Canon SD750 Operation

Canon SD750 Operation

The Canon PowerShot SD750's user interface is straightforward and relatively uncomplicated, with a similar menu setup and basic control philosophy as the rest of the current ELPH series. Most of the camera's functions are controlled by buttons on the top and rear panels, while a handful of settings are controlled through the LCD-based Record menu. A Function menu provides faster access to basic settings like image size, quality, and exposure compensation, without the need to sift through menu screens. The LCD menu system itself is quite efficient, as you view menu items organized in tabs instead of through a series of pages. Additionally, the Setup and My Camera menus are always available, regardless of the camera mode. With the instruction manual in-hand, it shouldn't take more than half-an-hour to get comfortable with the camera.

Record Mode Display: In any record mode, the PowerShot SD750's LCD display shows either the image area with no information or the image with a limited information display. Pressing the Display button cycles through these two display modes. When the information display is active, it reports resolution and image quality settings, the number of available images, Record mode, orientation, and a handful of exposure settings, and flash mode if turned on. Half-press the Shutter button, and the Aperture and Shutter speed that the camera will use appears across the bottom of the screen.

Playback Mode Display: Playback mode offers three display modes, including image only, the image with information, and the image with expanded information and a histogram. You can display as many as nine thumbnail images at a time on-screen with the index display mode available by moving the Zoom control to the Wide zoom setting, or move the Zoom control to Tele to zoom in on captured images to check fine details, focus, or framing. You can also jump through nine images at a time by accessing the JUMP mode. This mode is accessed by hitting the wide angle side of the zoom toggle after entering the nine-frame preview mode.

Canon SD750 Modes and Menus

Still Record Mode: Sets the camera for image capture, with a full range of exposure and shooting options available through the on-screen menus. Exposure modes include Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Color Accent, Color Swap, Stitch Assist Right, and Stitch Assist Left.

Special Scene Mode: Includes Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, and Underwater Scene modes.

Movie Mode: Records movie clips with sound in one of six modes. Though zooming is allowed while recording movies, note that it is digital zoom, not actual optical zoom. Movie modes include Standard (either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels at either 30 or 15 fps, up to 4GB each), Fast Frame Rate (320 x 240 pixels at 60 fps for up to one minute), Compact (160 x 120 pixels at 15 fps for up to three minutes), and Color Accent or Color swap (either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels at either 30 or 15 fps, up to 4GB each), Time Lapse (640 x 480 at 15 fps up to 2 hours). With Time Lapse, two hours of recorded frames are compressed to either eight or four minutes.

Playback Mode: This mode allows you to scroll through captured images and movies, write-protect images, view a nine-image index display, zoom into a captured image, delete unwanted images, rotate images, set up images for printing on DPOF compatible devices, do Red Eye correction, as well as play and crop movies.

Record Menu System: Accessed by pressing the Menu button in any record mode (some options are not available in all modes). Three menu tabs appear, one each for Record, Setup, and My Camera sub-menus. You can move between the tabs with the zoom toggle.

Function Menu. Activated by pressing the Func/Set button:

• Shooting Mode: Selects among these shooting modes: Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Color Accent, Color Swap, Stitch Assist Right and Stitch Assist Left.
• Exposure Compensation: Increases or decreases the exposure from -2 to +2 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third-step increments.
• Long Shutter: Accesses longer shutter times, with thirteen steps from one to 15 seconds. (Accessed by pressing the Menu button while the Exposure Compensation option is highlighted.)
• White Balance: Controls the color balance of images. Options are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and Custom (manual setting).
• My Colors: Enables Vivid Color (high color saturation), Neutral Color (low color saturation), Sepia, Black-and-White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, or Custom Color; or disables My Colors altogether.
• Metering: Sets the camera's metering mode to Evaluative, Center-Weighted, or Spot.
• Compression: Sets the JPEG compression to Superfine, Fine, or Normal.
• Resolution: Specifies the image resolution. Still image resolutions are 3,072 x 2,304, 2,592 x 1,944, 2,048 x 1,536, 1,600 x 1,200 and 640 x 480 pixels; a Postcard mode also takes the resolution to 1,600 x 1,200 and locks the resolution to Fine; a date stamp can be printed on the image in this mode, and the top and bottom of the screen are greyed out when you half-press the Shutter button, showing the portions of the image that won't fit on a 4x6 postcard. A Widescreen mode shoots in 16:9 format at 3,072 x 1,728 with portions not recorded left black. This mode is for playback on widescreen televisions or printing on wide paper. Movie resolutions are 640 x 480, 320 x 240, or 160 x 120 pixels, depending on the mode.

