Casio Exilim EX-FH20 review

In last month's What's New we reviewed Casio's EX-F1, a groundbreaking camera that can capture six-megapixel photos at 60fps, video at 1,920x1,080 Full HD resolution and slow-motion video at up to 1,200fps for stunning slow-motion playback.

However, its high price of £535 and bulky design make it a niche product. The FH20 follows the same principles but in a slightly more affordable camera.

The FH20 includes the three innovative features of the F1, although they're in slightly restricted forms. Otherwise, this ultra-zoom camera's specifications are in line with those of the current competition. The nine-megapixel sensor and 3in screen compare well with the current crop, such as Panasonic's FZ28. The 26-520mm (35mm-equivalent) focal length matches that of Olympus's SP-570 UZ to give a 20x zoom range - the largest to adorn an ultra-zoom camera. The lens looks a lot like Olympus's, and we suspect that it's the same part.

Although the resolution, zoom and screen size show improvements over the Casio F1, various omissions bring it in at this lower price. It has no HDMI output or wired remote control and fewer buttons and dials, relying more on menus instead. Rather than capturing 60 photos at up to 60fps, the FH20 captures 40 at up to 40fps. This mode is limited to seven-megapixel photos, although that's actually more than the F1's six-megapixel resolution. The FH20 is also much quicker than the F1 at saving these pictures - down from 30 seconds to a mere seven seconds before it's ready to capture another 40 frames. It's also faster to switch on than the F1 and has a shorter gap between shots in Single drive mode, averaging 1.6 seconds.

High-definition video capture is at 1,280x720 rather than the F1's 1,920x1,080 pixels, and slow-motion capture runs at 210fps and 480x360 pixels per frame (down from 300fps and 512x384 pixels). As with the F1, even faster frame rates are available at further-reduced resolutions; these videos are played back at 30fps to give a 1/7x, 1/14x or 1/33x slow-motion effect. Despite the downscaling of these features, both video modes are excellent, and slow-motion capture is the most exciting feature we've seen on a digital camera for years.

Comparing the image quality of the two cameras revealed that the F1 captured more detail, particularly in subtle textures - its resolution may be lower but the sensor's larger dimensions make all the difference. The FH20 trailed behind Panasonic's FZ28 in this respect, too. Both cameras suffer badly from noise at higher ISO speeds but Casio's noise reduction was less effective at disguising it. As such, this isn't a camera that excels for indoor photography, and this is true of the video modes, too. Images taken outdoors were better, although chromatic aberrations appeared in the corners of high-contrast images and details remained slightly soft compared with those of the FZ28. Its optical image stabilisation performed well in our tests, though, and automatic settings were well chosen. Overall, image quality was generally acceptable and often excellent, but not the best available.

At first we were sceptical when we heard that Casio had watered down the F1 to produce a camera that pandered to the current trend for impressive specifications. However, we must admit that the FH20 is a better buy than the F1. It's more compact, its continuous and video modes are just as useful and it's more affordable. Image quality is a little behind that of the Panasonic FZ28, but its specialist skills mean that direct comparisons aren't really relevant.