Sony DSC-S75 Review: 5. Operation & Controls: Digital Photography Review

Top of camera controls

Because of the move of status LCD the top of the camera looks cleaner and less cluttered, the new exposure / camera mode dial makes accessing various camera modes far easier and is more intuitive. The new power switch is also brilliantly simple and works very well. All of the exposure dial settings are described in more detail below:

Exposure / Camera Mode Dial

	Movie Mode Rejoice all yee who have begged for movie clips of longer than 30 seconds, the new S75 has two new MPEG modes named MPEG EX, recording at just 8 fps it can record directly to the Memory Stick, and record until the Stick is full.. MPEG HQ is still available (16 fps, better audio, full screen replay) but is limited to 15 second clips.
	Playback Enters playback mode, this displays the last image/movie recorded. Cursor arrows or jog-wheel can be used to scroll through images (other functions described later).
	Program Auto Exposure Automatic exposure mode, camera meters the scene and selects best combination of aperture and shutter speed (and ISO if set to Auto) to properly expose the image. Additionally you can compensate the exposure by either +/-2.0EV in 0.3 EV steps.
S	Shutter Priority Auto 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 LCD, click once then roll the jog-dial to select different shutter speeds. As you change the shutter speed the cameras exposure system recalculates and displays the appropriate aperture, there is no warning if the exposure is outside the camera's exposure range. The LCD view changes to reflect the look of the final image at this exposure. Available shutter speeds (40 total): 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, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8 secs
A	Aperture Priority Auto 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 LCD, click once then roll the jog-dial to select different apertures. As you change the aperture the cameras exposure system recalculates and displays the appropriate shutter speed, there is no warning if the exposure is outside the camera's exposure range. The LCD view changes to reflect the look of the final image at this exposure. Available apertures: Wide: F2.0, F2.2, F2.5, F2.8, F3.2, F3.5, F4.0, F4.5, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0 Tele: F2.5, F2.8, F3.2, F3.5, F4.0, F4.5, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0
M	Full Manual Exposure In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above. Use the jog-dial to switch between shutter speed or aperture, click then roll it again to change the value. The LCD view changes to reflect the look of the final image at this exposure. The exposure compensation readout now displays the difference between the selected exposure and the metered exposure up to a maximum of +/-2.0 EV.
SCN	Special Scene Exposure "Scene Exposure mode" is set through the SETUP menu, you can choose from three exposure modes which preset certain camera settings to ensure the best possible exposure in those scene modes: • Twilight (low light shots, long exposures) • Landscape (focus locked to infinity, small apertures, flash cancel) • Portrait (large apertures)
SET UP	Setup Enters camera setup mode (described in more detail later). Having a distinct setup mode is a new thing to Sony digital cameras, a welcome change, it gets away from overloaded exposure menus.

It's refreshing to see a good selection of exposure options on a Sony digital camera, a good range of apertures and shutter speeds means that the photographer has complete control over manual exposures.

Rear of camera controls

The back of the S75 looks far more work-like and professional than the S70, all the buttons are logically placed and there are now buttons for changing the most common camera settings without having to trawl through the menu system (which also happens to be improved). All buttons are described below:

W / T	Zoom / Magnify Zooms the camera lens towards telephoto (104 mm) or towards wide (38 mm). The zoom control itself is a single position button (non-proportional). In playback mode the zoom control doubles as a control for magnifying the displayed image or displaying thumbnails.
	Flash Selects flash mode: Auto Flash, Flash Fill-in, Flash Cancel
	Image review Instantly reviews the last image / movie, in this mode you can zoom into the image but not scroll between images on the Memory Stick, you'll have to switch to playback mode for that (why it wasn't implemented via the jog-dial I'm not sure).
	Macro Focus Switches between normal; 50 cm (19.7") - Infinity, and macro focus; 4 cm (1.5") - 50 cm (19.7") range.
	Self-Timer Engages / Disengages the self-timer. Self-timer is cancelled after the next shot is taken.
MENU	Record Menu Enters record menu (detailed later).
DISPLAY	Display Toggles LCD display mode either live preview with full detail overlay, live preview with simple detail or LCD off.
	Exposure Compensation Enables exposure compensation, click the jog-dial then roll between compensations of : (+/-2 EV in 0.3 EV steps) -2.0, -1.7, -1.3, -1.0, -0.7, -0.3, 0, 0.3, 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0 EV
	Spot Meter Switches metering mode from the default Center-Weighted average to spot metering which only uses a small circular area in the center of the frame for metering. Press once more to cancel.
FOCUS	Manual Focus Enables manual focus mode, click the jog-dial then roll between focus distances of: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 5, 7.0, 10, 15 m or Infinity. Note that this button also doubles as an "AF Lock", with one press (without rolling the jog-dial) it locks the current focus position.
AE LOCK	Auto-Exposure Lock Locks the metered exposure at the current setting, useful for aiming the camera at the subject to use for metering then realigning the scene for the final shot. AE Lock is cancelled after the next shot is taken.

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