The Z700's viewfinder presents a wealth of exposure and operating information.

When you half-press the shutter to achieve the focus and exposure lock, the AF target marks will turn green and show what area it is focusing on. If the exposure is not sufficient, a red "AE" will be displayed.

Rotate the Mode Dial to select one of the recording modes: Automatic, Sports, Portrait, Night, Closeup, Video, PAS (Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority), or Scene.

Scene mode lets you select from 13 different pre-programmed modes (Children, Party, Portrait, Beach, Flower, Fireworks, Snow, Backlight, Night Portrait, Landscape, Night Landscape, Manner/Museum, Text and Self-Portrait), each optimized for unique subjects and shooting conditions. As you navigate the scene mode menu, a description of each mode and hints for using it are presented.

Using PAS (Program, Aperture, Shutter) mode gives you access to a wide range of exposure and menu options for those that want more control over the image capturing process. This screen shows center focus, center-weighted metering, fluorescent white balance and ISO speed 80.

This screen shows all of the aperture values and some of the shutter speeds that can be changed using the joystick. You can change ISO, Aperture, Exposure Compensation in Aperture priority mode. The Shutter speed setting (8 to 1/1000 sec.) is accessible in Shutter and Manual modes.

MENU options in Program, Aperture and Shutter modes:

Focal Length - Auto, Macro, Infinity

Picture Size - 4.0 MP, 3.5 MP (3:2 aspect ratio), 3.1 MP, 2.1 MP, 1.1 MP

White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent

Exposure Metering - Multi-Pattern, Center-weighted, Center Spot

Focus Zone - Multi-zone, Center-zone

AF Control - Continuous AF, Single AF

Color Mode - Color, B&W or Sepia

Set Album - Select an image folder

Image Storage - Auto (select card if used or internal) or Internal

Reset - Reset to default

Setup Menu - Enter SETUP menu

You can record 640 x 480 (12fps) or 320 x 240 (20fps) motion video with audio. The length of the movies is dependent on available space on your memory card. The optical zoom can be preset before recording but not during.

MENU options in Video mode:

Video Size - 640x480 or 320x240

Set Album - Select an image folder

Image Storage - Auto (select card if used or internal) or Internal

Setup Menu - Enter SETUP menu