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(Initial review date: 5 December, 1998) |
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1,280 x 960 pixel resolution |
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2X optical zoom, + 2/4X digital | |
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Spot or Average light metering | |
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Optional aperture-priority metering | |
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Mini-movie and in-camera HTML capability | |
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8MB CompactFlash card included |
Casio, long a giant in consumer electronics, has also been a consistent innovator
in the world of digital cameras. Their original QV-10 was the first digital
camera to incorporate an LCD screen, a feature that has by now become almost
a mandatory component. Casio was also the first company to introduce a swiveling
lens, a feature that with few exceptions has been a hallmark of their cameras.
Long-term Casio watchers will have noticed a two-stage pattern in their
product releases, in which a new camera model is frequently followed by another
one having the same basic characteristics, but introduced at either a lower
price point or with additional features. Most recently, the QV-5000SX was introduced
at the Spring '98 PMA show, and began shipping in May. In late summer of '98,
Casio dropped the other shoe, with the QV-7000SX, which brought back the trademark
swiveling-lens design that had been dropped in the QV-5000, added an optical
zoom lens, and extended several other of the 5000's capabilities.
With the introduction of the QV-5000SX, we noted that Casio appeared
to be moving away from their prior camera-as-consumer-electronics vision, and
more toward a view of the digital camera as a photographic tool. With the QV-7000SX,
they have extended the photographic capabilities to include options found on
only a few cameras to date (November, 1998), such as spot metering(!), and optional
manual aperture selection. Overall, the QV-7000SX is a capable photographic
tool, while still retaining some of the "gadget" appeal of the earlier
Casio units.
QV-7000SX "High Points" overview
Several readers have requested quick, up-front feature summaries of the cameras
we review, which we'll be doing from this point onward. Herewith are the key
characteristics of the QV-7000S, ranked in a completely arbitrary order reflecting
our own personal biases and dispositions ;-)
- 2x optical zoom lens (32-64mm equiv.), 2x/4x digital tele mode
- Spot (!) or averaging metering
- Optional aperture-priority metering
- Manual focus option with very fine gradations (28 steps)
- Focus/exposure lock
- +/- 2EV exposure compensation in (very fine) 1/4 EV steps
- Usable light range ~EV8 - EV21
- In-camera HTML capability
- Swiveling lens assembly makes it easy to shoot above crowds
- Includes 8 MB CompactFlash card
- 3x image inspection mode on playback
- Built in 4-mode flash
- Macro, Mini-movie, and Panorama modes
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Overview
The QV-7000SX's standout feature relative to prior Casio models (at least those
prior to the QV-5000SX) is its 1.3 megapixel resolution. Casio lists the CCD
sensor as being a 1/3 inch unit with 1,310,000 pixels, but only 1,250,000 "effective"
pixels. We've seen this more conservative "effective" pixel rating
on other cameras, but have to admit we don't really know what it means. It's
possible that some pixels at the extreme periphery of the array may be masked-off
by the camera's optical system. Regardless of how the sensor pixels are counted,
the camera captures images with pixel dimensions of 1280 x 960 or 640 x 480,
depending on the image quality setting selected.
Once images are captured, they can be viewed on the rear-panel LCD screen,
a 2.5-inch "TFT" unit, specified as having 122,100 pixels in a 555
x 220 array. (This is a noticeable increase in screen size over the 1.8-inch
unit on the QV-5000.) While it will still wash out in direct sun, we found the
anti-glare coating on the LCD screen of the '7000 to be much more effective
than that of many digital cameras, and the screen more useful in bright light
than those of many cameras we've tested.
The QV-7000 also includes a flash, which now appears to be a standard
feature on Casio's cameras. The autofocus lens mentioned earlier also has a
macro mode (selectable from the top-panel controls), as well as a manual-focus
mode. This last is a feature missing from many top-end digital cameras, and
particularly welcome when shooting under dim conditions, where the autofocus
may not work.
The QV-7000's Movie Mode allows you to capture "movies", with
successive frames captured every 1/10th of a second, and a duration of 3.2,
6.4, or 12.8 seconds. (Up to twice as long as the QV-5000.) "Movie"
mode works by cleverly changing the clocking of the CCD sensor elements to read
out portions of the array independently of each other, creating 16 movie frames
from each conventional frame stored. This of course, greatly reduces the resolution
of resulting images, but the small 160x120 pixel image size makes for quite
compact final files, well-suited to casual inclusion in an email or in the corner
of a web page.
Other innovative functions retained from earlier models include in-camera
panorama stitching, and the ability to capture high-contrast images and apply
them to other shots as titles.
Design
With the trademark swiveling lens design, there's no confusing the QV-7000SX
with a conventional film-based point & shoot. Somewhat bulkier than the
'5000, the '7000 measures 5.5 x 3 x 1.7 inches (140 x 75 x 53 mm), and weighs
in at about 9.9 ounces (280 grams) without its batteries. The result is a camera
a bit large to fit the typical shirt pocket, but well-suited to carrying in
jackets or purses.
Like most digital cameras, the control layout of the QV-7000SX favors
the right hand, with most major functions controlled by either the right forefinger,
or by pressing one of the four buttons arranged along the bottom of the rear
panel. The most commonly used operating controls are directly accessible via
the rear-panel buttons, while less common ones are reached via a menu system
using the LCD screen to display menu choices. (As we'll describe in more detail
later, we've consistently found Casio menu systems to fast and easy to navigate.)
The zoom control for the lens is located on the right front of the camera, directly
below the shutter button.
