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Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n Digital SLR Kodak updates their Pro 14n with a new sensor, improved processing, and greatly reduced image noise. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet SLR/n Photo Gallery! SLR/n Sample 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 SLR/n 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: 02/12/2004

Camera Modes and Menus

Shooting Mode: Turning the on camera automatically places it into Shooting mode. The Exposure Mode dial lets you select Program AE, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual exposure modes. (A Flexible Program mode is accessed by turning the Sub-Command dial in Program AE mode. Flexible Program mode lets you choose different combinations of aperture and shutter speed, to control depth of field or motion blur, while still maintaining the convenience of automatic exposure control.) Depending on the exposure mode selected, the user has as much or as little control over exposure as needed.

Image Review Mode: Accessed by selecting an image folder and then an image review mode through the menu, this mode lets you review captured images on the memory card. Images can be erased or displayed with a variety of information screens. When the LCD monitor is disabled, pressing the OK or Nav+ buttons activates the display, along with a short menu. (Pressing the up or down arrow key will cycle through these modes. If the menu isn't displayed, pressing the up or down keys in playback mode recalls it.):

• Single Image: Displays a single image, without any information overlay.
• Histogram: Displays a single image, with a small histogram, and limited exposure information.
• Zoom Image: Allows you to enlarge a portion of a captured image. A "region of interest box" appears, and can be moved throughout the screen with the arrow keys.
• Multiple Image: Displays four thumbnail images on the screen at once.

Camera Menu:

• ISO: Sets the camera sensitivity from 160 to 1600 ISO equivalents, in one-third-step increments. The actual adjustment range varies with the file format, with ISOs from 1000 - 1600 only available when the camera is shooting in RAW-only mode.
• White Balance: Adjusts the color balance. The approximate Kelvin temperature for each setting appears in the digital status display. Options are:
  • Auto: Automatically adjusts white balance depending on the lighting.
  • Daylight: Offers Standard, Warm, and Cool daylight options.
  • Tungsten: Features Standard, Warm, and Cool tungsten options.
  • Fluorescent: Presets for Office or Cool White fluorescent lighting.
  • Flash: Offers Standard, Warm, Cool, and Studio flash options.
  • Click Balance: This is the manual adjustment, which bases color balance on a gray card held in front of the lens. Options are Image and Saved. Image lets you use the current image as a white balance setting. Saved allows you base the white balance on a previously saved image. You can also delete the Click Balance settings through this option. Selecting Click Balance displays an eyedropper tool over the image, which can be moved to select the area to sample via the arrow keys. (Now that's a handy option! How often have you wished you could just point to an area of the subject and say "that's white"?)
• Folder: Selects the folder that images are saved to, or lets you create a new folder.
• CF Card: Selects whether images are recorded on the CompactFlash memory card as JPEG or RAW files, or both. Also lets you perform a quick format of the CF card, securely erase all the recorded images (write zeros over the data, to permanently remove data from the card), recover deleted images (assuming you haven't done a secure erase operation), or put the card in standby mode to conserve power.
• MM Card: Offers the same options for MMC or SD memory cards as for CF cards. (This offers a variety of interesting options. - You can split your file storage if you'd like, putting the RAW files on a CF card, and the JPEGs on an SD card. Or, if you want to make sure you don't lose any images to a card malfunction, you can save completely redundant copies of your photos (RAW and/or JPEG) to both cards.
• RAW Resolution: Sets the RAW image resolution to 13.5 MP (4,500 x 3,000 pixels), 6.0 MP (3,000 x 2,000 pixels), or 3.4 MP (2,250 x 1,500 pixels).
• JPEG Resolution: Sets the JPEG image resolution to 13.5 MP (4,500 x 3,000 pixels), 6.0 MP (3,000 x 2,000 pixels), 3.4 MP (2,250 x 1,500 pixels), or 0.8 MP (1,125 x 750 pixels). An interesting and potentially handy feature: You can save JPEG and RAW images at entirely different resolutions. Handy if you want to fit a lot of lower-res JPEG files on smaller SD card as an index of sorts, while saving the full-res RAW files to a larger CF card.
• Crop Aspect Ratio: Sets the aspect ratio to 2x3, 4x5, or 2x2, to mimic film sizes.

