Top of camera controls

The top of the F700 is a logical layout, on the right is the rectangular shutter release button, behind this is the power / camera mode switch (off / play / record). To the left of this is the shoot mode dial (which just like the S5000 was far too loose and all too easy to turn accidentally). On the far left of the camera top is the continuous shooting mode button which must be held to display a pop-up on-screen which allows you to choose continuous shooting mode.

Controls

Drive mode To change this setting hold the button and press the left or right arrows. While held an option 'pop-up menu' appears on the screen.  • Off  • Top-5 (5 fps, up to 5 frames)  • Exposure Bracketing  • Final-5 (5 fps, up to 5 frames)  • Long-period (1.8 fps, up to 40 frames, 1280 x 960 only)

Shooting Mode Dial

AUTO	Auto Exposure In this mode the camera automatically selects aperture and shutter speed based on the current metered exposure value and selected ISO sensitivity. You can change Image size / quality, ISO sensitivity (Auto, 400, 800, 1600), Color, Drive mode and Self-Timer settings.
P	Program Auto Exposure In this mode the camera automatically selects aperture and shutter speed based on the current metered exposure value, exposure compensation and selected ISO sensitivity. Note that the F700 supports program shift which allows you to choose from a range of equivalent exposures by pressing the up or down arrows. When shifted the exposure readout on the LCD Monitor changes from cyan to yellow. For example:  • 1/250 sec F5.6 (up arrow)  • 1/320 sec F5.0 (up arrow)  • 1/400 sec F4.5 (metered)  • 1/500 sec F4.0 (down arrow)  • 1/640 sec F3.6 (down arrow)
S	Shutter Priority Exposure In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture depending on metered exposure, exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity. Press the up or down arrow to change shutter speed. The camera immediately displays the aperture, if outside of the cameras exposure range the aperture will show in red. Available shutter speeds: 1/1000, 1/800, 1/640, 1/500, 1/400, 1/320, 1/250, 1/200, 1/160, 1/125, 1/100, 1/80, 1/60, 1/50, 1/40, 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/13, 1/10, 1/8, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2.5, 1/2, 1/1.6, 1/1.3, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3 sec
A	Aperture Priority Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the correct shutter speed depending on metered exposure, exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity. Press the up or down arrow to change aperture. The camera immediately displays the shutter speed, if outside of the cameras exposure range the shutter speed will show in red. Available apertures:  • Wide angle: F2.8, F3.2, F3.6, F4.0, F4.5, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8  • Telephoto: F4.9, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8, F9, F10, F11, F13, F14
M	Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above. Press the up and down arrows to change shutter speed, hold the exposure compensation button to change aperture. Beside the shutter speed and aperture is a 'live' exposure meter which indicates if the selected exposure will be under or over exposed.
	Movie Clip The F700 shoots movies at either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 resolution, 30 fps with audio. This delivers high resolution video at a very smooth frame rate, although obviously this can lead to very large AVI files.
SP	Scene Program The F700 has four scene program modes:  • Portrait  • Landscape  • Sports  • Night exposure

Rear of camera controls

The rear of the camera has simple layout, in keeping with other new Finepix digital cameras the F700 has the distinctive ' f ' Photo mode button to the left of the LCD screen. Additionally the camera has dedicated buttons for metering mode and exposure compensation.

Controls

f	Photo mode Pressing the Photo mode button displays a menu with three options: Quality / Size, ISO sensitivity and 'FinePix Color'. These options are detailed later in this review.
	Metering mode Press this button to cycle through each metering mode:  • Multi pattern  • Spot  • Average
	Exposure compensation Hold this button and press the left or right arrows to change.  • +/- 2.0 EV  • 0.3 EV steps
W / T	Zoom / Magnify In record (shooting mode) these buttons zoom the camera's lens between wide angle (35 mm equiv.) and telephoto (105 mm equiv.). In play mode they control image magnification.
DISP	Display In record mode this button toggles between a plain live view with no overlay, a basic overlay and a 'thirds' grid overlay. In play mode it toggles between a single image with no overlay, a single image with basic overlay and a 3x3 thumbnail index.
BACK	Back The Back button is used to step out of menus or settings changes.
MENU/ OK	Menu / OK Enters the current mode menu or confirms menu or option selection.
	Macro Mode  • On  • Off
	Flash Mode Press this button to cycle through each flash mode:  • Flash on (fill flash)  • Flash off  • Slow Sync Flash  • Slow Sync Flash with Red-Eye Reduction  • Flash with Red-Eye Reduction

Front of camera controls

On the front of the camera is a single button labelled 'C-AF'. This button engages the camera's continuous auto focus mode while it is held. It is also used in combination with the arrow buttons to move the AF Area in AF Area mode.