Viewfinder
One consequence of returning to the rotating lens design is that the QV-7000SX
has only an LCD viewfinder, rather than the combined optical and LCD approach
of the QV-5000. The LCD viewfinder has the advantage of avoiding parallax problems,
particularly at close quarters, by showing what the CCD array is actually looking
at. (This is especially useful when shooting macro subjects.) In contrast to
most digital cameras we've tested, which crop the CCD image, even on the LCD
screen the LCD viewfinder of the QV-7000SX is dead-accurate. Of course, there
are downsides to LCD viewfinders as well: They invariably wash out in bright
sunlight, although the QV-7000SX does better in this respect than most. LCD
screens also consume large amounts of battery power. Given the choice, we'd
prefer to have both optical and LCD finders, but that would undoubtedly increase
the size of the camera significantly. At 122,000 pixels, the LCD screen of the
QV-7000 shows more detail than most, although its larger size spreads this detail
over a larger area, which reduces the apparent sharpness somewhat.
Optics
The lens on the QV-7000SX is a moderately "fast" f2.8 design, with
a focal length range equivalent to a 32-64mm lens on a 35mm film camera. The
normal autofocus range is from 9.6 inches (0.25m) to infinity. When the "macro"
mode is enabled, the optical configuration is changed to allow focusing as close
as four inches (10cm). The manual focus option allows a total of 28 focus steps
from 10cm to infinity, an unusually fine degree of control. The previous QV-5000
used a combined aperture/shutter system that linked aperture to shutter speed.
While this arrangement is very common in digital (and film) point and shoots,
we like the ability to select aperture independently of shutter speed, to control
depth-of-field in the image. Thus, we were very pleased to see the option for
manual aperture control appear on the QV-7000, with settings of f2.8, f5.6,
and f11.
A particularly welcome feature on the QV-7000SX is its provision for
manual focus adjustment. When the camera is operated in "manual" mode,
you can preset the focal distance to 28 different values, ranging from 10cm
(4 inches) to infinity. We say that this is a welcome feature because most digital
cameras with autofocus lens systems have difficulty focusing in very dimly-lit
conditions. A few units provide one or two fixed focus points as a manual override,
but almost none offer the range of manual focus adjustment that the QV-7000SX
does. Manual focus override is important because most autofocus cameras will
simply refuse to take a picture if they aren't able to achieve a solid focus
lock. We were especially pleased to see Casio increase the number of focus steps
with the QV-7000: One of our few complaints with the earlier QV-5000 was that
the limited number of focus steps made it hard to achieve good focus at short
distances with low aperture numbers. (Important note: Because the QV-7000's
manual focus option uses the "+" and "-" buttons to control
the focus distance, exposure-compensation is not available in this mode.)
In addition to the manual focus option, the QV-7000SX provides a fairly
standard "focus lock" feature, in which the camera will autofocus
whenever the shutter button is half-depressed, and then retain that setting
as long as the shutter button isn't released. This is very useful for focusing
on off-center subjects. In another departure from the QV-5000SX, the QV-7000
locks both exposure and focus when the shutter is half-pressed. (The QV-5000
locked only focus.) Particularly when used in conjunction with the spot metering
option of the QV-7000, the combined focus/exposure lock is very handy.
"Digital Zoom"
In common with many other recent digital camera models, the QV-7000SX offers
a "digital zoom" function that simulates the operation of an optical
zoom lens. We say "simulates," because the end result is not the same,
and it's important to understand the difference. Also, various manufacturers
are implementing "digital zoom" in different ways, adding to the confusion.
(As it turns out, the QV-7000SX employs both approaches commonly used for digital
zoom, in its 2x and 4x modes.)
All digital zoom techniques involve taking data from a portion of the CCD array
and using it to "fill" an image file in some fashion. We say "in
some fashion" because there are two ways in which manufacturers "fill"
the file: The first approach is to simply chop out the data from the central
pixels of the CCD array, and package it as its own file, pixel-for-pixel. This
results in a smaller data file, containing only the pixels from the center of
the array. You could achieve the same effect by simply cutting out the center
of a file in an image editing application, and saving it as a separate image.
The effect is the same as using a longer focal-length lens on a lower-resolution
camera, but you end up with a lower-resolution picture as well. Nonetheless,
the ability to create a "telephoto" image (albeit at a lower resolution)
without resorting to copy/paste operations in software is often a decided advantage.
(Close-up shooting subjects for 'web publishing comes to mind.) This "in-camera
cropping" approach is used by Casio in the '7000s "2x" digital
zoom mode, producing a 640x480 image that is a pixel-for-pixel copy of the center
of what would normally be the 1280x960 full-frame image.
The other way to "zoom" digitally also begins by taking data
only from the central portion of the sensor array. This time though, rather
than just saving it in a file "as-is," the camera interpolates it
back up to the size required to fill the original frame: The "zoomed"
file has the same number of pixels in it as the original, but object edges are
softer and there's less detail. Again, while not a true zoom, this effect is
similar in some respects, and the result may be useful for some applications.
Casio uses a combination of both methods just described in the QV-7000SX's
"4x" zoom mode: Data is taken from only the centermost 320x240 pixel
area of the sensor array, and this data is then interpolated up to create a
640x480 pixel final file size. While we found the '7000s 2x digital zoom quite
useful, we felt it would be hard to find a practical use for the 4x output.
To our eye, the 4x-mode images were far too pixelated and soft to be of much
value. An argument could be made in favor of their use for web presentation,
as we discussed above for the in-camera cropped images. In that situation though,
you would in most cases want to scale the image down to produce the final web
image, which somewhat defeats the purpose of in-camera "zooming" to
begin with.