 

Review Menu:

• Folder: Selects a folder for image review, either from SD/MMC Card or CF Card. A sub-menu lets you choose which memory card you want to look at. Once a card is selected, the available folders are displayed.
• External Video: Turns external video on or off.
• Overexposure Indicator: Activates the Overexposure Indicator, which "blinks" any overexposed areas of the image. (This function wasn't operational on my prototype unit.)
• Display Contrast: Adjusts the contrast of the color LCD display screen.
• Display Activation: Sets whether the rear-panel display activates when any rear-panel button is pressed, only the OK button, or any button but the OK button.
• Auto Review: Adjusts the duration of the "auto review" display of just-captured images. Options are Off (no review display), and 3, 5, or 10 seconds.
• Slide Show: Sets up a slide show of previously captured images, with options to show the images once or loop continuously, to show all images, only those in the current folder, tagged images on all cards, or tagged images in the current folder, and intervals per image of 3, 5, or 10 seconds.
• Image Mode Menu: Sets how long the Image Mode menu displays over captured images. Choices are Off, 1, 2, or 3 seconds.

 

Image Menu:

• JPEG File type: Lets you choose between ERI and conventional JPEG file formats..
• JPEG Quality: Sets the JPEG compression to Good, Better, or Best.
• Digital Exposure Correction: Corrects some exposure errors, but isn't a substitute for incorrect shutter speed, aperture, or ISO settings. This setting does not directly apply to RAW image files, but may optionally be applied when the RAW image is processed in the DCS software. The setting does directly affect the contents of JPEG files though.
• Exposure Bias: Tweaks the automatically-determined exposure by up to +/- 0.5 EV, in 0.1 EV steps. While somewhat awkward to access for routine use while shooting, this control does overcome the limitation of the basic camera hardware, which only allows adjustment in increments of +/- 0.5 EV. (Note though, that you could assign this function to the HotKey, making it much easier to access, as long as you didn't need the HotKey for some other, more important function.)
• Look: Applies a tone scale/color rendition adjustment to the selected image. (RAW files are tagged and corrected in the DCS software.) Options are Portrait, which lowers contrast somewhat, Product, which increases contrast and saturation, Wedding, which seems to boost saturation, but guards against overly-ruddy skin tones, and Event, which provides a fairly strong boost in contrast and saturation.
• Noise Reduction: This feature adjusts the amount of image noise reduction applied to longer exposures, or images with higher sensitivity settings. Options are Normal and Strong.
• Sharpening Level: Controls the amount of in-camera sharpening applied to images. Choices are None, Low, Medium, and High.

Setup Menu:

