Casio Exilim EX-FC100

Resolution (9.03)

Our resolution test looks at three factors: distortion, sharpness and chromatic aberration, and the Casio performed below average. For each facet of this test, we photograph a resolution chart at three focal lengths, and from that we can tell how the distortion, sharpness and chromatic aberration change over 18 areas of the lens at each focal length.

Due to its low sharpness, the Casio received a lower resolution score than the comparison cameras. More on how we test resolution.

Distortion (9.09)

The Casio did pretty well in our image distortion test. At 6.4mm, it was a bit heavy on the barreling (1.4%), at 14.4mm and 32.1mm it was around 0.7%, which is far more reasonable. This puts it above the Canon SD970 IS and the Sony T900, but worse than the Fuji F200EXR.

Sharpness (9.36)

The EX-FC100 struggled in our sharpness test, scoring lower than the other three tested cameras. As with most cameras, the images were the sharpest at the very center of the lens, then got less sharp outwards from there, but picked up again towards the edges. The highest sharpness was at 6.4mm, at the dead center of the lens, and the lowest was at 32.1mm, half way between the center and outside edges. The maximum sharpness we saw was just over 2000 line widths per picture height (a measure of how many alternating black and white lines the camera could theoretically resolve), but on average it was below 1200 lw/ph, which is much less than we saw on other cameras.

Chromatic Aberration (8.11)

The chromatic aberration follows a similar pattern to the sharpness. It’s at its best at the center of the lens, gets worse as you head out, before improving again at the corners. However, the best chromatic aberration is found at the focal length of 14.4mm, half way through the zoom range of the camera.

This chart shows same-size crops from our resolution chart, taken at the center and edges of the frame, to show the sharpness and chromatic aberration.

Quality & Size Options (7.25)

The EX-FC100 has a broad selection of image sizes, and has three compression settings: fine, normal, and economy. It does not shoot RAW.

Image Stabilization (0.00)

Our image stabilization test is based around typical indoor lighting, around 100 lux, and an exposure time of approximately 1/30th of a second. These are the sort of conditions that typical indoor photography deals with, and when image stabilization is most needed. The Casio did very poorly in this setup; its image stabilization system actually made the images look significantly worse. More on how we test image stabilization.

Stabilization Comparisons
Casio EX-FC100	Canon SD970 IS	Fujifilm F200EXR	Sony DSC-T900
Stabilization Off
Stabilization On