Casio EX-F1 720p30 video- impressive!

[Steve Nunez]

Hey guys, the new Casio high speed cam (Exilim) shoots very good HD video at both 720 and 1080 resolutions. Check out some raw video here (you'll need to be a Vimeo member for full HD video downloads- FREE)
It's encoded internally using X.264 which means native video editing on Macs & PC's- unlike AVCHD (yuck!)

SteveNunez's videos on Vimeo
(Click the Video Title text- don't bother with the small inline clips.)

[Stephen van Vuuren]

What about manual control in videos or is it the same issues as D90, 5D Mk II?

[Steve Nunez]

You can control many aspects of video shooting manually, such as; focus, frame rate (up to a point) EV (+/- 2.0 in 1/3 steps) aperture & shutter speed (as well as WB etc.) So there are many variables you can control for movie shooting. You can set the camera to Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Best Shot (video optimized presets) and full Manual!
There is a histogram to monitor highlights/shadows and exposure as well as AF/EL lock- so the cam is quite good for video.
It also has a "Mic In" -it's quite a little gem and produces some of the best 720p & 1080i60 video (which can easily be de-interlaced for beautiful 1080P30 video) I've seen in a SD card camera.
Check out the Vimeo videos and download the full res 720p clips and judge for yourself the quality it produces. For $999 I find it more useable than the current crop of AVCHD cameras.
The Casio shoots with a X.264 codec meaning small file sizes yet many NLE's CAN edit the footage without transcoding- unlike AVCHD!
(Data Rate is 8.8mbps for 720 and 14+ mbps for 1080)

[Stephen van Vuuren]

Originally Posted by Steve Nunez

You can control many aspects of video shooting manually, such as; focus, frame rate (up to a point) EV (+/- 2.0 in 1/3 steps) aperture & shutter speed (as well as WB etc.) So there are many variables you can control for movie shooting. You can set the camera to Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Best Shot (video optimized presets) and full Manual!
There is a histogram to monitor highlights/shadows and exposure as well as AF/EL lock- so the cam is quite good for video.

Interesting. The clips do look good. Have you tested the mic in?

So, from what you are saying you set a 1/30th or 1/60 shutter speed, check exposure, set iris manual, lock focus and roll clip and it will stay at that, period? Is the histogram RGB or individual channels?

This does appear to give it a major advantage over D90 and MK II. I wonder if Casio will add 24p mode.

[Steve Nunez]

You have "some" control over the HD shooting modes but not full manual.
Since there is a "Live" LCD, adjustments are instantly viewable while making them. You can use the EV +/- to adjust for highlight clipping or shadow crushing- you can also control ISO settings.

Overall it has been producing some of the best video I've seen anywhere within it's class- matter of fact I can't think of a single still camera that shoots better video aside from the new DSLR's! I also prefer it's video to those of the AVCHD camcorders. The clips are not AVCHD they are X.264 encoded which many NLE's can handle with similar file size and data rates to AVCHD (why bother?)

I wish they'd allow full manual control but then again I can't think of a video look/exposure I can't achieve with the settings allowed at this time. I bought this camera specifically for the video mode and it's been fantastic!
Highly recommended but download the user's manual and make sure it's for you!

[Paul Cascio]

Really cool Steve. Does it look good on a big screen tv?

[Steve Nunez]

Paul, I have yet to connect it via HDMI to my big screen- I'll post it when I do~ thanks!

[Daniel Thornton]

I am very impressed with the Video quality of this camera. I have been doing some tests with it. Here is a link to some video I shot. Auto focus works in HD video mode.
Casio F1 on Vimeo Casio F1 on Vimeo

[Scott Kuiper]

Thanks for the input, Daniel. A question for both you and Steve: What about low light performance? Everything I've read about or seen from this camera indicates it has some serious problems with low light performance, not just in video mode but in still mode as well. I've seen some stills that should have been handled without difficulty that were covered over with noise (surprisingly so). What is your experience?

[Daniel Thornton]

I had a problem in low light with the noise produced by this camera until I learned how to control it. The only way I have been able to remove the noise in low light is to shoot in BS mode. Every other setting produces lots of noise in the shadows. When I set the camera to BS (Best Shot Mode) and choose Portrait, I get very little noise and proper white balance. I almost gave up on this camera until I learned this. Now my video has no noticeable noise in it. Here are some low light tests. Download the videos.

Noise test Casio F1 on Vimeo
Low Light Noise Test on Vimeo

[Scott Kuiper]

Very interesting, Daniel. Thanks for the clips. They do look quite a bit better than previous low light clips from this camera. So the trick is to use BS + Portrait.

I wonder who at Casio decided to use the designation "BS" Mode. (!)

[Steve Nunez]

BS=Best Shot

[Graham Hickling]

So .... does "some" control mean you can, or can't, fix the shutter at (say) 1/60 in video mode?
For me at least, that's probably the key determinant of whether a camera like this is a contender.

[Daniel Thornton]

Yes, you can set the shutter speed and shoot video. I do not like the way the video looks. There is too much noise for my tastes. I believe that Casio optimized the picture quality for video in BS mode only. The noise is reduced and the quality is better in BS (Best Shot )mode.
I will upload two videos later today. The first is video shot in Shutter priority 1/60. The second will be the same shot taken in BS mode.

[Daniel Thornton]

Here are two shots:
1/60 Shutter Casio F1 on Vimeo 1/60 shutter
BS mode on Vimeo BS mode