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Nikon CoolPix 775 Nikon packs advanced Coolpix technology & superior ease-of-use into a tiny, affordable 2 megapixel camera! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet CoolPix 775 Test Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on CoolPix 775 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Operation & User Interface :(Previous) | (Next): Image Storage & Interface>> Page 9:Camera Modes & Menus Review First Posted: 07/23/2001

Camera Modes & Menus


Auto Mode: The Auto Shooting mode controls all exposure settings, with a limited number of user-selectable exposure options, such as Image Quality, Image Size, White Balance, Exposure Compensation, and Image Sharpening. Suggested use is for point-and-shoot photography under average shooting conditions.

Scene Modes: The 775 offers seven Scene exposure modes, which are preset for specific shooting situations.

Party / Indoor: Intended for indoor photography where light levels are low and you want to maintain as much detail as possible. It uses a slow shutter speed to record background lighting, with the Flash set on Auto Flash with Red-Eye Reduction. A tripod is highly recommended to prevent camera shake.

Backlight: Use this mode for high-contrast situations where your subject is back-lit by a bright light source. The Flash is set on Anytime (Fill) Flash to fill in the shadows on the subjects' faces.

Portrait: Camera settings are optimised for close-up portrait photography. A large aperture opening reduces the depth of field, so the subject stays in sharp focus, while the background clutter is blurred to make it less busy. You can use any Flash setting for this mode.

Night Portrait: This mode is intended for photographing any close-up subject in a very dark setting. The camera uses a slow shutter speed to record as much ambient light as possible, and the Flash is set on Auto Flash with Red-Eye Reduction to fill in shadows on the subject if necessary. A tripod is highly recommended to prevent camera shake.

Landscape: Use this mode for city skylines, mountain ranges, landscapes, or other faraway subjects. The camera's aperture is set to its smallest setting to maintain the maximum depth of field and the Focus mode is set on Landscape (with an option to change it to Self-Timer). The Flash is automatically disabled since it does not have sufficient range to illuminate distant subjects. A tripod is recommended if light levels are low.

Beach / Snow: Camera settings are optimised for very bright scenes that include large expanses of snow, beach, or water. As these subjects tend to trick the camera's exposure meter into underexposing the image, Exposure Compensation is adjusted to compensate for the overly bright readings. The Flash and Focus can be set to any mode.

Sunset: Intended for photographing colorful sunsets, usually in low light situations, this mode uses a slow shutter speed and sets the Flash mode to Off, to prevent it from firing. Exposure compensation is dialled down, to avoid washing out the sunset/sunrise colors. This mode is not recommended for photographing people against a sunset, unless you want them to be recorded as silhouettes with no facial detail. A tripod is highly recommended to prevent camera shake.

Movie Mode: This Shooting option records movies (without sound) at 320 x 240-pixel resolution, for a maximum of 15 seconds each. Recording begins when the Shutter button is fully depressed, and ends when the Shutter button is depressed a second time (or when the 15 seconds is up or the memory card runs out of space). As the movie is recording, a countdown display is shown on the LCD monitor, indicating the number of seconds remaining in the exposure. Movies are stored as QuickTime files, with .MOV at the end of the file name. The Flash is turned off in this mode, and the Focus is set on Autofocus.

Playback Mode: The Playback mode displays the most recently recorded image or movie as a full-size still image on the LCD monitor. In single-image playback, you can scroll through stored images using the Up and Down Arrow buttons on the Multi-Selector control panel; adjust the information display by pressing the Left Arrow button; play a movie by pressing the Right Arrow button (when the movie is displayed on-screen) and pause it with the same button; and you can select the currently displayed image for transfer to the computer by pressing the Transfer button on the camera's back panel. You can also Delete the currently displayed photo with the Focus Mode / Delete button, view multiple images in Index mode by pressing the Flash / Index button, zoom in on the current still image with the Quick Review / Playback Zoom button, and bring up the Playback menu by pressing the Menu button.

In single-image playback mode, images are displayed briefly as low-resolution photos while they are being read from the memory card (indicated by the appearance of an hour-glass icon on the monitor). By pressing the Up or Down Arrow buttons quickly, you can scroll through the low-resolution images without having to wait for each image to load at full resolution, or you can hold down the Arrow buttons and view the image numbers flashing in the lower right corner of the screen. Releasing the Arrow button at a particular frame number will bring up that photo.


