Casio QV-3EX

The monochrome data display on the top indicates focus mode (MF, infinity, macro), self-timer (10s or 2s), flash mode (On, disabled, redeye reduction), battery condition and pictures remaining - there's definitely a Microdrive in there!

The left button controls flash mode in record and enables the display of exposure information in playback mode. The center button changes focus modes in record and folders in playback. The right button enables the self-timer in record and lets you delete images in playback.

The other controls on the top are the shutter release, power and mode switch and the Mode Dial with positions for:

"M"anual record - user sets both shutter speed and aperture

"A"perture priority - user sets an aperture value (F2.6, 4.2 or 6.6) and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed

"P"rogram AE - camera automatically selects best aperture and shutter speed combination

Night Scene - camera selects a slow shutter speed and uses the flash to illuminate foreground objects. Use of a tripod is highly recommend

Landscape - camera selects infinity focus mode

Movie - up to 30 seconds of 320x240-pixel motion-JPEG saved as AVI

Panorama - camera helps the user to create horizontal panoramas by showing the edge of the last picture taken. You move camera until the images line up and then shoot the next picture in the sequence. You can combine up to 9 images in this frashion. In playback mode the camera will stitch these sequential images together and show it as a moving panorama. When the images are saved to computer they must be stitched together using software included.

On the back next to the color LCD is the MENU button that enables the menu display. The large 4-way selector switch lets you navigate menu screens, make selections, operate the digital zoom and select images during playback. The SET button accepts menu selections and functions as the Zoom selector during playback.

The DISP button controls the color LCD

It's doubtful that you'll ever need to buy another storage device as the QV-3EX comes with a 340MB IBM Microdrive. Equipped with a CompactFlash Type II card slot it can also be used with any capacity CompactFlash card, Type I or II.

Located on the left side of the camera behind a rubber flap are the camera's I/O ports. The DIGITAL port is for the (slow) serial RS-232 connection to the computer. The VIDEO OUT port lets you plug into a television (NTSC or PAL) and view your images. The high-speed USB port is the prefered way to move the image data to your Windows PC or Macintosh computer. The DC IN jack lets you power the camera from the included AC power supply.

The QV-3EX is supplied with a rechargeable lithium battery pack and a combination charger and AC power supply. The benefit is that you don't need to buy any batteries. The downside is that the battery is proprietary and you should always have a spare. According to the documentation you can also use a CR-V6P lithium battery. I've never seen or used one of these but I assume that it is a one-use type of battery.