I purchased this camera two months ago after owning a Casio QV5000SX for eighteen months, which was bought on the spur of the moment. I chose the QV3000 because of the review I read on an American web site. It produces superb pictures and if coupled to a good printer (in my case a HP 970cxi) you would be very hard pushed to tell that they were not true photos.

The memory card that the camera comes with is 8MB, which is a bit stingy as it does not store many pictures at the highest resolution. You need to buy a 32MB at least. The American version comes with a IBM Micro Drive which stores thousands of pictures!

The LCD is nice and bright but seems, like all digital cameras, to be useless in sunlight.

The macro setting is very useful and you can get in really close. Panorama photos can be taken but it is a bit difficult to line up in daylight. There is a portrait setting which slightly blurs the background of the shot. To use these settings the camera has a nice icon driven menu system which is easy to use.

Take a look at some of my photos taken with both the QV5000 and 3000 on photopoint.com. Do a search for Casio and look for me - Terry Pardy.

PS. Since writing the above I have had a problem with my camera and had it exchanged for a new one. The LCD only displayed a picture when slight pressure was applied any where on the back of the camera. I am told that LCD's do that occassionally.

PPS. Go take a look at my review of the updated camera - the Casio QV3500EX - it's even better!!!