• User Mode: Offers Basic and Advanced modes. Basic provides access to just a handful of digital controls, displayed on a single-screen menu, while Advanced mode permits access to all camera functions.
• User Setups: Saves and recalls "User Setups," which are complete sets of all camera parameters, saved for rapid recall with a single menu selection. Both digital and camera settings can be saved and retrieved, and up to 10 different setups can be separately maintained.
• Default Reset: Restores settings to factory defaults. Options are Digital Settings, Camera Settings, or Both.
• Vertical Release: Locks or unlocks the camera's vertical shutter release.
• Folder/File Naming: Specifies how the camera names folders and files. Auto Sequence names files in a continuous sequence, regardless of memory card. Auto Restart resets file naming with each new memory card, and Manual Restart resets file naming on the current card.
• Job Tracker: The DCS host software lets you create job tracker files, which can be used to mark a group of files. For example, you can track all files related to a wedding or special event. The Load option loads a job tracker file from the memory card, and applies that information to the header of the images as they are recorded. Job Tracker files can be saved in the internal memory, or on the CompactFlash or SD/MMC card. Job tracker information stored in the file headers is IPTC-compliant, for interface to automated workflow systems in the newspaper/magazine industry.
• Language: Sets the camera's menu language to English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese, or Portuguese.
• Time/Date: Resets the camera's internal clock and calendar.
• Firmware: Displays the current firmware version, and provides an option for updating firmware.
• Hotkey: Allows you to save up to five hotkeys and functions, or resets hotkeys.
• Battery Save: Sets the length of time that the camera and LCD display will sit inactive before shutting off. Camera battery save times are anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. Display battery save times range from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. (See my comments below on power consumption though - If you expect to not need the camera for more than a few minutes, you should turn it off entirely. "Battery save" mode only cuts power consumption by about a factor of two over full-power mode.)
• Intervalometer: A time-lapse photography option, letting you capture a series of images at preset intervals. You can set the number of images from one to 9,999, and the interval duration from one second to 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds. There's also a Delay setting, which sets the period of time before the first picture is captured, from one second to 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.
• Serial Port: Adjusts the settings for the camera's serial port.
  • Serial In: Options are None, GPS, New, Previous, and Status.
  • Serial Out: Choices are None and Image #.
  • Baud Rate: Sets rate from 300 to 115,200.
• GPS: Connects the camera to a GPS unit or checks status.
• Imager Clean: Locks the shutter open so you can access the imager to clean it. Closes the shutter when you're done..

Custom Menu:

• Mirror Prerelease: When the shutter button is triggered, raises the mirror and then waits a predetermined period of time for vibration to die down, before firing the shutter. Options are None, 0.5, 1, 2, or 5 seconds..
• Bracket Order: Determines the order in which exposure variations are captured in autoexposure bracketing mode. Options are -,0,+, or 0, -, +.
• Grid Lines: Turns the guidelines in the viewfinder on or off.
• Focus Area Light: Determines whether the active AF area illuminates (glows a dull red) in the viewfinder when AF is activated. Options are Auto (the default, only illuminates in low-light conditions), Off, and Always On.
• Focus Area Wrap: When enabled, this option lets the focus area selection "wrap" around the viewfinder. (That is, if you try to push the AF area selection further right when the rightmost AF point is already selected, the AF area selection will "wrap," and appear on the lefthand side of the frame.).
• Focus Area Lock: Prevents any further change of the focus area selection.
• Soft Press AE-L: Determines whether or not exposure is locked with a half-press of the Shutter button. (Default is not.)
• Single Servo AF: Enables or disables Closest Subject Priority Dynamic AF when the camera is in Single Servo AF mode. (Default is enabled.)
• Continuous Servo AF: Enables or disables Closest Subject Priority Dynamic AF when the camera is in Continuous Servo AF mode. (Default is disabled.)
• AE/AF Lock: Specifies the function of the AE-L/AF-L button. Options are simultaneous lock of exposure and focus (the default), AE Lock only, AF Lock only, AE Lock persists, and AF operation start. (This last basically means that pressing the AE/AF lock button causes the camera to focus, without firing the shutter. The same as a half-press of the shutter button would normally do.)
• Command Dial: Designates the functions of the Main Command and Sub-Command dials in controlling exposure. Options are Main/shutter and Sub/aperture (default), or Main/aperture and Sub/shutter.
• Meter Off Time: Designates how long the auto metering remains active after a half-press of the shutter button. Choices are 4, 8 (default), 16, or 32 seconds.
• Self-Timer Time: Sets the duration of the self-timer delay to 2, 5, 10 (default), or 20 seconds.
• Top LCD Light: Sets whether the status LCDs illuminate whenever you press a control button, or only when the LCD Illuminator button is pressed. (Default is LCD illuminator button only.)
• AF Assist Illuminator: Turns the AF assist lamp on or off. If set to On (default), the lamp automatically lights whenever lighting is too dim for the AF system to work independently.