Here you can see the typical record mode screen. The "P" indicates Program (Auto) exposure mode, in the center are the auto focus target marks, and across the bottom is image quality, HQ = High Quality (7-megapixels) and there's enough space on our xD card for 504 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 fails you will get a red "can't focus" icon (not shown.) The "red lightning bolt" icon indicates the flash is charged and ready. The shutter is set at 1/30 and aperture at F3.5, In HQ mode (3072 x 2304) and 504 pictures left to take.

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.

You can access a variety of Scene modes by turning the Mode knob. 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 26 different exposure modes: Auto, Digital Image Stabilization Mode, Scene Preset (Portrait, Landscape, Landscape & Portrait, Night Scene, Night & Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self-Portrait, Available Light Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Behind Glass, Documents, Auction, Shoot & Select1, Shoot & Select2, Beach & Snow, Under Water snapshot, Under Water Wide 1, Under Water wide 2, under water macro. Under Water Movie).

The 790 SW can be submerged up to 10feet, without the use of an underwater housing.

Digital Image Stabilization Mode is also accessed through the Mode button (shaky hand symbol) and uses Olympus' Bright Capture technology, which boosts the ISO sensitivity. This keeps shutter speeds higher in order to reduce the blurring effects of camera shake or subject movement during the exposure. Image size is not reduced when using this feature.

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

FUNC. Menu Options

Exposure mode - Choose Program P or Full Auto

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

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 factory defaults, enter the Camera or Setup menus, Play a Demo, change the Scene mode as well as enter Silent mode.

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

Fine zoom - Off or On

Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option

AF Mode - iESP or Spot focus modes

Voice Memo - Off or On

Panorama - Enable Panorama mode (only if using Olympus xD card)

SETUP Menu Options

Format - Format the xD memory card

Backup - Save a copy of images on to your PC

Menu Language - English, French, Espanol, Portuguese

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

Menu Theme - 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 - Off, Low, High

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

Power Save - Off/On

Led Illuminator - Off/On

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 2.8 inches (7cm.)

The Panorama mode has an onscreen guide to help you make the best possible panorama pictures by getting the necessary overlap between successive images. Up to 10 frames can be captured and then stitched together with the Camedia Master software. You must use an Olympus brand xD-Picture Card to use the Panorama mode.

Movie mode lets you capture SHQ (640x480)at 30 fps with sound, HQ (320x240), or SQ (160x120) resolution motion video at 15fps with sound. The length of movies in SHQ mode is limited to 10 seconds, while HQ and SQ are limited only by the available memory. Because the Stylus 790 features a built-in microphone, the optical zoom may not be used during recording. You can preset the desired focal length before starting to record a movie.