Daniel,

I'm new to using Vimeo, so I have one follow up question: Is the Quicktime download link the file straight from your camera or does Vimeo alter, change or compress it when you upload it?

If its the file straight from your camera it appears to work flawlessly! I tried importing the file straight into Vegas and it worked perfectly. I used Cineform Neo HD to convert it to a Cineform .avi and that worked as well.

Thanks for all your help,

Michael

Daniel, Steve and the rest- you guys are really getting into this camera- very well done and thanks for the great info!

I really hope Casio comes out with a newer model with further improvements....thanks again guys!

Can I suggest using ExposureRoom.con rather than Vimeo. ER supports 720p30 while Vimeo supports 720p24. That means the Vimeo folks delete 6 frames every second from your video so it stutters. Also a much nicer group of people to work with.

Confirmed last night. In dark room readout was 1600, f/3.?, and 3 SECONDS.

Obviously a movie can't be shot with a 3 second exposure.

I could see the scene thru the LCD.

As soon as I pressed Record Movie, the LCD went nearly black. So the IP must have reset the shutter speed to the slowest movie shutter which may be 1/60th. (Sony CMOS seem to use 1/60th as the slowest.)

It may also automatically reduce ISO to 800. Why? Excessive gain noise may screw-up AVC compression so they may prevent it by limiting gain.

Bottom-line, what you see in the read-out is not always what the video is being shot at.

Therefore, the BS modes may not do in Movie mode exactly what the settings show.

This will require careful tests using charts to sort-out just what the video camera does.

Of course, one does really need to know. :) As long as one can lock AE and AF and set WB -- if you get good pix, be happy.

Nearly black movies -- why and how to avoid.

I've been getting too many all black movies when shooting indoors. Finally figured out how to avoid.

Do NOT press shutter-button half way. If you do and then press LOCK you'll get a black movie. It seems that when you turn on the camera, then press the shutter button half way AND the flash pops up, even if you close the flash or turn it off, somewhere in the camera it registers a flash "should" be used.

Now when you press Lock, the camera still thinks a flash will be used.

Then when you press Movie Record, it seems to calculate the exposure based on there being a flash -- which is both wrong (because you turned it off) and absurd for a movie.

Therefore, you should simply press LOCK and start shooting. You can use either MF or Continuous AF.

This only needs to be done in low light, but it can always be used. It saves pressing the shutter button.


PS: Interesting find. iPhoto can mount the SD card via USB. Now you see thumbnails of all your clips and stills. You can preview your clips. Select the items you want and the files are rapidly imported. (iPhoto will play H.264/AVC.)

Now in iMovie HD 06, you can drag in all clips from iPhoto Import Event into the Timeline. They will be converted to AIC. Now select all clips in the Timeline and drag to the clip Pane (Bin).

The advantage of this process is that one gets to review clips while they are still on the camera and then import only those you want. And, at the same time select the stills you want imported into iPhoto. Where they can also be used in iMovie HD 06.

By using AIC rather than H.264/AVC, even on a laptop motion is really smooth. (Blows away trying to work with AVCHD.) Export will be either AIC (to iDVD) or H.264/AVC (to ExposureRoom) or ProRes 422 (to DVDStudio Pro) or M-JPEG (to windows for burning BD with 5.1 sound).

PS: iMovie renders FX to AIC which is a major bummer compared to iMovie 08. The key question is how much quality is lost going through AIC.

Casio F1
 

Steve, Great tips keep them coming. I am looking forward to what else you discover.
I will check out ExposureRoom.

Casic F1
 

This looks like what is happening in the F1 also. I will test this chart against the F1.
http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_man...ex_s500/BS.pdf

Casio F1
 

I just found this.
http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_man...EXF1_BS_US.pdf

This is a major find! Wow!

Once again Japan supports its buyers while the USA division remains clueless. Just like the JVC consumer group.

By the way the "20" shows the number of still you remaining to take while shooting a movie. Not in manual. BUT, what settings are used for the Stills?

Casio F1, D90.....Hvx200
 

Hi Jay
I was browsing around and saw your comment on having both the F1 and the D90. I've been using the F1 quite a bit and trying to get the hi-speed down for weapon testing at 300-600 fps (had the fh20 but video was too small). Is there any definitive info in one place on using the F1? Also what is the prefered editing program, as the video is making some viewers dizzy even when played back in the camera. I have a D90 but havn't used it since I picked up the F1, I can return the D90 to Costco in the next 60 days. What are your thoughts on the F1 compared to the D90 for video? I have a HVX200 but am in the process of learning how to use it.

There is about ZERO info on the F1. I'm still exploring it.

I really like iMovie 09 because I can edit it natively (no conversion to something else) in REAL-TIME.

If there were tons more buyers I'd do a book. But, we are a tiny minority cause everyone thinks the Nikon simply must be better. It ain't, as we know, but Nikon sells anyway.

I have the F1 and use Vegas9 platinum for editing, everything besides the 1080i mode (doesn't look better than 720P but grinds my computer to a halt.).
No conversion, and in real-time as far as I can tell.
Works like a charm and is very user friendly for me as a beginner.
Se my testmovie at vimeo:

Slomo test in the snow and a bird in the end on Vimeo

I love my F1, just waiting for some decent weather. The F1 was the only option for me, I used to have two analogue cameras, one Nikon F65 and a 8mm camcorder and the problems was that I usually took the wrong equipment with me. It's a decent still-image camera and an amazing camcorder if used properly. Thanks again Steve for all you hard work investigating this camera!

