Fujifilm FinePix 4800 ZoomFuji updates their SuperCCD pocket camera with improved color and a hot-sync cradle!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 08/16/2001 |
Exposure
Exposure control is pretty straightforward on the 4800 Zoom. Basic exposure decisions such as shutter speed and aperture are always under automatic control, though Manual mode offers a number of exposure adjustment options. A Mode switch on the back panel controls whether the camera is in Photography (record) or Playback mode, while a Mode dial at the top of the camera allows you to choose between Manual, Automatic, and Scene Position modes. Auto Exposure mode puts the camera in charge of all exposure decisions, giving you the option to control the Flash, Self-Timer, and Voice Caption features. Manual mode expands the exposure options to include Auto Bracketing, White Balance, ISO, Manual Focus, Sharpness, Flash level, EV (Exposure Compensation), Multi-Exposure, and Photometry (metering).
In Scene Position, you have a choice of four preset shooting modes, including Portrait, Scene (Landscape), Night Scene, and Black and White. In Portrait mode, the camera employs a larger aperture setting to decrease the depth of field, capturing a sharply focused subject in front of a slightly blurred background. The Scene (Landscape) mode uses a smaller lens aperture and sets focus at infinity to capture broad vistas of scenery. Because of the small aperture setting, landscapes typically have both the foreground and background in focus (flash is not available). Night Scene uses slow shutter speeds for shooting at low light levels, allowing more ambient light into the image. Finally, Black and White mode captures monochromatic black-and-white images.
Three metering options are available on the 4800 Zoom: Average, Spot, and Multi (default). The Average metering system reads the entire scene and averages the exposure, without putting any emphasis on the subject or background. Spot metering bases the exposure on a single spot reading from the center of the frame, a method that works best with high-contrast or backlit subjects. The third option, Multi, takes a series of exposure readings from 64 zones throughout the image area to determine the best overall exposure. In Multi mode, the camera uses automatic scene recognition to analyze the subject and provide the best exposure for each shooting situation. You can manually lock exposure and focus by framing the most important portion of the subject in the center of the frame, halfway pressing the Shutter button, and then recomposing the shot while keeping the Shutter button halfway pressed. If you preset focus using the Manual Focus mode, you can lock exposure only using the same procedure.
Most exposure adjustments are made in Manual mode, through the Photography settings menus. Exposure Compensation, which is used to lighten or darken an image, ranges from -1.5 to +1.5 exposure values (EV) in one-third-step increments. Light sensitivity is adjustable to 125, 200, or 400 ISO equivalents. White balance options include Auto, Sunny, Shade, Daylight Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, and Incandescent. There's also a sharpness adjustment that softens or sharpens the outlines in the image, with settings of Hard, Normal, and Soft.
Auto Bracketing captures three consecutive shots at three different exposure settings (one at the suggested meter reading, one underexposed, and one overexposed). Shots can vary by 1/3, 2/3, or 1 exposure value (EV), depending on what you select in the Photography menu. Auto Bracketing is available in the Continuous Shooting exposure mode only. A preview screen appears on the LCD monitor after the series is shot, allowing you to select which image you want to be recorded (you can also record all three images or delete them).
When the Self-Timer is activated through the Photography menu, the camera counts down 10 seconds before triggering the shutter. A small red light on the front of the camera glows for the first five seconds and then flashes for another five seconds. A numerical countdown is also displayed on the circular LCD status window on the back panel.
In most recording modes, the slowest Shutter Speed is 1/4 second. Switching to "Night" scene mode extends the exposure times to up to three seconds, but disables the ISO settings.
Flash
A Flash Open button at the top of the back panel releases the flash from its compartment. Four flash modes can be selected by pressing the right arrow key: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced, and Slow Synchro. In Auto mode, the camera fires the flash based on the current light level. Red-Eye Reduction works in a similar manner, except that the flash fires a small pre-flash before the full flash, to reduce the occurrence of red-eye. Forced flash mode fires the flash with every exposure, regardless of light level. For night or twilight exposures, the Slow Synchro flash mode works with a slower shutter speed to allow more ambient background light into the scene to balance with the flash exposure. The Suppressed flash mode is engaged by returning the flash to its compartment, which prevents it from firing at all. The 4800 Zoom also allows you to adjust the intensity of the flash from -0.6 to +0.6 exposure values (EV) in one-third-step increments. (We like this feature a lot, most digicams don't let you adjust the flash intensity at all.) Fujifilm rates the 4800 Zoom's flash as effective from 0.6 to 11.5 feet (0.2 to 3.5 meters) at the wide-angle setting and from 0.6 to 6.6 feet (0.2 to 2.0 meters) at the telephoto setting. These numbers seem to agree well with our own test results. Like most highly compact digicams, the F4800 is a little weak in the flash department.
Continuous Shooting
In Continuous Shooting mode, the 4800 Zoom records up to three continuous frames at intervals as short as 0.2 seconds. After the series is captured, a preview screen displays all three images at thumbnail size, allowing you to review the series and pick the images you want to record or delete. The camera may capture less than three shots if the SmartMedia card is out of memory space, but it does not record more than three images if additional memory is available. (Apparently, the camera captures the raw data to a buffer memory, so that lower resolution settings don't result in a longer capture series.)
Movie Mode
Marked on the Mode dial by a tiny movie camera symbol, Movie mode captures moving images with sound for as long as 80 seconds at a time (depending on available SmartMedia space). Movies are recorded at 320 x 240-pixel resolution, at approximately 10 frames per second. The LCD monitor must be activated in Movie mode and the flash is not available. Although the lens is automatically fixed at the wide-angle setting upon entering Movie mode, digital zoom is available to 1.875x. Recording starts and stops with a full press of the Shutter button, and a timer appears in the upper right corner of the LCD monitor to count down the remaining seconds of recording time.
Audio Recording
In addition to recording sound with movies, the 4800 Zoom also records up to 30 minutes of audio without images -- the length of the recording time dependent on the available SmartMedia space. While this feature could be very useful for recording lectures or presentations, the sound quality leaves a fair bit to be desired. We found it to be rather muffled, with some additional background hiss. As with Movie mode, the available recording time appears on the LCD screen, and a full press of the Shutter button starts and stops recording. To prevent the lens from extending when you use the Audio mode, turn the Mode dial to the Audio position (the microphone icon) before powering on the camera.
When shooting in the Auto exposure mode, you can record voice captions to accompany your still images. This is accomplished by accessing the Voice Caption submenu in the Photography menu and choosing the On option. Once you record an image, a "Rec Standby" message appears in the LCD monitor. Press the Menu / OK button to begin recording a voice annotation, which can last as long as 30 seconds. The remaining recording time counts down on the LCD monitor. Once the recording is finished, pressing the Menu button stores the sound clip on the SmartMedia card.
For both types of audio recording, Fujifilm recommends placing the microphone (on the front panel) at least 7.8 inches (20cm) from the subject.
Multi-Exposure
Available in the Manual exposure mode only, the Multi-Exposure feature is accessed through the camera's Photography menu. Multi-Exposure combines images by overlaying one exposure over another, similar to exposing the same frame of film multiple times. After each exposure, a Preview screen appears with a preview of how the combined images will look. At that time, you can press the right arrow button to continue recording images, press the Menu / OK button to record the current image, press the left Arrow button to return to the previous image, or press Back to cancel the action altogether.
Follow Imaging Resource: