Shutter release / Zoom control

Shutter release / zoom control (click for larger image)

On the top of the hand grip is the shutter release button, around which is the wide / tele zoom control a position which becomes second nature after a short time.

Just behind this is a multipurpose "shift" button, in Record mode holding it down allows you to adjust exposure compensation. In Play mode if you zoom in holding the button down enables scrolling.

Top of camera controls

Below the top LCD are set of three buttons for controlling various shooting mode settings.

REC: Focus mode
Press to switch between Normal, Macro, Super-Macro, Infinity, Manual Focus

PLAY: Erase image
Press to erase the current image.

REC: Flash mode
When flash is popped-up, press to switch between: Auto, Forced-Fill and Anti-Redeye

PLAY: Image information
Press to toggle between: No information, brief information and detailed exposure information

REC: Metering mode
Press for Spot metering or toggle back to center-weighted

PLAY: Protect / tag
Press to protect the current image (make it read-only)

Rear of camera controls

Rear controls (click for larger image)

Directly above the LCD is the button for switching between SmartMedia and CompactFlash, next to this is the Menu button used for entering and leaving menus. The main mode dial is found next to this and switches the camera between the following modes:

REC: Manual Mode
Can set aperture and shutter speed

REC: Aperture Mode
Can set aperture, camera chooses best shutter speed for exposure

REC: Program mode
Camera works in automatic mode, that is it calculates the best aperture / shutter speed combination for correct exposure.
PLAY
Display taken images either one-by-one, zoomed or thumbnails
PLAY: Print order
Press to protect the current image (make it read-only)
PC connect
Switch to this mode to connect to PC / Mac

Record mode display

Because it's an SLR, the C-2500L doesn't give a live preview of the image, however you can enable a "REC INFO" view which displays this information page on the LCD when your finger is half-pressed... Now, don't get me wrong this is great and gives you all the information you'd need. BUT... if your eye is looking through the viewfinder (as it has to) to frame the scene are you really going to pull away to look at this display then look back again to take the shot? It would have been MUCH nicer to have some of this info summarised on an in-viewfinder display (info line along the bottom of the viewfinder).

Immediately after taking the shot (assuming you have REC REVIEW enabled) you'll see the initial view of the image you've just taken.

Note the difference with the capture below which was taken immediately after this capture but in PLAY mode.
Same image after switching to PLAY mode.

Play mode display

This is in full-information mode with the following information displayed (top left to bottom right):

CF/SM, Quality mode, Resolution, Exposure information, White balance mode, ISO setting, folder name, filename, date & time and frame no..

The less detailed info display just displays CF/SM, Quality, date & time and frame no.

Moving the zoom lever to the Tele side zooms into the image 2x, you can scroll around the image by holding down the exposure compensate button (just behind the shutter release) and pressing the arrow cursors.

Interestingly you can't scroll around the whole image in zoom mode... odd.

Moving the zoom lever one more time to the Tele side jumps to 4x zoom. (again you can scroll, but not the whole image...)
Moving the zoom lever to the Wide side switches to 2 x 2 thumbnail mode.
Moving the zoom lever one more time to the Wide side switches to 3 x 3 thumbnail mode.
To delete the current image just press the button and an "Are you sure?" screen will be displayed, cursor over to Yes and hit OK.