I know that SLRs can take beautiful photos, but they are heavy and bulky, and it's a hassle to share. However, this tends to result in a typical composition when you take a smartphone photo. Even people who are not familiar with cameras would like to easily take and share "good photos" that will convey more directly the excitement of outdoor activities.
The CASIO EX-FR200 is recommended for outdoor enthusiasts and beginners of cameras who want to easily take good photos. The waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, and low temperature resistant body allows you to take pictures from wide angle to 360° horizontally (around the entire sky), and the lens and controller can be operated separately, making it an exquisite user experience that fills the gaps that smartphones and SLRs don't like, and has the potential to be very useful in a variety of outdoor scenes.
The editorial department had the opportunity to try out this camera carefully from February to March, so I used it to do it for mountain climbing and skiing. We will share with you the charm of this unique spice that adds to your mountain trips with a SLR, including things that you may have learned from the time you use them.
table of contents
- table of contents
- There are many cameras that can take impactful outdoor images.
- I found a camera that's perfect for mountain users, both in terms of image quality and ease of use! ?
- What do you think about the mountains and skiing? I tried using it in a variety of situations
- Point 1: It's tough, so you can use it safely even outdoors
- Point 2: The separate body makes it easy to take photos while you are taking photos from a variety of angles, using the attachments
- Point 3: Easy and powerful images with attachments and full-scale photography
- Point 4: Multi-camera mode allows you to shoot amazing 360° videos and simultaneously at the same time.
- Point 5: Photos taken automatically to your smartphone, making it easy to connect to SNS
- Things that bothered me
- Overall review: Depending on how you use it, it is definitely a unique camera that will keep you excited and the atmosphere of the site locked in.
table of contents
- There are many cameras that can take impactful outdoor images.
- I found a camera that's perfect for mountain users, both in terms of image quality and ease of use! ?
- What do you think about the mountains and skiing? I tried using it in a variety of situations
- Point 1: It's tough, so you can use it safely even outdoors
- Point 2: The separate body makes it easy to take photos while you are taking photos from a variety of angles, using the attachments
- Point 3: Easy and powerful images with attachments and full-scale photography
- Point 4: Multi-camera mode allows you to shoot 360° videos at the same time and shoot two at the same time (Page: 2)
- Point 5: Photos taken automatically to your smartphone, making it easy to connect to SNS (Page: 2)
- Things that bothered me (Page: 2)
- Overall review: Depending on how you use it, it is definitely a unique camera that will keep you excited and the atmosphere of the site intact (Page: 2)
There are many cameras that can take impactful outdoor images.
The most convenient outdoor use is action cameras such as Gopro and SONY, which allow you to secure the lens in various locations and take photos from various angles. However, these purposes are primarily videos, and the angle of view is almost the same as a regular camera, and they are somewhat far from being easy to use.
Another typical camera that can take impactful outdoor photos and videos is the genre called the "360° camera" that can record all the front, back, left and right (up and down). Although the image quality is far from a SLR, this camera is the only one that can capture the unobstructed feeling of openness at the peak. In recent years, a wide variety of new products, from camera manufacturers to hardware startups, have been appearing every year, and the situation continues to be a thrilling force. I have been trying out a lot of things under the surface for a few years, but in the end I haven't yet come to the point where I can keep it on when climbing mountains. For example, the popular RICHO THETA . Although it is generally excellent in terms of 360° shooting alone, it is not versatile when viewed as an action camera, and is not very durable, so it is a camera that is used in the city. So I also tried using KODAK's SP360 Although this camera has excellent performance as an action camera, it has no great opportunity to use it, as it only has a shooting range of up to 360° and remote control only has a smartphone connection.
In short, whether it's an action camera or a 360° camera, I've yet to come across a product currently on sale that will suit my usage, mainly for SLRs, and to be honest, I didn't have high expectations when I first saw this camera.
I found a camera that's perfect for mountain users, both in terms of image quality and ease of use! ?
However, the more you actually use it, the more interesting it becomes (although it's certainly been a bit difficult to get into).
In addition to being durable enough like an action camera, it has high mobility to take photos from a variety of angles, but with ultra-wide angle, panoramic, 360° horizontal (around the sky), and by adding a separate camera, you can take 360° spheres, making it possible to take a wide range of photos that can't be imitated by a SLR or smartphone. Of course, you can easily link it to social media by linking it with your smartphone. Compared to other models, which can only be previewed using a smartphone app, it is easy to fit in and has a stable operation feel, and I've come to believe that there is no camera that is perfect for the outdoors. Below, I would like to explain the specific points, including photos and footage I have actually taken.