Overall, our opinion on digital zoom techniques is that they can be a
genuine convenience for some applications, but they in no way take the place
of a true optical zoom lens. Bottom line, it's a nice feature to have for those
times you need it, and a worthwhile addition to digital cameras, as long as
it comes more or less for free (e.g., adds little or nothing to the end-user
cost of the computer).
Exposure
As with most of their cameras, Casio doesn't give an explicit equivalent ISO
speed for the QV-7000SX in their literature. Our desire to quantify everything
was further frustrated in the case of the '7000 though, in that they specify
neither the ISO speed, nor the usable exposure range. In practice, we found
that the QV-7000 could produce usable images down to an exposure level of about
EV5 in "night" mode (see below), or EV 8 in "normal" mode.
(As a reference point on the low-light side, our fairly brightly-lit indoor
portrait shot is taken at a light level of about EV12. A value of EV8 is only
1/16th as bright, which corresponds to a rather dimly-lit room.) Using night
mode in the darkest surroundings produced images with a fair bit of sensor noise
in them, though. At the opposite end of the scale, the camera seemed perfectly
capable of capturing images of light-colored objects in full sun. Thus, we'd
estimate the normal exposure range of the QV-7000SX to be about EV 8 to EV21.
Shutter speeds in the QV-7000SX range from 1/4 of a second up to 1/1000th
of a second in normal mode, and down to 1 second in "night" mode.
The "sports" mode apparently restricts the lower limit of shutter
speed range to some higher value, but Casio's documentation doesn't state what
that was. As with most digital cameras today, the QV-7000SX includes a self-timer,
allowing the photographer time to get into the shot him/herself. The 7000's
self-timer provides delay settings of either 2 or 10 seconds. The 2-second setting
deserves a minor additional comment: The very slow shutter speeds available
in night mode make a tripod almost mandatory in dark conditions. However, even
the act of pressing the shutter button can introduce significant camera shake,
particularly with a lightweight tripod. One solution to this can be to use a
self-timer with a short delay to trip the shutter a few seconds after your finger
leaves the shutter button. Thus, the 2-second setting on the QV-7000's self-timer
can be very useful for night shooting.
Given the rather long maximum exposure times of 1/4 second in normal
mode, and 1 second in night mode on the QV-7000SX, we feel compelled to insert
here our standard mini-flame against handheld exposures in low light: (Regular
readers of our reviews can skip the remainder of this paragraph.) Many third-
or fourth-generation digital cameras such as the QV-7000SX are allowing much
longer exposure times than were possible with earlier devices. This has proved
to be somewhat of a mixed blessing for the manufacturers though, in that they
often are wrongly blamed for fuzzy images that are the fault of the photographer.
A general rule of thumb for amateur photographers is to use a tripod whenever
the shutter speed drops below 1 divided by the lens focal length in millimeters.
With the QV-7000SX's 32-64-mm equivalent lens, this guideline would suggest
a tripod for any shutter speed slower than 1/32nd - 1/64th of a second. When
you realize that the longest exposure time the camera is capable of (even in
normal mode) is eight to sixteen times slower, you can appreciate the need to
brace or otherwise support the camera in some fashion when shooting under dim
conditions. Don't blame blurry pictures on the camera when you're blithely hand-holding
shots even a pro would shy away from! (Flame off.)
We mentioned the QV-7000's spot-metering option earlier: Now's the time
to go into it in more detail. Most digital cameras (and virtually all point
& shoot film cameras) use an "averaging" metering system. That
is, they look at the average amount of light coming from the scene in front
of them, and adjust the exposure accordingly. This works well if the subject
you're photographing is about the same brightness as the background, but fails
miserably under strong backlighting, or for light subjects against dark backgrounds.
Most digital cameras include exposure compensation adjustments to let you compensate
for these conditions, requesting either more or less exposure than the automatic
metering would select on its own. This is a reasonable workaround, and indeed,
the QV-7000SX has very easily accessible exposure-compensation adjustment controls.
A much better approach though, is for the exposure meter to base its calculations
on exactly the part of the subject you're most interested in. This is called
"spot" metering, because the exposure meter just looks at a small
spot in the overall image. The QV-7000's metering can operate in either spot
or averaging mode: When it is in spot mode, a small circle appears in the center
of the LCD viewfinder screen, showing you the area of the image being used to
determine exposure. As noted earlier, you can use the focus/exposure-lock function
in conjunction with spot metering to handle off-center subjects.
We mentioned the QV-7000's exposure-compensation adjustments: In normal
operation, the "+" and "-" buttons on the top panel of the
camera boost or cut exposure in 1/4-EV units each time they're pressed, with
a maximum range of +/- 2 EV. The 1/4 EV steps provide very fine exposure adjustment,
since most digital point & shoot cameras only give you 1/2 EV steps, if
they provide exposure compensation at all.
Flash
he built-in automatic flash has a specified working range of 2.3 to 6.6
feet (0.7 to 2.0 meters), a bit smaller maximum distance than most digital cameras
we've tested. At the other end of its range, despite the rather high minimum
distance rating, we found the flash performed exceptionally well when shooting
close-ups: We found no tendency to wash-out the subject, even when shooting
at the minimum focusing distance of 4 inches (10cm). The flash offers four operating
modes, including "off" (flash never fires), "on" (flash
always fires, for "fill flash" operation, "auto" in which
the flash fires as directed by the camera's autoexposure circuitry, and "red
eye reduction" mode, in which a single pre-flash fires before the main
exposure, to make subjects' pupils contract, reducing the chance of red-eye.
