I just bought the QV-7000SX & am very happy with it. However, now that the review is out, thought I would look at the comparometer to compare the 7000 vs the 5000. It seems the 5000 actually had a crisper photo & a more accurate color capture. Is this true or my imagination?

Thanks...JOHN

-- John Howell (jhponds@hal-pc.org), December 10, 1998

Answers

Hmm... Tough call, and all this stuff is pretty subjective. I definitely like the 7000 more on some images (such as the Musicians) due to improved color, but think the 5000 clearly seems a bit sharper on others (House and Davebox). One difference is that the 7000 seems to compress images a bit more in the "super fine" mode than does the 5000. The differences are pretty subtle for the most part - I'd gladly trade the slight edge the 5000 has on some shots for the improved color on others, and I *really* like zoom lenses as on the 7000...

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), December 11, 1998.

I have been playing around with that now infamous house picture. The initial shot looks flatter than the Casio5000, Olympus600, or Nikon900 shots. Using PhotoPaint8, I find that raising the contrast a little brings the Casio7000 shot up to par with the others. The image "data" seems to be there, it's seems more a question of subjectivity in presentation. This is not just an example of forced contrast. The same trick tried with the Oly doesn't cut it.

One more thing. It is not enough to compare the screen images alone. Many monitors can't show the full contrast range available. On the musician shot, the Nikon looks best on my screen. But, in a printout on my HP890 the Casio7000 looks best among all I've asked.

I definitely recommend reading the info article on the dave box shot. This image quality thing has a lot of issues.

-- Rick Griffen (rgriffen@vabch.com), December 11, 1998.

I agree that the 5000 looks better than the 7000. In the test box shot, the colors look identical to me, but the 5000 is focused much sharper than the 7000. I have been very seriously buying a 7000, but these pictures strongly persuade me to reconsider? Dave - was there some problem with focusing or something on the 7000?

-- Kenny Trussell (kenny.trussell@thielekaolin.com), December 12, 1998.

If by "focusing problems" you mean did the autofocus not work, no we didn't experience any problems in that area. We did find that the images were *slightly* sharper when the lens was stopped-down more. - Although our studio shots are brightly lit, they're still dim compared to direct sunlight, so outdoor shots may be a bit sharper. OTOH, I didn't see any significant difference between the studio work and the outdoor portrait or "far field" house shot. It does look as though the fixed focal-length lens in the 5000 was a bit sharper. Bottom line, pull down sample images from each and print them on the printer you intend to use - if you like what you see, buy it! - Sharp enough is sharp enough in other words, and vice versa. Good luck!

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), December 15, 1998.

As far as the 5000 having good color balance, I don't see it. Mine makes people darker in skin tone and the outdoor shots are mostly devoid of rich color. I am satisified with battery life using "industrial alkalines" which have 1.65v. My camera dies at 1.16v. The sharpness of my QV5000 is very good on wide, and poor on zoom modes. Ok for surviellence work, I guess. Overall I'd give it a 90%. Sincerely Mhaid

-- mhaid (mhaid@roman.net), December 16, 1998.

The 7000 has an 3 step adjustable sharpness setting. The comparometer shots may have used "normal" instead of "sharp". Check this link for an example of how this setting strongly affects apparent focus: http://www.vabch.com/griffen/photo/Casio.htm

As to color balance, any camera is at the mercy of the lighting color temperature. The standard camera settings can only bring you close. Even "daylight" color is variable from 5000K to 18000K. In analyzing RGB color balance on the test shots I find ALL of them have a red or blue color bias. If color accuracy is important the 7000's manual white balance option should be used.

-- Rick Griffen (rgriffen@vabch.com), January 24, 1999.

FWIW, Rick's right, all our studio shots were taken with "normal" sharpness, rather than with the in-camera sharpening applied. This could indeed account for substantial differences, but we unfortunately didn't shoot any samples showing the effect of the various sharpness settings. Check Rick's reference for examples.

-- Dave Etchells (hotnews@imaging-resource.com), January 24, 1999.