Furthermore, as I wrote in various examples, I no longer have the time to explain basic usage and specifications, so please refer to the official product introduction page
What do you think about the mountains and skiing? I tried using it in a variety of situations
Point 1: It's tough, so you can use it safely even outdoors
Continuing from the previous model FR100, it uses highly durable materials and structures that are highly durable, allowing it to be used roughly outdoors.
In terms of impact resistance, it passed the tests based on the MIL-Standard 810F Method 516.5-Shock based on our own standard, and is at a level that is fine for small drops. As for waterproof and dustproof performance, it is equivalent to IPX8 and IPX6, which can withstand long-term submersion, and IP6X, which completely shuts out dust. Low temperature resistance is shorter, but the battery life is -5 to 40°C. In other words, it gives a different sense of security when you can use it anywhere outdoors, as long as it is not in a very extreme environment.
However, of course, it does not mean that no matter what you do within this range, it will not break at all. please refer to the manufacturer's FAQ page for details and usage in ski resorts and snowy mountains
Point 2: The separate body makes it easy to take photos while you are taking photos from a variety of angles, using the attachments
The lightweight, slim camera part can be installed in various positions and at any angle thanks to its secure hinges and a wide range of attachments (sold separately). Moreover, the camera and viewfinder and controller are separated, so you can take flexibly photos in a variety of situations, such as taking commemorative photos and selfies, as well as taking photos while walking, climbing, or skiing.
It comes with a standard tripod nut, so it can be installed not only on a regular tripod like the one shown in the photo, but also on various attachments of the same standard.
It appears to be attached to the backpack using multi-angle clips. This is enough for walking, but for intense movements such as running, it's better to have a little more strength.
The so-called selfie stick multi-angle stick allows you to place the controller around you, making it easy to use.
Anyway, the possibilities are endless! However, even so, in the case of a manufacturer's sample photos, it can already be an impactful place, such as underwater or a rock climbing wall. To be honest, I didn't think it would be that necessary for loose hikers and skiers.
But it's surprisingly interesting when you try it. Abandon the stereotype that "you should hold the camera in your hand and take a look," and try fixing it to an angle that you would never have had before, setting the shutter to automatically turn off (interval shooting) and leaving it alone for a while. The photo below shows an example of a manufacturer's original "wrist strap" attached to the shin.
Originally, the standard option multi-angle belt set (for wrists) was forced to attach to the ankle. Incidentally, there is a possibility that the camera may trip or be damaged by mud, stones, or branches, so please be aware that this is not a recommended use for everyone.
The reason why you can make the setting like this is to turn off the shutter without worrying about the composition and just turn off the shutter, which is just because it is an ultra-wide angle of view of 185°. Then, one in a hundred pictures could be taken or not (photo below).
By cutting out the ultra-wide-angle lens from an angle from below the knee, even a mere normal road has become a somewhat impressive photo (I feel like it).
At first, it's like a gambling fun, but as you keep repeating this, you'll get a sense of "if you take this, it'll look like this," and you'll be able to take "good photos" more and more, which is interesting. Before I knew it, I was addicted to the variety of filming styles that would add to my enjoyment. Each interval is a bit of a random photo, but if you keep taking photos while you are taking them all the time and take them manually at the point, it can also be a record of your actions, and after taking them, you will select a certain amount of videos with the buttons on the camera and edit them into a series of slide shows, which is useful for remembering the journey up to this point later.
Incidentally, the adapter part is usually a screw hole for a tripod, so in addition to the original attachments, attachments for Gopro can be used well depending on the item. It's also a good idea to try out these at your own risk.
Attach the Gopro attachment to the Peak Design camera holster and mount the FR200 there. I think that by ingenuity of these existing products, how they use them will be expanded.
*The manufacturer does not guarantee safety regarding these methods in your own way, so in some cases the fixation may come off and the camera may be damaged. The editorial department also recommends pursuing fun, but please enjoy it with the understanding that the consequences caused by this are at your own risk.
