Casio QV-3EX

Typical play mode image with overlay icons for folder name and image number, image size and quality, time and date and battery condition.

While viewing an image full screen you can press the INFO button on the top and it will display the extended information seen here in the blue area.

Nine-image thumbnail playback mode. Here you can quickly search through your stored images and select one for full-screen display.

The user selects the desired zoom magnification factor and places the outlined box over a given area and it will then be enlarged - see the next frame.

Once the image has been magnified you can scroll around inside of it using the 4-way selector switch.

The Casio cameras are the only ones we've seen yet that can display panorama scenes in the camera. Up to nine images in a panorama sequence will be combined and then replayed in an animated fashion with the picture scrolling first to one direction and then back to the other.

The slideshow function operates as you would expect and lets you show your images on the camera's LCD screen or on a television set. Unique to the QV3EX is the "folding page" transition between images. Shown here as it is transitioning between two pictures displayed like pages in a book.

The Play menu with options for displaying a nine-image thumbnail index page, starting a slideshow, protect/unprotect images, embed DPOF printing information, deleting images or entering the Setup menu.

Steve's Conclusion

Durability-wise this camera is excellent, it's housed in an aluminum alloy case and has a builtin lens protector. Battery life is good if the color LCD is used sparingly. The supplied lithium rechargeable battery is not what I would call "heavy duty" and the Microdrive definitely draws more power than a solid state memory card. The battery is proprietary and as such you want to be sure to purchase a spare, you know that batteries always die when you need them the most.

The QV3EX is a total package; 3.3-megapixel camera, rechargeable battery, AC power supply and one of the highest capacity mobile storage devices available today. It is an easy to use camera with a fully automatic point-n-shoot mode as well as an aperture priority mode, a movie mode and several programmed scene modes. If you can live with the limitations of not having an optical zoom then this may just be the camera for you. If you need a zoom lens or a camera with more manual features then look at one of the other 3mpixel cameras.