Casio Exilim EX-F1

Viewfinder
The Casio EX-F1 comes with an electronic viewfinder. It has 201,000 pixels of resolution, so it provides a fairly smooth view. Trouble comes when the camera or subject moves, though: the refresh rate isn’t very good, so motion looks choppy. This is a funny problem with such a high-speed camera.

At 0.2 inches, the viewfinder isn’t very large, but is a fairly standard size for ultra-zoom electronic viewfinders. The Casio EX-F1’s viewfinder protrudes slightly and is surrounded by a cushy rubber eyecup for more comfortable viewing.

The brightness of the images in the viewfinder can be adjusted through the Setup menu from 0 (normal) to +1 and +2. This is a good feature for failing eyes. Another feature made for failing eyes is the diopter adjustment on the left side of the viewfinder, meant for photographers who wear glasses. The dial moves in eight steps. The dial is a pain to move, but it isn’t likely this control will be accessed very often.

The electronic viewfinder has a 100 percent accurate view of the recorded image, an advantage over optical viewfinders that usually have 95 percent accuracy on DSLRs and about 80 percent accuracy on compact digital cameras. Almost all ultra-zoom digital cameras come with electronic viewfinders.

The display on the viewfinder and LCD screen can be changed with the display button. It can hide the file information, show basic info, and show full info with a histogram. Grid lines can be added through the Setup menu.

The Casio EX-F1’s electronic viewfinder is accurate and bright and is a great viewing option when shooting in bright lighting, but the slow refresh rate is worrisome. Once again, the EX-F1 is still considered "pre-production," so this flaw could disappear by production time.

LCD Screen
A 2.8-inch Super Clear LCD screen graces the back of the Casio F1. It has 230,160 pixels, which is the industry standard. Its contrast isn’t excellent – although I was sitting in a poorly-lit room while checking the EX-F1 out – but the brightness adjustment helps. That feature has Auto 2, Auto 1, +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2 options in the Setup menu. The "Auto 2" is the default and is the brighter adjustment. The "Auto 1" saves the battery a bit and holds back on the brightness.

The LCD is easier on the eyes than the much smaller 0.2-inch viewfinder. The view from the viewfinder can be switched to the LCD and vice versa by pushing the EVF/LCD button on the back of the camera. There is also a display button that rotates the information on the screens.

The EX-F1’s LCD can be viewed from very wide angles and doesn’t seem to collect fingerprints easily, both nice perks. The LCD itself seems to have a wider format than most, and uses a small vertical strip on the right as a sort of always-on-screen Function menu.

Flash
The Casio EX-F1 has a tall pop-up flash that covers 1.64 to 34.12 feet with the lens zoomed wide or 3.61 to 20.67 feet with the lens zoomed in. Its coverage couldn’t be fully evaluated on the show floor, but it illuminated subjects within the 10-foot confines of the room I was in. The flash automatically pops up before taking an image: there is no button to manually open it. It pops open quickly, separating itself from some sluggish pop-up flashes on the market.

Many people thought the EX-F1 was a DSLR, and one of the reasons why is the hot shoe on top. It makes it look more serious. A similar camera is the Canon PowerShot S5 IS: it has a similarly shaped body, a 12x optical zoom lens, separate movie and still image buttons, and a hot shoe on top. The Casio’s hot shoe accepts any standard flash unit, though, whereas the Canon only accepts its own branded flashes. Casio representatives said it will not market its own Casio-branded flash accessories at this time, but don’t rule it out for the future.

Flash modes include Auto, Off, On, Red-Eye Reduction, and External Flash; they are available from the on-screen Function menu or by pushing the bottom of the multi-selector. This list doesn’t include any extras, like slow sync, which is included in many cameras.

The flash coverage looks decent, and there are a few ways to adjust the power of the flash. There is a flash exposure compensation option in the menu with a full +/- 2 scale in 1/3 steps. There is also a Rapid Flash mode that dims the power slightly but enables you to photograph a 7 fps burst using the flash for up to 20 shots. This is unprecedented. Most digital cameras disable the flash when the Burst mode is enabled, and the few that do include a Rapid Flash mode certainly don’t go this fast or long. The EX-F1 uses the flash for those shots, but if users want to speed up the burst they can use the internal LED light.

The internal LED allows High-Speed burst between 7 and 60 fps in low light. It remains on like a video light, but isn’t as powerful (Casio reps didn’t have specs on this, but say it covers at least 10 feet). I can’t imagine this would be very useful in many situations. The High-Speed burst seems like a dream for parents who want the perfect football shot and always seem to miss it, but if it’s a night game, the internal LED isn’t going to reach the field and your favorite football player.

Overall, the Casio Exilim F1’s built-in flash unit looks decent. It pops up really high, so red eyes shouldn’t be seen in images. And the hot shoe’s universal acceptance makes it a hot camera for photographers who have the equipment – no matter what brand.

Zoom Lens
There was a misunderstanding when Casio announced the EX-F1’s technology and showed off a prototype months ago, and the camera was deemed a DSLR. The prototype was not a DSLR then, and it is not a DSLR now. It was and is an ultra-zoom digital camera – albeit with some really cool features that seem to transcend into other categories. The Casio EX-F1’s 12x optical zoom lens is fixed onto the front; lenses cannot be interchanged. And there’s no way a DSLR’s mechanical shutter could flip 60 or 300 times in a second.

The 7.3 to 87.6mm zoom range is equivalent to 36 to 432mm in the 35mm format. The lens has wide max apertures of f/2.7-f/4.6. You can move throughout the zoom range in two ways. The default is to use the zoom control that surrounds the shutter release button. The other is to use the rubber ring surrounding the long lens. In the Setup menu, you can choose it to be a zoom ring, focus ring, or burst speed control. As a zoom ring, it isn’t very good. You have to rotate it several times around to move through the 12x range. This isn’t very efficient. It is much easier to push the zoom control by the shutter release button. It moves smoothly and allows you to stop at 25 different focal lengths in the range without backfiring. 

There is 4x digital zoom available, but this will only kill the image quality. This is shown on the same horizontal digital display as the optical zoom on the LCD, but is separated with a vertical line. It takes an extra push of the zoom control to get through the digital barrier, but who would want to?

The proprietary Exilim optical lens has 12 lenses in 9 groups and includes an aspherical lens among the bunch. The Casio EX-F1 uses a CMOS-shift image stabilization system to reduce blur caused by camera shake. 

The lens comes with a hood, but the cap may not be included. Some press materials say it comes with a cap, and others say it doesn’t. Casio reps say it does not. The length of the lens will necessitate some type of lens cap, though: it protrudes and will invite scratches if not covered properly while transporting. Casio’s lens can accept any brand of conversion lenses and filters as long as they fit on the 62mm threading.