Just a few years ago, I was following the online debate between advocates of the Digital SLR revolution and followers of film. At this time, I had already made up my mind with the purchase of my first Digital SLR, the newly released Canon 300D. A true marvel and ahead of its time, it was said to rival the quality of 35mm film cameras. Back then, the Canon 1Ds used to be the nonplus ultra of Digital Imaging technology. At 11 Megapixels and equipped with the world’s first full frame CMOS sensor it was the dream of many wannabe photographers (including yours truly) and a must for pros. Many agencies just started to accept digital pictures and required “at least” 11 Megapixels. At the time of its introduction, the 1Ds did cost around $8,000.

Canon Rebel XSi - 450D Soon, Canons new entry level SLR, the Rebel XSi will debut at around $800. It will offer 12 Megapixels. Granted the Camera does not offer the weather seals and Full Frame Sensor of the “old” 1Ds, but crop sensors have many advantages. The new features like liveview really make the XSi stand out. With the smaller image circle of a crop sensor, lens design becomes easier making lenses cheaper and lighter. Regardless of feature counting, pixel peeping and rich playboy coolness factor, the XSi is the best camera available to amateur photographers with features exceeding those of previous professional models. Its lightweight design, quiet and inconspicuous shutter operation, and general tourist appeal is a real advantage during street photography sessions. The loud clonk of my 20D’s shutter resulted in stinkeye on more than just one occasion.

Some of you might know that I am a Canon person. Throughout the years, I have bought many lenses and some cameras from Canon, so I will probably stay on this path for a while. But the Camera I really wish to rave about today does not carry the Canon label at all.

Faster than the Pros

The Casio Exilim EX-F1 will hit the shelves with a big bang. It is not even available for purchase yet and already reaping rewards.

Casio Exilim EX-F1 At 6 Megapixels resolution and a fixed lens of 35-432mm zoom range, it looks like an average superzoom with less resolution than its peers do. What makes this camera so exciting is its unbelievable speed. Let me put things into perspective.

Professional sports photographers pay $5000 for a Canon 1D M3, capable of capturing 10 frames per second (fps) at 10 Megapixel Resolution. This speed is necessary to get the action shots we are used to seeing in the papers. To capture an athlete in mid air, they aim at the action unfolding and keep the shutter pressed for a while. One of the pictures will be the desired action shot.

The Casio EX-F1 can capture 60 photographs per second, exceeding the speed of any professional camera many times. Pros will argue that the resolution is not comparable, the noise levels are higher due to the smaller sensor and the fast action and fixed lens requires bright sunny daylight, but the EX-F1 is still faster.

Capturing the moment a balloon explodes, a golf ball takes off or your cat in mid air is easy with the EX-F1. Although the frame buffer is only one second deep, you can keep shooting until the action happens. The EX-F1 will overwrite older pictures and stop as soon as you release the shutter button. No flash memory would be fast enough to store all this data.

The EX-F1 even supports RAW images (DNG), but it is unclear what kind of bit depth those are and if they support RAW capture at 60 fps.

Out of the way Mythbusters, here I come!

Casio Exilim EX-F1 Rear View The Casio Exilim EX-F1 has several movie capture modes and supports full HD at the normal speeds. At Youtube resolution, high-speed captures of up to 1200 frames per second are possible. These resolution / speed combinations are possible.

512 × 384 @ 300 fps

 432 × 192 @ 600 fps

 336 × 96 @ 1200 fps

Although that does not exactly say home theater, it is sufficient to study the world in slow motion and may even be good enough for low budget scientific research projects.

Casio has put together a compelling package for action photographers. The EX-F1 will be the camera of choice for enthusiastic soccer moms, hobby rocket scientists, and animal lovers. At a price of just $999, I may even decide to pony up some extra cash during a weak moment.

We have just started the New Year and had already two big announcements. I think this year is going to be very exciting.