Olympus Camedia E-100 Rapid ShotOlympus unleashes a 1.5 megapixel speed demon: By FAR the fastest digicam we've tested to date!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 1/18/2001 |
Exposure
The E-100RS offers a wide range of exposure modes, controlled via the Mode dial on top of the camera. These include Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, and Scene Program. In Program mode, the camera automatically controls both the shutter speed and lens aperture settings, basing them on existing light levels. Aperture Priority mode places the user in control of lens aperture settings (with an available range of f/2.8 - f/8.0 or f/3.5 - f/8, depending on the zoom factor), while the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. Shutter Priority mode works similarly, except that the user controls the shutter speed (from 1/10,000 to two seconds) while the camera controls the lens aperture. Manual mode places the user in control of both aperture and shutter speed settings, and extends the shutter speed range from 1/10,000 to 16 seconds.
In both Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, the adjustable value is controlled by pressing the Up and Down keys on the Arrow Pad. In Manual mode, the Up and Down Arrows control shutter speed, while the Left and Right Arrows control aperture. In all three modes, if the camera determines that the user-set variables will result in an under- or over-exposure, the variables are reported in red on the LCD display. Finally, Scene Program mode offers a handful of special exposure setups for dealing with specific shooting situations. The four "scenes" include Portrait, Sports, Landscape, and Night.
The Portrait mode uses a large lens aperture setting to decrease the depth of field, keeping the subject in sharp focus with a slightly blurred background. The Sports mode uses the fastest shutter speed possible to freeze action. In Landscape mode, the camera uses a smaller lens aperture setting to increase the depth of field, and maintain sharp focus in both the foreground and background. The Night mode takes advantage of a slower shutter speed for capturing night and twilight scenes. You can access these Special Program scenes by setting the Mode dial to S-Prg, engaging the Record menu, and scrolling down to the S-Prg option with the Up and Down Arrow buttons. When you highlight S-Prg, use the Right Arrow key to bring up the four Scene modes, then select the one you want with the Up and Down Arrow buttons and press OK.
The E-100RS offers three metering modes that are accessed by pressing the Metering Mode button on top of the camera (between the Macro and Drive buttons). Standard mode (Digital ESP) is the default setting, and measures the exposure from readings taken at the center of the image and from the area surrounding the center. Center-Weighted metering bases the exposure primarily on a large area in the center of the image. The third option, Spot Metering, reads a very small area at the center of the frame (inside the AF target mark). A fourth option, enabled through the Record menu, is the Multi Metering function, which allows you to take exposure readings from up to eight separate points in the image and average them all to determine the best exposure. (Note: When you select the Mult Metering option in the Record menu, you must press the OK button twice to fully engage the program.)
To take Multi Meter readings, frame the portion of the subject you'd like to meter in the center AF target mark and press the AE Lock button. Do this repeatedly, up to eight times. Each new reading is marked on a brightness bar displayed across the bottom of the viewfinder/monitor, with the average of the values displayed in the center. Once you've established your metering points, recompose the image and fire the shutter. The AEL button can also be used to set the exposure for just one portion of the image, which is helpful with high-contrast or back-lit subjects. Set the Metering mode to Spot Metering. Place the important part of the subject in the center of the AF target mark, press the AEL button, and then recompose the shot. The exposure will stay locked when you fire the shutter. (Normally found only on higher-end cameras, separate exposure and focus lock functions can be very handy in some shooting situations.)
Exposure compensation is adjustable using the Left and Right Arrow buttons in all exposure modes except Manual. Adjustments are made from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third-step increments, and are momentarily displayed in the upper left corner of the monitor. An Exposure Compensation icon will remain on the information display panel until compensation is returned to the 0 setting. White balance is also adjustable in all exposure modes (including Manual), through the Record menu. White Balance options include Automatic, Daylight, Overcast, Incandescent, Fluorescent, and Manual. With Manual, the color balance is determined by placing a white card in front of the lens under existing lighting conditions, and then pressing the OK button to set the value.
