Sony MVC-FD73 User Manual

3-866-211-11 (1)

Digital Still Camera

Operating Instructions Manual de instrucciones

MVC-FD73

GB ES

English

Operating instructions

Before operating the unit, please read this manual thoroughly, and retain it for future reference. As you read through this manual, buttons and settings on the camera are shown in capital letters. e.g., Press FLASH.

WARNING

To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture.

This symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.

This symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

Owner’s Record

The model and serial numbers are located on the bottom. Record the serial number in the space provided below. Refer to these numbers whenever you call upon your Sony dealer regarding this product.

Model No. MVC-FD73 Serial No.

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CAUTION

Never expose the battery pack to temperatures above 140°F (60°C), such as in a car parked in the sun or under direct sunlight.

TO PREVENT ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT USE THIS POLARIZED AC PLUG WITH AN EXTENSION CORD, RECEPTACLE OR OTHER OUTLET UNLESS THE BLADES CAN BE FULLY INSERTED TO PREVENT BLADE EXPOSURE.

You are cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved in this manual could void your authority to operate this equipment.

Note:

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: – Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. – Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. – Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to

which the receiver is connected.

– Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

For the Customers in the United States and CANADA

DISPOSAL OF LITHIUM ION BATTERY. LITHIUM ION BATTERY. DISPOSE OF PROPERLY.

You can return you unwanted lithium ion batteries to your nearest Sony Service Center or Factory Service Center. Note: In some areas the disposal of lithium ion batteries in household or

business trash may be prohibited.

For the Sony Service Center nearest you call 1-800-222-SONY (United States only) For the Factory Service Center nearest you call 416-499-SONY (Canada only)

Caution: Do not handle damaged or leaking lithium ion batteries.

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NOTICE FOR THE CUSTOMERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

A moulded plug complying with BS 1363 is fitted to this equipment for your safety and convenience.

Should the fuse in the plug supplied need to be replaced, a 5 AMP fuse approved by ASTA or BSI to BS 1362, (i.e., marked with must be used.

If the plug supplied with this equipment has a detachable fuse cover, be sure to attach the fuse cover after you change the fuse. Never use the plug without the fuse cover. If you should lose the fuse cover, please contact your nearest Sony service station.

or mark)

For the customers in Germany

Directive: EMC Directive 89/336/EEC.

This equipment complies with the EMC regulations when used under the following circumstances:

•Residential area

•Business district

•Light-industry district (This equipment complies with the EMC standard regulations EN55022 Class B.)

92/31/EEC

ATTENTION

The electromagnetic fields at the specific frequencies may influence the picture of this camera.

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Table of contents

Before using your camera....................................................................... 7

Parts identification .................................................................................. 8

Basic operations

Preparation ...................................................................................... 11

1: Charging the battery pack........................................... 11

2: Installing the battery pack .......................................... 12

3: Setting the date and time ............................................ 13

Recording and playing back images............................................ 16

1: Recording images ......................................................... 16

2: Playing back images on the ........................................ 18

Battery life/No. of images that can be recorded/

played back ....................................................................... 20

Viewing images using a personal computer ....................... 21

Advanced operations

Changing the mode settings ......................................................... 22

Using various functions for recording ........................................ 31

Enjoying Picture Effect ........................................................... 31

Using the PROGRAM AE function....................................... 32

Additional information

Changing the lithium battery in the camera .............................. 33

Precautions ...................................................................................... 34

Troubleshooting.............................................................................. 36

Self-diagnosis display .................................................................... 38

Specifications................................................................................... 39

Warning messages................................................................... 40

Index ................................................................................................. 41

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Be sure to read before using your camera

Trial recording

Before you record one-time events, you may want to make a trial recording to make sure that the camera is working correctly.

No compensation for contents of the recording

Contents of the recording cannot be compensated for if recording or playback is not made due to a malfunction of the camera, floppy disk, etc.

Precautions on camera care

The LCD screen is manufactured using high-precision technology. However, there may be some tiny black spots and/or bright spots (red, blue or green in colour) that constantly appear on the LCD screen. These spots occur normally in the manufacturing process and do not affect the recorded picture in any way. Effective number of pixels is 99.99% or more. Do not place your camera so as to point the LCD screen toward the sun. The inside of the LCD screen may be damaged.

Precaution on copyright

Floppy disk, television programs, films, video tapes, and other materials may be copyrighted. Unauthorized recording of such materials may be contrary to the provision of the copyright laws.

