At
least one half, the grip side of the Casio QV-2800UX, can be considered
an "upscale" twin of the QV-2300UX
reviewed in megapixel.net in January of this year.
The other half, the lens section, is a revised and improved version of
the lens/CCD section of the QV-8000SX,
a camera featured in the February 2001 issue of megapixel.net,
which offers an 8X zoom lens.
The
controls that were first used on the QV-2300 are retained, a system that
uses three buttons placed behind the two-stage
shutter release (at the top in the illustration at left).
The buttons labelled [+] and [-] are to navigate the camera
menu (called up by the lower button), or use exposure
compensation. Confirmation of a selection, or change to a setting,
is done by pressing the shutter release.
A workable system, it is nevertheless more prone to operator errors than
those using four-direction controls as the buttons are placed quite close
to each other.
From
its facing front position, the lens section of the QV-2800UX can be rotated
90° downwards and 180° upwards and towards the back. As with a
few other cameras designed similarly, the QV-2800UX does not have an optical
viewfinder and relies exclusively on its 1.8 inch LCD screen.
The screen provides a crisp image and the camera compensates for low light
situations by increasing the gain. Outdoors however, it can become harder
to see the screen's image under direct sun.
Even
though in design the QV-2800UX is quite similar to the QV-2300UX (in fact
they share the same manual), there are a few other differences beyond
their lenses. Most notably is an external flash connection which is available
at the base of the lens section of the QV-2800UX, but is absent on the
QV-2300UX.
Recording
or Playback function.
The remaining camera controls are laid out below the QV-2800UX's LCD screen.
White labels indicate the Recording mode function of each
button (flash modes, focus modes, and self-timer), while the blue labels
indicate Playback functions (folder change, thumbnails, delete).
The button labelled SHIFT works in combination with the other buttons.
Pressing it down calls up screen labels for the three other buttons to
its right:
Combination
Function
Shift
+ Flash:
Switches
between Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and the Program
modes
Shift
+ Focus:
Changes
metering: averaged, centre-weighted or spot.
Shift
+ Timer:
Selects
White balance: auto, daylight, shade, tungsten, fluorescent, manual.
In
Aperture, Shutter Priority and Manual Modes, the Shift button is used
in conjunction with the [+] and [-] buttons located next to the shutter
release to alter the apertures, or the shutter speeds.
The shift button can be thought of as a shortcut as these modes
can also be selected using the camera's menu.
Here again, while the QV-2800UX's design provides a workable system,
the often confusing combinations of buttons that are required to change
camera settings make the process somewhat impractical.
As
is generally the case with Casio cameras, the QV-2800UX comes with some
thoughtful touches too often omitted by other manufacturers.
The kit includes a full-festured wired remote control, usable for both
recording and playback, and a neck strap with a semi-rigid camera pouch.
