Olympus E-10 Review: 7. Operation & Controls: Digital Photography Review

Top of camera controls

On the top of the camera are various control buttons (again, used to change settings in conjunction with the main or sub-dial), top right of this image you can see the sub-dial, directly below that is main camera mode dial and power switch. The LIGHT button turns on a backlight behind the top LCD.

Note that turning the power switch to the OFF position while it still has images in the internal buffer (and is writing to a storage card) will only power the camera off after all images have been written to the card, however opening the storage compartment door WILL cancel the write and lose any images still in the internal buffer.

Camera Mode Dial

	Setup / Computer Connect mode In this mode the camera enables the USB port for connection to a computer (PC / Mac). This mode also "hides" an additional setup menu (which if you don't read the manual you'll probably never find).
	Print Reserve mode In this mode you can mark images for printing on a DPOF compatible print device (this actually writes a DPOF text file onto the storage card).
	Playback mode Used to review images on the storage card, by default displays the last image on the card.
P	Program Auto Exposure Camera calculates exposure and sets shutter speed and aperture for best exposure (equiv. of Auto on other cameras). Surprisingly the E-10 doesn't sport a flexible program AE, that is the ability to choose from a selection of equivalent exposures by rolling the command dial (as found on many SLR's and prosumer digital cameras).
A	Aperture Priority Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will attempt to select the best shutter speed for a proper exposure. Aperture is displayed on the top LCD, viewfinder status bar and rear LCD (if enabled), roll either the main or sub-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 blink. Available apertures: Wide: F2.0, F2.2, F2.4, F2.8, F3.2, F3.6, F4.0, F4.8, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0, F9, F10, F11 Tele: F2.4, F2.8, F3.2, F3.6, F4.0, F4.8, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0, F9, F10, F11 Note: the E-10 doesn't have a "DOF preview" (depth of field preview) button like other SLR's.
S	Shutter Priority Exposure In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will attempt to select the best aperture for a proper exposure. Shutter speed is displayed on the top LCD, viewfinder status bar and rear LCD (if enabled), roll either the main or sub-dial 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 blink. Available shutter speeds: 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 secs
M	Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above. Roll the main dial (rear) to select aperture and the sub-dial (top) to select shutter speed. The exposure compensation display on the top LCD, viewfinder status bar and rear LCD now reflect how close the selected exposure is to the cameras metered exposure within the range -3 EV to +3 EV, outside of this range the display will blink. In addition to the shutter speeds shown above 6 additional slower shutter speeds plus Bulb (max 30 second exposure) are available (all listed below): 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, 4, 5, 6, 8 secs, Bulb (max 30 secs)

Logical, straightforward and familiar controls with plenty of manual functionality and a wide range of apertures, when the E-10 was announced one of the "niggles" was that 1/640 sec top shutter speed, and I'm sure it'll still put off some buyers.. It didn't make any difference to my photography but could be a definite stopper for sports photographers. My guess is that Olympus are using a combined diaphragm style shutter (where the aperture diaphragm and shutter are combined), these devices tend to be limited as to the highest open/close speed they can achieve.

Buttons used in combination with main or sub-dial

Hold	And turn main or sub-dial:
	Flash Mode (with flash popped up) Select flash mode: • Auto • Auto + Anti redeye • Auto + Anti redeye + Slow Sync • Forced On + Slow Sync • Forced On + Slow Sync (2nd curtain) • Forced On (fill-in)
	Image Quality Select image quality: • TIFF • SHQ • HQ • SQ
WB	White Balance Select white balance: • Auto WB • 3000 K (Tungsten) • 3700 K (Tungsten - Warmer) • 4000 K (Fluorescent) • 4500 K (Fluorescent - Warmer) • 5500 K (Daylight) • 6500 K (Cloudy) • 7500 K (Shade) • Manual Preset When changing white balance with the LCD enabled the current white balance will be displayed in the status bar:
SM CF	Card slot Selects card slot: • SM (SmartMedia) • CF (Compact Flash)

Rear of camera controls

On the rear of the camera is the main command dial (top), 4-way control pad and various buttons associated with the control of the rear LCD, menu system, playback and camera setup. The exception being the AEL (AE Lock) button which is located under your thumb when normally holding the camera. Some of these buttons only have function in play mode, those are indicated with the prefix PLAY below.

Buttons used in combination with main or sub-dial

AEL	Automatic Exposure Lock Locks the current exposure reading at its current value, the exposure is maintained for as long as you hold the AEL button (even across multiple shots).
	PLAY: Display thumbnails (roll main dial left) Displays a thumbnail view of images on the storage card: • 2 x 2 (4 images) • 3 x 3 (9 images)
	PLAY: Magnify displayed image (roll main dial right) Either returns to a normal "full display" view from thumbnail mode (above) or magnifies the image progressively (scrolling is achieved using the 4-way control pad): • x1.5 • x2.0 • x2.5 • x3.0 • x4.0
	Enable / Disable real image preview (live view) on rear LCD Pressed once in record mode the rear LCD will display the live view through the lens, pressed quickly twice in record mode will display the last image taken (a "quick preview" mode).
	Enter / Leave Menu In either play, record or setup mode enters or leaves menu system.
OK	Confirm Used to confirm "prompts" and select options in menus.
INFO	Toggle Information overlay In record mode toggles between no information overlay, detailed settings and exposure information overlay and a focus distance gauge: In play mode pressing this button will display an overlaid histogram (if enabled through the setup menu).
	PLAY: Protect / Unprotect image Pressing this button in play mode protects or removes the protection on an image (sets it to "read only"). This does not protect it from formatting. [No action in record mode]
	PLAY: Erase current image Pressing this button in play mode erases the currently displayed / selected image. [No action in record mode]

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