Photos: Hands-on with the Casio Exilim EX-F1 and friends
Casio claims its new high-end Exilim EX-F1 will "change the world of photography" and given it manages an astonishing 1,200 frames per second, who are we to argue?
Casio has announced no fewer than five new Exilim digital cameras: four compacts and one behemoth. Who can say how legend will remember the beast pictured here; Casio calls it the Exilim EX-F1.
The EX-F1 packs a high-speed CMOS sensor, high-speed flash, and a high-speed LSI processor. These doohickeys need to be high-speed because this zippy snapper is living up to its Formula 1-esque moniker.
We scoffed at Casio's talk earlier this year of burst speeds that would leave Lewis Hamilton giddy, but now the EX-F1 is here and it busts out an astonishing 60 frames per second. That's at a full 6-megapixel resolution. If you want a longer timespan the frame rate can be dropped with a handy slider using the EX-F1's neat scroll wheel.
Casio claims the EX-F1 will "change the world of photography". We'll see quite soon, as the EX-F1 could be in shops as soon as March and will probably retail for about $1,000 (roughly £500).
Click through the links for more on the EX-F1 and the rest of the new Exilim range. -Rich Trenholm
Update: a Casio Exilim EX-F1 review is now on the site
Other features on the EX-F1 include a pre-record option that captures frames before you press the shutter -- as long as you were pointing it in the right direction to start with.
As if that wasn't enough, Casio has also packed in 1,200fps movie recording. This captures movement faster than the eye can see, so footage can be played back in ultra-slooowwwmoooo. This might not sound very exciting, but trust us, we've seen the demo footage and it's pretty gobsmacking. Sadly that's at a resolution of 336x96 pixels, but the memory requirements would be astronomical otherwise. Video can also be shot at high-definition 1080i, and the video function has a dedicated shutter button. Handy.
Despite explicitly ruling out an entry into the dSLR sector, Casio has clearly aimed the EX-F1 at the professional and top-end photographer. If you were feeling particularly frisky, you could argue that the EX-F1 is the first truly digital top-end camera, rather than the age-old SLR form with a sensor instead of film. Could this then be the beginning of the end of the dSLR? We'll just have to wait and see.
The Exilim Card EX-S10 claims to be the world's smallest and thinnest 10-megapixel model. Great for the line of your pocket, but has Casio considered the message this sends out to impressionable children? Thin doesn't mean desirable, kids; just be yourself.
It's available in red, blue, silver and black. Casio claims the 69mm (2.7 inch) Super Clear LCD is the brightest, highest-contrast monitor on the market.
The Exilim Zoom EX-Z80 is an 8-megapixel snapper available in black, silver, lime green, vivid pink, soft pink or silver.
Following on from Casio's YouTube mode, the new models feature iTunes compatibility. Handily, video files shot on the Exilims can be dragged and dropped into iTunes for easy sync with iPod or iPhone.
Finally, meet the EX-Z100 and EX-Z200. Both are 10.1-megapixel models featuring a wide-angle 28 mm lens with 4x optical zoom. They also feature the Super Clear LCD technology. The EX-Z100 comes in silver, pink, blue and a rather sweet chocolate brown.
The EX-Z200, pictured, also boasts optical image stabilisation, so it sounds a better bet. Sadly the silver, black and red colour options aren't as spiffy.
Update: Read our full Casio Exilim EX-Z100 review.