Like most things, the market for Digital Cameras keeps on growing faster than most of us can keep pace with, it's just another of those things you just have to bite the bullet with and take a risk in buying what you *believe* to be the best option for you.
The QV R4 by Casio is a fine piece of equipment, with a strong stainless steel casing giving it a classy look. A flat-to-the-surface control dial acts as the mode selector while the easily positioned function keys make learning to operate the camera quite simple for even the newest of newcomers to this technology. The settings are easy to navigate and have sharpness, contrast, saturation, white balance and quality controls included.
When the camera's
memory card is full, there is an 11MB (megabyte) capacity storage area of flash memory so you are able to save images even without the recommended SD memory card (the usual storage disk).
The quick response time of the camera (an impressive 0.01 seconds) between pressing the picture taking button and it producing the image reduces the chances of blurring your photos to an absolute minimum. The LCD screen is 1.6" in size which allows plenty of viewing area before choosing when best to take your photos.
The flatness of the camera is further enhances by it's ability to retract the entire lens past the surface so the frontage has no 'sticky-outy-bits'. It is trimmer overall than the Casio QV-R4, which is the 3 mega pixel (3 million pixels) version, whereas this is the 4 mega pixel (4 million pixels) model.
The image sizes are as follows: 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 1280 x 960 640 x 480 2304 x 1712 (3.94 mp) 2240 x 1680 (3.76 mp)
The camera records the images in to JPEG format (a decreased size file of a similar quality to bitmaps [BMP's]) which can be uploaded on to your home computer through the simple USB port function. The connection lead for the USB has a flimsy rubber protection cap which isn't all that impressive, but these can be easily, and cheaply replaced.
The QV-R4 is fully capable of recording movies, the drawback being they aren't able to re-produce the sound, the higher market products do have this ability, but the videos to run with a smooth composition. The movie length is still short with most digital cameras and this one manages just the standard 30 seconds. Unlike many other cameraas, the batteries seem to last quite a long time. Charging the battery is very simple as there is a handy charger included. You just pop the battery in the charger, and plug the charger directly into the wall with absolutely no cords necessary. It takes around about two hours to fully recharge the battery.
A night photo option is included which make those darker picture opportunities all that bit easier to get a clearer image of. The self timer option runs between 2 and 10 seconds. Another useful feature being the ability to crop / resize your images as you see fit, you cannot rotate them on the camera though. Flash and red eye reduction are also built-in which add even more weight behind the pluses of this piece of kit. The overall photo quality is very high, in both daylight and at night time, though there are continually going to be cameras eclipsing the likes of this one, and by increasing margins too.
With almost 150 pages of manual there is plenty of light reading to enable you to learn all the little ditties you can perform with the camera. The manual includes a lot of explanation as well as simplistic annotated diagrams which will aid the user in working out the best ways of utilising the camera to it's full potential.
The other features include: Alarm HTML album of photos taken World time Lithium-ion rechargeable battery Dimensions 90 x 59 x 31 mm (3.5 x 2.3 x 1.2 in) Weight (without battery) 200g (7.1 oz)
The QV-R4 can be found at a whole range of prices, and a little searching around will do no harm at all, Dixons stock it for around £250 while www.amazon.co.uk offer a similar price. I have seen it for up to £300, but then again I've seen it at just over £200 in sales, so for a proper look Dixons and similar stores are a good bet but most places offer the product.
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Thanks for the additions - rating upgraded. Sounds like I should have saved my pennies until I could afford this one!
offy 13.12.2003 21:12
Loved the title! This was a good review, that told me a lot about the camera (and it is certainly better then my cheap one), but I would have like to know a bit more about the quality of the photos in different conditions, ease of use, the software included and the manual. Let me know if you add these and I will come back and take another look.
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Advantages: Loaded with features, Sleek, Docking station, Less plastic, 4 Mega Pixels Disadvantages: Battery life went AWOL, No camera bag, Slightly high price, Small internal memory
coledsteel 05.12.2004 (05.12.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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