a c c e s s o r i e s

Casio Acc's sites

• Casio US QV3000EX accessories shop
• Casio UK accessories shop. Choose 'Digital Cameras'.

Other General Acc's sites

• ACE Index of Digital Camera accessories manufacturers. Great links, not much specifically for the QV3000EX.
• Tiffen's Casio page. Nothing for the QV3000EX ... yet.

Power

Nickel metal hydride (NiMh) rechargeable batteries are the only way to go, alkaline batteries just don't cut the mustard. Try to get the highest mAh (milliamp-hour) rating possible - currently 1600 mAh is good.

• I found Varta 5706 'Photo Accus' at 1600 mAh to work very well, hours of photos in them.
• And you need an adapter, get the Casio one, the ADC-620U for USA or the ADC-620 in the UK. It's ADC-620G in Europe, but I have no link for that. Output is 6V at 1500mA, centre pin positive.
• Lots of users like the Maha batteries and charger. You can buy them online from Maha and they'lll deliver to Europe too.

Lens and filter adapters

Casio didn't put a thread on the QV-3000EX, it appeared on the QV-3500EX. Here are some solutions which rushed in to fill the vacuum.

• Dave H got frustrated and made the Dave Adapter for Casio QV-3000EX. He's taking orders now. It's a 52mm ring so will fit most lenses.
• EagleEye UK make a combined lens adapter and external flashgun mount that fits over the boss at the base of the lens and screws into the tripod mount.
• They also do a fixed-5x-zoom lens that fits onto the adapter, the OpticZoom 5x zoom.
• SRB Film Service make lots of things, including the Digital Camera Filter Adapter, a lightweight arm attached to the tripod mount that can hold a 37mm filter in front of the lens.

Camera bags

Camera bags - because of it's 'chunky' shape, the QV-3000EX can be hard to find a case for.

• I searched hi-n-low and found the Tamrac 5220 to be a good solution, with a front zippered pocket enough to hold a mini-tripod, 4 AA's and the USB cable and/or a lens brush. As well, it isn't black, nor does it make me look like a total photo-wanker or some sort of safari-trekker-survival nut, and it's not too big.
• Others have discussed their cases on this thread.

Homemade Solutions

You've got to admire human ingenuity. Because the QV3000EX lacks a thread on the Canon lens, unlike the Canon G1 which has the same lens with a thread ring at the base, many people have come up with their own clever solutions, usually for a good price too!

• Filter and lens adapters
  • Photosolve have gone and published a guide to making your own 49 mm filter adapter! I've made a copy here in case it disappears.
  • This is a "rubber foot cap" usually for a table leg or a crutch tip, but with the bottom cut out it can hold a 52mm filter in front of the lens! The translation of the Japanese on the box I got from this message and the explanation of what it does is from this one. Here's another picture of this homemade filter adapter in action.
  • You can always glue a 37mm-52mm stepping ring onto the end of the lens barrel. Means that the camera will power up with the lens cap on, though.
  • Got to love the radiator hose solution! This slips over the lens barrel itself, which makes life interesting when the lens retracts!
  • This guy chose plastic tubing which he modified to fit. He even gave us a photo.
  • The sewer connection he calls it! - "a rubber juction meant to a attach a 2 inch sewer or drain to 1.5 inch". Here's some pictures of it.
  • There's also some pictures of a battery case that started life as a 'mini tackle box'. Holds 8 AA's.
• Taking photos of slides or negatives
  • The humble toilet roll forms an integral part of this slide holder. What more can I say?
  • Or you can use your slide projector by "removing the projector bulb and hanging in its place a 7 watt night-light bulb".

Storage media

Compact flash cards are fine, but ..

• The IBM DMDM 340MB microdrive means never having to say, 'sorry, I can't take any more photos'. Can contain 245 photos at highest JPEG resolution, 2,052 at the lowest.
  The new DSCM Microdrive series (with a capital 'M') comes in 340, 512 MB and 1 GIGABYTE!! sizes. Apparently the new series spins slower and therefore uses less juice.