Groundbreaking High Speed Camera: Casio Exilim F1
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Even though many years have passed since I accidentally became a professional photographer, I still am not much of an authority on equipment, but I know what to look for in a good photojournalist’s camera. When asked by the layman what camera I use, I usually reply that it’s a Canon Digital SLR, 6-mega pixels, 20D or 40D…I can’t remember the model number. That’s how I describe my workhorse, the camera that I’ve been using for at least four or five years. I know its limitations, and I know its benefits, and I know how to get what I want from it, sports action, but I can’t remember the model number.
Recently, I was asked by a photography magazine to test the new Casio Exilim digital camera, which, I was told, shot ultra high speed capture of up to 60 still images per second, at 6 mega pixels per image!
It also records movies in full High Definition, STD Def. or High Speed, 1200 frames per second. These specs sounded insane and reminded me of a book project that I worked on a couple of years ago with unbelievable super slow motion video from the CBS Minolta Swing Vision camera. To have this kind of technology in a camera with a street price of around $1000 is amazing, but what does the image quality look like?
Although this camera looks like a Digital SLR, you cannot change the lenses, but the built in unit has a 12X zoom, 36 – 432mm. It has a built in flash, which can fire at 7 frames per second in “Flash Continuous Shutter” mode. The camera records onto SD or SDHC Memory Card, but to process 60-frames-per second quickly, you’ll want to get the highest speed version of these cards.
For the field test, I took this camera on two-weeks of grueling golf photo shoots, working the camera 12 hours a day. Of course I brought my workhorse Canon as my main camera, but left it in the bag most of the time.
The first week was spent covering the International Long Drive Competition in Mesquite, Nevada. This would be a true test for a high-frame rate camera; these golfers have the fastest swings in the world! Some have club head speeds approaching 150 mph!
When trying to capture these big hitters at the moment of impact, when the club contacts the ball, a seasoned sports action photographer would have to shoot the golfer hitting at least a dozen balls. With the Casio, I shot the golfer once, and got several photos in the “impact zone” that I could use. The focusing system seems more accurate than my much more expensive Canon, and the exposure was dead on.
The next week, I shot 15 articles with various high-profile teaching professionals in Scottsdale, Arizona. As I worked my way through the shot list, I played with the “exposure bracketing” mode, which underexposes, overexposes and correctly exposes each capture, ensuring that you get a good image.
I also took some sequences in “Flash Continuous Shutter” mode, using the on-camera flash to light up the shadows on the golfer at 7 frames per second.
This camera stood up to 12-hour days of continuous professional use. Its groundbreaking functions are causing me to rethink how I can capture sports action photography. Although I’ve given it a good workout, I think that I’ve only scratched the surface of what this camera can do.
Warren Keating is an artist living in Los Angeles. His work can be seen and purchased online at KeatingArt.com
Review ID: 10000000009307225
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