Point 3: Easy and powerful images with attachments and full-scale photography
A major feature that other cameras of the FR200 do not have is the flexibility of the action camera mentioned above, and the convenient shooting of the separate controller is that it allows you to enjoy 360° shooting. This is a 360° video of a mountain lover, so this time I tried out a little bit of backcountry skiing and what kind of footage can be captured by passing through rocky areas with a slight altitude. First, this is a video of a camera (single camera) installed at various positions and angles and filmed the entire sky (360° horizontally).
All of the videos have been exported from the dedicated app "EXILIM 360 Viewer" and uploaded to YouTube as 360° videos. You can freely change the angle by dragging it with your mouse or finger to view it.
*It seems that even if you play the following video directly on your smartphone browser, it will not play as a 360° video. In that case, tap the video title to launch the Youtube app on your smartphone, and view it using the Youtube app to play it normally as a 360° video.
A single camera (with multi-angle stick ) with the lens facing upwards and taking photos around the sky
A single camera (with Gopro chest holder) takes a picture of the front all over the sky
Attach a single camera (with head strap
It's a bit disappointing that the rear half is dark as it is all around the sky, but this alone shows that you can capture unique footage that adds a touch of a normal action camera. By the way, the image quality is 1440 x 1440 pixels for the entire sky, but with a 16:9 angle of view, you can also shoot high-quality 4K videos.
I've been uploading videos of skiing downhill from here onwards, but I'm not at a level where I can be proud of my skiing skills, so please ignore that.
Next, let's recognize two cameras and see how you can take spherical videos in multi-camera mode.
Point 4: Multi-camera mode allows you to shoot amazing 360° videos and simultaneously at the same time.
This is where the true essence of this camera begins. Next, let's recognize two cameras and see how you can take spherical videos in multi-camera mode. There is an original multi-camera mount to place two cameras back and forth, but there is no mount to secure the mount to the body in the original, so we replaced it with a helmet mount for Gopro.
It is a multi-camera and attached to a helmet. The mount was slightly higher, so it felt a little heavier than I thought.
A multi-camera (with multi-camera mount /Gopro helmet mount) is installed on the helmet to take 360° photos (skiing down)
Multi-camera (with multi-camera mount /Base mount for Gopro) is installed on the skis to take 360° shots (skiing down)
What do you think? ? I think the 360° video captures the impact of the downhill and the scenes of the friends who are skating together. Incidentally, it seems that the deviation at the joints between the front and rear cameras is inevitably about this amount of time, and unfortunately, it seems that it is not as good as the completely fixed THETA in this trial. Also, some people may have noticed some subtle smears in several areas of the video, but please be aware that this is a scratch on the lens cover used.
A Gopro base mount was glued to the front of the skis, and a multi-camera mount was installed (charging). Because the shock caused by the blur is large, it might actually be safer to be a little more guilty.
However, just to be careful, the method of attaching the Gopro base mount to the ski is a very high risk of the mount peeling off due to vibrations in the board, and is a high risk installation method that is not even known to the manufacturer or Gopro. We are currently undergoing trial and error on the Internet, and the editorial department has not yet found a mount method that says, "This is absolutely safe." This time, we decided to slowly slide on gentle, fresh snowy slopes with good visibility, but if you try, please take the initiative at your own risk, such as avoiding hard slopes and speed, maximizing adhesive strength, and installing a flow stopper in case of a loss.
a multi-camera (with multi-camera mount /Gopro helmet mount) (passing rocky areas)
I tilted the camera angle a little too much and the seams became noticeable, so I added a boundary line when I exported it. This level of rocky areas is quite altitude, so you can get quite a bit of a stunning footage on rocky areas and variations of the Alps. By the way, YouTube and Facebook support the release of 360° videos, but the screen has an angle of view of 16:9, so it's a shame that even though it's actually a large square screen, the top and bottom are cropped together when you actually upload it.
Point 5: Photos taken automatically to your smartphone, making it easy to connect to SNS
Photos and videos that have such an impact will make you want to post them on social media right away. Another attractive feature was that the FR200 had a system where you could take a picture and share it immediately without using any special operations. Images taken in the all-out mode are directly saved as 3888 x 3888 pixels of the entire-out photo, and if you connect your camera and smartphone to Wi-Fi, it has a function that automatically sends the captured images to your smartphone, so as long as you have set them up, you can normally post individual photos to various social media without using a dedicated app (the dedicated app "EXILIM CONNECT" is required for Wi-Fi integration). Below is a photo I uploaded when I went to Sugadaira the other day and took the usual 360° shot at the peak.
