Point-and-shoot's zoom is lightning fast off the trigger

The Casio QV-R51 is so new even the big digital camera websites have not heard of it yet. Hong Kong is the first place it has been launched outside Japan.

A month ago, I raved about the Casio QV-R40, the R51's predecessor, priced at just $2,460.

The R51 improves on the R40 with extended battery life, an impressive 3x optical zoom and a much larger display at two inches.

The TFT display is one of the camera's highlights, and gives the user a wide view of pictures.

Like its predecessor, the 200g five-megapixel R51 is compact and has a textured metal body with a high-quality finish. There are lighter and slimmer cameras on the market, but not with the same set of features.

On the top, the QV-R51 has a power button mounted flush with the surface, and a shutter release with a spring-loaded zoom control around it. The zoom reacts quickly to the lightest pressure. From wide angle to telephoto, it takes just over a second to move through its full range.

Like many other digital cameras, the zoom control provides additional functions when the camera is in playback mode.