Maneuveriing through the S2000HD’s
menu system can vary in complexity depending on what capture mode the
camera is in. For example, in the snapper’s creative modes—Program,
Shutter Priority, Manual and Custom—the shooting menu has 12 items.
They encompass such things as choosing a self-timer mode, choosing a metering
method, modifying the flash output and so forth.
The first six picks are on one screen; the second on another. To get
to the second screen, you have to move through the first one item at a
time. What's more, to get to the set-up menu for the camera, you have
to trudge all the way to the end of the second screen. The process can
be tedious at times.
On the other hand, menus for
modes like Auto, Natural, Natural/Flash and Picture Stabilization have
only four items making them less unwieldy.
The menu for video mode is even simpler with only three items.
The Set-up menu, which is accessible from all the camera’s menus,
is organized around four tabs. The camera tab presents options for functions
such as setting the time an image appears on the display, choosing naming
conventions for files, toggling the AF illuminator and activating the
digital zoom.
Each tab displays a single screen. You can move from tab to tab by pressing
the left or right arrows on the Selector dial. When you move past the
final item on a menu screen, you're automatically taken to the next tab.
The arrangement provides a smooth way to navigate through this nest of
menus and if used elsewhere in the menu system it would have greatly improved
the camera's interface.
The first utility tab is for
a menu of housekeeping options. You can set the date and time from there,
control the volume of various audio alerts, calibrate the LCD's brightness
and format a memory card.
The second utility tab contains among its options battery management.
It has items for choosing what kind of batteries you have in the camera
and a utility for fully discharging rechargeable AAs before recharging
them. Fully discharging rechargeable batteries increases their overall
life span.
The third utility tab presents choices for video output, resetting the
camera to its factory settings or to an array of custom settings.
The software packaged with the S2000HD is pretty
basic fare. It's primarily focused on storing and viewing photos on a computer.
With the Windows version, you can view images by folder or year, although
viewing them by year can take some time because the program has to create
a database of your photo library to do it. In the folder view, there's a
sidebar of tools for printing photos locally or sending them to a commercial
outfit online; starting a slideshow from a folder; doing some basic editing
like correcting red-eye and resizing snapshots; and organizing and obtaining
information about folders.
The Mac edition of the application has a
similar purpose but varies slightly in implementation.
There's a Finder/Explorer like tree pane along the left side of the main
window. It can be hidden by clicking an icon on a tool bar that traverses
the top of the window.
Below the tree pane there is a series of icons. You can register image,
video and sound files in the program by dragging files on top of the icons.
Beside the tree pane is a palette where thumbnails can be displayed.
The size of the thumbnails can be controlled from a pull-down menu on
the toolbar.
Both printed and online documentation are included with the camera. The
printed manual, which is included in English, Spanish and French, is 44
pages long and does not have an index. The online manual is a 143-page
Adobe Acrobat document. Both documents are illustrated and easy to understand.
There's also an online manual for the camera's
software, although it does contain references to features not found in the
version packaged with my review unit, such as conversion of RAW files into
other formats—not a feature likely to be missed by a S2000HD owner
since it doesn’t capture RAW files, anyway.
Interface & Software
