Casio EX-FH100

Auto Mode

The auto exposure moe is straightforward, locking out most user adjustments and basing camera settings strictly on lighting conditions, rather than the scene recognition approach being used by some manufacturers.

Movie Mode

The FH100 supports standard-definition, high-definition (720p) and high-speed video, which produces super-slow-motion effects.

The high-speed video mode has four  basic settings: the faster the speed, the lower the resolution. At the fastest 1000 frames per second speed, you're down to a silly 224 x 64 pixel resolution. At 420 fps, resolution is up to 224x168, and at 240fps it's 448 x 336, which is reasonably watchable. For our money, though, the most intriguing option is also the slowest: 120 frames per second at a standard-def 640 x 480 size. At that rate you're still getting extraordinary slow-motion capture of sports, wildlife and other fast-action scenes, at a screen-filling, practical size.

There are two additional high-speed movie modes, 30-240fps and 30-120fps. These modes let you switch with a button press from one speed to another. That might be marginally interesting if a dramatic moment popped up while you were shooting, but we're hard pressed to see much practical benefit.

Drive/Burst Mode

The FH100 steps up the maximum high-speed still shooting resolution from the 6 megapixel level of previous models up to 9 megapixels, even at a blistering 40 frames per second (though you are limited to 30 continuous shots at that speed). The other availble high-speed still choices are 30 fps, 15 fps, 10 fps, 7 fps, 5 fps, 3 fps and 1 fps.

Playback Mode

The on-screen display in playback mode is essentially the same as the record mode options: a display with detailed settings, including a histogram, a version with just the basic file information, and a clean-screen view with no overlays.

All the basic in-camera editing options are provided, including rotation, resizing and trimming. You can also adjust white balacne and brightness, and create a DPOF file for providing instructions to an outside printing service.

The slideshow function lets you choose whether to show all files sequentially, eliminate the high-speed images, or show stills or video only. There is also a selection of between-image transitions available for your amusement.

Custom Image Presets

The unfortunately named BS slot on the mode dial takes you to the Best Shot mode, which is Casio's term for preset scene modes. There are roughly 30 in all, including several that take advantage of the camera's high-speed still and video modes. These are indicated with appropriate icons on the mode selection screen. Unfortunately, the modes are indicated by photos without labels to identify them, which complicates the selection process. The solution is to press the Zoom control, which brings up a screen-by-screen text and picture summary of each mode, which can then be scrolled using the four-way controller. It isn't a perfect solution, but if you're a scene mode user, you'll probably learn which photo refers to which shooting mode reasonably quickly.

A few advanced modes are tucked into the options here. There an in-camera high dynamic range mode that combines two quickly-shot photos at different exposures to enhance dynamic range reproduction. Another high-speed mode combines two images to reduce blur. Yet another mode, called Multi Motion Image, composites multiple exposure of a single subject into a single image. The sample shot in the menu shows a snowboarder in sequential positions, but of course, there's a clear blue sky background in this image, which makes the compositing more successful than we'd expect in an ordinary shooiing situation.