Casio EX-M20 User's Guide Part 2

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

This section describes the basic procedure for recording an image.

Recording an Image

Aiming the Camera

Use both hands to hold the camera still when shooting an image. Holding the camera with one hand increases the chance of movement, which can blur your images.

• Horizontal Hold the camera still in both hands, with your arms firmly against your sides.

• Vertical When holding the camera vertically, make sure that the flash is above the lens. Hold the camera still with both hands.

IMPORTANT!

• Make sure your fingers or the strap does not block the flash or lens.

Flash

Lens

NOTE

• Your image will be blurred if you move the camera when pressing the shutter release button. Press the shutter release button carefully, taking care that there is no camera movement. This is especially important when available lighting is low, which slows down the shutter speed.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

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1600

NORMAL

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Recording an lmage

Your camera automatically adjusts shutter speed in accordance with the brightness of the subject. Images you record are stored in the camera’s built-in memory, or to a memory card if you have one loaded in the camera.

• When an optionally available SD memory card or MultiMediaCard (MMC) is loaded in the camera, images are stored on the card (page 125).

Press the power button to turn on the camera.

• This causes an image or a message to appear on the monitor screen.

ON/OFF

Power button

Compose the image on the monitor screen.

• You can compose images using either the monitor screen or the optical viewfinder.

• When using the optical viewfinder, you can turn off the monitor screen to save power (page 25).

Press the shutter release button to record the image.

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1200

Align the mode selector with “ ” (REC).

• This enters the REC mode for image recording.

Mode selector

Shutter release button

• The number of images that can be stored in memory depends on the resolution setting you are using (pages 52, 183).

• Depending on the distance or angle between the subject and the camera, the image you see in the viewfinder may not be exactly the image that is recorded.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

About the REC Mode Monitor Screen

• The image shown on the monitor screen in the REC mode is a simplified image for composing purposes. The actual image is recorded in accordance with the image quality setting currently selected on your camera. The image saved in file memory has much better resolution and detail than the REC mode monitor screen image.

• Certain levels of subject brightness can cause the response of the REC mode monitor screen to slow down, which causes some static noise in the monitor screen image.

Recording Precautions

• Never open the battery cover or place the camera onto the USB cradle while the operation/flash charge lamp is flashing. Doing so not only causes the current image to be lost, it can also corrupt images already stored in file memory and even lead to malfunction of the camera.

• Never remove the memory card while an image is being recorded to the memory card.

• Fluorescent lighting actually flickers at a frequency that cannot be detected by the human eye. When using the camera indoors under such lighting, you may experience some brightness or color problems with recorded images.

• When “Auto” is selected for the ISO sensitivity setting (page 72), the camera automatically adjusts its sensitivity in accordance with the brightness of the subject. This can cause some static noise to appear in images of relatively dark subjects.

• When “Auto” is selected for the ISO sensitivity setting (page 72), the camera raises the sensitivity and uses a faster shutter speed. Because of this, you need to guard against camera movement if you have flash turned off (page 47) when recording a dimly lit subject.

• If unwanted light is shining on the lens, shade the lens with your hand when recording the image.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Using Zoom

You can use the digital zoom feature of your camera to zoom in on the center of an image. Performing a zoom operation toggles the zoom factor between 1X and 4X.

In the REC mode, press [MENU].

Use [] and [] to select the “REC” tab.

Use [] and [] to select “Digital Zoom”, and then press [].

Use [] and [] to select “On”, and then press [SET].

• Selecting “Off” disables digital zoom.

In the REC mode, use [] and [] to change the digital zoom factor.

[] : Zoom in. [] : Zoom out.

Zoom out Zoom in

Record the image.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

IMPORTANT!

• Zoom is disabled whenever the monitor screen is turned off (page 25).

• Using digital zoom can cause degradation of the recorded image.

• To disable digital zoom, select “Off” for the “Digital Zoom” setting on the “REC” tab.

NOTE

• You can use the key customization feature (page 75) to configure the camera so the digital zoom factor changes whenever you press [] and [] while in the REC mode.

Using the Flash

Perform the following steps to select the flash mode you want to use.

In the REC mode, press [MENU].

Use [] and [] to select the “REC” tab.

Use [] and [] to select “Flash”, and then press [].

Use [] and [] to select the flash mode you want, and then press [SET].

To do this: Have the flash fire automatically

when required (Auto Flash)

Turn off the flash (Flash Off)

Always fire the flash (Flash On)

Fire a pre-flash followed by image recording with flash, reducing the chance of red-eye in the image (Redeye reduction). Have the flash fire automatically when required.

Select this setting:

Auto

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Record the image.

IMPORTANT!

• The flash unit of this camera fires a number of times when you record an image. The initial flashes are pre-flashes, which the camera uses to obtain information it uses for exposure settings. The final flash is for recording. Make sure that you keep the camera still until the shutter releases.

• Image recording may not be performed if you press the shutter release button while the operation/flash charge lamp is flashing amber.

NOTE

• You can use the key customization feature (pages 74, 75) to configure the camera so the flash mode changes whenever you press [] and [], or [] and [] while in the REC mode.

