The Z612's viewfinder presents a wealth of exposure and operating information.

Here you can see the information present when you half-press the shutter release to achieve the focus and exposure lock.

Rotate the Mode Dial to select one of the recording modes: Auto Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Movie, Scene, Night Portrait or Sports.

Scene mode lets you select from 14 different pre-programmed modes (Portrait, Landscape, Night Landscape, Self Portrait, Flower, Sunset, Backlight, Candle light, Manner/Museum, Text, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Children), 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 (like Portrait shown above.)

Program mode is much like Auto, the camera selects the best combination of shutter speed and aperture, but still offers access to more advanced settings like ISO speed, White balance, Metering, etc.

In Aperture priority mode, the user selects the desired aperture value, while the camera selects the corresponding shutter speed. A small aperture (large f number) gives you a broad depth of field, and a large aperture (small f number) gives you a more shallow depth of field.

Shutter priority is the opposite of Aperture priority. Here you select the desired shutter speed and the camera selects the correct aperture. Use a fast shutter speed to "freeze" action, or a slow shutter speed to show movement.

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."

This screen shows all of the onscreen options when using the Jog Dial (Manual mode shown.) Pressing the dial in allows you to change a value, rotating it left and right switches to different settings and changes the value of the current one that is selected.

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

Picture Size - 6.0 MP, 5.3 MP (3:2 aspect ratio), 4.0 MP, 3.1 MP, 1.1 MP

Compression - Fine, Standard, Basic

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

Exp. Bracketing Interval - ±0.3, ±0.7, ±1.0

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

Focus Zone - Multi-zone, Center-zone

AF-Zone - Multi, Center or Selectable

AF Control - Continuous AF, Single AF

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

Sharpness - High, Normal or Low

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 or 320 x 240 motion video with audio at 30 frames per second. 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. Unlike most cameras, the optical zoom can be used while recording. The Z612 also features Image Stabilization, which helps reduce unwanted camera movement in your videos.

MENU options in Video mode:

Video Size - 640x480 or 320x240

Video Length - Unlimited, 5, 15, 30 seconds

AF Control - Continuous AF, Single AF

Set Album - Select an image folder

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

Setup Menu - Enter SETUP menu