Because the flash consumes appreciable battery power, and can take a fair while
to charge when the batteries are low, we liked the fact that you can choose
to have the camera remember the flash setting from one use to the next. (In
other words, if we left the flash in "off" mode, it remained so when
we next turned the camera on.) Also, if we left the flash on, but later decided
not to wait for the flash circuitry to charge up when turning on the camera,
we found that the flash charging could be terminated (and the flash turned off)
at any time by pressing the flash-control button on the rear panel.
Overall, the flash in the QV-7000SX is a marked improvement over those
in previous Casio cameras: Several of the earlier models were prone to producing
odd color casts when the flash was used for subjects with bright ambient lighting.
In particular, when the flash was used for "fill" illumination with
bright incandescent lighting, the pictures tended to have a very strong yellow
cast. This appears to be completely rectified in the QV-7000, as evidenced by
the very natural coloring in our indoor portrait shot taken with the flash enabled.
White Balance
The QV-7000SX normally operates with a very effective automatic white balance
control enabled. Alternatively, you can manually select a fixed white balance
to compensate for incandescent, fluorescent, or daylight lighting. We found
the automatic white balance to be very effective at neutralizing colors, particularly
if the scene contained at least some pure white object. If the scene has an
overall color balance biased in one direction or another by the subject's coloration
(such as a large background area of colored wallpaper on an indoor shot), this
could fool the automatic white balance and produce an incorrect color correction.
Surprisingly, we found that the automatic white balance produced a much more
neutral tone than the "incandescent" manual setting on our indoor-portrait
test subject, which does contain large areas of pure white, in the model's shirt.
Movie Mode
The QV-7000SX continues the "mini-movie" mode popularized by the QV-770
and QV-5000 before it. In this mode, long sequences of low-resolution (160x120)
images are captured in very rapid succession (at 0.1 or 0.2 second intervals).
The resulting movies can be played back directly on the camera's screen, or
downloaded as composite images to the host computer, where they can be assembled
back into a movie via software. Movies on the QV-5000 can be 32 or 64 frames
long, stored as four 640x480 images in memory. The maximum duration of 12.8
seconds is twice that of the QV-5000, although this is achieved by dropping
the frame rate: 3.2 second movies are stored 4 frames per camera memory image,
and captured at 5 frames per second. 6.4 second movies are stored 16 frames
per camera memory image, and captured at 10 frames per second. 12.8 second movies
are also stored 16 frames per camera memory image, but the frame rate again
drops to 5 frames per second. The efficient memory usage, combined with the
large 8 MB on-board memory capacity of the '5000 means you can store quite a
few movies without overly encroaching on your storage capacity for normal still
images.
The QV-7000's mini-movie option also includes both "future"
and "past" modes. The "future" mode operates as you'd expect:
It begins recording when you press the shutter button, and ends when the camera
runs out of memory. The "past" mode is an interesting option: For
capturing fast-moving events (when your reflexes may not be up to the challenge),
the camera continuously digitizes movie frames, then saves the last 3.2, 6.4,
or 12.8 seconds of action that occurred before you tripped the shutter. In "past"
mode, you begin the recording process by half-pressing the shutter release.
The camera will begin recording frames, displaying a "Stand By" message
until the chosen movie length has been reached. Then, whenever you press the
shutter button all the way down, the previously-stored movie frames are saved
to disk, producing a movie of all that went before your final shutter-release.
In-camera movie playback requires the four frames of memory holding each
movie to be "grouped" so the camera will recognize them as belonging
together. In prior Casio cameras, this grouping was only possible if the images
were left untouched in the camera's memory just as they were captured. In the
interest of providing a truly universal "presentation machine" though,
Casio has provided a grouping option in the '7000, whereby images uploaded from
a computer can be re-grouped so the camera can recognize them as a movie. This
is a welcome addition relative to earlier models.
Panorama Shooting
With recent software innovations, "panorama" shooting has become increasingly
popular, and Casio provides unique features in the QV-7000SX to support this.
As in prior models though, they go the competition one step better, and allow
you to actually preview panoramas you've shot directly within the camera. To
create a panorama, a series of up to 9 images are taken in sequence, panning
the camera between each shot. In playback mode, panorama images are identified
by an icon at the top of the frame. Pressing the shutter button while viewing
a panorama frame shrinks the image to occupy only the central portion of the
LCD screen, and presents a sub-menu for controlling "playback" of
the panorama. Pressing the shutter button again begins a slow-motion pan back
and forth across the breadth of the panorama, which can be paused with another
actuation of the shutter button. Panning direction is controlled via the top-panel
"+" and "-" buttons, and panorama viewing can be canceled
by pressing the "menu" button.
As you might expect, the in-camera image-assembly is only of sufficient
quality for display on the small LCD screen: You'll want to use the Spin Panorama
software included with the '7000 to assemble the separate images together into
a single, super-wide picture on your computer. (Note that Spin Panorama allows
you to stitch as many images together as you like, bypassing the 9 image in-camera
limit.)
One of the big challenges in creating panoramas is to have all the initial
images line up properly, and to include enough overlap between them to allow
the software to smoothly blend from one image to the next. Normally, this requires
either a special tripod head, or a lot of guesswork. In the QV-7000SX though,
a clever panorama capture mode saves a slice of the image from the right-hand
side of the previous frame, and moves it over to the left-hand side as an aid
to alignment. Even better, the reference image is translucent, meaning you can
"see through" it to the current scene coming from the sensor. This
lets you achieve almost perfect alignment every time. (Although we confess that
using a tripod is still necessary to obtain the best results.) The ability to
achieve such good alignment between shots makes the final stitching process
much easier, and reduces the likelihood you'll have visible seams in the final
panorama.
