Casio EXILIM EX-FH20

In a market littered with superzooms, it's really tough for one to stand out of the crowd without being too eccentric and dysfunctional. The Casio EXILIM EX-FH20 manages to do so with its high speed still photography, slow-motion video capture, and plethora of features.

To begin with, the EX-FH20 boasts of a solid body that's made of smooth, hard plastic with ample rubber around the handgrip, and an overhanging thumb grip on the facing side of the camera. The camera's of average size (123 x 81 x 85 mm) and weighs 513-grams with batteries inside, making it slightly heavy. It uses 4 AA batteries, which is a great thing for those of you who're too lazy to keep charging your camera.

The button placement's spot on. The top-front side of the handgrip is elevated and slightly angled so that your index finger rests on the shutter button perfectly. The zoom toggle's placed around it. The power button and mode dial are placed behind it. The mode dial's doesn't have your standard modes, instead, to show you that they've made the EX-FH20 more than just a still camera, they've included only one still camera setting on the mode dial. The other settings include Burst mode with flash, 40 FPS burst mode, High Speed video and standard video. All sub-modes can be accessed from the interface menu.

Besides the mode dial, near the viewfinder, there are two buttons to switch between live and preview mode. The right hand side of the 3-inch LCD hosts a minimalistic set of buttons compared to most cameras. You just have a display, menu and BS (best shot) button, along with a navigation pad that has a 'set' button in the middle. Since the buttons/interface is unique, it might take you a while to get used to. It's in no way badly designed though, and works great to give you access to the camera's key-features. However, the navigation pad doesn't double up as a 4-way shortcut key, so those used to that might miss it here. The camera's even got a Macro mode button placed on the left side of the lens, making it convenient to switch in and out of it easily.

With a unique set of buttons and a solid frame, the EX-FH20 boasts of far more individuality than most superzooms, and at the same time continues to be extremely functional, ergonomic and feels good in your hands.