For those that are familiar with
Canon cameras, the interface of the PowerShot SD500/IXUS 700
is immediately familiar. Information is clearly presented
around the periphery of the screen using icons that are readily
identifiable. When a parameter is modified the icon representing
it first appears in the middle of the screen at a larger than
normal size, then migrates to its usual position while shrinking
in size. One regret however, in use the camera displays neither
shutter speed nor the aperture it has selected.
The menu system is simple and quick, and legible thanks to the
uniformly coloured background upon which options appear. Divided
into three sections that are clearly identifiable by a very
classic icon, the menus operate linearly and loop back to the
beginning when the last option is reached.
Of the three sections of the menu the last two sections,
Setup and My Camera, are common to all the variations
of the menu, irrespective of the camera mode, making it easy
to change the basic configuration of the SD500, or adapt the
way it operates to one's taste.
The Setup section controls:
Mute: On or Off, serves to turn off all sounds
produced by the SD500.
Volume makes it possible to adjust the volume of
all the sounds over a range of 1 through 5 or Off:
Start-up Volume,
Operations Volume,
Self-timer Volume,
Shutter Volume,
Playback Volume.
LCD Brightness: makes it possible to adjust the
brightness of the screen over 14 steps.
Power Saving: Auto Power Down (On or Off), controls
if the camera powers down when inactive; Display Off serves
to set the delay until the LCD monitor turns off automatically
(10, 20, 30 seconds or 1, 2, 3 min).
Date/Time: serves to set the internal clock and
calendar of the SD 500.
Clock Display: sets the length of time the clock
remains on the screen (between 1 and 3 seconds) when the
button has been pressed for more than a second.
Format: serves to format an SD card.
File No. Reset: On or Off, decides whether or not
images' file numbers restart at 1 every time a memory card
is formatted or a new card is used.
Auto Rotate: On or Off, decides whether images
captured vertically will be presented that way on the monitor
in playback.
Language: English, German, French, Dutch, Danish,
Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified
Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian,
Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Korean or Japanese. Worth
noting, a shortcut to the Language selection option is available
by pressing FUNC. SET simultaneously with MENU.
Video System selects the video out signal: NTSC
or PAL.
Canon supplies the SD500 with a short Start-up guide to provide
a quick outline of the camera's operation, and with a thicker
and very complete printed manual. The full camera manual provides
clear and concise explanations, and information is easy to find
thanks to a well organized index.
Software
Only one CD is included with the PowerShot SD500 as sold
in North America. Titled Canon Digital Camera Solution
Disk (version 23.0), it contains:
ZoomBrowser EX 5.1 (for Windows)
ImageBrowser 5.10 (for Macintosh)
PhotoStitch 3.1 (for Windows and Macintosh)
PhotoRecord 2.2 (Windows only)
All the drivers for older operating systems as well as
Apple QuickTime
and ArcSoft PhotoSuite 5.5.
ZoomBrowser is the utility included with the camera
that serves to download the images from the camera via USB,
then to organize them into folders and albums using keywords
or some other means to classify them.
The navigation window presents
a Tasks pane on the left with the arborescence of the drive
below. In the major pane on the right, images can be shown
using different presentations (as index sheets or full screen)
and the shooting data of any image under review can be displayed
or not. Additionally, images can be displayed full screen
as a slide show if desired
The program allows for red-eye correction, cropping, adjustments to brightness
saturation, contrast of each RGB component, making prints,
the creation of albums, creating small copies of photos for
inclusion e-mails, and compilations for burning onto CD-ROMs.
Another function, MovieEdit, makes it possible to assemble
video clips, program transition effects and add sound.
Photostitch is the
program included with the SD500 to assemble images captured
using the Stitch Assist mode.
PhotoRecord is another application included with the
SD500. The program is installed at the same time as ZoomBrowser
and serves to organize images into albums, allows adding frames
to the images and placing them onto backgrounds that are part
of the album pages. Additionally, it is possible to select
and apply a theme to entire albums.
PhotoStudio from ArcSoft is a photo editing program
that offers advanced tools and allows working on images using
layers.
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Interface & Software
button has been pressed for more than a second.
