Kodak DCS760 Review: 5. Operation & Controls: Digital Photography Review

Top of camera controls: left side

Top left of the camera is the drive mode dial, as with other dials on the camera it is by default locked, you must hold down the small button beside it before the dial can be turned.
The dial allows you to select one of five drive modes:

• S (Single)
• CL (Continuous Low-Speed)
• CH (Continuous High-Speed)
• CS (Continuous Silent-Low-Speed)
• Self-Timer

For some reason all continuous modes on the DCS 760 are locked at 1.5 fps and can not be changed (older DCS series had a custom value to change the frame rate). I can only assume this is a temporary limitation.

Top of camera controls: right side

Top of the camera on the right side are the two command dials (front and back), the power & LCD illumination switch, shutter release and several other buttons for camera exposure settings and focus point settings.

Note that all the controls here relate to the photographic parts of the camera.

Power dial

Symbol	Mode
OFF	Camera Off Powers camera off (requires you hold down the lock button beside the dial). Any images still buffered will continue to be written to the storage card before camera is powered off fully. Card activity is indicated by a bright light beside the storage compartment door.
ON	Camera On Switches camera on (requires you hold down the lock button beside the dial), this is virtually instant, there's no perceptible delay between turning the dial to the On position and being able to shoot.
	Illuminate Spring loaded position, automatically returns to On. This illuminates the top and rear LCD's with a green backlight for 5 seconds (or as long as you hold the switch in this position).

Buttons

Button	Main command dial (rear)	Sub command dial (front)
	AF Area Mode • Dynamic Area AF - When the shutter release is half-pressed or AF-ON button is pressed the camera first focuses on the selected focus area, then attempts to track the focused subject by constantly monitoring all five AF areas. • Single Area AF - When the shutter release is half-pressed or AF-ON button is pressed the camera focuses on the selected focus area.	No action
MODE	Exposure Mode * described below • Programmed auto • Shutter-Priority auto • Aperture-Priority auto • Manual	No action
	Exposure Compensation • +/-5EV in 1/3EV or 1/2EV steps	No action

Exposure Modes

Icon	Mode
P	Programmed Auto (Flexible) The Program AE on the DCS 760 is flexible, that means that you can select one of a variety of equal exposures by rolling the main command dial (rear of camera) left or right. Example: • 1/50 F5.6 (roll left a click) P* • 1/60 F5 (roll left a click) P* • 1/80 F4.5 (metered) P • 1/100 F4 (roll right a click) P* • 1/125 F3.5 (roll right a click) P* The DCS 760 remembers the selected offset from default metering, the only way to reset this is to perform a two-button reset or quickly turn the camera off and on again.
S	Shutter Priority Auto In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for the exposure (based on the reading of the current metering mode). Shutter speed is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and on the top LCD, roll the main command dial (rear) to select different shutter speeds. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the aperture, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range (for instance trying to take a shot at 1/500s in darkness) the aperture will show 'Lo' or 'Hi'. • 30 seconds - 1/8,000 sec in 1/3 EV Shutter speed in this mode can be locked by holding the L button and rotating the main command dial. Additional shutter speeds of up to 30 minutes can be selected by enabling custom function 19.
A	Aperture Priority Auto In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the correct shutter speed for the exposure (based on the reading of the current metering mode). Aperture is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and on the top LCD, roll the sub-command (front) dial to select different apertures. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the shutter speed, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the shutter speed will show 'Lo' or 'Hi'. • Range depends on lens max. and min. apertures in 1/3 EV steps Aperture in this mode can be locked by holding the L button and rotating the sub-command dial.
M	Full Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above (plus BULB for shutter speed, apertures limited by the lens used). Main command dial selects shutter speed, sub-command dial selects aperture. The meter on the viewfinder status bar and top LCD will immediately reflect the exposure level compared to the calculated ideal exposure, if it's outside of +/- 2EV the indicator bar will add an arrow '<' or '>' on the end of the meter.

Metering Mode

The dial on the side of the viewfinder sets the metering mode, it's another locked control requiring a press of the center button before the dial will turn.

Metering	Description
	Colour matrix metering Selects 3D colour matrix metering which uses a 67 x 15 (1005 pixel) CCD to calculate the best exposure for the frame. 3D colour metering is only available with D-type lenses where the range information is used in conjunction with metered light, with other lenses this reverts to colour matrix metering.
	Center Weighted Metering The camera uses the entire frame for light measurement but assigns a greater weight to an area in the center of the frame (indicated in the viewfinder by the circle). (Known as Center Weighted Average Metering on other cameras). The size of the circle used to define the "center" of the frame can be set through a custom function.
	Spot metering The camera measures light only in a circle 4 mm in diameter. This is tied to the currently selected AF area point unless dynamic AF or a non-CPU lens is used when it defaults to the center of the frame.

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