Casio Japan has today announced the QV-R3 and QV-R4, three and four megapixel, three times optical zoom ultra-compact digital cameras in a metal case. Casio note that the lens is made by Pentax, which would probably make it the same lens unit used in the Optio 330/430. Casio are also promoting this camera has having a very short shutter release lag of 1/100th of a second. More hints about how heavily this new camera is based on Pentax's Optio 330/430 creep up in the specifications, with features such as World Time and the Alarm function.

Thanks to Yves Boeres from digitalkamera.de for noting the QV-R3 (announced on the Casio Germany website) as well as the QV-R4 (announced on the Casio Japan website).

Casio QV-R3, QV-R4 Specifications


  Casio QV-R3 Casio QV-R4
Sensor 1/1.8" 3.34 megapixel CCD, Primary CFA (GRGB) 1/1.8" 4.1 megapixel CCD, Primary CFA (GRGB)
Effective pixels 3.2 million 4.0 million
Image types • JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Image sizes • 2048 x 1536
• 1600 x 1200
• 1280 x 960
• 640 x 480		 • 2304 x 1712 (3.94 mp)
• 2240 x 1680 (3.76 mp)
• 1600 x 1200
• 1280 x 960
• 640 x 480
Lens • Pentax 3x optical
• 38 - 113 mm equiv.
• F2.6 - F4.8
Digital zoom Up to 3.2x
Focus distance • Normal: 40 cm - Infinity (15.7 in - Infinity)
• Macro: 14 - 50 cm (5.5 - 19.7 in)
Focus mode • Auto Focus
• Manual Focus
• Macro Focus
• Infinity Lock (Landscape)
AF Assist Lamp Yes
Metering • Multi pattern
• Center weighted average
• Spot
Sensitivity • Auto
• ISO 125
• ISO 250		 • Auto
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
Exposure comp. +/-2 EV in 0.3 EV steps
Shutter speeds 2 - 1/2000 sec
Apertures Two: F2.6 / F5.0 (at wide angle)
White balance • Auto
• Pre-programmed (4)
• Manual
Recording modes • Auto
• Best Shot
• "Coupling shot" (?)
• Night View
• Manual
• Movie
Self-timer 2 or 10 seconds
Flash • Built-in
• Modes: Auto, Fill-In, Cancel, Red-Eye Reduction
• Range: 0.4 - 2.8 m (1.3 - 9.2 ft)
Movie clips • 320 x 240, max 30 seconds (no audio)
Storage • Built-in 11 MB Flash storage
• SD/MMC card
Other features • World Time
• Alarm
• Album (produces an HTML album on flash storage)
Print compliance • DPOF
• PIM
• EXIF 2.2 (ExifPrint)
LCD monitor 1.6" TFT LCD (84,960 pixels)
Viewfinder Optical
Connections • DC-IN
• USB
Power Supplied Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
Dimensions 90 x 59 x 31 mm (3.5 x 2.3 x 1.2 in)
Weight (no batt) 200 g (7.1 oz)

Phil: Looks to me as though this is another example of the OEM joint agreement system at work. Comparing these cameras to Pentax's Optio 330 and 430 it's clear they have very similar specifications, and indeed use the same lenses. It could well be that Casio are responsible for the 'heart' of the Optio 330/430 and that Pentax produced the lenses.