Digital Photography: Shoot a 2-minute Movie in 6 Seconds

High-speed camera for under $1000
Last year Casio introduced a new camera, the EX-F1, that was quite the sensation when it was first shown at photo trade shows. Yet, despite this, it did not seem to garner much publicity, nor, I presume, sales.

I’ve finally had the opportunity to try one and I am still not sure why it is virtually unknown, as it offers some unique capabilities and demonstrates what we can expect to see from other manufacturers in the future. It sounds like a contradiction, but its price of $999 is too high for a 6-megapixel still camera but is too low for a high-speed camcorder. In reality, I guess it’s a leading edge camera with somewhat limited appeal. Let me explain.

The wow factor of the EX-F1 is its high-speed shooting capabilities. It can capture still images at 60 frames per second at full 6-megapixel resolution and can shoot video at anywhere from 30 to 1200 frames per second.

As a still camera, the EX-F1 is a fairly standard so-called ultra-zoom, fixed-lens with through-the-lens composition. The 12X zoom has a 35mm equivalency of 36–432mm and can focus down to two inches in its macro setting. It has built-in image stabilization and a pop-up flash that can fire continuously at up to seven frames a second. It even includes a built-in LED light as well for video or stills.

I found the camera was okay as a consumer still camera. It’s not as crisp in operation as even the least costly DSLR and its electronic viewfinder is so-so. However, the rear screen works better in live view than most DSLR cameras, so if you are happy using that it’s not so bad. There are innumerable settings that allow the camera to capture images at up to 60 frames per second. It can even pre-record images in a buffer and delete early shots as new ones are captured and then, when the shutter button is fully depressed, save selected ones already captured and continue recording from there. This could prove invaluable for shooting sports techniques, such as a golf swing.

In all honesty, I enjoyed the camera much more as a high-speed camcorder. It shoots acceptable HD video at 720p, as well as standard def. The resolution drops to 512 x 384 at 300fps, 432 x 192 at 600fps and just 336 x 96 at 1200fps. Obviously, more light is needed when shooting at high speeds so the image quality also suffers, as noise at high ISOs is a weak point with this camera. The 300fps setting is adequate for good Web video. But it’s at the 600fps setting when you can start to really see things like wings on flies flapping and individual water droplets in streaming water, which is the setting where I had the most fun creating slow-motion video clips. The image quality and size is really too poor at 1200fps to be of much use. Nonetheless it’s impressive that a camera costing under $1000 can manage it at all. It takes some trial and error to capture critters in action and in focus. Meanwhile, one second of footage shot at 600fps takes 20 seconds to play back [at 30fps], so one ends up with lots of useless video. Fortunately, you can do some simple in-camera clipping of video.

Overall, as I used the camera I grew to appreciate it more and more for what it can do. Yes, it’s got niggling problems and there is a learning curve to get the most out of it. However, its capabilities lead to experimenting, which can be a good thing if you’ve got the time.

The irony of this camera is that it is really too complicated and costly for most consumers. There are lots of different settings and you do have to read the manual, which is only available as a PDF file, in order to figure out how to operate many of the functions. I suspect some potential buyers are discouraged when they find salespeople in stores who don’t even know how to work it properly!

In addition, I would bet there are potential buyers who probably regard the 6-megapixel sensor as too small. Yet a smaller and newer Casio camera that has some of the EX-F1’s features delivers inferior images even though it has a 9-megapixel sensor. There’s more to a camera than just the number of pixels in the sensor.

Sadly, the EX-F1 is not quite up to the quality levels required by a high-end amateur or professional. However, if you want to shoot high-speed video with quality adequate for Web usage, the camera is a bargain. Just check out all the videos shot on this camera on YouTube (search for “Canon EX-F1”) and compare them to ones shot on cameras from companies like Vision Research and Photron, that cost many thousands of dollars. The EX-F1 is truly a bargain for this niche and it also happens to shoot reasonable stills and HD video in ideal conditions as well. High-end, high-speed cameras cannot do that.

What Casio has done is prove it can incorporate truly high-speed stills and video into a hybrid camera. Presumably the next version will overcome some of the downsides of this model. More importantly, it paves the way for other manufacturers to incorporate high-speed shooting in their cameras.
For test images captured with the Casio EX-F1 go to https://www.johnrettie.com/CasioEX-F1samples.

