Continuing our series of testing images of the Casio EX-F1. Here are some shots taken at Toronto’s Lake Ontario shore. The images are from an HD Video (1920 x 1080 pixels). I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the images. I had expected because the images were from a video they would be soft, blurred, color awry and full of compression artifacts. They are a bit soft and can wander on the color balance – but not badly at all. Here are samples taken from video images:
A cluster of canoes in the docks.
This image is photofinished with Photoshop. But that is the opportunity presented by the Casio EX-F1, I just would not bother to consider using most “still” images taken with my video camcorder. Just not enough of resolution and image fidelity; but with the EX-F1 in HD Mode – there are some great shots to work with.
Having Canada Goose fun.
Shades of Red to Play with.
Speed vs Sail boating
The day was really chilly at the beach.
This is an example of where the camera was weak on color and exposure. It appears if the scene is too contrasty the camera loses both color and exposure sharpness. It also may be related to panning and zooming while taking a video.
The rescue boats nearby for all the new sailor, kayakers .. just kidding.
Back to the kayak and canoe racks.
Now about half of the images above have been post processed in Photoshop. But still I was generally very pleased with the images I could take away (using the snapshot feature in Adobe Premiere Elements). I have yet to test all the different video settings for focus and color balance – so the jury is still out there. There is a bit of softness to the edges – but not as bad as I expected. And as for blurring and compression artifacts => none so far but I have yet to test in lowlight and at the extreme ends of telephoto range.
In sum, I am quietly pleased with the quality of the video; but camera shake adjustments are minimal – you need to use a monopod or even better, a tripod, when taking videos.