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Casio QV-3000EX Casio steps into the 3-megapixel era with great picture quality and 340 megabytes of storage! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet QV-3000EX Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on QV-3000EX Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & Conclusion Review First Posted: 2/14/2000

Test Results
In keeping with our standard policy, our comments here are rather condensed, summarizing our key findings: For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the QV-3000's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the devices performed: Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how well the QV-3000 performed, and how its images compare to other cameras you may be considering buying.
We felt the QV-3000EX turned in some of the best pictures we've seen from a Casio camera to date (February, 2000), to say nothing of the resolution produced by the 3 megapixel sensor and Canon-branded lens. Color was very good, albeit slightly muted. (Although we found it looked better on our PC's monitor than on our Mac's, perhaps due to "gamma" differences between the two platforms.) Color was quite accurate, and the camera did a good job with the difficult red/magenta separation, and the tricky blues of the model's pants and blue flowers in our outdoor portrait shot.
While we don't yet have any other 3 megapixel cameras to compare it to, the QV-3000 turned in resolution numbers that equalled or comfortably exceeded the top of the 2 megapixel offerings (depending on which camera you were comparing it to). We rated the horizontal resolution at 800 lines per picture height and the vertical resolution at 750-800 lines.
One of the QV-3000's strongest point is the unusual level of control it provides over exposure parameters, offering multiple aperture settings, full-program, aperture-priority, and shutter-priority metering, and even a "hidden" full-manual exposure mode. Other options include control over contrast, color saturation, flash intensity, and camera light sensitivity. This is one of the most exposure-control flexibility we've seen yet, and an exceptional value for a 3 megapixel camera, given Casio's inclusion of a 340MB MicroDrive as the standard storage medium!
We found the QV-3000EX's optical viewfinder to be a bit loose, showing about 88 percent of the final image area in wide angle and about 84 percent in telephoto. The percentages were about the same in the smaller 1024 x 768 image sizes. We also noticed that the framing in the optical viewfinder resulted in a slant downwards towards the left side. The LCD monitor was also a bit loose, showing about 90 percent of the final image area in wide angle and about 93 percent in telephoto. As with the optical viewfinder, the percentages were the same for the 1024 x 768 image size as the larger 2048 x 1536 size.
The QV-3000 performed quite well in Macro mode, with a minimum area coverage of only 2.23 x 1.67 inches (56.7 x 42.5 mm). While not reaching the microscopic level of some recent cameras, the QV-3000's macro coverage is clearly better than most.
For a bottom line to our tests, we feel that the QV-3000 provides very good image quality, excellent resolution, exceptional exposure control. - A good choice for someone interested in exercising more photographic control than most digicams allow, with a full 3 megapixel resolution.

Conclusion
Overall, we were very pleased with the QV-3000EX. It offers the best image quality we've seen yet from Casio, with a strong feature set at a very attractive price. (Particularly given the inclusion of the 340 megabyte IBM MicroDrive!) The versatility and flexibility offered by the full manual control and the variety of options (sharpness, contrast, saturation, flash intensity, sensitivity, etc.) make it a perfect camera for either the novice or the advanced photographer who wants the best of both worlds (full auto or full manual control). The camera is light and portable, has a good user interface, and it's images show the significant increase in resolution you'd expect to find when moving from two to three megapixels. (Helped along by the excellent Canon optics.) Bottom line, we expect this to be a very strong seller, popular across a wide range of digicam users.