The camera's ISO (light sensitivity) is also adjustable through the Record menu, with options of Auto, 100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents. If the ISO is set to Auto in Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual exposure modes, the ISO equivalent is automatically set to 100. The E-100RS also features a Black & White recording option, accessed through the Function option in the Record menu. An Image Sharpness adjustment (somewhat hidden in the Mode Setup sub-menu) allows you to choose between Hard, Normal, and Soft edges.
A 10-second Self-Timer is activated through the Drive button, with the timer countdown triggered when you fully depress the shutter button. Once the Self-Timer countdown begins, the red Self-Timer light on the front of the camera blinks until the shutter is fired. Pressing the Drive button after it's been engaged cancels the countdown. The Self-Timer/Remote Control mode also works with the included RM-1 Remote control, which triggers a three-second countdown after pressing the remote shutter button. The Remote control works as far as 16.4 feet (5.0 meters) from the camera.
FlashThe built-in, pop-up flash on top of the E-100RS lens barrel is released by a sliding switch on the side of the flash unit. The Flash button on the back panel controls the flash mode, cycling between Auto-Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, and Fill-In Flash. (Flash Off is engaged when the flash unit is closed.) The Auto-Flash mode fires the flash automatically in backlit or low-light situations. Red-Eye Reduction emits 10 small pre-flashes before firing the full flash, to reduce the occurrence of red-eye effect. (Note: Firing the flash in Red-Eye Reduction mode takes about one second before the shutter is released, and is not available in Shutter Priority, Manual, or Sports modes.) The Fill-In Flash fires with every exposure, regardless of the existing light levels. Flash is automatically disabled when shooting in Sequence and Movie modes, as well as when using Auto Bracketing or Pre-Capture modes.
Two Slow Synchronization flash modes are available through the Record menu, for use in low-light situations. This technique combines flash with a slow shutter speed to allow more ambient light into the image (increasing the brightness of the background to more closely match the flash-illuminated subject). The E-100RS offers two Slow Synchro options: Slow 1 fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure, and Slow 2 fires the flash at the end of the exposure. Both settings produce streaking effects with moving subjects such as cars or amusement park rides. The instruction manual provides detailed illustrations of how each setting works.
An adjustable Flash Intensity setting controls the amount of light the flash emits through the Record menu (represented by a flash of lightning icon and +/- symbol in the menu listing). Flash Intensity is adjustable from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third-step increments. Olympus estimates that the E-100RS flash is effective from 1 to 13.1 feet (0.3 to 4.0 meters). We found the flash to be effective all the way out to 15 feet at the Normal intensity setting, with just the slightest drop-off after 11 feet.
A five-pin external flash socket is located on the lens side of the camera, protected by a plastic, threaded cap. Olympus offers an FL-40 external flash unit and FL-BK01 flash bracket as optional accessories. Most commercially available external flashes with the proper five-pin connector should work with the E-100RS, however Olympus recommends confirming that the unit will communicate with the camera before you purchase it. For non-Olympus flash owners, Olympus offers an optional (and very hard to find) adapter cable that allows attachment of a conventional PC-contact flash unit to the E-100RS. Flashes connected in this fashion won't provide any exposure adjustment options.
When the external flash is attached, both the external and internal flash units can be used simultaneously. The Flash button on the back of the camera controls the Flash mode for both units, with the same Auto-Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, and Fill-In Flash settings available for the external flash. If the external FL-40 flash is set to Auto, the flash intensity setting is also adjustable through the camera's Record menu. (When using other manufacturers' external flash units, the flash intensity adjustments may not be effective.)