Record Menu:

• AiAF: Sets AiAF to On, Off, or activates Face Detection.
• Digital Zoom: Can be set to Off, 1.5x, 1.9x, or Standard.
• Slow Synchro: Allows you to shoot with the flash at slow shutter speeds, useful at night.
• Red-Eye: You can set whether or not the Red-Eye Reduction lamp automatically lights before the flash.
• Self-Timer: This menu setting is for the Custom timer. The custom timer can have a delay of 0-10, 15, 20, or 30 seconds, and allows multiple shots (from one to 10 in total) to be captured. If the camera is set to capture multiple shots, white balance and exposure are locked from the first shot. (A very handy feature for getting good shots of groups, as someone invariably blinks right as the shutter goes off.)
• Auto ISO Shift: If the camera shake icon appears you can raise the ISO speed by pressing the Print/Share button. Will not work in Hi ISO, ISO 800, ISO 1,600, Long shutter mode, or with flash.
  
• AF Assist Beam: Turns the AF assist light on or off. If on, the bright orange LED on the camera's front automatically illuminates in low lighting.
• Review: Turns the instant review function on or off, sets the amount of time that the captured image is displayed on the screen from two to 10 seconds, or allows a "Hold" mode where the image remains on the screen until the shutter button is half-pressed. The instant review function applies to still images only.
• Save Original: (Only in Color Accent or Color Swap mode) If On is selected, the two images will be numbered consecutively with the altered image following the original.
• Auto Category: Sets whether images are automatically categorized during shooting.
• Display Overlay: Allows you to configure the LCD monitor to these options: Off, Grid Lines, 3:2 Guide, or both.
• Date Stamp: Allows you to imbed the date in the image data when Postcard mode is selected.
• Set Print/Share Button: Allows you to set the Print/Share button to other functions. Options are: Not Assigned, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, Custom White Balance, Digital Tele-converter, Display Overlay, Record Movie, Display Off, and Play Sound Effect.

Setup Menu:

• Mute: Turns the camera's beep sounds on and off.
• Volume: Individually sets Startup, Operation, Self Timer, Shutter, and Playback volumes. Five steps are available for each item, or the sound for each item can be disabled individually.
• Touch Icons : Turn Touch Icons on or off while using four-way control dial.
• LCD Brightness: Adjust the brightness of the LCD backlight, with 15 steps of control available.
• Power Saving: Toggles the camera's automatic shutoff function, which turns off the camera after a length of inactivity. Also sets display shutdown time to 10, 20, or 30 seconds, or to 1, 2, or 3 minutes.
• Time Zone: Sets both a Home and World (away) time zone, so you can simply select one or the other to record date and time settings for that location. Setting a time zone displays a world map with scrollable time zones and major city names for each zone, making it easy to select a location.
  
• Date/Time: Sets the camera's internal calendar and clock, as well as the format for dates (mm/dd/yy, dd/mm/yy, or yy/mm/dd).
• Clock Display: Controls the clock display option, which shows the current time (but not the date) for a period of 0-10, 20, or 30 seconds or for 1, 2, or 3 minutes when the Function key is pressed and held for two seconds. (Handy if you forgot your wristwatch, I guess.) If set to zero, the clock is displayed only while the Function button is held in.
• Format: Formats the memory card, erasing all files (even those marked for write-protection). An option is available to low-level format the card.
• File Numbering: Resets file numbering with each new Secure Digital card when set to Auto Reset. If set to Continuous, the camera continues numbering in sequence, regardless of memory card.
• Create Folder: Immediately creates a new folder on the memory card to store images or creates the folder at the day and time you specify.
• Auto Rotate: Toggles Auto Rotate feature on and off. The camera can detect when it is held approximately level or when it is rotated left or right beyond approximately 45 degrees. If you aim the camera vertically up or down, it will remember the orientation before you did so -- hence letting you control which orientation an image is tagged with even for shots where the camera is tilted enough vertically to prevent the sensor working.
  
