Simple mode is invoked by depressing the switch on the right side of the camera body. The viewfinder information contains only the number of remaining shots in large text.

In Simple mode, the camera menu provides only for date/time setting. The 4-way controller shortcuts turn macro off/on, backlighting off/on, flash off/auto and self timer off/on.

Normal mode provides access to a variety of shooting modes and settings. The Stylus 730 has no Mode dial to select shooting mode. In its place is this menu, which is called up by depressing the Shoot button (camera icon). Choices include Still Picture, Movie, Scene Mode and Guide.

Selecting GUIDE will bring up the built-in Shooting Guide on the LCD screen. It provides a detailed descriptions of various photographic scenarios, and will also set the camera with the touch of a button. There are 15 selections to choose from.

Here you can see the typical record mode screen. The "P" indicates Program (Auto) exposure mode, in the center are the auto focus target, sensitivity is set to ISO 80, marks, and across the bottom is image quality, SHQ = Super High Quality (7-megapixels) and there's enough space on the internal memory for 56 pictures.

When you half-press the shutter release it starts the autofocus process and if it locks you'll get the "focus OK" green icon (top left). If focus fail you will get a blinking green "can't focus" indication. The "red lightning bolt" icon indicates the flash is charged and ready.

Pressing the Image Stabilization (IS) button on the top of the camera allows you to enable or disable this feature. The Shaking Hand icon replaces the ISO indication, and the camera will increase sensitivity (ISO) appropriate to the lighting conditions. The Stylus 730 does not include optical image stabilization.

Pressing the 4-way controller Up, Down, Left or Right allows you to quickly change settings for Macro focus mode, Flash mode, Self-timer, and Exposure compensation.

While adjusting exposure compensation, the live image on the Stylus 730's LCD displays the resulting exposure.

You can access a variety of Scene modes by rotating the Mode dial to the SCN position. As you go through the Scene selections an image depicting the mode is shown and then a brief text explanation of the mode is presented (shown above.) You can choose from 20 different preprogrammed modes: Portrait, Landscape, Landscape & Portrait, Night Scene, Night & Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self-Portrait, Available Light Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Museum, Cuisine, Behind Glass, Documents, Auction, Shoot & Select1, Shoot & Select2, Beach & Snow.

Pressing the OK/FUNC. button will bring up the menu of options shown above.

FUNC. Menu Options

Exposure mode - Choose Program AE or Full Auto

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten (Incandescent), or Fluorescent 1, 2, and 3

ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, High-Speed Continuous

Metering - ESP or Spot

Press the MENU button to bring up the Record mode Menu. You can use the shortcut menus to quickly change image resolution, reset all settings to factor defaults, change the scene mode, enable Silent mode as well as enter the Camera or Setup menus.

Camera Menu Options

CAMERA

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten (Incandescent), or Fluorescent 1, 2, and 3

ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, High-Speed Continuous

Metering - ESP or Spot

Fine Zoom - Enable or disable fine zoom, which increases magnification up to 5x by performing an in-camera crop (quality limited to 1600x1200)

Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option

AF Mode - iESP or Spot focus modes

Voice Memo - Off or On

Label Shot - Capture an image of text which can later be applied to another image as a label

Frame - Capture an image within frame art styles included in the camera (quality limited to 1600x1200)

SETUP Menu Options

Memory Format - Format the xD memory card

Backup - Copy images from the camera's internal memory to xD card

Menu Language - English, French, Espanol, Portuguese

PW ON Setup - Select power up screen animation and sound level

Color - Choose menu background: Normal, Blue, Black, Pink

Beep - Choose Low, High or Off

Camera sounds - Low, High or Off

Shutter Sound - Choose Shutter theme

Volume - Select the desired volume settings

Rec View - View image immediately after capture on LCD

File Name - Select between Reset and Auto

Pixel Mapping - Map out bad pixels

Monitor Brightness - Adjust LCD backlight

Set Clock - Set time and or date

Dual Time Setup - On/Off

Alarm Clock - Daily or One-Time

Video Out - Video out signal - NTSC or PAL format

Info - Select level of detail displayed in shooting and playback modes

Power Save - Choose the settings of the power save feature

Press the 4-way selector "left" to enable Macro focus mode and take closeup shots at a range of 7.9 inches (0.2m) to infinity, or enable Super Macro mode and get as close as 1.2 inches (3cm.)

Olympus' Panorama mode now has the ability to combine shots in-camera in addition to the traditional method of recording individual shots for later stitching with the Camedia Master software. In-camera panos are limited to 3 shots, Camedia software will stitch up to 10 frames. You must use an Olympus brand xD-Picture Card to use the Panorama mode.

In-camera pano mode retains part of the previous image on-screen to help you align the next shot. After the third image (or after depressing OK after 2 shots), the images are stitched and the combined image is displayed.

Movie mode lets you capture SHQ (640x480/30fps), HQ (320x240/30fps) or SQ (160x120/15fps) resolution motion video with sound. The length of a movie in HQ or SQ is limited only by the available memory; in SHQ recording time is limited to 15 seconds. Because the Stylus 730 records audio, it prevents the optical zoom focal length from being changed during recording. You can preset the desired focal length before starting to record a movie.