I just ordered the Casio ex-f1, and I probably will get the SteadyTracker UltraLite with it. Is it an ok combination? Will do some wedding shooting with them (not the whole wedding, just some footage). SteadyTracker is cheap and really lightweight, and probably will do the trick.

One other thing. I was considering of getting the Raynox HD-7062PRO (Raynox HD-7062PRO, HD-7000PRO 0.7X High-Quality Wideangle Conversion Lens for Digital Video Camcorder). It is an 0,7x wide-angle converter. It should fit the ex-f1 straight with the 62mm threads. Have I understood correctly, that when shooting 720p the ex-f1 has an agle of view of approx. 45mm? And when shooting 300fps it is 36mm? Therefore those numbers would be 31,5mm (720p) and 25,2mm (300fps) with the Raynox converter. Am I correct here?



edit: The Raynox website claims that the 52mm threaded 0,7x wide-angle converter DCR-730 would work too without vignetting (of course I need an 52-62 adaptor). It would be half the price: about 75€ vs. 160€. But will it vignette using 300fps video or taking 6mpix pictures? 720p should be fine, as it is approx. 45mm from what I've read.

http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/digi...ASIO_EX_F1.pdf
http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/dcr/dcr730/index.htm

I'm not familiar with the SteadyTracker UltraLite, but please let us know how it works for you.

I'd go with the direct mount just cause it seems simpler. Your numbers seem correct and the 32mm would really be a big help.

The SteadyTracker UltraLite is really light and the EX-F1 isn't too heavy either. It should be a light-enough-combo to use for 20 minutes per hour. Or at least I hope so. :) I've read that SteadyTracker isn't optimal for panning, but I'll still try to use it for that. The next options are much more expensive, so I'll just have to see what kind of results I'll get with that combo.

EX-F1 will be my first video camera. It's time to see how a photographer can use his experience in the world of motion. :)
Here is a link to my website: Valokuvaaja Janne Miettinen - Häävalokuvaus, hääkuvaaja

Nice work. But what's Trash the Dress?

PS: I found out when I though the F1 was broken because it wouldn't focus -- that even left turned off for weak, it holds the Manual Focus mode!

What good and easy editing program should I use with h.264 video? I think Avids and Sonys programs are too complicated for me, because I'm a beginner in video editing. I would use Proshow Producer, but it doesn't support h.264. One solution would be to convert the h.264 into something the Proshow Producer understands, but I would rather use some other program.

Vegas Movie Studio and iMovie 09.

I've done some experimenting with this camera, and I think that the Dynamic Range adjustment doesn't affect the videos at all. I too like the look that Contrast +2 and Saturation +1 gives to the videos.

It does. It raises the upper IRE from 100IRE to 108IRE which you can see via HDMI, but likely not after editing which limits peak to 100IRE.

My EX-F1 doesn't seem to offer much better noise reduction in Portrait-mode than in other BS-modes (or when not using BS at all). Only solution to suppress low light noise seems to be to increase the contrast. Or am I missing something here?

Book
 

Could you ask Casio if they'd buy the book from you to promote the camera?
(the book would come not only as a manual, but an endorsement from the community of users IMO)

New controller software is available!

EX-F1 Controller 1.000 Software Download: Casio Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

I recently bought an EX-F1, largely for the high speed functions. But, I like to record HD movies. I do this in manual focus mode because this avoids the slight pulsing that you get when autofocus goes back & forth slightly around the desired focus setting.

The unfortunate thing about manual focus during video recording is that you cannot change the focus during shooting. So, if I'm shooting a video & I zoom in on something, I cannot adjust the focus. If you use autofocus, it will adjust focus when zooming, but the slight pulsing is undesirable.

Does anyone know if there is a way to manually change the focus during video recording?

Pulsing of exposure or focus?

I've read this entire thread in some depth but have lurked until now... My EX-F1 has arrived. I'm totally indebted to, especially Daniel and Steve for fantastic insight into the camera's functionality. Thank you two so much.

I've purchased the camera specifically for the high-speed functionality. My main camera is the XH-A1 which I use in conjunction with a Letus DoF adaptar. I'm wondering if I could purchase a small adapter ring to connect the Letus onto the Casio and see what it reproduces.. that would be interesting.

My main question is to do with workflow using Premiere CS4 - Import Settings, configuration and best output. I hear you about the iMovies 09, Steve, but I don't have Mac. My loss, but I could really do with a workflow for editing in CS4. I'm getting green screens right now (codec problem, perchance?)

Also, I really liked Daniel's rainy bike clip. Very clear, sharp footage. But I question why put the setting onto STD, rather than HD or HS? STD is only 640 X 480 and 4:3. Surely the trick is to use the best settings for shooting? Or is there a certain reason for STD setting?

I'm liking the footage I'm getting so far, but would like to have full control over the edit process, particularly for high speed footage, in CS4.

Thanks again!

The trouble with shooting at 600fps is that the resolution doesn't look that great. 432 X 192 falls short of a respectable resolution in my opinion. Although you can use Twixtor or Shake plugins to slow it up more and make a cool 1000fps or more. Check this out of a flying baby: YouTube - Slow motion baby toss into sunset. (600 - 1000fps)

Okay, passable at best, but what if I want 600 fps but want to keep the 300fps resolution? For me, 512 X 384 is an acceptable resolution, particularly since it's possible to pull it out a bit and it still looks great. I work with CS4 and using a combination of Premiere & AF, you can use Twixtor to slow it up to your 600fps at 512 X 384 and it still looks great:

YouTube - Ice cube falls and smashes to table in slow motion 600fps