Olympus EVOLT E-300By: Shawn Barnett and Dave Etchells8.0 megapixels, ZUIKO DIGITAL lens mount, digital SLR design, and loads of features! <<Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests :(Previous) | (Next): Camera Modes & Menus>> Page 9:Operation & User InterfaceReview First Posted: 11/08/2004, Updated: 03/12/2005 |
Operation and User Interface
The E-300's user interface is similar to those of the Olympus C-series digicams, with a multi-page menu system that's easy to navigate. The standard Olympus Shortcut menu screen has been omitted, made unnecessary by the many single-purpose buttons for major functions on the camera body. Menu layouts are straightforward. A Mode dial on top of the camera changes capture modes quickly. Once you get into the Record menu, options are organized by function, accessed by a series of tabs along the left side of the screen. This layout lets you quickly skip to the options you need without sifting through pages of menu items. In any of the manual exposure modes, aperture and/or shutter speed is adjusted externally, as is exposure compensation. Once you get the hang of things, the control layout is quite intuitive and efficient.
Control Enumeration
Shutter Button: Located on an angled panel atop the right handgrip, the
Shutter button sets focus and exposure settings when pressed halfway and triggers
the shutter when fully pressed.
Mode Dial: Behind the Shutter button on the top panel, this dial controls
the camera's main operating mode. Choices are Manual, Shutter Priority, Aperture
Priority, Program, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Night Scene, and Scene
modes.
Power Switch: Jutting out from under the Mode dial on the right side, this switch turns the camera on and off.
Command Dial: Behind the Mode dial is the Command dial, which adjusts
a wide variety of settings when turned while pressing control buttons.
In Playback mode, this dial controls digital enlargement of captured images up to 10x when turned toward the right. The dial also accesses the four, nine, and 16 image thumbnail index display modes when turned to the left.
Flash Release Button: Located on the rear panel beneath the pop-up flash compartment, this button releases the pop-up flash, an entirely mechanical operation. (That is, the camera can't automatically invoke the flash in response to the camera's exposure calculations or settings; it must be popped up by the user.)
AE Lock Button: Located in the upper right corner of the back panel, this
button locks the exposure setting in any record mode.
AF Area Selection Button: To the right of the AE Lock button, this
button lets you manually select the active AF point, or leave AF area selection
under automatic control.
Playback Button: Located next to the upper right corner of the LCD
monitor, this button switches the camera to Playback mode. The E-300 is a "shooting
priority" camera, so you can return to capture mode either by pressing
the Playback button again, or simply by pressing the shutter button.
Menu Button: Directly below the Playback button, this button calls
up the settings menus in any camera mode.
Four-Way Arrow Pad (Exposure Compensation, AF, ISO, and Metering Buttons): Made up of four buttons arranged in a circle, the Arrow Pad controls many of the camera's operations. The top arrow key controls the Exposure Compensation setting, while the right arrow selects the AF mode. The bottom arrow adjusts the ISO setting in conjunction with the Command dial, and the left arrow sets the camera's metering mode. In Manual exposure mode, pressing the up (Exposure Compensation) button, toggles the function of the Command dial between controlling aperture or shutter speed settings.
In Playback mode, the left and right Arrows move forward or backward through the pictures stored on the card. Up and down arrows jump through the images 10 frames at a time. All four are used to scroll around portions of the zoomed image in Zoom Playback mode.
In the LCD menu system, the Arrow buttons navigate through menu screens and select settings.
OK / Protect Button: Tucked in the lower right corner of the rear panel, this button confirms menu selections.
In Playback mode, this button write-protects (or removes write-protection) on captured images.
Through the camera's Setup menu, you can program this button to call up a shortcut menu to frequently used settings, to activate depth of field preview, or to toggle between the auto and manual focus modes.
Flash Button: The first in a series of control buttons lining the left side of the LCD monitor, this button activates Flash mode adjustment, which selects among a large and unusual array of options: Auto; Red-eye reduction; Slow sync first curtain; Slow sync second curtain; Slow sync plus red eye reduction; Fill flash; Fill flash red eye; and Fill flash slow sync second curtain, and of course Off. Pressing the button and turning the Command dial changes the setting.
White Balance Button: In the manual exposure modes, this button accesses
the White Balance adjustment. Turning the Command dial selects the white balance
mode to either Auto, Tungsten (3,000K), Incandescent (3,600K), White Fluorescent
(4,000K), Neutral White Fluorescent (4,500K), Daylight Fluorescent (6,600K),
Daylight (5,300K), Cloudy (6,000K), Shade (7,500K), one of four preset Custom
settings, or One-Push (manual adjustment) modes.
Quality Button: Directly below the White Balance button, this button
lets you adjust the camera's resolution and quality settings, cycling through
SHQ, TIFF, RAW, RAW + SQ, RAW + HQ, RAW + SHQ, SQ, and HQ. (The actual image
resolution and quality for each setting is designated through the Setup menu.)
Erase Button: Next in line below the Quality button, this button lets
you erase the currently displayed image, with a Yes/No confirmation screen.
If pressed while the camera is in a shooting mode, the most recently-captured
image appears on the LCD display with an option to erase it.
Info Button: The final button in the series lining the LCD monitor,
this button controls the amount of information displayed on the LCD monitor
in Playback mode, cycling through six display modes, including
a histogram display.
Diopter Adjustment Dial: Tucked on the left side of the viewfinder eyepiece,
this dial adjusts the optical viewfinder's optics to accommodate eyeglass wearers.
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