Top of camera controls

On top of the camera are a variety of buttons, primarily the shutter release, self timer, drive, macro, flash. The power button is a press on, press off type, also there's a dedicated record / play switch which makes it incredibly easy to quickly switch to play to review images.

The mode dial controls the primary record mode (it's ignored in play mode), surrounding it is a command wheel which sits under your thumb (it overhangs the rear of the camera very slightly).

Power / Camera mode controls

Power

Turn camera power on and off
Record Mode

Ready camera for shooting (extends lens if necessary)

Play Mode

Switch to play mode, immediately reviews last image taken

Exposure Mode Dial

Movie Clip mode

Record short movie clips, QuickTime Motion JPEG format 320 x 240 @ 10 fps (no audio) up to 160 seconds per clip.
SP

Scene Position Auto Exposure

Each pre-programmed scene exposure mode is selected by rolling the command wheel. An example of the display at the bottom of the LCD is shown below.

 • Portrait
 • Landscape
 • Sports
 • Night Scene
AUTO Full Auto Exposure

Camera automatically controls exposure and white balance, you cannot override white balance, no menus are available, no exposure compensation or flash modes. Point-and-shoot mode.
P

Program Auto Exposure (with Program Shift)

Very similar to AUTO exposure but you have access to all the normal manual controls, access to menus, exposure compensation etc. The command wheel allows for flexible selection of equal exposures, eg:

 • 1/5s, F6.3 (wheel rotated anticlockwise)
 • 1/6s, F5.6 (normal)
 • 1/8s, F5 (wheel rotated clockwise)
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. Selected shutter speed and calculated aperture is displayed on the LCD, rotate the command wheel left or right to select different shutter speeds. If the exposure is outside of the cameras exposure range (for instance trying to take a shot at 1/500s in darkness) the aperture will appear in RED. Available shutter speeds (36 total):

3, 2.5, 2, 1.6, 1.3, 1, 1/1.3, 1/1.6, 1/2, 1/2.5, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 1/13, 1/15, 1/20, 1/25, 1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, 1/125, 1/160, 1/200, 1/250, 1/320, 1/400, 1/500, 1/650, 1/800, 1/1000 sec
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. Selected aperture and calculated shutter speed is displayed on the LCD, rotate the command wheel left or right to select different apertures. If the exposure is outside of the cameras exposure range the shutter speed will appear in RED. The LCD view changes to reflect the look of the final image at this exposure. Available apertures (13 total):

F2.8, F3.2, F3.6, F4, F4.5, F5, F5.6, F6.3, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11

Here's an oddity: The lens is specified with a maximum aperture of F3.1 at full tele, however it's possible to select F2.8 at full tele.
M

Full Manual Exposure

In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above. Rotate the command wheel left or right to select shutter speed, hold the exposure compensation button (+/-) and rotate the command wheel to select aperture. A metering display such as the one below is displayed, it indicates the exposure compared to the ideal exposure as calculated by metering system.
SET Setup Menu

Setup menu is described on the following pages of this review.

Function buttons

Self Timer

Cycle between self timer modes:
• 2 second self timer
• 10 second self timer
• Self Timer off
Drive Mode

Select drive mode:
• Single Frame
• Continuous Frames (about 5 frames at 5 fps)

Focus Mode

Select auto focus mode:
• Normal Focus distance (50 / 90 cm - Infinity)
• Macro Focus distance (10 - 80 cm)

Flash Mode

Select flash mode (only with flash popped up):
• Forced On
• Anti Redeye
• Slow Sync
• Slow Sync + Anti Redeye

Rear of camera controls

Yet more buttons / controls on the rear of the 4900Z, mostly associated with the menu / LCD display. Full description of buttons below:

Record only controls

Focus Check Button

What an excellent feature! Press this button and a quarter sized area will appear in the center of the screen displaying a magnified view of the very center of the frame. This is PERFECT for checking focus, both auto and manual, you can just tap it to get a quick idea of how good the focus is (ALL digital cameras should have this). Capture of how this looks on the next page of this review.
AE-L Auto Exposure Lock

Locks the currently displayed exposure, this can be held for the current shot or for all subsequent shots (by keeping the button pressed).