Olympus
has developed a highly effective menu system. As with many other Olympus
cameras, the D-40 is feature-rich, and many of its options are selected
in the menu. Earlier Olympus menus worked as a series of consecutive screens,
a system that often required a fair bit of navigation to get to a specific
option. This system on the other hand can be customised, and provides
rapid access.
The SETUP section
of the menu is quite typical of the organisation used for the interface.
Options that are accessed less often are contained in this, the last section
of the complete menu system. This is where the most basic camera settings
are determined:
All
Reset: is set by default to be "Off". This option controls
what settings the camera will "remember" the next time the
camera is turned on.
Beep:
controls the camera sounds. Settings are for off, low and high.
Shutter
Sound: sets the type of shutter sound effect and its volume.
PW
On Setup: to set the picture displayed on the monitor and the
sound when the camera is turned on.
PW
Off on Setup: to set the picture displayed on the monitor and
the sound when the camera is turned off.
Rec
View: is to decide if the LCD screen will display an image immediately
post capture.
My
Mode Setup: to customize the settings activated when "My
Mode" is selecteed by the Mode Dial.
Sleep:
to set the auto-off delay (30 sec, 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes).
File
Name: is to decide if the camera will continue incrementing the
name number at each photo, or start anew every time a memory card
is formatted.
Pixel
Mapping: lets the camera perform a self-diagnostic of its CCD
and its image processing circuitry. Olympus recommends the function
be used once a year.
Screen
Brightness: to adjust the screen as necessary.
Time
and Date: to set the internal clock/calendar of the D-40Z.
Measurement
Unit: used for the Manual Focus mode, can be set to feet or metres;
Shortcut:
to assign any particular item from the menu to any of the 3 programmable
shortcut icons on the start-up screen of the menu.
Software
Olympus
supplies 2 CD-ROMs, the first contains Olympus Camedia Master 2.5,
and the complete camera manual in PDF format, and in a variety of languages.
The
manual is very detailed and well-explained, while the PDF file is designed
intelligently so any part of the manual can be accessed from the table
of contents. The camera manual and Camedia Master are provided in different
languages: English, French, German and Spanish; and the CD is compatible
with both Windows and Macintosh systems.
Camedia Master presents
photos in thumbnail format, and allows a fair amount of correction and
editing through filters such as sharpening, contrast and brightness adjustments.
Additionally,
Camedia Master can create panoramic images by stitching photos together.
The utility can also used to download photos from the camera.
The same CD also contains QuickTime 4 to view the movies made with
the camera.The second CD contains Adobe Photoshop Elements. Photoshop
Elements is a new program from Adobe, designed specifically for digital
camera owners.
The program is almost
as powerful as Photoshop 6 and is an absolute treat. Intelligently organized
and extremely capable, Photoshop Elements allows detailed and subtle editing,
and the addition of text — itself scalable and editable — to
any image. The combination of Camedia Master and Photoshop Elements makes
this one of the best equipped cameras currently available.