•IBM PC/AT is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation of the U.S.A.

•MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks licensed to Microsoft Corporation, registered in the U.S.A. and other countries.

•Netscape Navigator is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation.

•Macintosh is a trademark licensed to Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S.A. and other countries.

•All other product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Furthermore, “TM” and “” are not mentioned in each case in this manual.

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Before using your camera

This digital still camera uses a floppy disk as media. Use the following floppy disk type.

•Size: 3.5 inch

•Type: 2HD

•Capacity: 1.44 MB

•Format: MS-DOS format (512 bytes × 18 sector) When using 3.5 inch, 2HD floppy disk other than described above, format it using the camera or personal computer.

Do not shake or strike the unit

Malfunctions, inability to record images as well as inability to use floppy disks or image and memory data breakdown, damage or loss may occur.

Do not get the unit wet

When taking pictures outdoors in the rain or under similar conditions, be careful not to get the unit wet. If moisture condensation occurs, refer to page 35 and follow instructions on how to remove it before using.

Back up recommendations

To avoid the potential risk of data loss always copy (back up) data to disk.

Supplied accessories

Digital still camera (1) Battery charger (1) Power cord (1 set) NP-F330 battery pack (1) Shoulder strap (1) Lens cap (1)

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Parts identification

See pages in ( ) for more details.

Shutter button

(16)

Photocell window for flash

Do not block when recording.

Flash emitter (10) Slot for AC

power adaptor code Self-timer lamp

The lamp keeps on blinking until recording starts after the shutter button is depressed.

To insert the floppy disk

Insert the floppy disk until it clicks.

Tripod receptacle

Make sure that the length of the tripod screw is less than 7/32 inch (6.5 mm).

Before inserting, check that the write protect tab set to the recordable position.

Lens

Lens cap

DISK EJECT lever

PUSH button

To remove the floppy disk

While pressing PUSH, slide DISK EJECT in the direction of the arrow.

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BRIGHT +/– button

Press to adjust the brightness of the LCD screen.

Hooks for strap

Attaching the shoulder strap

PLAY/CAMERA switch (16, 18)

Lithium battery compartment (33)

PICTURE EFFECT button (31)

PROGRAM AE button (32) DISPLAY button

Press to display or go off the indicators on the LCD screen. The indicators do not go off in the following modes: Program AE, Picture effect, Zoom, AE Lock, Self-timer, Flash and Adjusting the exposure.

Control button

Upper side

Left side

Right side

Press to

Lower side

execute.

LCD screen POWER switch

Slide down to turn on/off the power.

ACCESS lamp (16) DISK EJECT lever

(8)

Battery cover/ OPEN (BATT) button (12)

PUSH button (8) Control button

Function of the control button

You can execute the functions by pressing the upper, lower, left or right side of the control button. When an item is selected in the menu, the color of the item changes from blue to yellow. To enter your selection, press the center of the control button.

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Zoom lever

“T” side: for telephoto (subject appears closer) “W” side: for wide-angle (subject appears farther away) Move the zoom lever to the “W” side until the focus is sharp. You can shoot a subject that is at least about 3 1/4 feet (about 100 cm) away from the lens surface in the telephoto position, or about 1/2 inch (about 1 cm) away in the wide-angle position.

Floppy disk slot

FLASH CHARGE lamp Flash button

AUTO is set at the factory. Each time you press the button, the flash mode changes as follows:

AUTO (no indication) t forced-flash

t AUTO

In AUTO mode, the flash goes off automatically according to the brightness of the surroundings. The subject must be 1 5/8 feet to 8 1/3 feet (0.5 m to 2.5 m) away. When you record using the flash and conversion lens (not supplied), an eclipse may occur.

t no flash

Self-timer

Select “ ” with the control button, then press it. About 10 seconds after you press the shutter button, the subject is recorded.

Exposure

Select “ ” or “ ” on the LCD screen with the control button, then press it to select the desired value.

+EV: To raise the exposure value

(brighten the picture)

–EV: To lower the exposure value

(darken the picture)

Adjustable in a range of –1.5 EV to +1.5 EV in steps of 0.5 EV.

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Preparation

Charging the battery pack

To charge the battery pack, use the battery charger. For details, refer to the instruction manual of the battery charger.

1 Connect the power cord

to a wall outlet.

