Steves Digicams - Olympus CAMEDIA C-5500 Sport Zoom

Record Screens & Menus

Here is a screen showing the C-5500's Auto record mode. This is a fully automatic mode that allows the camera to choose all settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity, white balance, etc.), while the Beginner benefits from point-n-shoot simplicity.

Program AE mode with the histogram feature enabled. The aperture is F2.8, shutter speed is 1/8 of a second and the "0.0" indicates that there is no exposure compensation. The "[ ]" in the center shows the autofocus area, while the ISO is set at 80. Image quality is set at SHQ and the memory card has sufficient space for another 79 pictures.

When you half-press the shutter and focus is locked, the AF brackets move to the Active AF point. A green icon is also displayed to indicate focus was achieved.

Aperture priority mode you select the desired aperture and the camera automatically adjusts for the correct shutter speed. A small aperture (larger f/number) increases the depth of field (range of focus), where a large aperture (smaller f/number) decreases depth of field.

Shutter-speed priority mode you select the shutter speed and the camera selects the correct aperture. Select a fast shutter speed to freeze fast-moving subjects or use a slower shutter speed to capture flowing water or low-light subjects.

Manual mode you select both shutter speed and aperture values, the exposure value is displayed constantly (the "-0.3" in the upper right) so you can adjust the values to achieve the proper exposure.

Rotating the mode dial to the "Scene" positions gives you access to 10 creative scene modes. Press the Menu button then Up to change between these modes.

Movie mode - The total amount of recording time available is shown by the green "07:13" in the lower right hand corner. On the left is the resolution HQ (320x240 30fps), the microphone icon indicates that we are also recording sound, and the "Shaky hands" icon indicates that "Camera movement compensation" is enabled. This function reduces the blur caused by camera movement when recording movies. The length of movie recording is limited only by the amount of space available on the xD card. You can choose either HQ (320x240 at 30fps) or SQ (320x240 at 15fps) quality via the Short Cut menu (shown below.)

When you press the Menu button in Movie mode, this Short Cut menu is displayed. Press Left to change the Quality of a movie, Up to enable or disable Camera movement compensation, Right enters the MOde menu and Down toggles the LCD monitor on and off.

When using the Flash mode shortcut button located on the back, its function is displayed for a few seconds on the color LCD. Pressing the Flash button cycles through: Auto, Red-Eye reduction, Fill flash, Slow sync, and Forced Off flash modes.

Pressing the MENU button while in any still recording mode brings up this menu screen. Using the Up, Down or Left buttons accesses the Shortcut menus for Self-Timer, LCD monitor control (On/Off), and Resolution. You can use these menus to quickly change settings, and you can also set the desired value for these shortcuts with the Shortcut option under the Setup menu. Pressing the Right button takes you to the full Mode Menu (see illustrations below).

The Mode Menu consists of four menu sections (CAMERA, PICture, CARD, SETUP)

Camera menu:

AE/AF - Choose the mode for AE (ESP, Spot, Multi metering) and AF (iESP, Spot, Area)

DRIVE - Single frame, Sequential or AE Bracketing

ISO - Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400

Self-Timer - On/Off

Flash Intensity - Adjust the flash output -2.0 to +2.0

Slow Sync - Slow shutter speed flash sync for front or rear curtain or red-eye reduction

Noise Reduction - Enables/disable noise reduction on long shutter speeds

Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option

Fulltime AF - Enable or disable continuous auto focus

Panorama - In-camera panorama mode, only available when using Olympus brand xD-Picture cards.

Function - Off, B&W or Sepia

Info - Changes amount of shooting information displayed on LCD monitor

- Enable or disable the live histogram displayed on LCD

- Enable or disable sound recording with still images

Frame Assist - Displays a helpful framing aid

Timelapse - Set the number of shots and interval between shots.

PICture menu:

- Image size and quality; RAW, TIFF, SHQ, SHQ (3:2), HQ, SQ1, SQ2

WB - White balance options; Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent (1, 2, 3), or Manual Set

WB Adjust - Fine tune the white balance manually

Sharpness - Adjust image sharpness; ± 5 points

Contrast - Adjust image contrast; ± 5 points

Saturation - Adjust the level of the color depth; ± 5 points

The CARD menu is used to format the xD-Picture Card.

SETUP menu:

All Reset - On resets all camera settings to default when camera is turned off. Off will retain all settings.

- Select the language for on-screen display

PW On Setup - Sets the picture/sound displayed at startup

PW Off Setup - Sets the picture/sound displayed at power down

Rec View - On/Off, if On shows last image captured for about 3 secs.

- Adjusts the Beep sound level (Off, Low, High)

Beep - Choose theme and sound level of button operations

Shutter Sound - Choose theme and sound level

My Mode Setup - Set the parameters used in My Mode

File Name - Continuous file numbering or reset

Pixel Mapping - Checks the CCD imager for errors

- Adjust brightness of LCD monitor

- Set the time and date

m/ft - Set the distance scale at meters or feet

Video Output - Select NTSC or PAL video format

AF Illuminator - Turns the AF-assit lamp On or Off

Short Cut - Change the assignment of the shortcut menus

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Playback Features

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Record Screens & Menus

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