Casio FH100 High Speed Video Camera <$200 & free analysis software

[Chas Tennis]

If you have ever considered high speed video for stroke analysis I just saw the Casio Ex FH100 camera for under $200! IMO - I would like to hear about the competitors - it is clearly the best of the affordable cameras with:

* manual shutter speed control down to 1/40,000s
* frame-by-frame stop action on the camera display
* high speed frame rates of 120, 240, 420, 1000fps (240fps is best for stroke analysis)
* special dual frame rates of 30-120 & 30-240fps (video match at 30fps then quick switch to 240fps for serve, etc.)
* high resolution capture of up to 30 still picture at up to 40fps
* more……..

http://www.dpreview.com/products/casio

also, the Casio Forum_Search FH100, high speed video, etc.

I recently started using Kinovea analysis software for side-by side comparison of my tennis strokes. Kinovea is a free open-source software:

* side-by-side comparison of videos
* add notes to videos
* add lines, reference points, angle measurements, etc
* indentify important frames in stroke sequence
* and many more features

http://www.kinovea.org/en/

 

[flashfire276]

No offense, but you sounds just like an endorser. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. And if I am, truly sorry.

Anyways, Casio? I mean, their camera quality isn't that great. Sensors are way to small to capture sharp images, let alone sharp video. I mean, maybe it has super high speed video at 200 frames per second (just threw a number out there, not a real fact), but video quality is just going to be down the drain. It's going to be all blurry with no defined lines and contrast.
Plus, the FH100 is a compact point/shoot. No matter how big the lenses are, how large the resolution is, or even how clear it reflects light, it's still a basic camera! Sensor is still super small, video is totally synthesized by a cheap lens and light sensitivity, and it's going to be small! Even if it says 720P HD, it's still going to be blurry. It may have the 1028x720 resolution, but it's going to be too fuzzy, that you have to compress the video for it to see clearly. And for high speed, you probably have to compress it even smaller to get a clean view.
So if you just want a camera that can get how you play without caring how blurry this shoots, go. But if you really want to make a smart purchase (let's face it. $200 is too much for something that's going to let us down), find a camera that truly suits our needs, skip out on this. Save $100 more, and get yourself a refurbished Nikon P100 Superzoom. Full DSLR capability (CMOS Sensor, 10 MP, Manual Focus, Full Shutter/Aperture Priorities) without the complicated controls, has fixed lenses, full (and super clear) 1080P resolution that shoots 240 FPS at high speed mode.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Quotes from above post -

"No offense, but you sounds just like an endorser. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. And if I am, truly sorry."

I have no financial interest. I think for now that this camera is the best available camera for high speed video so I really endorse it. I also really endorse high speed video for the analysis of tennis strokes. Otherwise, you can't see the movement. The average player can now take video that only the biomechanical researchers could take a few years ago.

"Anyways, Casio? I mean, their camera quality isn't that great. Sensors are way to small to capture sharp images, let alone sharp video. I mean, maybe it has super high speed video at 200 frames per second (just threw a number out there, not a real fact), but video quality is just going to be down the drain."

Correct, all the affordable high speed cameras have much reduced resolution. For the FH100: 120fps 640X480, 240fps 448X336, 420fps 224X168, 1000 224X64

"It's going to be all blurry with no defined lines and contrast."

For high speed video analysis of tennis stroke the objective is to see the limbs, racket & ball. Cosmetically pleasing videos, to compare with HD for example, are not possible.

"Plus, the FH100 is a compact point/shoot. No matter how big the lenses are, how large the resolution is, or even how clear it reflects light, it's still a basic camera! Sensor is still super small, video is totally synthesized by a cheap lens and light sensitivity, and it's going to be small! Even if it says 720P HD, it's still going to be blurry. It may have the 1028x720 resolution, but it's going to be too fuzzy, that you have to compress the video for it to see clearly. And for high speed, you probably have to compress it even smaller to get a clean view."

The FH100 is a "Superzoom". The regular speed & HD videos, 30 & 60fps, from this camera and from my Aiptek do not look cosmetically nearly as good as the HD on TV. I don’t know how the Casio standard & HD video compares to other consumer cameras. The HD videos are still very useful for covering an entire match and the high shutter speed lets you stop frame for a lot of stroke detail. [60fps is pretty good for many stroke actions but not for close up and closer ball impact details because of motion blur.]

"So if you just want a camera that can get how you play without caring how blurry this shoots, go. But if you really want to make a smart purchase (let's face it. $200 is too much for something that's going to let us down), find a camera that truly suits our needs, skip out on this. Save $100 more, and get yourself a refurbished Nikon P100 Superzoom. Full DSLR capability (CMOS Sensor, 10 MP, Manual Focus, Full Shutter/Aperture Priorities) without the complicated controls, has fixed lenses, full (and super clear) 1080P resolution that shoots 240 FPS at high speed mode." [/QUOTE]

I am not familiar with the specs on the Nikon P100 camera or its cost new. Do you own one? Most importantly, what is the minimum shutter speed? I don’t believe that it does 240fps at 1080P, please supply a reference. There were some earlier cameras that did HSV but recorded only for a few seconds. For how long will it record at 240fps? Does it do frame-by-frame stop action on the camera display screen?

