Pre-Photokina 2002: Casio has today announced the QV-5700 five megapixel digital camera. This camera is clearly based on the QV-4000 with the same body design and three times optical zoom lens. One major improvement over the previous model is the ability to select ISO sensitivity between ISO 50 and 800. As I predicted when Olympus announced the C-5050Z it's increasingly easy for manufacturers to simply drop the latest CCD into an existing design, with the same lens, I'm keen to test the image quality of these new five megapixel digital cameras.

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Press Release:

QV-5700 Digital Camera with
5.0-Megapixel CCD Released

Allows precise control through manual setting of ISO sensitivity and other functions

Casio Computer Co., Ltd. has announced the release of its QV-5700 digital camera, with such features as a 5.0-megapixel charge-coupled device (CCD) and the ability to capture photographic-quality images that put it at the top of the Casio digital camera lineup.

The QV-5700's 5.0-megapixel CCD records high-resolution 2,560 x 1,920-pixel images, which makes it capable of capturing even subtle skin nuances and fine details of natural scenery. The result is a premium digital camera that records images of a resolution on par with film-based cameras.

Manual selection of drive mode, exposure, light metering, white balance and other settings can be accomplished quickly and easily with the turn of a dial, giving advanced photographers full control over essential parameters that control an image's appearance. In addition to contrast, sharpness and color enhancement, the camera allows manual setting of ISO sensitivity for more precise control.

The QV-5700 also includes a Best Shot mode that makes it possible to shoot perfect portraits, floral arrangements and other types of images simply by selecting the image type. Further, a digital soft-focus effect allows even greater digital imaging versatility.

Main Features

• High-resolution 5.0-megapixel primary color CCD
   
• Canon high-brightness F2.0 optical 3x zoom lens; total zoom of 9.6x in combination with 3.2x digital zoom
  The lens accepts various filters, Canon conversion lenses and macro lenses currently available on the market.
   
• Digital soft-focus function
  Soft focus makes everything from portraits to floral shots appear more delicate and beautiful.
   
• Best Shot Mode
  After selecting the Best Shot scene that most closely matches the subject, light metering, exposure, saturation and other settings are configured in an instant. In addition to five built-in scenes, an included CD-ROM bundle containing an additional 100 scenes can be copied to a CompactFlash� card and transferred to the camera. Up to 250 user Best Shot scenes can be stored on a CompactFlash� card for later recall.
   
• Supports IBM Microdrive (both 1 GB and 340 MB)
   
• Dual-dial operation
  A pair of dials provides quick and easy setting of the drive mode (continuous shutter, movie, etc.) and exposure mode.
   
• Selector dial for frequently used operations
  A selector dial provides instant access to frequently used parameters in each mode. Shortcut keys can also be assigned to make light metering, white balance and focus settings without going through the on-screen menu.
   
• Control panel
  A control panel screen shows the current exposure value, shutter speed, focus type, light metering method, exposure compensation setting and other information at a glance. This means the monitor screen can be turned off to save power when using the optical viewfinder to compose images.
   
• Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB), 60-second bulb exposure, Panorama Mode, Movie Mode
   
• Aperture priority auto exposure (AE), shutter speed priority AE, manual exposure
   
• Powerful focus functions
  • Focus-assist light for better focus when lighting is dim.
  • Multi-area auto focus (AF) ensures the entire area is in focus.
  • Focus-area expansion makes it easier to check focus.
  • Focus-area shift allows selection from among nine focus areas.
     
• Real-time histogram
  Exposure information can be viewed before an image is recorded, allowing adjustments and making it possible to achieve the desired results.
   
• Manual setup for full creative versatility
  In addition to the selection of one of three light-metering methods (multi-pattern, center weighted, spot), users can also manually set white balance, flash intensity, focus, exposure compensation, image quality and more.
   
• ISO settings up to 800
  In addition to automatic ISO setting, sensitivities of ISO50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 can be manually selected.
   
• Image orientation detection
  The camera automatically detects if an image is recorded using landscape or portrait orientation. When an image is displayed on a computer screen, it is displayed automatically in the same orientation used when it was recorded.
   
• Image playback in 35 mm film aspect ratio (3:2)
   
• TIFF image (RGB) storage mode
   
• One-touch resizing converts a recorded image to VGA size
   
• Mode Memory stores power saving and other settings when power is turned off
   
• 1.8-inch high-definition hyper amorphous silicon TFT LCD (HAST)
   
• External flash terminal
   
• Long battery life
  Low-power operation makes it possible for AA-size lithium batteries FR6 to provide enough power to record approximately 1,130 images, or allow 5 hours 20 minutes of continuous playback.
   
• Automatically uploads images to computer when placed in USB cradle
   
• HTML format image catalog generator
   
• Compatible with ExifPrint (Exif 2.2) or PRINT Image Matching II
  When using an ExifPrint or Epson PRINT Image Matching II printer, optimal print quality of saved images can be obtained.
  

Casio QV-5700 Specifications