Just as with movies, in-camera panorama playback requires the frames
of memory associated with each panorama to be "grouped" so the camera
will recognize them as belonging together. In prior Casio cameras, this grouping
was only possible if the images were left untouched in the camera's memory just
as they were captured. In the interest of providing a truly universal "presentation
machine" though, Casio has provided a grouping option in the '7000, whereby
images uploaded from a computer can be re-grouped so the camera can recognize
them as a panorama. Again, this is a welcome addition relative to earlier models.
Operation and User Interface
With all its operating modes and features, you'd expect the QV-7000SX to be
cumbersome or complex to operate. While there are a lot of buttons and menu
options, we found the 7000's user interface easy and *fast* to navigate. (The
QV-7000 uses the "pSOS" operating system from ISI, a competitor to
the new "Digita" system. We found menu navigation on the QV-7000 to
be much faster than on Digita-based cameras, perhaps due to the simple monochrome
screen icons it uses.) Some users and reviewers have complained that the icons
used in the Casio user interface are overly cryptic, and hard to interpret.
For our part, we respond by noting that there are only a few icons whose functions
need to be learned, and the user interface is lightning-fast to use once you
become accustomed to it. Thus, in our view, the advantages far outweigh the
disadvantages!
Major camera modes are selected by rotating the top-mounted "mode
dial." We like mode dial interfaces, as they make for very rapid camera
operation, and reduce menu complexity. The mode dial primarily controls recording
or camera-configuration modes: Playback mode is selected by flipping a toggle
lever at the upper rear corner of the camera, under your right thumb. (We particularly
like how quickly the '7000 can switch between record and playback modes for
checking your pictures: Even for fine-mode images, you can pop into playback
mode in under two seconds to review your last picture.) Commonly-used camera
features are readily accessible from the external buttons, without need to drop
into the menu system. These functions include exposure compensation, flash settings,
auto/manual focus and macro mode, self-timer settings, and on-screen data display.
Given the wide array of functions on the QV-7000SX, we can't realistically
step through each one here, but we'll describe several of the major functions
to give a general sense of what it's like to operate the camera. (Readers of
our earlier QV-770 and QV-5000SX reviews will find the following descriptions
quite familiar, as the operation and menu structure of the QV-7000SX is very
similar to that of its predecessors.)
Normal Picture-Taking
Most of your picture-taking will probably be done in the "normal recording"
mode, designated by a horizontal "page" icon at the top of the display.
With the back-panel switch set to "Rec," you're ready to take a picture.
In this mode, the LCD panel acts as a viewfinder, but also gives you some information
on camera settings: Indicators in the upper left-hand corner show the flash
mode (no icon means auto-flash), and whether or not the lens is set to macro
mode. When in manual-focus mode, the current focus distance is displayed at
lower left, just above the battery-condition icon. Other information displays
on the LCD screen are controlled by the "Disp" push-button on the
top panel. You can show or hide several informational displays, including the
mode indicator itself, a storage indicator showing the current resolution setting
and frames remaining in memory, and a battery-condition indicator. In low-light
conditions (and when the "night" mode isn't selected), a camera-shake
warning appears in the viewfinder, at middle-left. When spot metering is selected,
a small circle will appear in the center of the viewfinder to indicate the metering
area. The displays for flash setting, macro or manual focus, and camera shake
can't be disabled with the "Disp" button, due to their importance
to the picture-taking process.
While previewing the scene, the viewfinder display gives a fairly good
representation of what the final image will look like. Assuming you don't have
direct sunlight falling on the LCD panel, you can get a pretty good idea of
what the exposure will look like on the final image, although we observed that
the viewfinder is a bit darker under low-light conditions than the final image
will be. If the image seems too light or too dark, you can adjust the exposure
by up to 2 EV units in either direction, simply by pressing the "+"
or "-" buttons on the top panel.
Changing image resolution in recording mode requires entering the menu
system, where you can select from one of the four alternatives (Super, Fine,
Normal, Economy) using the "+", "-", and shutter buttons.
Other options on the record menu include White Balance (auto, incandescent,
fluorescent, daylight); Aperture (auto, F2.8, F5.6, F11); Digital Zoom (off,
auto, x2, x4); Movie Mode (past, future); Movie Time (3.2, 6.4, 12.8 seconds);
Metering (Multi, Spot); Sharpness (soft, normal, hard); Time Stamp (off, date
only, day and time, full date and time); and Folder (camera, folders A,B,C,D,E).
(The "folder" selections choose between predefined storage locations
on the hard drive, to help with the organization of your images.)
Shutter Lag
Shutter lag is a measure of how long it takes a camera to actually take the
picture after you've pressed the shutter button. In this category, we found
the QV-7000's performance to be very good relative to other cameras on the market:
When the shutter release is pressed from a "standing start" (no pre-focusing
or autoexposure performed), the total lag time until the picture is captured
is at most 0.4 seconds. On the other hand, if the exposure and focus were locked
by a half-press of the shutter button prior to taking the shot, the lag time
drops to something between 0.1 and 0.2 seconds, a very fast time, and one that's
close to the limit of our ability to measure it. (We perform our shutter lag
and cycle time measurements with the Digital Eyes shutter-lag timing utility.
Visit their web site to download a free copy of this small Windows program.
Cycle Times
For a megapixel camera, the QV-7000SX cycles fairly rapidly between successive
images, but we confess we missed the almost instantaneous cycling of Casio's
earlier VGA-resolution models. In "Super" resolution mode, the camera
was ready to take the next picture after about 9 seconds, a time that dropped
to about 7 seconds for economy-mode images. Flash charging happens after the
prior image is stored to memory, adding to the picture-to-picture cycle time.