In addition, by using the dedicated app "EXILIM ALBUM", you can choose photos transferred to your smartphone to a good balance from the photos and videos you took that day and create videos edited in a slideshow, and you can also share these videos on social media.
Things that bothered me
The FR200 has provided a variety of new experiences, but it is also true that as I used it more, I began to see a lot of different things.
There is little system to share 360° photos and videos you've taken as they've taken.
If you view it with a PC-only viewer, you can enjoy it as the original 360° images and videos, but at this time there is no way to share it online.
This is what caught my eye the most.
Even if 360° photos can be posted as stills on various social media via smartphone, when it comes to VR images and videos that can be moved with a mouse or finger, Casio does not offer a way to easily share them via smartphone, which is a very wasteful feature.
The only way to do this is to edit and export using a dedicated app and then upload it to Facebook (still images/videos) or YouTube (videos), and currently you will have to go through a PC. In this regard, THETA has more functionality on smartphone apps, from shooting to editing and sharing. I'm sure that the mechanism and ease of sharing will be essential for cameras in the future, especially those that can enjoy taking photos that look great on social media, so I would like them to put more effort into this.
To fully enjoy skiing, the battery life is not enough, and the rechargeable battery cannot be replaced.
The batteries of cameras and controllers are originally separate, and when you take interval shooting or video, the battery only decreases as the cameras keeps the battery running out.
When used in the winter, the battery runs out very quickly, so just taking a video (a total of tens of minutes) quickly ran out of battery on my camera. However, I think this is probably the same for every camera from any manufacturer, so I can't believe it's that much, but the problem is that this model cannot be replaced. Normally, when I take a SLR photo shoot in the winter, I take about four spare batteries, and then replace them without hesitation when the batteries run out, but if I can't do that, I'm honestly at a loss. By the way, when the temperature was relatively high (about 10°C), I used it for an entire day of climbing during the entire day of mountain climbing, so I only had to just barely get to the finish line, so I hope that something will be done (there are no use to do on such days, so if I get the chance to do it, I'll use it while charging it with a mobile battery whenever I get the chance).
Apps and software do not have great usability and stability
In reality, this is common with products from many hardware manufacturers, but this time, I was really curious to see that the application and LCD parts were a little difficult to use, and there were no functions I wanted.
For example, when shooting, the current camera mode display is hidden, so I once wanted to take a picture in "all-spherical mode" in multi-camera mode, but it was set to "all-season mode." Even in normal single camera mode, the main displays are hidden easily, making it difficult to understand how to set it up, and at first I found it difficult to get into. Also, every time you turn on the switch (occasionally when you wake up from sleep), you need to pair two cameras with the controller, or connect them to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on your smartphone, but the operation is clear and still difficult to understand and troublesome, and the connections every time are often not stable (occasionally, the camera itself freezes and it can't be restored unless you reset it).
I wish the smartphone app also had more image and video editing functions. It is said that EXILIM ALBUM can display images around the sky and create highlight movies, but to be honest, it is not compatible with social media, so I still don't think I'd like to use it actively. Also, even if you take sync photos of two devices from different angles, you can only play them side by side with the playback function on the controller, and it's a shame that you can't line up two videos in parallel and edit them into one video.
As for other editing software on PCs (EXILIM 360 Viewer), I feel like I would like to see some functions that will make the users' desires come true, such as editing functions such as freely cropping 360° photos and videos and cutting out still images.
Overall review: Depending on how you use it, it is definitely a unique camera that will keep you excited and the atmosphere of the site locked in.
The previous model, the FR100, was attracting attention for its tricky angle and ease of action cameras, but with the FR200, it was possible to take 360° shots, and personally I've come to love it as a very interesting camera with a charm that neither smartphone nor SLR camera has. Rather than focusing on image quality and settings to capture artistic works, we want to keep the memories of everyone having fun together, the excitement and atmosphere we encountered on set, and more specifically, we want to share pictures with impact that cannot be captured normally! This is the perfect camera for those who are looking for such a thing.
However, my honest impression is that although it is a bit difficult to get into the real value of this camera in order to show off the true value of this camera, I still want two cameras and some attachments. I think it's pretty interesting to use it in basic ways, but I thought this camera will become more and more interesting by using your imagination and inventing various ways of taking pictures. At the same time, since it has such a great deal of appeal as hardware, we hope to see the enrichment of the applications surrounding it and the shared environment after shooting.
For detailed specifications and accessories, click here (official product page)