Epson PhotoPC 3100ZEpson updates their excellent 3 megapixel digicam with a new user interface, and support for PRINT Image Matching!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 7/10/2001 |
Exposure
Once you learn the basic camera operation, exposure control on the 3100Z is pretty straightforward. The unique LCD screen and menu display allow you to change most exposure settings with a simple press of a button, but you first have to set the camera's User and Exposure Modes. The camera has three User Modes which are chosen from the Setup menu: Full Auto (the camera controls everything), Program (offers partial user control), and Manual (provides full manual control). After you set the User mode, you just switch to one of the three capture positions on the Mode dial (indicated by red icons) to take a picture. Further exposure adjustments must be made in the LCD-enabled mode (red camera w / large box). While Full Auto mode has only one menu option (Macro On / Off), the Program mode has one full menu screen, and Manual mode offers two menu screens. You can make on-screen adjustments with these menus and then switch back to the Viewfinder or Multi Image capture modes to make exposures with your chosen settings.
In Full Auto mode, the camera controls everything except Flash and Image Quality. You can also choose to use the Macro or Self-Timer options, or switch to one of the special shooting modes offered in the last Mode dial setting: Video Clip (movie), Continuous Shooting (rapid fire), Interval Shooting (time-lapse photography), and Stitching (panoramic) modes. Program mode increases your exposure options to include Exposure Compensation, ISO, White Balance, and four exposure presets: Normal, Sports, Portrait, and Landscape. The Normal preset adjusts the camera to handle most daylight shooting situations. The Sports preset chooses a high shutter speed to capture fast-moving subjects. Portrait fixes the aperture a f/2.0 and switches the metering mode to spot, so that your subject is the primary focus. Landscape sets the aperture to f/8.0 (f/2.0 in dim light) for greater depth of field when capturing broad landscapes and scenery.
The Manual mode offers four exposure options: Auto Exposure, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual. All four options provide access to Flash, ISO, White Balance, and Metering (Spot or Matrix). In addition to these exposure options: Auto Exposure enables you to control Exposure Compensation. Aperture Priority offers Exposure Compensation, plus the ability to set the aperture from f/2.0 to f/8.0, while the camera selects the best corresponding shutter speed. Shutter Priority provides Exposure Compensation and shutter speed adjustment, from 1/1,000 to 8 seconds, while the camera selects the best corresponding aperture. Manual Exposure affords control over both aperture and shutter speed settings.
The Setup menu also offers a Monochrome (black and white) option, Compression settings (Standard or Low), TIFF or JPEG files, Digital Zoom On / Off, Trailing or Leading Flash Synchro, and a Confirmation On / Off setting, which enables or disables an image preview after each image capture, giving you the option of recording sound to accompany the image or deleting the image rather than saving it to the CompactFlash card.
Exposure Compensation and ISO
Exposure Compensation (EV) is adjustable from -2 to +2 in varying increments, depending on the camera's capture mode. In Program mode, EV is adjustable in one-half-step increments (nine available settings), and in Manual mode, EV is adjustable in one-third-stop increments (21 available settings). ISO sensitivity can be set to 100, 200 or 400, by pressing the button corresponding to the ISO setting at the bottom of the LCD monitor in the appropriate menu mode.
Spot or Matrix Metering
In Manual mode, Metering is adjustable through the on-screen LCD menu, with options for Matrix or Spot readings. Matrix metering takes readings from areas throughout the image and averages them to judge the proper exposure. Spot metering bases the exposure on a reading from the very center of the image.
White Balance
White balance is also adjustable through the on-screen menu, with Auto, Fix, and Custom modes available. The Auto White Balance automatically sets the white balance based on the camera's assessment of the existing light quality. The Fix mode sets the camera's white balance to match 5,200°Kelvin, which approximately matches full sunlight. (Although the international standard for "daylight" is 5500K.) The Custom White Balance mode, available only in Manual capture mode, bases the white value on a user-defined setting. This setting is created through the Setup menu, under the Shot Setup option. You select New W/B, focus the camera on a white sheet of paper, and press the shutter button to save the selection. This is a slightly tricky way to manually adjust the white balance. We'd rather take the custom reading in the shooting mode, as part of the White Balance menu, rather than having to go into Setup mode.
