Casio QV-R51 Review

The QV-R51 uses a 3x optical zoom lens (35mm equivalent 39-117mm) The maximum aperture is F 2.8-4.9. The digital zoom is 4x. The focus range in Normal AF is 60 cm (23.6") to infinity, in Macro it covers from 10 cm to 70 cm. The optical zoom is disabled in macro and fixed at maximum wide angle.

The auto focus system is contrast-type with selectable Spot or Multi AF area options and manual focus. The lens retracts into the camera body when powered down and has a builtin lens cap. The lens extends and retracts -very- fast, about a second is all it takes.

The eyelevel optical viewfinder is a real-image zoom type with a field of view of approx. 85% of the captured image. It has no dioptric adjustment. Two LEDs indicate the flash and auto focus status when the shutter is half-pressed.

The flash has an effective range of 0.6m - 3.2 m.(W), 0.6 - 1.8 m (T) Flash modes available are: Auto, Red-eye reduction, Fill flash or Off.

Controls on top are the combination zoom lens control and the shutter release. And the main power On/Off button.

Controls on the back are minimal but effective. On the top are the dedicated Play and Record mode buttons. The MENU button calls up the onscreen menus. The 4-way selector for navigating menu screens and selecting images for playback. In the center is the SET button for accepting selections. Press "Up" to enable Macro focus mode (Album function in Play mode.) Press "Down" to change the Flash mode (Delete images in Play mode.) The DISPlay button controls how much information is displayed on the LCD and also turns the LCD on and off.

There is no Mode Dial, you access the menu system to select Snapshot, Best Shot or Movie recording modes. All the other camera settings are also menu-selected.

A major improvement over the QV-R40 is the larger 2-inch color TFT LCD monitor with 354 x 240 (84,960 pixels) resolution. It makes using the menus and reviewing images a much more enjoyable experience.

On the left side is the USB 1.1 port for downloading to the computer, on the right side is the DC INput jack for an optional AC power adapter. There is no audio-video out feature.

The QV-R51 has ~10MB of internal memory for picture storage and is equipped with a SD/MMC card slot located in the battery compartment. It's compatible with any capacity SD card from 16MB to 512MB.

Power is supplied by a pair of standard AA type batteries, NiMH rechargeable type is supplied and highly recommended. The approximate battery life with the supplied NiMH batteries is: 900 shots (2 hour 30 minutes), continuous playback 250 minutes. Test conditions: 74°F, LCD on, flash off, continuous recording.

Casio includes a healthy set of 2100mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries and the compact BC-5H battery charger. You can use alkaline type batteries in a pinch but they won't last nearly as long as the rechargeable type, possibly as low as only 20 shots!