Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 9 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.

The Casio EX-FC100 produces images of good quality. The biggest issue is noise and loss of detail at relatively slow ISO speeds. The 1/2.3 inch, 9 megapixel sensor recorded noise-free images at ISO 100, but there's already some noise and slight softening of detail at ISO 200. ISO 400 shows a little more noise, loss of fine detail and significant colour desaturation, and ISO 800 and 1600 are even worse, with obvious loss of fine detail and even more noise. The Casio EX-FC100 handled chromatic aberrations well, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and generally at the edges of the frame. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with just a little red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph was poor, with the maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds not being long enough for most after-dark shots, resulting in under-exposure. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 3 cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Casio EX-FC100 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.

Noise

There are 5 ISO settings available on the Casio EX-FC100. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% Crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Casio EX-FC100 has 3 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

9M Fine (4.11Mb) (100% Crop)	9M Normal (2.17Mb) (100% Crop)
9M Economy (1.46Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Casio EX-FC100 handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with some limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Casio EX-FC100 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Casio EX-FC100 are Auto, Flash Off, Flash On, and Red Eye Reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (37mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (185mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (185mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (185mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, both the Flash On or the Red-eye reduction settings caused a tiny amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red Eye Reduction	Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Casio EX-FC100's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds in the Night Scene Best Shot mode, which is disappointing news if you're seriously interested in night photography, as it doesn't allow you to capture enough light in most situations. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 2 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Casio EX-FC100 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/8th / 37mm
1/5th / 185mm

30 FPS Mode

The Casio EX-FC100 can shoot an incredible 30 frames in just 1 second (the resolution automatically drops to 6 megapixels). After the sequence of shots has been captured, the camera takes around 10 seconds to process them, during which no further pictures can be taken. This montage demonstrates what 30 frames per second can actually capture.

Full Size Image

High Speed Video

In addition to the highest quality HD 720p, 1280x720 pixels at 30fps video mode (example here), the Casio EX-FC100 also offers 3 different high-speed video modes - 480x360 pixels at 210fps, 224x168 pixels at 420fps, and 224x64 pixels at 1000fps. Here are some examples for each setting:

View the 210fps Movie (63.6Mb)

View the 420fps Movie (34.5Mb)

View the 1000fps Movie (20.7Mb)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Casio EX-FC100 camera, which were all taken using the 9 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Casio EX-FC100 is certainly one of the most innovative compact cameras of 2009, with an obvious focus on capturing fast-moving subjects and helping you not to miss that decisive moment. The ability to shoot 30 images in one second at the touch of a button is amazing for any camera, DSLR or compact, and if you can't choose the best shot, then the EX-FC100 can do that for you too. The only downsides are the reduction in resolution to 6 megapixels, which applies to all of this camera's high-speed still image functions, and despite that, the fact that memory cards quickly fill up if you regularly use the burst mode. On the video side, the EX-FC100 can record both 720p HD and super slow-motion movies, although both modes are somewhat hampered by huge file sizes, poor or no sound, the inability to optically zoom, and in the case of slow-motion, drastically reduced resolutions. Still, having all of this functionality in such a compact and well-built camera puts the Casio EX-FC100 at the head of the action pack.

Add in the 5x optical zoom lens (though sadly not a wide-angle one), decent LCD screen and intuitive design, and the Casio EX-FC100 seems to be one of the most well-appointed point-and-shoots on the market. Unfortunately the image quality doesn't quite match the feature list, with the EX-FC100 suffering from less than stellar images in low-light due to obvious noise appearing at ISO 200 and faster. Most of this camera's recent main rivals also suffer from this problem, but they typically offer 12 or more megapixels, rather than the 9 megapixels of the EX-FC100. The fastest shutter speed of 4 seconds also limits what you can do after dark, although the innovative High-Speed Night Scene mode partly makes up for this by allowing you to successfully hand-hold the camera in relatively low-light conditions.

$399.99 / £349.99 is a high price to pay for what is essentially a point and shoot compact with merely good image quality, so you really need to ask yourself if you will make full use of all those high-speed shooting options. If the answer is yes, then the Casio EX-FC100 is clearly one of the best cameras around for capturing all of the action.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	3.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Casio EX-FC100 from around the web.

Specifications

Your Comments