Manual Control Options
The FH20 does have manual controls for both aperture and shutter speed, but they're rather poorly implemented. When in aperture or shutter priority, the relevant setting is altered with left and right buttons, but the exposure isn't actually shown until you half-press the shutter button, when it'll darken to simulate the actual photo, and will change the on-screen text to red to warn you if you're under- or over-exposed. However, if you are in full manual mode, you won't even get this colored warning to tell you if you haven't set a viable exposure.
Focus
Auto Focus (4.50)
Auto focus on the FH20 can be set to one of three modes: Spot, Free (which lets you select a point) and Tracking (which starts centered, and then tries to track the object in focus as you move the camera). Unfortunately, this last mode failed completely in tracking objects, even when there was a significant contrast difference. In fact, auto focus was, across the board, relatively mediocre. The camera often struggled to find focus, either suffering through a lengthy delay or failing entirely.
A button on the barrel of the lens changes the focusing mode between: auto, macro (12 cm to 50 cm), super macro (1 cm to 12 cm) or manual.
The different focusing modes.
The FH20's face detection system can be turned on through the menu system, and once again failed to impress us, struggling to recognize people.
Manual Focus (6.00)
Unfortunately, the FH20 doesn't have any sort of focus ring on the lens, though it feels like it does. So, alas, you are forced to use the left and right buttons on the four-way pad instead. Most digital cameras with manual focus offer focus assist, where the center of the image is partially enlarged to allow more accurate adjustment For some reason, when we used this function on the FH20, the transition from normal viewing to enlarged was extremely abrupt, and just about sent us hurtling from our chair in surprise.
ISO (6.50)
The FH20 has an average range of ISOs: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and auto. However, while shooting RAW images, the ISO must be 200 or below, for no stated reason.
White Balance (6.00)
In addition to auto mode, the Casio has white balance presets for daylight, overcast, shade, DayWhite (sic) fluorescent, daylight fluorescent, tungsten as well as manual mode.
Exposure (5.50)
The FH20 offers aperture-priority, shutter-priority, full manual and auto exposure modes. Exposure compensation is available from the quick menu in the -2.0EV to +2.0EV range, in 1/3EV increments.
The AEL button on the lens barrel can be set to AE Lock, AF Lock or both via the menu.
Metering (8.50)
There are three metering modes to choose from on the FH20: Spot (meters from the direct center), Center-weighted (meters from most of the image, but with an emphasis on the center) and Multi (which uses the entire image).
Shutter Speed (10.00)
While in single shot mode, the shutter speed runs a respectable range from 30 seconds to 1/2000 second. However, if you flick the mode dial over to continuous shooting, this extends down to a blisteringly fast 1/40000. So, if you ever feel the desire to photograph a supernova, or object of equal brightness, this camera may be for you. To stop you from completely over-exposing your images, Casio limits the maximum shutter speeds depending on your ISO. At ISO 100 you can get 30 seconds, which drops to 15" at ISO 200, 8" at ISO 400, 4" at ISO 800 and 2" at ISO 1600.
Aperture (5.50)
The aperture range runs from f/2.8 to f/7.9 when fully zoomed out, and drops to f/4.5 to f/8 at maximum telephoto. This is a respectable result, and a hair better than the EX-F1.
