Casio Exilim Pro EX-FH20 review

In January 2008, Casio announced a camera that flew in the face of trends.

The EX-F1's 6 megapixel sensor and 12x zoom seemed dated, and its £750 price was astronomical for a non-SLR. But it had three astounding features: a continuous mode that captured full size images at 60 frames per second (fps); video recording at full HD 1920x1080 resolution, amazing in a stills camera; and an innovative video mode that recorded at incredibly fast frame rates for slow motion playback. The F1 was uncompromising, impressive, but unlikely to sell well.

If the F1 was the photographic equivalent of a concept car, the FH20 is the mass market model. It shares the same strengths, but toned down. The price is much lower too, while its core specifications - 9 megapixel sensor, 20x optical zoom and 3 inch screen - have actually improved.

Those special features are still extremely effective. The FH20 can capture 40 7 megapixel shots at up to 40fps, and can save frames from before the shutter was pressed. In action photography, such as wildlife or sports, it's almost impossible to miss that perfect shot. The slow motion video is just as impressive. Three settings trade frame rate against resolution; even the slowest, which captures 480x360 pixels at 210fps (for 7x slow motion) gives a fascinating insight into the minutiae of movement, and the maximum 1000fps is astounding, despite the low resolution. We can see a wide range of uses in education and art, and just leaping about in slow-mo kept us entertained for hours. Normal video is recorded at 1280x720 pixels, which is good but now fairly ordinary.

As a general purpose camera the FH20 is responsive and friendly, but it's heavy and image quality is unremarkable. Photos and videos needed lots of light to avoid excessive noise (digital grain), and the lens had a few minor problems too. Pictures look average compared to other ultrazoom cameras, which is disappointing at this price. Even so, if you like the idea of super-fast shooting, it could be worth taking the plunge.