LensAlign Focus Calibration
I suspect that most of us have come to rely on autofocusing more than we care to admit. Despite or because of this, I’m sure we have also suffered from wrongly focused images too many times. I know I have. In each case I have blamed myself not the camera or lens. It’s usually because I don’t notice that the focus point is not on the correct part of the subject or worse yet, it’s on the background or a more distant object.

However, it seems that a lot of photographers suffer from lenses and cameras that fail to focus accurately. It is obviously a fairly common problem as many of the latest DSLRs include micro adjust focusing via a menu.

Many of those who are concerned about critical focusing have learned how to measure whether a lens is subject to front or back focusing. However, to do it accurately takes some time and care.

Now Michael Tapes, of RawWorkflow.com fame, has come to the rescue with a focus-calibration system that makes it really easy to check the autofocus of a lens. The $139.95 LensAlign Pro consists of a target with a marked ruler that is placed beside it at an angle. One aims a camera at the target, which has small holes to ensure that you have the camera perfectly aligned parallel to the target for accuracy. Once a picture has been taken, you can then check it in close-up detail to see where the lens falls in and out of focus on the ruler. In a camera with the ability to micro adjust focusing one can then adjust the focus setting by trial and error.

I tried the LensAlign Pro with a Pentax 20D that does offer micro adjustment and found that the two lenses I tried were operating fine. I wasn’t about to test the micro adjustment when I did not need to! The 18–200mm zoom on my Nikon D200 was showing a slight tendency to back-focus. Unfortunately, there’s no way for me to adjust it, as the D200 is too old to include this feature.

If you have several newer camera bodies and a collection of lenses in your studio, the LensAlign Pro is probably worthwhile as it makes it so easy to quickly check focus accuracy. The LensAlign Lite ($79.95) is a simpler version that you use with a mirror for aligning the camera so it is not quite as easy to get accurate, repeatable tests. For occasional use, however, it’s more than adequate and much better than just using a ruler or marks on a piece of paper.

Fat Gecko Camera Mount
When I was testing the video capabilities of the Nikon D5000 that I briefly reviewed last month, I shot some video clips while driving a Bentley. I mounted the camera on a Delkin Devices’ Fat Gecko camera mount that I attached to the inside of the passenger door window.

Cinematographers and high-end commercial photographers have been using suction mounts such as this for many years but they are heavy-duty units that cost hundreds of dollars, if not even thousands. The Gecko, on the other hand, sells for just $89.99, making it affordable for anyone who wants to shoot from unusual camera angles. It is small enough that it can also be used to mount flash heads on suitably smooth nonporous surfaces such as a mirror. It can also effectively be used as a substitute for a tripod in small spaces.

I found it was easy to mount the Fat Gecko but hard to dismount, which is a good thing! The two-inch-long arm has adjustable knuckle joints at each end for maximum flexibility in positioning the camera. Naturally, it would also be wise to use a leash to prevent a camera from being a total loss should the Fat Gecko lose its grip while mounted on the outside of a car or airplane. Delkin says the Fat Gecko will hold tight at speeds up to 200mph. and that it’s strong enough to hold up to eight pounds of weight. It certainly had no trouble holding the D5000 steady. For heavier camera/lens combinations, as well as for added security, it would be great if three Fat Geckos could be attached with a bar linking each together so you would have six mounting points on the side of a car. One could also then use an extension to hold the camera further away from the body for a different point of view. All in all, the addition of a Fat Gecko or two to one’s arsenal is probably worthwhile for anyone who has to shoot on location.
Stop the Presses!

Just before this issue hit the printing press, Nikon gave us a sneak peek at its new Coolpix cameras and DSLRs that will have been unveiled a few days before you read this. Among them is an upgraded D300s with HD video with stereo sound and improved functionality, such as dual card slots (Compact Flash and SD). The most intriguing camera, though, is the Coolpix S1000pj, which includes a built-in mini LCD projector that can display images up to 40-inches in size at six feet. It will also display JPEG images captured on other cameras using a SD card. The new 12-megapixel Coolpix S70 features an OLED touch screen that works just like the camera in the iPhone. It does not include a phone—though it easily could!

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 39 years, a computer for 29 years and has combined his knowledge of both for the past 16 years. Readers can contact him directly by email at [email protected].