less than £150 is good value for a 10-megapixel camera using a 1/1.8-inch CCD sensor. (more…)