  We present an analysis of quasar variability from data collected during a
photometric monitoring of 50 objects carried out at CNPq/Laboratorio Nacional
de Astrofisica, Brazil, between March 1993 and July 1996. A distinctive feature
of this survey is its photometric accuracy, ~ 0.02 V mag, achieved through
differential photometry with CCD detectors, what allows the detection of faint
levels of variability. We find that the relative variability, delta = sigma /
L, observed in the V band is anti-correlated with both luminosity and redshift,
although we have no means of discovering the dominant relation, given the
strong coupling between luminosity and redshift for the objects in our
sample.We introduce a model for the dependence of quasar variability on
frequency that is consistent with multi-wavelength observations of the nuclear
variability of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151. We show that correcting the
observed variability for this effect slightly increases the significance of the
trends of variability with luminosity and redshift. Assuming that variability
depends only on the luminosity, we show that the corrected variability is
anti-correlated with luminosity and is in good agreement with predictions of a
simple Poissonian model. The energy derived for the hypothetical pulses, ~
10^50 erg, agrees well with those obtained in other studies. We also find that
the radio-loud objects in our sample tend to be more variable than the
radio-quiet ones, for all luminosities and redshifts.