We found the worst-case cycle time to be about 19 seconds with the flash enabled,
and a set of NiMH AA batteries with very little charge left in them. In common
with many other late-model digital cameras, the QV-5000SX takes a little while
to "boot up" when you first toggle the power, but at 6 seconds, the
delay before you can take the first picture is far from the longest we've measured.
We tried the fast Lexar "4x" compact-flash cards in the QV-7000SX
to see if there was any appreciable difference in cycle times with the quicker
cards. We were puzzled, in that the first time we tried the faster card, we
noticed a substantial improvement, whereas subsequently, we saw little difference.
(The non-Lexar cycle time dropped to about match that of the high-speed Lexar
card.) At this point, all we can say is that there is little difference in the
QV-7000's cycle times with faster CF cards, but YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).
Movie Mode
In "Movie" mode, the frames-remaining indicator changes to show the
number of movies that may be recorded in the available memory. In Movie mode,
the flash is disabled (indicated by a blinking "no flash" icon on
the LCD screen), and the LCD readouts indicate "Digital 2x Zoom",
because only the central portion of the CCD sensor is used for capturing movies.
You can toggle between 2x and 4x zoom modes though, via the record-mode menu
system. All the normal record-mode menu functions remain available in movie
mode, allowing access to manual white-balance settings, manual focus, etc.
Self-Timer Mode
Self-timer mode is indicated by a stopwatch icon. Self-timer mode on the QV-7000SX
is fairly simple, as the self-timer function works in conjunction with any of
the camera's other recording modes, rather than requiring option selections
within the self-timer function itself to choose between single-shot or movie
recording modes. This is a nice feature, since you may sometimes want to use
self-timer mode for panorama-mode shooting, if you're taking pictures using
available light with long exposure times: Light, inexpensive, bring-anywhere
tripods are generally a bit rickety, particularly if used at full extension.
Using the self-timer with such a tripod gives vibrations time to die down before
the shutter trips, contributing to sharper pictures.
Panorama Mode
We discussed panorama mode at some length earlier, so won't spend much time
on it again here. Like the most recent Casio cameras, panoramas can only be
shot in the horizontal ("landscape") orientation. (The earlier QV-700
VGA-resolution camera permitted panorama recording with the camera oriented
either horizontally or vertically.)
Image Review
Once you've taken one or more pictures, you can view them on the LCD screen
by flipping the back-panel switch to "Play." In this mode, the last
picture taken is displayed first, and you can page back and forth between shots
by pressing the "+" and "-" buttons. To review images more
quickly, you can switch to a 4-up or 9-up index display via the "Menu"
button. In these modes, the +/- buttons step you through the camera's memory
4 or 9 images at a time. (When you return to normal single-image viewing mode
by pressing the shutter button, the image that was in the upper left-hand corner
of the screen is displayed at full size.)
In Play mode, you also have the option of zooming in on the images, using
the LCD screen as a "window" into the full picture. Zoomed in, the
full image is about twice as large as the LCD screen, and you can pan around
to inspect the full detail of the picture. Panning is controlled by the ubiquitous
+/- buttons, and a small icon in the upper right-hand corner of the LCD shows
you what part of the image you're currently viewing. (Note though, that movie
and panorama images aren't subject to zoom-viewing.)
Timer Mode
The QV-7000SX includes an "intervalometer" option (a fancy term for
it - Casio just calls it a "timer"), which allows you to take pictures
automatically at predetermined intervals, ranging from 1 to 60 minutes between
shots. You can also set the camera either to begin taking images as soon as
you press the shutter button, or to wait until a specific time to start. (We
can imagine some very interesting science projects growing out of this feature,
although Mom or Dad may not be keen on having their camera tied up for a few
weeks taking pictures of a seed sprouting!)
"Custom" Settings
This mode-dial position lets you set several camera operating parameters. One
of the most welcome menus is the one that lets you set the "sleep"
and "power off" times. The sleep setting determines how long the camera
will stay ready to take a picture, with its LCD illuminated. Available values
include Off, 30 seconds, and 1 or 2 minutes. Auto-shutdown times may be set
to 2, 5, or 10 minutes. (Note that the "Off" position for the sleep
setting only means that the screen will stay lit as long as the camera is on.
The camera will still shut down after 2, 5, or 10 minutes, as set by the auto-shutdown
timer.) Happily, the camera appears to stay powered-up continuously when it
is connected to the AC wall adapter: This may be of interest to people wishing
to either take long time-lapse sequences, or those industrious enough to write
software to drive it as a "webcam". (Note that this latter use isn't
supported by any of Casio's software. You apparently can use it as a video camera,
via the video out port, but there's no provision for continuously capturing
images digitally to feed to a web server.)
The other function of the "Custom" mode is to let you choose
which camera options will be remembered between power-down cycles: You can choose
to have any or all of white balance, aperture, digital zoom, flash, auto/manual/macro
focus, and multi/spot metering settings saved when the camera shuts down. By
selecting an option and setting the mode memory for it to "on", the
camera will always power-up with the same setting for that option as when it
was last shut down.
In-Camera Image Manipulation
As digital cameras become increasingly "smarter," it becomes practical
to do more and more image manipulation within the camera itself. While not providing
quite the range of in-camera capabilities as the QV-700 or '770, the QV-7000SX
does include several special-effect filters, and the ability to overlay a previously-captured
"title" image onto other shots, varying title background shape, color,
and position. (Title backgrounds can even have varying degrees of transparency.)
The image manipulation and titling capability is clearly directed toward
those who would use the camera's video-out capability (see below) for presentations
driven directly from the camera. Some may question the benefit of assembling
presentations in the camera, rather than using a computer and simply uploading
the results back to the camera for display. While the camera's standalone capabilities
are obviously less than those of a software package running on a host computer,
we found the in-camera functions both more useful and more fun than we had anticipated:
You might not want to rely on the QV-7000SX as your only presentation tool for
a multimillion-dollar business deal, but they'd be absolutely great for family
"slide shows" or school projects.
