Toshiba PDR-M81Toshiba steps into the 4-megapixel arena with a value-priced, full-featured model.<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 08/24/2001 |
Exposure
The PDR-M81 offers a great deal of exposure control, with a range of exposure modes that give you as little or as much control as you want. The Mode dial on top of the camera controls the basic recording mode, offering Automatic, Manual, or Movie modes. Within these selections are a variety of options to choose from.
Under the Automatic setting, you can choose from Full Automatic, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night, and Multi-Shot exposure modes (via the on-screen menu option). In Full Automatic mode, the camera makes all of the exposure decisions for you, with the exception of flash and file size settings. Portrait mode adjusts the aperture so that the background is blurred and the subject is the main focus (by using a larger aperture and decreasing the depth of field). Landscape mode adjusts the camera for distant scenes and landscapes, by setting the focus for infinity and using a smaller aperture for a greater depth of field. In Sports mode, the camera increases the shutter speed to "freeze" fast-paced action. Night mode allows you to photograph people against dark backgrounds, such as city scapes, without losing any of the background details or color. (The flash is fixed in a Slow-Synchro mode automatically.) Finally, the Multi-Shot mode actually takes 16 shots at intervals of approximately 0.13 seconds (7.5 frames per second), which are saved as a single 2,400 x 1,600-pixel image. This is a good mode for moving subjects, as the resulting image can be used as a timeline.
When the Mode dial is set to the Manual position, you have a choice between Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual exposure modes (also changed through the on-screen menu). In Program AE mode, the camera continues to select the shutter speed and aperture settings, but you have control over all other exposure variables, such as White Balance, Exposure Compensation, and Metering. The histogram also displays in the LCD monitor, providing an indication of the tonal distribution. Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes give you control over either aperture or shutter speed, depending on the mode. Available aperture settings range from f/2.9 to f/8, and shutter speeds range from 1/1,000 to 15 seconds. In both modes, the adjustable value is changed by pressing the up and down arrows. Manual exposure mode provides full control over both shutter speed and aperture (the up and down arrows control aperture, and the left and right arrows control shutter speed). In Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual exposure modes, if the camera's metering system disagrees with a variable choice, that variable is displayed in red, but the camera will still take the picture. (The User Guide also notes that in Manual mode, if the aperture is set to f/2.9, the 1/1,000-second shutter speed is unavailable.) Additionally, as you adjust aperture, shutter speed, or Exposure Compensation, the histogram display reflects the change, giving you an idea of the exposure outcome.
The PDR-M81 employs a Multi Metering system by default, which reads light from the entire frame and calculates the best overall exposure. Through the on-screen menu, a Spot metering option is available, which bases the exposure on a reading from the very center of the frame (useful for high-contrast subjects). Exposure Compensation is adjustable from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-half step increments. An Autoexposure Bracketing mode takes three consecutive images at -0.5, 0.0, and +0.5 EV settings, allowing you to choose the best overall exposure. Light sensitivity is adjustable in the Manual record mode, with available settings of 100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents.
The PDR-M81 offers six White Balance settings, including Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Blue Fluorescent, Red Fluorescent, and Incandescent. One thing we'd like to point out here is that with as much manual control as the PDR-M81 provides, a manual White Balance setting would have been welcome. That said, the camera does offer a nice range of color control, with Standard, Vivid, Monochrome, and Sepia settings. You can also adjust the image contrast and sharpness settings. A Self-Timer button on top of the camera cycles between the two- and 10-second Self-Timer modes, which provide a short delay between the time that the Shutter button is pressed and the shutter actually releases. The Self-Timer light on the front of the camera blinks to indicate the countdown, and a numeric countdown appears in the LCD monitor as well.
FlashThe PDR-M81's built-in flash operates in one of four modes: Auto, Red-Eye Forced Flash, Forced Flash, and Off. (A Slow-Synchro mode is only available in the Night photography mode, and is automatically enabled.) The Flash button on top of the camera controls the flash mode. Auto mode places the camera in charge of when to fire the flash, based on the existing light conditions. (Auto mode is not available in the Manual record mode.) Alternately, Red-Eye Forced Flash mode fires the flash with every exposure, regardless of light level. A small pre-flash is fired before the full flash, to reduce the occurrence of red-eye effect. The Forced Flash mode works in a similar manner, only without the red-eye pre-flash. Finally, Suppressed mode simply disables the flash, so that it does not fire at all. Toshiba estimates that the PDR-M81's flash is effective from 2.62 to 9.84 feet (0.8 to 3.0 meters) with the lens at full wide angle. We do our flash tests with the cameras' lenses set at their telephoto position, which reduces the effective range somewhat, giving more of a worst-case indication of performance. In the PDR-M81 testing, we found that flash intensity was low even at the minimum 8-foot distance (where we beginning measurements), and steadily decreased from that point on. Therefore, we rate the M81's flash range at less than 8 feet, an inadequate performance overall.
Burst Photography Mode
Available through the on-screen menu, Burst Photography mode captures a maximum of three images at approximately 0.8 second intervals. The actual frame rate depends on the shutter speed, file size and quality settings, and the amount of image information to be recorded. Images are temporarily stored in a buffer memory, which allows you to pick which frames are actually stored to the SmartMedia card. After the series is captured, the LCD monitor is automatically enabled (if previously turned off) and a set of options appears on the screen. You can either save or delete images independently, save all images, or delete all images in the series. The green LED lamp next to the optical viewfinder eyepiece flashes until you make a decision.
Movie Mode
The PDR-M81 also offers a Movie recording mode, which is entered by turning the Mode dial to the movie camera position. A full press of the Shutter button starts and stops recording. Movies are recorded with sound for varying amounts of time, depending on the size / quality setting chosen, and the amount of available space on the memory card. The recording microphone is on the front of the camera, just over the lens. Two resolution sizes are available -- 320 x 240- and 160 x 120-pixels -- with three compression levels available at each image size. Recording times vary from 30 seconds at the highest quality 320 x 240-pixel option, up to three minutes in the lowest quality 160 x 120-pixel resolution. The flash and optical zoom are unavailable in Movie mode, though you can operate the 2.2x digital zoom during recording. Interestingly though, you can set the M81's optical zoom lens to whatever position you like before recording starts. This is a bit of the best of both worlds, in that you still retain much of the usefulness of the optical zoom lens, even though you're not able to change its setting during the exposure.
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