2 Insert the battery pack

in the direction of the V mark. Slide it down until it clicks.

To remove the battery pack

Slide up the battery pack.

Charging time

Battery Full charge* Normal charge**

NP-F330 (Supplied) 210 min. 150 min. NP-F530 225 min. 165 min. NP-F550 240 min. 180 min.

Approximate minutes to charge an empty battery pack using the battery charger BC-V615/V615A. (Lower temperatures require a longer charging time.)

* Charging for about one hour after the CHARGE lamp goes out. ** Charging just until the CHARGE lamp goes out.

CHARGE lamp (orange)

The CHARGE lamp (orange) lights up. Charging begins.

Battery charger

Basic operations

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kPreparation

Installing the battery pack

1 Open the battery cover.

While sliding OPEN (BATT) in the direction of the arrow.

(base)

2 Install the battery pack.

Insert the battery pack with the V mark facing toward the battery compartment.

3 Close the cover.

Press the cover until it clicks.

To remove the battery pack

Open the battery cover. While sliding the battery release lever rightward, remove the battery pack.

Be careful not to drop the battery pack when removing.

Remaining battery time indication

This camera shows on the LCD panel how many minutes you can still keep on recording or playing back images*. Note, however, that the time might not be

displayed correctly under some use conditions or in some environments. * The time displayed during recording or during playback refers to the time

for which the battery lasts if you simply keep the camera on or if you simply keep it displaying images without performing any operation.

Battery release lever

Auto power-off function

During recording if you leave the camera inactive for about 3 minutes while the power is on, the camera turns off automatically to prevent wearing down the battery.

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About the power source

This camera can be powered from the following two power sources:

•Sony InfoLithium battery* (L series), NP-F330 (supplied)/F530 (not supplied)/F550 (not supplied)

•AC power adopter AC-VQ800 (not supplied)

When you use the camera for a long time, we recommend you to power the camera from a wall outlet with the AC power adaptor.

* “InfoLITHIUM” battery pack

The “InfoLITHIUM” is a lithium ion battery pack which can exchange data with compatible equipment about its battery consumption. ”InfoLITHIUM” is a trademark of Sony Corporation.

Setting the date and time

When you use the camera first, set the date and time. The date and time data are necessary for MS-DOS format recording. If they are not set, incorrect date and time are recorded, and CLOCK SET screen in step 3 appears whenever you turn on the camera in CAMERA mode.

1 Slide POWER down to turn on the power. 2 Select “CLOCK SET” in MENU with the control button,

then press it.

CLOCK SET BEEP DISK TOOL FILE NUMBER FLASH LEVEL QUALITY REC MODE

110min

13-GB

–EV

Basic operations

kPreparation

CANCEL

CLOCK SET

D/M/Y 

M/D/YY/M/D

1999 1 8 10:20

ENTER

CANCEL

3 Select the desired display of the date with the control

button, then press it.

Y/M/D (year/month/day) M/D/Y (month/day/year) D/M/Y (day/month/year)

4 Select the date and time with the control button, then

press it.

The item to be changed is indicated with v/V. Select number by pressing the upper side or lower side of the control button, then press it to enter the number. After entering the number, v/V moves to the next item.

CLOCK SET

M/D/Y

Y/M/D

1 8 10:20

1999

D/M/Y 

ENTER

CANCEL

When “D/M/Y” is selected, set the time on a 24-hour cycle.

5 Select “ENTER” with the control button, then press it

at the desired moment to begin clock movement.

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CLOCK SET

1999 10 10 10:20

D/M/Y

M/D/YY/M/D



ENTER

CANCEL

To cancel setting the date and time

Select “CANCEL” with the control button, then press it.

Note

If the “W” indicator appears on the LCD screen, replace the lithium battery according to the procedures on page 33.

Basic operations

15-GB

Recor ding and playing back images

Recording images

To record the images, slide POWER down to turn on the power and insert the floppy disk until it clicks.

ACCESS lamp

1 Set PLAY/CAMERA to CAMERA.

2 Press the shutter button halfway

down.

The AE lock indicator z (green) appears. AE (auto exposure), AWB (auto white balance) and AF (auto focus) are frozen.

3 Press the shutter button fully

down.

The image is recorded on the disk.

The number of images you can record on a floppy disk

About 25 – 40 images with all default settings. (p. 24)

Note

When the image is recorded on the disk, the ACCESS lamp flashes. When the ACCESS lamp is flashing, never shake or strike the unit. As well do not turn the power off or remove the battery pack or floppy disk. Otherwise, the image data breakdown may occur and the floppy disk may become unusable.

16-GB

The indicators during recording

The indicators on the LCD screen are not recorded.

Flash indicator /Flash level indicator

Program AE indicator

Exposure/Zoom indicator*

Picture effect indicator

LCD brightness indicator*

Adjusting the exposure button

MENU button

W T

SEPIA

–EV

BMP

E : 91 : 01

110min

AE lock indicator Self-timer indicator Recording mode

indicator Image quality

indicator Remaining disk

capacity indicator

STD

No. of stored images

Self-diagnosis function indicator

Remaining battery time indicator

Self-timer button

* Only displayed during operation.

Functions you can use for image recording

Adjusting the brightness of the

LCD screen (p. 9)

Flash (p. 10) Zoom (p. 10) Self-timer (p. 10) Adjusting the exposure (p. 10) Picture effect (p. 31) PROGRAM AE function (p. 32)

Selecting the recording mode

– REC MODE (p. 23)

Selecting the image quality

– QUALITY (p. 25)

Selecting the flash level

– FLASH LEVEL (p. 25)

Selecting the file numbering mode

– FILE NUMBER (p. 25)

Basic operations

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kRecording and playing back images

Playing back images on the LCD screen

To watch the recorded images, slide POWER down to turn on the power and insert the floppy disk until clicks.

1 Set PLAY/CAMERA to PLAY.

The last recorded image appears on the LCD screen.

2 Select the recorded image with the control button.

Select the button on the LCD screen with the control button, then press it.

: To display the preceding recorded image. : To display the next image. : To display 6 recorded images at a time (INDEX screen)

INDEX

In INDEX screen mode

: To display the preceding

6 images.

: To display the following

6 images.

• To return to the normal playback screen (SINGLE screen), select an image with the control button, then press it.

• The number displayed at the upper right side of the image shows the recording order on the disk. It is different from the file name (p. 24).

10 11

MVC-011S

1999 7 4

12:30PM

11/12

110min

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The indicators during playback

Image number File type indicator

Image quality indicator Remaining disk capacity indicator

11/12

STD

Number of stored images in the floppy disk

File name

MVC-011S

INDEX

1999 7 4

12:30PM

110min

Recording date of the playback image

Remaining battery time indicator Slide show button * INDEX button

MENU button Image search buttons

/ buttons (Single screen mode)/ / buttons (Index screen mode)

* Only displayed when the MULTI mode image is played back.

Functions you can use for playback of recorded images

Adjusting the brightness of the

LCD screen (p. 9)

Playing back recorded images like

an animated slide show (p. 23)

Protecting images – PROTECT

(p. 26)

Copying recorded images to

another floppy disk – COPY (p. 27)

Deleting images – DELETE (p. 28)

Basic operations

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kRecording and playing back images

Battery life/No. of images that can be recorded/played back

Battery Battery life No. of images

(min.) (record/playback)

NP-F330 Unusing the flash

Continuous recording

(Supplied) Using the flash

Continuous playing Continuous recording

NP-F530

Unusing the flash Using the flash

Continuous playing Continuous recording

NP-F550

Unusing the flash Using the flash

Continuous playing

70 (60) 950 (850) 60 (50) 600 (500)

110 (100) 1700 (1500)

130 (110) 1750 (1500) 120 (100) 1200 (1000) 230 (200) 3400 (3000)

150 (130) 2000 (1750) 130 (110) 1300 (1100) 250 (220) 3700 (3250)

Approximate battery life and No. of images that can be recorded/played back under the temperature of 77°F (25°C), in NORMAL recording mode and STANDARD quality mode. Numbers in parentheses indicate the time when you use a normally charged battery.

Recording at about 4 second intervals

Recording at about 6 second intervals

Playing back single image at about 4 second intervals

•Battery life and No. of images will be decreased if you use the camera in a cold environment or while you repeat turning the power on/off and zooming.

•The capacity of a floppy disk is limited. The above figures are a guide when continuously recording/playing back while replacing the floppy disks.

20-GB

Viewing images using a personal computer

The image data recorded with this camera is compressed in JPEG format. This data can be viewed using a personal computer which has JPEG view ability application installed such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. For detailed procedures using image data with an application, refer to the personal computer instruction manual.

