Casio Exilim EX-FH20

Opinion: www.Videopia.org did a very in depth review, if interested worth and look and listen!

Opinion: Excellent multi pictureing using 15 fps, of my dog running in the garden (Pharaoh dog, very fast)
special the video featuers are amazing taking 210 fps. Then looking at all the muscels and the movment of the dog beatyfull. The menu are very easy to use, also to pic one out when shooting 2x40 fps.
stillpictures are also good, but i will still use my Panasonic L1

Opinion: I have enjoyed using this camera from the first day and have no reservations to recommend it to my fellow amateur photographers interested in:

-pet photography (great continuous shooting mode and fast shutter)
-nature and sports (for the same reasons above)
-recording crisp HD video to view in a modern display

Having said this and since the FH-20 is the third "advanced" compact camera with superzoom I've owned, I should be straightforward about the two things I didn't like: colour performance (it renders flat hues) and resolution (images lack sharpness and detail for a 9 megapixel).

This compact superzoom invites to fiddle with the settings and use the different scene modes, like the multi-exposure, the night scene and -by far the most interesting- continuous shooting with flash.

So it's great fun when you are out shooting (it is responsive and has intuitive menus) but the moment you sit by the computer to see your results I bet you'll be less excited. As far as you don't zoom to see fine detail it's OK. For some reason the noise reduction or compression in this camera is so aggressive that it smudges every detail. The other big wrong is a strong flash (yes, because you need to decrease flash intensity for relatively close subjects) and the fact you can't use an external flash!

On the plus side, though, it has really good exposure and a very accurate automatic white balance! And unlike other superzooms it starts at 26mm wide angle, so it is a great camera for tight indoors (see flash references above).

You will certainly enjoy high definition video from this camera if you have a proper TV at home. It is pity that you can't watch videos in HD directly from the camera plugged to the TV, but rather have to download them to your PC. Another plus is that you can shoot RAW (but no RAW software comes with the camera package).

SO my highlight is: high speed features are cool, especially with pets or wildlife and with sports. I doubt there is a more competent camera for sports photography in this price segment, and with such powerful zoom (20x). It even comes with a "pre-recording" function to make sure you don't miss a precious moment when shooting unpredictable subjects.

I bought this camera from an independent retailer where I was able to test different superzooms. I was actually after the Canon SX1 IS, because it got a good review in this site and it can also record HD video, but they didn't have it in stock. This Casio was slightly cheaper (3600 DKK -roughly 485 EUR / 615 USD when I write this) than the Canon and now I'd say it is not enough camera for the money. I would have expected much better image quality for the price, a decent software package (can you believe it comes without any bundled applications, just a useless 'youtube uploading' programme?) and the possibility to connect directly to an HD TV with a cable.

I've always tried to give honest reviews of my purchases, so I hope this one will help you make a decision!

Opinion: the high-speed features of this camera are unique and fun to use.
the high speed stills shooting functions very well, with buffer pre-recording making sure you get the action. however, because of the slow lens, often the action is somewhat blurred. also, manually setting exposure (for high speed shutter, for example) is difficult and not intuitive.
high speed movie capability is nice, but at real slow-motion speed (1000f/s) quality is very bad making it a novelty feature only.
i found that the option for low-light multi-shot was very useful. you can walk around at night in town and just point and shoot. no need for a tri-pod. the quality of these shots is not perfect, but definitely adequate and expands the abilities beyond most compact cameras.
at the long end of the zoom range the camera has a lot of difficulty focusing- even at good lighting.
i found that most pictures taken have a "flat" appearance and need
post-processing to enhance contrast and adjust saturation. even then, i can't seem to get the results i want, and i go back to my older camera for everyday use,taking the casio out only for specific shoots where i need it's high speed capabilities.