Casio

Just a year ago, Casio introduced its first high-speed camera, the Best of What’s New-winning EX-F1. The size of a small SLR, that camera captures up to 60 full-res photos per second. The rate is cut to 30 per second in Casio’s two newest high-speed models, but the size is also cut as low as 0.64 inches thick for the model EX-FS10 (and just an inch for the companion EX-FC100). They also capture high-speed video at up to 1000 fps at low resolution, or up to 720p high-def at a standard 30fps.

Our own Theodore Gray (the man behind Gray Matter's mad science) is currently in China, and he's taken the opportunity to put his new Casio EX-F1 high-speed camera to excellent use at the Beijing Zoo. And when we say excellent we mean the majestic hawk at the Beijing zoo defecating and flapping its wings at 300 frames per second kind of excellent. And if that's not enough, he's got a dolphin leaping from beneath the water and a sparrow taking flight to boot.

Back in October, we told you about Casios prototype supercamera that shoots 60 six-megapixel still photos per second (better than even pro SLRs) and standard-def video at up to 300 frames per second to make some pretty impressive slow-mo movies.

Well today Casio took the wraps off the EXILIM Pro EX-F1 the real version of the camera that youll be able to by in a few months for $1,000. And theyve added even more power.

Specs: Casio EX S600BE

What: Thinnest 6-megapixel camera available


Size: 2.32 in. (h) x 3.54 in. (w) x 0.63 in. (d)


Weight: 4 ounces

Cost: $400

CASIO
EXILIM Zoom EX-Z750
MSRP: $449
Resolution [effective]: 7.2 megapixels
Video file type: MPEG-4
Zoom lens type: 3x optical/ 8x digital zoom lens, f2.8-5.1 [38-114mm 35mm equivalent]
Lighting: AF Assist lamp
LCD size: 2.5"
Frame rate and window size: 30 fps at 640x480
Dimensions: 3.5" x 2.3" x .88"
Weight: 4.48 ounces [w/o battery]
Memory Type: SD Card

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Even with five, six, seven million pixels of resolution, palm-of-your-hand digital cameras produce disappointingly blurry results in low light. It´s nigh impossible to hold the camera steady during those long exposures. Boosting the sensitivity of the image sensor (ISO) so it can gather more light hasn´t worked, because that entails running more electricity through the sensor, which registers the current as light. This creates a pockmarked trail of incorrectly “exposed” pixels and gives you a dark and “noisy,” or grainy, image.