Example: personal computer installed Windows 95/98

1 Start up personal computer and insert the floppy

disk into the disk drive of the personal computer.

2 Open “ My computer” and double click

3.5 inch FD”.

“

3 Double-click the desired data file.

Recommended OS/applications example

Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or later, Windows NT 3.51 or later, etc.

applications

Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator etc.

Note

•For Macintosh, you can use the floppy disk recorded with this camera using the PC Exchange with Mac OS system 7.5 or higher. A viewing application for Macintosh is also necessary for viewing images.

•Opening non-compressed images recorded in BITMAP mode (p. 23, 24) requires an application program designed to view bitmapped images.

Basic operations

21-GB

CLOCK SET BEEP DISK TOOL FILE NUMBER FLASH LEVEL QUALITY REC MODE

MULTI BITMAP E–MAIL NORMAL

CLOCK SET BEEP DISK TOOL FILE NUMBER FLASH LEVEL QUALITY REC MODE

110min

NORMAL

Changing the mode settings

110min

CLOCK SET BEEP DISK TOOL DELETE COPY PROTECT

1 Select “MENU” with the control button, then

press it.

The menu appears on the LCD screen.

CAMERA mode PLAY mode

CLOCK SET BEEP DISK TOOL FILE NUMBER FLASH LEVEL QUALITY REC MODE

2 Select desired item with the control button, then

press it.

When an item is selected, the color of the item changes from blue to yellow.

3 Change the setting with the control button, then

press it.

When the setting is finished, the menu screen returns to the screen of step 1.

110min

22-GB

To cancel changing the mode settings

Press the left side of the control button. The screen returns to the menu screen. To cancel menu screen, select “ ” with the control button, then press it.

Setting the mode of each item

* is set at the factory.

Items in CAMERA mode

REC MODE <NORMAL*/ E-MAIL/ BITMAP/

MULTI>

•Normally select NORMAL. A JPEG file (640 × 480) is recorded.

•Select E-MAIL to record a 1/4-size (320 × 240) JPEG file besides a 640 × 480 JPEG file. E-mail files are suitable for e-mail transmission, etc. because they contain compressed data.

•Select BITMAP to record a non-compressed image besides a JPEG file. This is good for recording images in clearer detail.

•Select MULTI to record in the Multi-Image Continuos Recording mode. In this mode, Images are continuously recorded as 1 file each at a rate of about 1 every 0.25 seconds. In PLAY mode, if you select “ ” on the LCD screen with the control button, the images will be played back continuously like an animated slide show (Only once). When playing back on another machine, only 1 image will be displayed.

Advanced operations

23-GB

kChanging the mode settings

Recording

mode

Recorded file (ex.) can be recorded

NORMAL JPEG (640 × 480) 001S.JPG

For index screen 001S.411

File name No. of images that

MVC– STANDARD FINE

25 - 40 15 - 20

E-MAIL JPEG (640 × 480) 001S.JPG

JPEG (320 × 240) 001E.JPG 20 - 35 12 - 15 For index screen 001S.411

BITMAP non-compress

(640 × 480)

JPEG (640 x 480) 001S.JPG

001S.BMP

For index screen 001S.411

MULTI JPEG (960 × 720) 001M.JPG

For index screen 001S.411

10 - 15

Notes

•The file data for index screen is a available only on this camera.

•If you attempt to record 55 images or above, “DISK FULL” appears on the LCD screen and you cannot record the image even when the remaining disk capacity indicator is not emptied.

•1/4-size E-mail files are stored in another folder. The compression ratio is standard and does not depend on the image quality settings.

•A remaining capacity of about 1MB is needed when recording in BITMAP mode. After recording the BITMAP picture, “DISK FULL” appears on the LCD screen.

•In MULTI mode, the program AE, picture effect and focus are fixed to the selected mode and effect, respectively, and the flash is kept OFF. The focus may not be right if the zoom is operated. The compression ratio is standard and does not depend on the image quality settings.

•During playback of a series of images recorded in MULTI mode, the first image of the nine is displayed one-size smaller than the other normal-sized images.

•Be sure to play back images recorded in MULTI mode on MVC-FD71/FD73. Those images cannot be played back correctly on other models.

•When the remaining disk capacity indicator flashes, image data cannot be recorded.

•A MPEG file cannot be played back correctly on this camera.

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+ 56 hidden pages