Sequential Shooting
The E-100RS offers two Sequential shooting modes -- Sequential and AF Sequential -- which are available by pressing the Drive button on top of the camera's back panel. (The Drive button selects between five modes: Single Frame, Sequential Shooting, AF Sequential Shooting, Self-Timer/Remote Control, and Auto Bracket.) Sequential Shooting captures images continuously, for as long as the shutter button is held down. The maximum number of images recorded depends on the amount of available memory card space, as well as the image quality setting. You can set the maximum frame rate through the Record menu, with options of 15, 7.5, 5.0, or 3.0 frames-per-second. Actual frame rates will vary depending on the amount of image information and the exposure conditions (a slow shutter speed will hinder the frame rate). As we mentioned earlier 15 frames per second is incredibly fast for full-resolution images, unequalled by any other digicam we've tested (or even heard about) as of this writing in early 2001.
Sequential Shooting mode takes a series of images with the focus, exposure, and white balance locked from readings taken on the first shot. AF Sequential Shooting sets the focus, exposure, and white balance individually with each shot. As a result, the AF frame rates are much slower than they are in standard Sequential Shooting mode. (Note: Sequential Shooting is not available with the TIFF image quality setting.)
Auto Bracketing
Also controlled through the Drive button, the Auto Bracketing feature takes a series of images at varying Exposure Compensation and/or White Balance settings. Auto Bracketing is available in Program, Shutter Priority, and Aperture Priority exposure modes only. Once the mode is enabled, the number of images and exposure adjustments must be set through the Record menu. A series can consist of three or five images, and the images set for different levels of Exposure Compensation, White Balance, or both. These are set individually under the BKT option in the Record menu. For example, if Exposure Compensation (AE) is set to +/-1.0 x 3, the bracketing series will consist of three images, one at the currently set exposure compensation level, one at -1.0 EV, and one at +1.0 EV. White Balace (WB) can be set to Off, +/-1, +/-2, or +/-3, in arbitrary units.
Pre-Capture Mode: Negative shutter lag!
Enabled through the Record menu, Pre-Capture mode begins recording a series of images when the shutter button is pressed halfway. When this mode is activated, the number of images must also be set from one to five. Once set, the camera will continuously cycle the images through its memory buffer, for as long as the shutter button is halfway pressed. Once the shutter button is fully pressed, the camera records the number of images you've selected to the memory card, starting with the last one and counting backward. For example, if Pre-Capture is set to record five images, the camera will record the last five images captured before the shutter button was fully pressed to the memory card. The end result is uncanny: It seems as if the camera is reading your mind, to know when you're about to hit the shutter button. Available shutter speeds in Pre-Capture range from 1/10,000 to 1/30 second, so the number of frames per second will depend on the current exposure conditions. Pre-Capture also works with the Sequential Shooting mode, recording images at the designated frame rate.
Adding Sound to Images
In any still capture mode, the E-100RS Sound Record feature can be set to record up to four seconds of sound to accompany any image. In Record mode, sound memos must be recorded after the image is taken. Once you activate the Sound option through the Record menu, the microphone symbol appears on the LCD monitor and information display panel. To record sound, you capture the image as normal, and approximately 0.5 seconds after the shutter is released, you begin recording a message. Recording progress is noted on the LCD display. Subjects that are further than 3.3 feet from the camera may not be recorded clearly, in which case, an external microphone is suggested (an external microphone connection jack is provided in the side compartment, an unusual and welcome feature). In Playback mode, you can use a similar process to add sound memos to images already recorded. Simply select Sound in the Playback menu and highlight Start. The same recording progress bar appears on the LCD monitor.
Movie Mode
The E-100RS can also record moving images and sound when the mode dial is set to the movie camera symbol. In Movie mode, both aperture and shutter speed are automatically controlled. Recording begins when the shutter button is fully depressed, and ends when pressed a second time. The amount of recording time available depends on the amount of free space on the memory card, and the number of available seconds that appears on the LCD monitor. Sound is recorded through the camera's internal microphone, or via an external microphone connection (recommended for subjects more than 3.3 feet away). As with shooting still images, focus and exposure are locked with a half press of the shutter button. To continuously adjust the focus, set the focus mode to Full-Time AF through the Record menu. Movies are recorded at either 15 or 30 frames per second, with image sizes of 640 x 480 (HQ) and 320 x 240 (SQ) available.
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