While on the subject of presentations using the camera as the "host,"
we need to make an important note: Some cameras are very finicky about what
images they'll display on their video screens, insisting either that the uploaded
images be original (untouched) camera files, or that they adhere strictly to
the "EXIF" standard for camera JPEG images. While we haven't experimented
extensively with this capability, several readers have commented to us that
the Casio cameras appear to be much more obliging in this respect, happily accepting
all manner of uploaded images for subsequent display. We had the opportunity
to try this with the QV-7000SX, and found that JPEG files modified by PaintShop
Pro on a PC were read by the QV-7000 with no problems.
Image Storage and Interface
Memory
The QV-7000SX stores images on a removable CompactFlash memory card, and an
8 megabyte card is included with the unit. This will hold approximately 14 images
in "Super Fine" mode, 19 in "Fine" mode, 33 in "Normal"
mode, and 55 in "Economy" mode. As mentioned earlier, movie files
occupy the same space as 4 "Economy" frames.
HTML Index
The QV-7000SX has one new feature that we found particularly appealing, although
we didn't use it in any of our work. You can enable an "HTML" mode
in the camera that causes it to create web-based picture indexes, complete with
date, time, and image parameters (shutter speed, aperture, image quality setting),
for all the images it captures. We don't have the time or space here to go into
full details of the layout of these images, but suffice to say that a complete
index system is created for all images in the camera, stored in multiple folders.
Just as you'd expect, clicking on a low-res thumbnail in the index opens the
full-resolution file. With a CompactFlash card reader attached to your computer,
you can use this feature to either browse the contents of the camera's memory
card, or copy the card's contents en masse to a file folder on your hard disk,
and browse them there. Definitely a neat feature!
Computer Interface
Images are read from the camera using the included QV-Link or TWAIN driver software
to download images via the built-in serial port. The QV-Link software is quite
straightforward in its operation, and versions for both Mac and PC platforms
ship with the camera. In the most common mode of operation for QV-Link, you
would probably begin by opening the camera's memory as an index of thumbnail
images. From there, it's easy to select multiple images for download, and then
transfer all the selected shots in a single download. Alternatively, the camera's
entire memory image can be downloaded for later sorting and culling in a single
operation. Images from the host can also be uploaded back to the camera, increasing
the QV-7000's usefulness as a presentation device.
The maximum data-transfer rate between the QV-7000SX and a computer is
115,200 baud. For maximum-resolution images, this translates into an image-transfer
time of roughly 50 seconds. Economy-mode images take about 11 seconds to transfer
at the same data rate. (These times were measured on a laptop with a 120 MHz
Pentium processor: A few seconds of the "transfer" time is occupied
by image processing, meaning that faster processors will show slightly lower
overall transfer times.)
IR-TranP and Camera-to-Camera Transfers
While we had no way to test it, the QV-7000SX revived the IR-TranP infrared
wireless data link capability previously seen on the QV-700 and QV-770. With
a properly-configured host computer, you can transfer images between CPU and
camera without a serial cable. Supposedly, IR-TranP transfers can be quite a
bit faster than standard serial connections, but we confess to never having
experienced them ourselves. Another consequence of the IR-TranP capability is
that you can transfer images between QV-7000SX cameras, simply by setting them
up facing each other, hitting the "play" button on one, and the "record"
button on the other. (Although we're hard-pressed to think of a use for this
capability.)
Video Output
Casio was one of the first companies to include video output capability on their
cameras, a function that is now commonplace. We've mentioned this ability earlier,
and the concept of using the camera as a presentation tool. We vacillate somewhat
though, as to how frequently the typical user will take advantage of this capability.
For casual one-on-one sharing, the built-in LCD screen is often sufficient.
For a better viewing experience, whether in home or office, there's frequently
a computer handy, and computer CRTs almost always look better than televisions.
On the other hand, regardless of where you are, you can probably find a television
handy that will either have a jack for direct video input, or have a VCR attached
that does. Overall, video-out is a handy feature, and one that we'd rather have
than do without. Most digital cameras support either the NTSC video standard
used in North America, or the PAL standard common in most of the rest of the
world, but not both: The QV-7000SX allows you to select either, using the "Setup"
menu to do so.
Power
The QV-7000SX is powered by four standard 1.5v AA batteries, or the included
AC power adapter. Casio recommends either alkaline or lithium primary cells,
but we also had good luck with NiCd and NiMH batteries. A word of caution though:
We've heard from owners of earlier QV-camera models that the lower operating
voltage of most rechargeable batteries can cause the camera to fatally "hang"
as the batteries approach the end of their usable charge. We've never experienced
this ourselves, but suggest you be very careful not to push your batteries too
far: Recharge them fully at the first sign of a low-battery warning! Casio themselves
recommend against NiCd or NiMH batteries. We've also heard from readers that
the Casio cameras have a fairly conservative "end-of-life" battery
voltage setting of about 1.15 volts. Since NiCd or NiMH batteries start out
at only 1.2 or 1.25 volts or so, this is relatively little margin before the
batteries would be considered dead. In our own experience though, we've had
good luck running Casios from NiMH AAs. Again, our only caution is that YMMV
(Your Mileage May Vary).