■ About Red-eye Reduction

Using the flash to record at night or in a dimly lit room can cause red spots inside the eyes of people who are in the image. This is caused when the light from the flash reflects off of the retina of the eye. Red-eye reduction fires a preflash, which causes the irises in the eyes of any people in the image to close. This is followed by another flash operation when the image is actually recorded.

IMPORTANT!

Note the following important points when using redeye reduction.

• Red-eye reduction does not work unless the people in the image are looking directly at the camera (flash). Before pressing the shutter release button, call out to the subjects so they all look at the camera.

• Red-eye reduction may not work very well if the subjects are located far away from the camera.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Flash Precautions

Take care that your fingers do not block the flash when you hold the camera. Covering the flash with your finger can greatly reduce its effectiveness.

Flash

• The approximate effective range of the flash is shown below. The flash is unable to adequately illuminate a subject that is outside this range.

0.8 meter to 1.5 meters (2.6´ to 4.9´) (ISO Sensitivity :

“Auto”)

• The flash takes anywhere from a few seconds as long as

10 seconds to attain full charge after being fired. The actual time required depends on the battery level, temperature, and other conditions.

• The flash does not fire during movie recording. This is indicated by on the monitor screen.

• The flash unit may not be able to charge when battery power is low. Low battery power is indicated by the on the monitor screen, and when the flash fails to fire properly resulting in poor image exposure. When these symptoms occur, charge the camera’s battery as soon as possible.

• When the red-eye reduction mode ( ) is selected, flash intensity is adjusted automatically in accordance with the exposure. The flash may not fire at all when the subject is brightly lit.

• Using flash in combination with another light source (daylight, fluorescent light, etc.) can result in abnormal image colors.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Recording Macro Images

You can select either normal or macro (close-up) recording using the selector located on the left side of the camera. The table below describes the two settings available with the selector.

To do this: Shoot normal images, at a distance of

about 1m (39.4˝) to infinity (Normal) Shoot close-ups, at a distance of about

30cm (11.8˝) (Macro)

• The distances indicated above represent the distance from the camera’s lens surface to the subject.

Align the Normal ( )/ Macro ( ) selector with “ ”.

Record the image.

Select this setting:

Normal ( )/Macro ( ) selector

IMPORTANT!

• Selecting the macro mode causes the indicator to appear on the monitor screen.

• Normally, you should leave the Normal ( )/Macro ( ) selector setting at “ ”.

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Using the Self-timer

The self-timer lets you select either a 2-second or 10second delay of the shutter release after you press the shutter release button. A Triple Self-timer feature lets you perform three consecutive self-timer operations to record three images.

In the REC mode, press [MENU].

Use [] and [] to select the “REC” tab.

Use [] and [] to select “Self-timer”, and then press [].

Use [] and [] to select the self-timer time you want to use, and then press [SET].

• Selecting “Off” in step 4 disables the self-timer.

To do this: Specify a 10-second self-timer Specify a 2-second self-timer Specify Triple Self-timer Disable the self-timer

• With the Triple Self-timer, the camera records a series of three images in the sequence described below.

1. The camera performs a 10-second countdown and

then records the first image.

2. The camera prepares to record the next image.

The amount of time required for preparation depends on the camera’s current “Size” and “Quality” settings, the type of memory (built-in or card) you are using for image storage, and whether or not the flash is charging.

3. After preparation is complete, the indicator “1sec”

appears on the monitor screen, and another image is recorded one second later.

4. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated once more to record

the third image.

Select this setting:

10 sec 2 sec X3 Off

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

Record the image.

• When you press the shutter release button, the self-timer lamp flashes and the shutter releases after the selftimer reaches the end of its countdown.

• You can interrupt an ongoing self-timer countdown by pressing the shutter release button while the selftimer lamp is flashing.

NOTES

• The “2 sec” self-timer setting is best when shooting with a slow shutter speed, because it helps to avoid blurring of images due to hand movement.

• You can use the key customization feature (page 75) to configure the camera so the self-timer setting changes whenever you press [] and [] while in the REC mode.

Self-timer lamp

Specifying Image Size and Quality

You can specify the image size and image quality to suit the type of image you are recording.

To specify the image size

In the REC mode, press [MENU].

Use [] and [] to select the “REC” tab.

Use [] and [] to select “Size”, and then press [].

Use [] and [] to select the setting you want, and then press [SET].

1600 x 1200 : 1600 x 1200pixels 1600 x 1072 (3:2) : 1600 x 1072pixels 1280 x 960 : 1280 x 960pixels

640 x 480 : 640 x 480pixels

BASIC IMAGE RECORDING

NOTES

• If you plan to make large prints of your images or otherwise use them in applications where highresolution is your top priority, select the “1600 x 1200” image size.

• If you plan to send images as e-mail attachments or otherwise use them in applications where data economy is your top priority, select the “640 x 480” image size.

• Selecting the “1600 x 1072 (3:2)” image size records images with a 3:2 (vertical : horizontal) aspect ratio, which is optimal for printing on paper with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

To specify image quality

In the REC mode, press [MENU].

Use [] and [] to select the “REC” tab.

Use [] and [] to select “Quality”, and then press [].

Use [] and [] to select the setting you want, and then press [SET].

To get this: Very high quality, but large file size Normal quality Small file size, but low quality

Select this setting: Fine Normal Economy

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