Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)
by CASIO
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: CASIOModel: FC100 Black
Color: Black
Product features:
- 9.1-megapixel resolution
- 5x optical image-stabilized zoom
- 30 shot-per-second high-speed burst shooting (6 MP images)
- HD Movie function
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
- Adobe Photoshop CS5 Upgrade [Old Version]
- Serif PhotoPlus X3
- Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]
- Aperture 3
- Davis & Sanford Vista Trailblazer Monopod
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)
Customer Review: Decent camera, but it has its downsides. [WARNING: LONG REVIEW]
Summary: 4 Stars
Ever since I bought a Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black) in August of 2008, I have been taking tons of pictures. Almost daily. When it finally died after about a year of use (in August of 2009), I bought this camera, mainly because it had the ability to shoot videos in High Speed (210, 420, 1000 fps). To emphasize how many pictures I take, I have taken over 6500 photos since I've gotten this camera. I'm not disappointed with my purchase, but I'm not overly thrilled either, and here's why.
Because this is such a long review, I included this Review Order:
Video
-HD
-STD
-High Speed
-Editing
-Summary
Photo and Photo Settings
-Photo quality
-Zoom
-Settings
-Summary
Battery
Other
End
VIDEO:
I think a main reason that people will want this camera is because it has the ability to shoot in HD video. 720p HD video, to be precise. For the people who don't know what that means, like myself, it means that it shoots in 1280x720 pixel dimensions (If you want to know how big that would show up on your computer, then just google "1280x720" and some images will come up that are that size). I don't know how many fps it shoots in, but I would assume 30. This HD video is all fine and dandy, except for a few problems. Unless you're videoing in daylight, there will be a noticeable amount of noise in your videos. Not the audible noise, but image noise, which kind of looks like static. Also, it takes up around 3.5 MB for every SECOND of video. That means that if you have a 30 second video, it will take up around 100 MB of storage space on your computer, which, to me, is a lot.
My personal preference is to use the STD video (the smaller resolution). The dimensions on the STD version are 640x480, and it shoots in 30 fps. This only takes up a little over 1 MB for every second of video. This is the smallest resolution that you can get on video (while still including audio). It has the same problem with the HD video regarding daylight shooting. If you're shooting in anything other than natural daylight, there will be noise.
On to the High Speed video. (One main point that I'd like to make first; High Speed video on this camera ONLY works in natural light. If you try it with light bulbs or something, you will get a strobe light effect during playback) There are four different options that you can have for this. You can shoot in 210 fps, 420 fps, 1000 fps, or 30-210 fps, a cool little feature that allows you to shoot in 30 fps (normal speed) and then switch into 210 fps (making it seven times slower). Armed with this, you can come up with some pretty creative video shooting ideas, such as someone running up to a wall in regular speed, then right before they jump onto the wall, you can slow it down. You have to be pretty quick with your fingers, though. ONE DISADVANTAGE ABOUT THE HIGH SPEED VIDEOS. No audio is recorded. At all. That was a bit of a disappointment when I received this camera. I don't remember seeing it being addressed before, so I'm addressing it here. Okay, now into a more detailed view of the high speed video. The 210 fps and 30-210 fps video settings are shot in 480x360 dimensions. The 420 fps video setting is in 224x168 dimensions. The 1000 fps setting is shot in 224x64 dimensions. My personal favorite is the 420 fps setting. It's at a decent slow rate, but it's not too small to see what's going on.
The editing is pretty nice, better than the Canon had. With this camera, you can cut the beginning, end, AND middle. One downside though, when you import it onto your computer, whatever time you edited it becomes the time that it was taken. That's not a huge detail, but it bothers my partially-OCD mind.
Summary of Video:
HD video is superb in quality, as long as it is in natural light. However, the file size for it is very large (kind of a 'go figure' aspect, but I'm including it anyway).
STD video is a good setting, as long as it is in natural light. Not overly huge in file size.
High Speed video was a little bit of a letdown for me, but if you can live with only using it in natural light and having it not be in the wonderful quality that you see on Mythbusters or Time Warp, then it's pretty nice. My personal recommendation is to use the 420 fps almost all of the time.
Random comments: You can't shoot video in Macro. This was a huge blow for me, what with my first camera being a Canon and stuff. Also, THE VIDEO DOES NOT AUTO FOCUS. I don't think any point and shoot camera does that. When you start to record a video, it's fixed in the focus that it started with. You don't notice it when you start recording 10 feet from an object and then move 5 feet away from it. But if you started 1 foot away and then move closer, you'll notice.
Now on to the actual point of a camera, the photos.
PHOTO AND PHOTO SETTINGS:
First things first: It does not have a viewfinder for your eyes. All it has is the screen. Nothing else.
The quality of the pictures is very nice. Comparing photos from my Canon to this Casio, I actually think that the Casio is better in most ways. The flash isn't as severe (you can actually choose the intensity of the flash, which is awesome even though I usually don't use it). Here are some options when it comes to picture-taking:
Resolution: 3456x2592, 3456x2304, 3456x1944, 2816x2112, 2304x1728, 1600x1200, 640x480.
ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
White Balance: Auto WB, Daylight, Overcast, Shade, DayWhite Fluorescent, Daylight Fluorescent, Tungsten, Manual WB
Color Filters: None, Black and White, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Indigo
Exposure: -2 through +2
Slow Motion View*: 1sec (30 fps), 2sec (15 fps), 3sec (10 fps)
Slow Motion View Speed**: Slow (1) through Fast (8)
Lag Correction***: 0.3 sec, 0.2 sec, 0.1 sec, Off
Flash: Auto, Flash Off, Flash On, Red Eye Reduction
*There's a button on the camera that allows for "Slow Motion view" that will display the next few seconds in slow motion, based on the option you chose. "1sec (30 fps)" would display the next one second in 30 different frames. "2sec (15 fps)" would display the next two seconds in 30 different frames, and "3sec (10 fps)" would display the next three seconds in 30 different frames. A good idea for people who are into sports.
** This controls how fast the aforementioned slow motion view plays back the frames, from Slow to Fast.
*** Just in case something happens and you're delayed in pushing the shutter button. This fixes the lag that your reflexes create.
A little detail I'd like to make about the zoom. 1x-5x Optical is very nice quality. The digital zoom following the optical zoom isn't the best, but it works as well as you can expect it too. It washes out the subject a little, but not enough to panic over. If you want to see how powerful the zoom is, look in the "customer images" section. I uploaded a picture under "SeekayFilms" that shows how much zoom 20x is.
Note about how far the lens extends: With no zoom, the lens juts out 1.25 inches (3cm). At the highest magnified zoom, the lens juts out around 1.4 inches (3.5 cm)
This camera has a lot of "BestShot" options, too. To name a few, there's Auto, Macro, Children, Sports, Sunset, Autumn Leaves, Nightscene, Fireworks, High Speed Antishake, Multi Motion Image, Move out CS, Move In CS, Prerecord, etc. I'll explain the ones that are mostly special:
Nightscene: Takes between 10 and 30 pictures, then compiles them into one for a nice, blur-free night image.
Fireworks: Leaves the shutter open for around 2 seconds. Good especially for lightning pictures (but that may only be me).
High Speed Antishake: Same concept as the nightscene setting, but this one is intended for daylight photos.
Multi Motion Image: Now this one is interesting. You'll need a tripod for it, though. Or a REALLY steady hand. I'll use an example to explain it. Suppose you were watching a snowboarder go off of a jump. If you took the picture right as he left the ramp (and didn't move the camera at all), you would have a picture that included him on the ramp, just leaving the ramp, in midair, etc.
Move Out CS: Another tripod-requiring mode. Let's say you wanted a picture of a bird flying off of a branch. You find the bird on the tree. You make sure that a box on the camera display surrounds him. You press the shutter button. Then he flies off. As soon as the camera detects that the bird is leaving the box, it snaps a succession of 30 frames that you can pick and choose from.
Move In CS: Same concept as above, but this is for if you wanted a picture of the bird flying onto the branch. As soon as the camera detects something entering the box, it snaps a succession of 30 frames that you can pick and choose from.
Prerecord: This is for videos. It prerecords 5 seconds of video. So if you start recording the video at 1:10:35 PM, you'll have all of the video from 1:10:30 PM through 1:10:35 PM.
Another thing that I like about this camera is the "30 Frames Per Second" shooting mode. You put the camera into this mode, and the next time you press the shutter button, it will take 30 frames in one second at a resolution of 2816×2112 per photo. Then you can choose "Save All" or "Save Selected". I find this to be a very fun thing to do when my dog is running around the backyard.
Summary on the photos:
I actually really like the photo settings on this camera. There are some "eh" parts, but all-in-all I think that the photos are pretty good.
One thing that annoys me, though. It has a lot of problems with focusing at night, especially if I'm zoomed in on something.
BATTERY:
I almost forgot to add this. The battery life of this camera is pretty good. I used to find myself charging it every three days, but recently, once a week works out pretty well. There's a bar that tells you how much battery life is left, but it tends to fluctuate randomly, depending on what setting you have it on. Sometimes it goes down to empty right after I take a picture, then returns to 2/3rds full. It takes between one and two hours to charge it fully, but it's not a necessity that you keep it charging that long. Usually what I do is I stick it in there before I go out somewhere, then just take it out when I'm ready to go.
RANDOM NOTES:
This is a surprisingly durable camera. I mainly only say that because I dropped it into snow in my backyard and couldn't find it for three days. When I did find it, it still worked. One bad thing, though. Before that happened, the lens cover had been having some problems. When I turned the camera on, it wouldn't open all the way. I began to suspect that it did this in cold weather. After leaving it in the snow for three days, it has been having this problem permanently. I contacted Casio about it, and they said it was something that would require me to send it in for a repair. I might end up having to do that sometime soon, but given how many pictures I take, it's not an idea that I smile upon.
Also, the strap that it comes with isn't that great, at least not for my hands. So I just used the one from my deceased Canon camera. You also have the ability to put it on either the right side of the camera or the left side.
SUMMARY:
This is a decent camera for $217 (the current price). When I bought it in August, it was $250. Seems pretty durable, except for the lens cover. It seems like a very daylight-oriented camera. The video has a lot of problems if you're not shooting in natural light, which is a bust if you want to video something at night. Photos turn out decently when taken at night. I've noticed that, right after a sunset, there's sometimes a noticeable amount of noise in my outdoor photographs. But only in some of them.
All in all, I wouldn't highly recommended this camera, but I definitely wouldn't label it as a horrible camera.
Sheez, I hope that's everything. I'll probably publish this, then remember something to add. Oh well, such is life.
/review
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Description of Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)
Combining a slim-lined body with amazing High Speed features, the EX-FC100 is the perfect camera for capturing your friends and family at play.Digital Cameras
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