The Z740'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 focus is locked there will be a "green dot" displayed, if not it will be red and will indicate either focus or exposure failure.

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

Scene mode lets you select from 14 different pre-programmed modes (Children, Party, Beach, Flower, Fireworks, Snow, Backlight, Closeup, 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 PASM (Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual) 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, open shade white balance, ISO speed 80 and -0.5EV exposure compensation.

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.

Manual mode lets you freely set both the aperture and shutter speed, the exposure value is displayed on the right to help you get it "right."

MENU options in Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes:

Self-Timer - On or Off

Picture Size - 5.0 MP, 4.4 MP (3:2 aspect ratio), 4.0 MP, 3.1 MP, 1.8 MP

White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent or Open Shade

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

Focus Zone - Multi-zone, Center-zone

AF Control - Continuous AF, Single AF

Color Mode - High Color, Natural Color, Low Color, B&W or Sepia

Sharpness - High, Normal or Low

Reset - Reset to default

Set Album - Select an image folder

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

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. You can select a maximum clip length of 5, 15 or 30 seconds if desired. 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

Video Length - Unlimited, 5, 15, 30 seconds

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

Setup Menu - Enter SETUP menu