FlashThe 3100Z features a built-in flash with five operating modes: Auto, Forced, Off, Red-Eye Reduction, and Slow Synchro, all controlled by pressing the Flash button on the top panel. The Auto mode determines the need for flash based on existing light levels. The Forced setting fires the flash with every exposure, regardless of the existing light conditions, and Flash Off disables the flash for all exposures. The Red-Eye Reduction setting fires a small pre-flash before firing the full flash, to reduce the effects of red-eye. Finally, the Slow Synchro setting uses a slower shutter speed, to allow more ambient light into the image and balance the background with the subject. You can change the Slow Synchro from Leading to Trailing flash through the Setup menu. Leading Synchro fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure and Trailing Synchro fires the flash at the end of the exposure. The Slow Synchro setting is only available in Program and Manual capture modes.
Epson doesn't provide a flash range in the camera's documentation, but in our testing, the flash was effective to 10 feet, with its brightness dropping steadily after that point. We'd therefore rate the 3100's flash range as 10 feet.
When a more powerful flash is needed, the 3100Z's hot shoe enables you to connect an external flash (in Manual mode only). Once mounted, the External Flash setting must be selected in the Shot Setup option of the Setup menu (Trailing or Leading Synchro adjustment), automatically disabling the camera's built-in flash. We really like the inclusion of a standard hot shoe connection, since it means the 3100Z can be used with most any autoexposure external flash unit.
Self-Timer
A 10-second self-timer can be accessed through the Self-Timer button on the camera's top panel. Once activated, the self-timer symbol on the LCD screen and the small LED on the front of the camera flash slowly for eight seconds, and then flash rapidly for the remaining two. The timer can be canceled by pressing the Shutter button or the Self-Timer button a second time. The Self-Timer mode is also accessible in the Continuous, Interval, Stitching, and Video Clip recording modes.
Video Clip (Movie)
The 3100Z allows you to record 25-second movies with sound or 35-second movies without sound, at 15 frames per second. Movie images are saved as 320 x 240-pixel files in the Motion JPEG file format, which can be played back on a computer with Apple QuickTime. The mode is accessed by turning the mode dial on top of the camera to the last setting, the red multi-shot symbol. From there, you press the Mode Change button in the lower left corner, which scrolls between Video Clip, Continuous, Interval, and Stitching shooting modes. You can change the White Balance and ISO settings by turning the Mode dial to the LCD single capture mode, adjusting the settings, then turning the dial back to the multi-shot symbol.
Continuous Shooting
Accessed in the same manner as the Movie mode, Continuous Shooting lets you capture either 45 standard quality images at up to two shots per second, 13 fine quality images at up to two shots per second, or seven super fine images at up to one image per second. (The actual image capture time will vary with the amount of image information being recorded and available CompactFlash space.) As with the Movie mode, you can adjust exposure by setting the mode dial to the LCD single capture mode and then re-entering the Continuous Shooting mode. The flash is unavailable in this mode, as are the HyPict and TIFF image formats.
Interval Shooting
Interval Shooting is accessed and controlled through the same method as Movie and Continuous Shooting. Like time-lapse photography, Interval Shooting sets up the camera to make exposures at set time intervals, from 10 seconds to 24 hours. For the longer interval times, the camera will shut off between exposures and wake back up again at the appropriate time to take the next shot. (Using an AC power adapter would be a good idea for such extended operation.) The total number of photos taken depends on the amount of CompactFlash space available. Interval photos can be strung together with software such as QuickTime Pro or Macromedia Flash to create time-lapse movies.
Stitching Mode
The Stitching (Panorama) mode is grouped with the Movie, Continuous, and Interval settings on the Mode dial, indicated by the red multi shot icon. Once selected, the panorama capture process is very simple. You can take four or eight exposures in a series. After the first capture, each screen will show a "ghosted" edge of the last image to use as a reference for lining up the next shot. The first four are taken from left to right and will be stitched into a single, four-frame panoramic when you run it through the Panorama Stitcher software loaded on your computer. If you continue to the fifth frame, the direction changes from right to left, and the second set of pictures are lined up along the bottom of the first four captures. To finish a series, you simply press the Finish button in the lower right corner.
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