Olympus Brio D-100Olympus uses tricky optics to build a sleekly compact 1.3 megapixel digicam with excellent image quality!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 5/6/2001 |
Exposure
The D-100 operates in programmed automatic exposure mode, with limited external controls and LCD-based menu options. The camera's Digital ESP metering system determines the exposure by taking several exposure readings from the center of the image area and averaging them together to calculate the best overall exposure. Though you can't change the metering area, you can manually lock the exposure (and focus) by aiming the camera at the subject you want metered, halfway pressing the Shutter button, then recomposing the shot while keeping the Shutter button halfway pressed. This locks the exposure and focus until the Shutter button is fully pressed or released. Manually locking the exposure works well with high-contrast subjects, where you want to base the exposure on either highlights or dark areas.
The D-100 offers two aperture settings (f/2.8 and f/8) and a range of shutter speeds from 1/1,000 to 1/2 second. You can lighten or darken exposures by adjusting the Exposure Compensation setting from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-half-step increments. White balance is also manually adjustable, with Auto, Clear Sky, Cloudy Sky, Incandescent Lamp, and Fluorescent Lamp options to match a variety of light sources. The majority of camera settings are controlled through the Record settings menu, activated by pressing the Menu/OK button on the back panel. (If the monitor is off, activating the settings menu will turn the LCD monitor on. Likewise, deactivating the menu will turn the LCD off.)
A 12-second Self-Timer mode is activated through the Record settings menu. Once in Self-Timer mode, a full press of the Shutter button triggers the countdown. A red LED lamp on the front of the camera lights steadily for the first 10 seconds, then blinks for the remaining two. Once the timer starts, the only way to cancel it is to shut the camera off by closing the lens cover.
FlashThe D-100 features a built-in flash with five operating modes (Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill-In Flash, Night Scene, and Flash Off), and a working range from 0.7 to 9.8 feet (0.2 to 3 meters). The left arrow key on the camera's back panel changes the flash mode, or you can use the LCD menu system. The Auto flash mode fires the flash based on the existing exposure conditions. Red-Eye Reduction mode fires a series of small pre-flashes before firing the full flash, to reduce the occurrance of Red-Eye Effect (a reflection of the flash from the subject's pupils). Fill-In Flash mode triggers the flash with every exposure, regardless of shooting conditions. Flash Off completely disables the flash. Finally, Night Scene mode works with a slower shutter speed, allowing more ambient light into an image. Night Scene is good for photographing subjects in front of colorful night scenes, where the flash properly exposes the subject and the longer shutter speed prevents background color from being washed out.
Continuous Shooting
Available through the Record settings menu, the Continuous Shooting mode captures a series of images at short intervals, for as long as the Shutter button is held down. The actual number of recordable images varies, depending on the amount of SmartMedia space available. The shot-to-shot cycle time also varies, depending on the amount of image information to record and the available buffer memory. Continuous Shooting mode stores each image in the buffer upon capture. Once the Shutter button is released, or the camera runs out of memory, the recorded images are transferred to the SmartMedia card. Exposure and white balance are set with the first image in the series, and the flash is not available.
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