Recently we were invited for a trip to Bali by Casio to test out their latest EXILIM EX-FR100 outdoor camera. We’ve heard much about this camera especially its nice slick design, but of course there’s much more to it than just its aesthetics. Abandoning our trusty DSLR that we always bring along for our trips, we decided to focus on just using the FR100 instead. So here it goes, our personal review of the Casio FR100…

weeeeee! in slow motion…

Amazingly Versatile

Being able to detach the camera from the body really work wonders with its increased flexibility for your shots especially with its wide angle lens. Both lens and screen communicates to each other via bluetooth, so both sections of the camera requires charging. Although if you only plan to use the camera without the screen, it can also be done as there are function buttons on the camera as well.

Great Assortment of Accessories

The FR100 has a superb range of accessories you can add on to the camera. Both the camera and the screen include a quick release system, meaning that there are accessories for both the camera and the body.

Think about the limitless creative variations you can have with the FR100 to take any kind of shots that you can think of. There are accessories for mounting it to your tripod/bike, clips for you to hook on your screen to your bag. Straps for your wrist, helmet and they even have a selfie stick made specifically for the camera, allowing you to have the screen right below and the camera at the top! And one pretty awesome accessory is a ring light that wraps itself around the camera for low light situations!

Lydia from Lydiascapes putting her selfie stick to good use.

Bluetooth and Wifi

Apart from communication via bluetooth between the camera and the screen. Inbuilt wifi capabilities allow the FR100 to be able to connect to your phone as well. This allows you to upload your shots instantaneously on the go! Pretty useful for us to export pictures directly from the camera into the phone. Casio has a mobile app which you can install on your phone which allows both devices to pair up for the transfer.

Underwater Capibilities

Apart from outdoor land shots, the FR100 is also capable of going underwater of depth up to 1.5m for 60 minutes. If you’re thinking of taking it down for diving trips, you might want to consider getting its optional underwater case which allows it to go up to 20 meters of depth. Unfortunately some fogging can be seen in some of our water related photos.

When we asked Casio about the fogging, they explained that it could be because of the camera going in and out of the water. But this could have been prevented if we had this gel thing that we could apply on the lens, which we didn’t have at that point in time. Maybe diving with the camera would be better. The bluetooth connection isn’t available when the camera is underwater which means you will just have to depend on your instincts when taking the shot. Or you can get this optional Antenna Cable Set which connects the camera to the screen underwater.

The underwater casing with wire so that you can preview what is going on

High Speed Videos, Photos and Timelapses

Ok this is pretty exciting stuff, haha 240FPS! This means really cool slow motion videos! Spent most of the time exploring the options for the 240fps mode and had tons of fun doing so! But resolution goes down from Full HD for normal videos to 512×384 🙁But still impressive enough! The FR100 is also capable of delivering high speed continuous shooting of up to 30 photos in a second! Jumpshots? No problem!

Apart from taking really fast photos, it also has interval shooting capabilities, meaning the ability to create really amazing timelapses like the one below!

Highlight Movie Function

For a quick and fuss free way to get your daily highlights, there is a very useful highlight function in the camera which will basically sum up your entire day and create a nice short video pre populated with background music and editing! The camera intelligently picks out the best shots (which you can also self rate on your own) and processes it together. A pretty nifty tool for those hard-pressed for time!

Now how awesome it is to have your camera edit all your footages for you like this! Video by Jac the Occasional Traveller.

Overall we had a great experience using the FR100, with its flexibility and ease of use especially for outdoor activities. The strength of the camera lies in the array of possibilities you can think of especially because the camera is not fixed to its body. Together with the range of optional accessories at your disposal, you’d always have the right set of tools you will need for any situation anytime.

All photos and videos are taken with the FR100 except for the product shots at the top of the post. The videos are downres to gifs for easy viewing.

If you’re interested, the Casio EXILIM FR-100 is currently retailing for S$699 in Singapore. Check out their official page here!

well that’s just me in red. surfing the waves… like a pro…haha can’t miss out on surfing in bali right? check out our post on Surfing in Bali like a Pro