The Casio QV-3000EX is their attempt to get in with the Big Boys!
Written: Mar 16 '02 (Updated Jan 19 '03)
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Pros: Lots of Storage!
Cons: Price is too High!
The Bottom Line: Casio did a pretty good job but I think they need some more improvements especially in price to compete with the other major manufactures.
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Casio QV-3000EX Digital Camera |
Casio has always been considered in my book the low end of the digital cameras and now with the QC-3000EX they are in competition with the major players like Cannon, Minolta, Nikon and Olympus.
The Casio QV-3000EX is a 3.34 Megapixel camera that can deliver a resolution as high as 2048 x 1536 pixels. The camera will also let you take movie clips at 320 x 240 pixels for up to 30 seconds at a time in the AVI format.
Clarification!
The specifications that Epinions shows are not correct!
They show no flash, the Casio QV-3000EX has one built-in.
The Lens
Casio uses a lens made by Canon and it is a nice one that is quiet during the zooming function.
It is an all glass with 8 elements 3x optical and 2x digital zoom lens. Most cameras have an aperture that is usually f2.8, the QV-3000EX gives you a low f2.0 aperture setting. You can manually set aperture at f2.0, f2.3, f2.8, f4, f5.6 and f8.
It is an auto-focus or manual lens that has a range in the normal mode of 1 foot to infinity and in macro mode it can go from 2.4 inches to 1 foot.
The zoom lens is equivalent to a 33mm to 100mm lens on a 35mm film camera.
What you get with the camera!
Of course you get the QV-3000 camera, the EX version and Plus version are identical, the only difference is the extras that the Plus has with it.
16Mb CompactFlash card (EX version only)
Four alkaline batteries (EX version only)
Lens cover with strap
Video cable, USB cable, PC serial cable with a Mac adapter
Soft case
CD with drivers and software
Manuals
The Plus
The QV-3000 Plus has all above plus these extras!
A 340MB IBM Microdrive
AC adapter
Four AA NiMH rechargeable batteries with charger
The Likes!
Here is a digital camera that fits rather nicely in my hands with the controls in easy reach. While holding the camera you can easily control the camera with your index finger on the top of the camera. With your index finger you can easily control the flash & focus modes, the self-timer and taking the shots. The larger button is for turning of and on the record and playback modes.
Also on the top of the camera is a small monochrome LCD to easily let you know how many more photos can be taken. You can also view the battery level, flash mode, focus mode and self-timer. These are very handy when you need a quick glance!
The menu on the LCD is one of the nicest I have seen yet with color icons to navigate around for easy camera settings. When making your icon selection it takes you to a menu system like most other digital cameras except this menu has a 3D like appearance that is very attractive. Navigating around the menu is easy but there is a lot to navigate so be patient if you are not use to a camera with a lot of options.
The optical view finder only show you about 90% of view of your photo but there is a Diopter adjustment so you can use it without using your glasses.
Plenty of photo storage on the 340MB IBM Microdrive.
The included AC adapter and four AA NiMH rechargeable batteries with charger is always is nice, most cameras do not include these.
Being able to take still photos and movie clips is always a plus for any digital camera.
Other pluses are the low aperture of f2.0, zoom lens, built-in flash and nice software included.
The Dislikes!
On the back of a camera is 1.8-inch color LCD display, here you can take your photos with if you do not wish to use the viewfinder, make camera adjustments or view your photos or movie clips. The LCD is nice but the camera is large enough that the LCD display could have been bigger considering the cost of the camera.
When taking photos there is usually about a 1 to 2 second delay before taking the next photo. Now in one mode you can take 3 shoots in less than 3 seconds but you will have to wait 5 to 10 second for the camera to place the photos onto the memory card before you can use it again.
There is no hot shoe or any external flash sync connector for a flash, so you are stuck with the built-in flash.
NO SOUND! Movie clips without sound just doesn’t seem right!
The retail price is also a negative factor of $799 for the EX version and $999 for the Plus version. I have found the Plus version on the Internet for as low as $799 and the EX version for $686.
Other Technical Information
Made for Windows and Macintosh
Landscape, Night Scene, and Portrait Modes
Panorama recording and playback
Metering Modes of Multi-pattern, center weighted and spot
Flash Modes of On, Off, Auto and Red-eye reduction
Video Output to connect to a TV or VCR
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format)
Images in Fine, Normal and Economy at 2048 x 1536 and 1024 x 768
Program AE, aperture priority AE and shutter priority AE
Exposure Correction: -2EV to +2EV
CCD shutter, mechanical shutter
Shutter Speed: 2 to 1/1000 second
Self-timer: 2 seconds and 10 seconds
White Balance: 4 modes
A Built-in quartz digital clock, date and time recorded with image, auto calendar up to 2049
USB (special mini connector)
Digital In/Out
Video Out (NTSC and PAL)
AC adapter connector
Overall!
It is a nice camera with a high price!
Picture quality is good not great, when I compared them to the ones taken with my Olympus C-3000, the Olympus produces a much cleaner and crisper looking photo with better color detail. Looking at the photos of the QV-3000EX without comparison to others, they look pretty good.
I had a time with indoor flash photos at first they always were a little too bright, under florescent lighting the flash would produce a darker photo. I finally had to compensate with the plus and minus features of the camera.
The movie clips are fairly nice in the quality and they are so easy to use.
Making all the camera adjustments are easy through their menu system.
Would I recommend it? Yes, the camera has a lot of potential especially if you get the Pro version with the 340MB IBM Microdrive. The biggest con I have is the price!
I would recommend the Olympus C-3000 or Olympus C-3020 over the Casio QV-3000EX because of a much better price and photo quality with very similar features.
Here are some of my other camera reviews!
Canon PowerShot G1 Digital Camera
Casio QV-2300UX Digital Camera
Fuji FinePix 2800 Digital Camera
Kodak DC215 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC280 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DX4900 Digital Camera
Minolta Dimage E-201 Digital Camera
Minolta Maxxum HTsi 35mm SLR camera
Minolta Maxxum 7
Minolta Maxxum 800si 35mm SLR camera
Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-3020 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-4040 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-40 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-380 Digital Camera
Pentax Optio 430 Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 900-s Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 3500 Digital Camera
Sony MVC-FD87 Digital Camera
Sony Mavica MVC-FD95 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-F717 Cyber-shot Digital Camera
Sony DSC-P2 Digital Camera
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 849
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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Epinions.com ID:
surferdude7
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Location: Elizabethtown, Ky.
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