The AUTO shooting mode turns the S1050 into a fully automatic point-n-shoot camera. This simplified mode has limited access to the menu options, in fact, there's only three flash options to choose from; Auto, red-eye reduction or flash off.

Program AE mode, is like auto, the camera selects both shutter speed and aperture values automatically. However, now you have access to more advanced camera settings like ISO, White balance, Metering, etc. Icons indicate we are using 10M Superfine image size/quality, Auto flash mode, Multi metering, and an SD card is being used for image storage. You can also see indicators for battery level, zoom position as well as the time & date.

When you half press the shutter release, the AF marks will turn green if focus is achieve or red if it fails. The selected aperture and shutter speed values are shown, and the flash icon also turns red when the flash is going to fire.

In Shutter-speed priority mode, the user selects the desired shutter speed and the camera automatically selects the aperture value. If the shutter speed is too fast (or slow), the aperture value will be displayed in red (when the shutter is half-pressed) which tells you to select a different speed. Slow shutter speeds allow for moving objects to "motion blur" and fast shutter speeds will "freeze" fast moving objects.

In Aperture priority mode the user selects the desired aperture value and the camera automatically selects the appropriate shutter speed. Small apertures (large F-stop number) increase the depth of field (range of focus) whereas large apertures (small F-stop numbers) decreases the depth of field.

In Manual mode the user selects both values. After you select the desired combination, you can visually see the screen lighten or darken, while the EV (exposure value) chart along the bottom will help you achieve proper exposure.

ASR mode (Anti-Shake Reduction) will help you reduce the effects of camera shake in your low light photos. It also features a shake warning indicator, which Samsung says for best results only capture photos when this indicator is not displayed.

When using Program mode, pressing the "E"ffects button will give you access to these creative options: Color, Image Adjust and Fun.

Record menu options (except in Auto):

Sharpness - Soft, Normal, Vivid
Contrast - Soft, Normal, Vivid
Auto Focus - Center AF or Multi AF
OSD Info - Controls the amount of overlay information on the LCD (Full or Basic)

Press the Fn (FuNction) button to change:

Size - 10M, 9M, 7M, 7M (Wide), 5M, 3M, 1M
Quality - Super Fine, Fine, Normal
Metering - Multi or Spot
Shooting - Single, Wise Shot, Continuous, AEB, Motion Capture
ISO Speed - Auto or fixed at 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 equivalents
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent H , Fluorescent L, Tungsten, Custom set
Exposure Compensation - ±2EV in 1/3EV steps

Movie mode records 800x592, 720x480, 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 motion video with audio. In the later three modes you can select a frame rate of 15, 20 or 30fps. The 800x592 mode is limited to 15 or 20fps only. Movie clips are saved as Windows .AVI format video files. The length of these movies is limited only by the amount of available memory. Unlike most models, you can use the optical zoom while recording.

Movie mode menu options:

Size - 800x592, 720x480, 640x480 or 320x240
Frame Rate - 30, 20 or 15 fps
Metering - Multi or Spot
Stabilizer - On or Off
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent H , Fluorescent L, Tungsten, Custom set

And you can also Record Audio only. The length is limited to a the amount of available memory. Audio recordings are saved as Windows .WAV format files.