• Lens Retract: Sets the timing of the lens retraction when you switch from the shooting to the playback mode to either 1 minute or 0 seconds.
• Language: Sets the camera's menu language to one of 25 choices.
• Video System: Sets the camera's video-out signal to conform to NTSC or PAL timing.
• Print Method: Lets you change the printer connection method from Auto to PictBridge mode.
• Reset All: Resets all non-custom camera settings to their default values.

My Camera Menu

• Theme: Selects a common theme for each My Camera menu settings item. Four options are available, the first one being Off. When a theme is selected, all of the following settings automatically adjust to that theme. Users can also select and upload their own sounds to the camera.
• Start-Up Image: Sets the startup image when you turn on the camera to: Black screen, Canon logo, Canon logo with sunset, and nature scene. You can also apply your own image using the Canon software.
• Start-Up Sound: Sets the startup sound when you turn on the camera to: No sound, Musical tone (1), Musical tone (2), or Birds chirping. You can also apply your own sounds using the Canon software.
• Operation Sound: Sets the sound when any control or switch is use (except the Shutter button). Options include no sound, Beep, Musical tone, and Chirp.
• Self-Timer Sound: Sets the sound that signals you when the shutter release is two seconds away. Options include no sound, Fast beeps, Telephone ring, and Howling.
• Shutter Sound: Sets the shutter sound that you hear when you depress the Shutter button (there is no shutter sound in Movie mode). Options include no sound, Shutter sound, Musical Tone, and Bark.

Playback Menu System: Accessed by pressing the Menu button in Playback mode, the Playback menu also has tabs for the Setup and My Camera menus. These are identical to those described above.

 Playback Menu:

• Slide Show: Plays all or selected captured images in a slide show. Options are All images, Date, My category, Folder, Movies, Stills, Custom 1 (DPOF).
• My Category: Options are: People, Scenery, Events, Category 1, Category 2, Category 3, To Do.
• Erase: Erases images. Options are: Select, Select by Date, Select by Category, Select by Folder, All images.
• Protect: Marks the current image for write-protection, or removes write-protection. Protected images cannot be deleted or manipulated, except through card formatting, which erases all files. Options are: Select, Select by Date, Select by Category, Select by Folder, All images.
• Red Eye Correction: Allows for in-camera Red Eye Correction.
• My Colors: Adds My Colors effects to your pictures including Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B/W, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, or Vivid Red.
  
• Sound Memo: Records a short sound clip to accompany a captured image.
• Sound Recorder: Records a continuous sound memo without an image attached.
• Rotate: Rotates the current image. Cycles through the 90 degree/270 degree/original orientations. The image data is not actually rotated; the camera actually sets a tag in the EXIF header, hence your software must recognize this tag to be able to recognize the orientation set in-camera.
  
• Transfer Order: Select images for downloading to your computer.
• Set Play Button: Allows you to set the Play button's function in Playback mode to standard function, start a slide show, or start the Sound recorder.
• Transition: Selects how to transition from one slide to another when they are displayed.

Print Menu: This menu is available in Playback mode, simply by pressing the Menu button and selecting the Print tab. The bottom line of the display shows how many images are selected for printing and the print method that is active.

• Print: Sends images tagged for printing to the printer.
• Select Images & Quantity: Allows you select images for printing and set the number of prints for each image selected.
• Select by Date: Allows you to select images to print by date shot.
• Select by Category: Allows you to select images by category.
• Select by Folder: Allows you to select images by folder.
• Select All Images: Selects all images on the memory card for printing.
• Clear All Selections: Clears all print selections.
  
• Print Settings: Brings up a menu of these options:
  • Print Type: You can specify whether to print one image per page, an index of the images, or both.
  • Date: Set printing of the date and time on or off.
  • File No.: Set printing of the file number on or off.
  • Clear DPOF data: Set the option to clear the DPOF tag on or off.