Included Software
In common with Casio's other cameras, the QV-7000SX has a rich assortment of
included software. The software package includes Casio's own driver software,
Adobe's PhotoDeluxe Home Edition, version 3.0, ISR's Ixla Digital Camera Suite,
PictureWorks' Spin Panorama and Spin Object, and a package called PictureFun
Photo that we frankly didn't try. Of these, the Casio drivers and QV-Link application
and Spin software are available on both Mac and PC platforms: All of the others
are PC-only. The Casio and Spin software, and the PictureFun Photo application
also support Windows NT.
Basic camera operation and connectivity is provided by Casio's own QV-Link
application for both Mac and Windows platforms. Also included from Casio are
a Photoshop plug-in driver for Mac computers, and a TWAIN driver for Windows
ones. All these basic applications allow full control over uploading and downloading
to or from the camera, and are all you really need to get images into or out
of the QV-7000SX.
Several of the included software packages provide for image manipulation,
and the creation of various projects such as calendars, cards, etc. Adobe's
PhotoDeluxe program, Ixlaphoto and PictureMall work only on Windows 95/98 machines.
(Mac fanatics from way back, we're dismayed to see the loss of support for Macs
among the digicam manufacturers, but recognize the economic realities they and
software developers currently face.) All of these provide for basic image manipulation
and project creation. PhotoDeluxe includes the greatest number of "guided
activities," and the most fonts and project templates, while Ixlaphoto
includes "album" organization capabilities, tools for business presentations,
and the ability to create simple web pages. PictureMall's software features
ease of use, and links to their internet-connect services for ordering various
photo novelty items.
Spin Panorama is a panorama "stitching" program, that lets
you combine multiple shots into wide panoramic views. Used in conjunction with
the special panorama mode of the QV-7000SX, it is particularly easy to assemble
panoramic images. (As mentioned earlier, the panorama shooting mode helps you
lineup successive shots, making the final stitching process easier, and the
seams between images less evident.) Conversely, Spin PhotoObject lets you take
pictures of an object from all sides, and then combine them into a QuickTime
"object" that you can turn and look at different sides of on your
computer.
Test Results
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own
eyes be the judge of how well the QV-7000SX performed: Explore the links at
the bottom of this page, to see how well the QV-7000 performed, and how its
images compare to other cameras you may be considering buying.
The comments here are a summary of our more detailed analysis on the
"Pictures" page for the QV-7000SX: Refer to that page for a more in-depth
analysis of the test results.
Overall, the QV-7000SX exhibited good image quality, turning in respectable,
middle-of-the-pack performance in most parameters. We felt that both resolution
and color quality were noticeably improved relative to the earlier QV-5000SX.
Resolution measured-out at roughly 600 line pairs per picture height in both
horizontal and vertical directions, with only very slight color aliasing for
parallel lines at high frequencies.
As noted earlier, the LCD viewfinder on the QV-7000SX is deadly accurate,
showing exactly 100% of the final image. (This is a real benefit for macro shooting,
or other situations where exact framing is particularly important.)
Color accuracy on the QV-7000SX was quite good. Contrast, while slightly
high, was also improved over that of the earlier QV-5000SX. We did notice an
odd tendency to render a particular shade of blue as a more purplish hue than
it actually was, but this behavior appears to be limited to a very narrow range
of colors. Overall, the 7000's color rendition was quite good, clearly in the
mainstream of megapixel-class digital cameras.
The QV-7000SX' built-in macro capability worked very well, particularly
with the lens run out to the telephoto end of its focal-length range. At its
closest focusing distance of 4 inches (10 cm), it covers an area 1.7 x 2.25
inches (43 x 58 mm). If all you need is a 640x480 image, the 2x "zoom"
is quite effective in macro mode, reducing the minimum area to only 0.85 x 1.125
inches (22 x29 mm). The flash also worked well all the way down to the minimum
focusing distance, even though Casio rates it as having a minimum usable distance
of 2.3 feet (0.7 meters).
Overall, we found the QV-7000SX' "digital zoom" to be useful
in the 2x mode, in which it is simply chopping out the central portion of the
image. The resulting 640x480 images would be useful for web work or other low-resolution
applications. On the other hand, we didn't see much point in the 4x zoom (which
interpolates the central 320x240 portion of the CCD up to a 640x480 image),
as the resulting images were so soft and lacking in detail.
As noted earlier, the flash on the QV-7000SX is significantly improved
over that of earlier Casio cameras, producing very naturally-colored images
under the bright incandescent ambient lighting conditions that previously caused
severe problems. The QV-7000SX' flash performed remarkably well in close-up
situations, despite a very conservative minimum-distance rating by Casio.
See for Yourself!
Take a look at the test images from the QV-7000SX
(with extensive comments), or jump to the Comparometer™
page to compare its reference images to those from other digital cameras.
Conclusion
Overall, the QV-7000SX turns in a respectable "megapixel" performance,
and adds some unique features either unavailable or hard to find elsewhere.
(The movie and panorama-capture modes.) With the addition of a zoom lens, spot
metering, manual aperture-setting capability, improved manual focus, and enhanced
flash performance, it offers many "pro" features found on very few
of its competitors. Its flexibility and multimedia capability make it uniquely
suited for web publishers, but we expect its true megapixel resolution will
find it many print-based applications as well. Prior Casio cameras tended to
reflect consumer-electronics sensitivities more than photographic ones, but
the QV-7000SX clearly provides many of the creative tools serious photographers
demand, while leaving behind nothing that a "consumer" could want.
If you prefer a greater degree of control in your picture-taking than most digicams
permit, the QV-7000SX could be for you.
Reader Sample Images!
Do you have a QV-7000SX camera? If you'll post an album of your samples
on one of the photo-sharing services and email us at [email protected],
we'll list the album here for others to see!
For More Info:
View the data sheet for the QV-7000SX
View the test images from the QV-7000SX
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