I measured the Jello Effect for my Casio camera and consider it small. How is the Jello Effect for the Nikon P100. If you own this camera the Jello Effect is easy to measure. In bright sunlight turn a bicycle upside down and really rev up the back wheel, video it. Look at the bending of the spokes. Turn the camera upside down and repeat to make sure the spokes are not really bending.

 

[flashfire276]

I am not familiar with the specs on the Nikon P100 camera or its cost new. Do you own one? Most importantly, what is the minimum shutter speed? I don’t believe that it does 240fps at 1080P, please supply a reference. There were some earlier cameras that did HSV but recorded only for a few seconds. For how long will it record at 240fps? Does it do frame-by-frame stop action on the camera display screen?

In all do respect, my apologies then. And I'll admit, for $200, the Casio isn't a bad choice. Price/Performance sounds pretty fair for that camera.
Yes, I have the Nikon P100 as my backup camera. It doesn't do 240 FPS at 1080, but this camera has 2 shooting options. One is at the 1080P Mode which shoots like... 60 FPS I think, and then there's the high speed mode. It shoots 240FPS at 480i Resolution. It's not too shabby, but it's amazing for instant replays. Minimum shutter speed in shooting mode (that still captures good light) is like 1/250. It goes down much further (to like 1/500 I think), but you know the faster the speed, the less light it retrieves.

 

[Maui19]

Awesome tip on kinovea. Thanks!

 

[Chas Tennis]

Awesome tip on kinovea. Thanks!

If you have any trouble running -

With my older XP computer I had to also download .NET Framework 4 and the earlier NET 2.0 from Microsoft. This was discussed in a Kinovea Forum thread referenced below.

from two earlier threads -

Quote:
Originally Posted by albesca View Post
do you know any ?
thanks
Ciao
Alberto


From my earlier thread early April -
#5


Free Kinovea Sports Software for Stroke Analysis

Started using this morning and this free open-source software from Kinovea does a nice job for the functions on my list and more.

http://www.kinovea.org/en/

(FYI, After I downloaded for my computer I had to also download from Microsoft both .NET Framework 4 and the earlier NET 2.0 as discussed in a Kinovea forum - http://www.kinovea.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250)

I have not used video analysis software before and find that Kinovea does a lot of what I was after, comparison of two videos side-by-side, place lines & markers, add notes & labels, and more.

For a high speed camera I'm using a Casio FH100 with manual shutter speed control. I now have a complete set up to analyze my strokes using high speed video.

 

[nalvarado]

How does one endorse open source software?

 

[PeterPanda]

How does one endorse open source software?

I was gonna post that but didn't want to encourage the troll. He also posted in oth video comparison threads.

 

[dennis10is]

No offense, but you sounds just like an endorser. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. And if I am, truly sorry.

Anyways, Casio? I mean, their camera quality isn't that great. Sensors are way to small to capture sharp images, let alone sharp video. I mean, maybe it has super high speed video at 200 frames per second (just threw a number out there, not a real fact), but video quality is just going to be down the drain. It's going to be all blurry with no defined lines and contrast.
Plus, the FH100 is a compact point/shoot. No matter how big the lenses are, how large the resolution is, or even how clear it reflects light, it's still a basic camera! Sensor is still super small, video is totally synthesized by a cheap lens and light sensitivity, and it's going to be small! Even if it says 720P HD, it's still going to be blurry. It may have the 1028x720 resolution, but it's going to be too fuzzy, that you have to compress the video for it to see clearly. And for high speed, you probably have to compress it even smaller to get a clean view.
So if you just want a camera that can get how you play without caring how blurry this shoots, go. But if you really want to make a smart purchase (let's face it. $200 is too much for something that's going to let us down), find a camera that truly suits our needs, skip out on this. Save $100 more, and get yourself a refurbished Nikon P100 Superzoom. Full DSLR capability (CMOS Sensor, 10 MP, Manual Focus, Full Shutter/Aperture Priorities) without the complicated controls, has fixed lenses, full (and super clear) 1080P resolution that shoots 240 FPS at high speed mode.

For the record the Nikon P100 is NOT a DSLR, it has manual control but it is far from the a DSLR in terms of IQ. The sensor on that P100 is 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) the same as the Casio. If you think the IQ of Casio is poor because of the small sensor, the Nikon suffers from the same limitation. If you think CMOS sensor is a plus, the Casio also has CMOS sensor. The only way to get quick read out of the sensor is to use CMOS.

 

[WildVolley]

I have a Casio Exilim FH20, which is an earlier non-compact high speed Casio camera. I have no experience with the FH100, but I can assure you that the FH20 shoots high speed video for tennis that is plenty good for detailed analysis at 240 frames a second.

FYBs was using a consumer grade Casio for many of their earlier slow-motion videos of the pros before they started using the Red-One cameras.

So my main advice would be to see some video shot with the FH100 before trashing it.

I mostly video outdoors in bright sunlight. With QuickTime, you can frame-by-frame and capture details of the motion that are missing when shooting at 32fps, or whatever a standard video camera uses.