Camera Menus

Auto Menu
Accessed by turning the Mode Dial to the Auto setting, the Auto mode controls all exposure settings, with a limited number of user-selectable exposure options, such as Image Quality, Image Size, White Balance, Exposure Compensation, and Image Sharpening. The suggested use for this mode is point-and-shoot photography under average shooting conditions. When the camera is in Auto mode, pressing the Menu button brings up the following options:

• Image Quality: Offers a choice of Fine, Normal, or Basic JPEG compression ratios.
• Image Size: Options include Full (1,600 x 1,200-pixel), XGA (1,024 x 768-pixel), and VGA (640 x 480-pixel).
• White Balance: Adjusts the white balance to accommodate different light sources. Choices include: Auto, White Balance Preset (Manual), Fine (Sunlight), Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, and Speedlight (Flash).
• Continuous: Establishes the capture mode at Single, Continuous, or Multi-Shot 16.
• BSS: Turns Best Shot Selection On or Off. BSS takes a continuous series of images and automatically chooses the sharpest frame for recording to the memory card.
• Exp. + / -: Exposure Compensation adjusts the camera's exposure reading for very bright, dark, or high-contrast scenes. Values can be set from +2 to -2 exposure values (EV) in one-third-step increments.
• Image Sharpening: This menu option allows you to set the amount of image sharpening that is applied to an image in-camera. Options include: Auto, Normal, High, Low, and Off.
  

Scene Menu
Scene exposure modes are preset for specific subjects and / or lighting situations. Options are selected on the camera's Mode Dial and include the following options: Party / Indoor, Backlight, Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Snow / Sand, and Sunset. Because these settings are optimised for specific shooting conditions, the menu is limited to only two options:

• Image Quality: Offers a choice of Fine, Normal, or Basic JPEG compression.
• Image Size: Options include Full (1,600 x 1,200-pixel), XGA (1,024 x 768-pixel), and VGA (640 x 480-pixel).
  

Set-Up Menu
The Set-Up menu adjusts the camera's basic operating parameters and consists of two pages:

• Brightness: This option controls monitor brightness by pressing the Up and Down Arrow buttons on the Mult-Selector control. The Up Arrow increases brightness and the Down Arrow decreases brightness. The results can be seen immediately on the LCD monitor.
• Auto Transfer: Turns the Auto Transfer function On or Off. When turned On, Auto Transfer automatically marks all images and movies to be automatically copied to the computer when the camera is connected to the computer running NikonView software.
• Seq. Numbers: Provides three options for numbering recorded images: On automatically numbers all images sequentially in ascending order and continues the numbering sequence from one card to the next (or when the card is removed and re-inserted into the camera. Off starts a new numbering sequence when a new file is created. Reset clears the current file number from memory and begins with the lowest number available.
• Memory Card Format: Formats the installed memory card, erasing all files, including write-protected ones.
• Date: Sets the current date and time.
• Auto Off: Sets the amount of time the camera is idle before it goes into sleep mode. Options are: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes.
• Video Mode: Sets the video output signal to NTSC or PAL.
• Language: Sets the camera's language to German, English, French, or Spanish.
  

Playback Menu
The Playback menu includes options for deleting pictures, playing slide shows, protecting images from accidental erasure, and marking images for DPOF or for automatic transfer to the computer. Playback menu options are:

• Delete: Provides the option of deleting Selected Images, All Pictures, or the Current Print Order.
• Slide Show: Used for automated playback of sequential images.
• Protect: Write-protects images to prevent accidental erasure (but not from card formatting).
• Print Set: Sets up images for printing on Digital Print Order Format-enabled printers with the following print options:
  • Info: Prints shutter speed and aperture on all selected photographs.
  • Date: Prints the recording date on all selected photographs.
  • Done: Completes the print order and returns to the Playback menu.
• Transfer: Selects or deselects all images on the memory card for transfer to the computer. (By default, all photos and movies are automatically marked for transfer when they are recorded.)