Toshiba PDR-M70

This is the screen display when you're in the Auto Select mode. The icons down the left side indicate the programmed modes available:

• Auto - Normal automatic mode
• Portrait - background out of focus
• Landscape - distant scenery
• Action - uses fast shutter speeds
• Night Scene - slow sync flash
• 36-Frame - takes 36 shots at 0.07 sec intervals, the images are merged into a single 2048 x 1536 image

Across the bottom the icons indicate macro mode (flower), battery status, slow shutter warning (hand), EV compensation, autofocus lock (green circle), and the time and date.

When shooting in the sequence mode the camera will temporarily store up to eight full size images in the memory buffer. You can then selectively store or delete any or all of the buffered images.

The record screen when you're in the Aperture Priority (Av) mode. The icons down the left indicate the settings for:

• AW - White balance (Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Flourescent blue or red, Incandescent)
• Area of the autofocus (Center, Up, Down, Left, Right)
• AF - Autofocus (Auto or infinity)
• INT - Flash (Internal or External)

The Manual Record screen when you're in the Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. Everything is the same as in Aperture Priority mode except you use the Up and Down buttons to change the shutter speed value.

The Record screen when shooting a movie. The time in the upper right is the maximum movie recording time at the current image size and quality. If using the Full Fine setting (320x240) you can record up to 60 seconds. If set on the lower Half Basic setting (160x120) you can record up to 120 seconds. The frame rate in both resolutions is 15fps.

This is something we've never seen on a digital camera so far. This is the Voice Recording screen. You can record up to 7 hours of audio. In this mode the camera only records audio.

This menu comes up whenever the Menu button is pressed in any of the Recording modes. From here you can:

• Preview - Display pictures for 2 seconds after capture
• Color - Options are: Standard, Vivid, Monochrome, Sepia
• ISO - Normal (100), 2X (200), 4X (400)
• Sharpness - Normal, Soft, Hard
• Contrast - Normal, Strong, Soft
• Digital Zoom - On or Off
• LCD Display - On or Off, automatically comes on in macro mode
• LCD * - Adjust brightness of LCD backlight

Undocumented Full Manual Controls

The PDR-M70 has full manual controls for the real photography enthusiast. Although the PDR-M70 has default settings for Auto Focus, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority, you also enable complete manual control too.

Procedure - Full Shutter and Aperture Control

1. Turn on the camera.
2. Turn the Mode Dial to Set Up mode.
3. Press and hold the MENU Button.
4. While holding the MENU Button, turn the Model Dial to the AV Mode.
5. Release the MENU Button.

You will know if you were successful if you see a yellow "M" in the top left corner of the LCD display.

Use the Arrows on the ENTER key (Up, Down, Left and Right) to manually adjust the Shutter Speed and Aperture. These settings will be applied to the image during processing and the results can be seen when the image is displayed in PLAYBACK mode.

The camera will automatically return to the default Automatic Settings once the Mode Dial is turned from AV Mode, or once the camera is turned OFF.

Manual Focus

Yes, you also have the ability to use a fully manual focus !

The camera must first be in the MANUAL setting with the yellow M on the top left corner of the LCD display. If the camera is not in the manual setting, follow the steps outlined above for Full Shutter & Aperture Control to acheive manual controls.

1. Press the center of the ENTER button. A drop-down list will appear for each of the Menu Icons on the left side of the rear display.

2. Use the Arrow Down on the Enter Button to select FOCUS. Then use the Arrow Down on the Enter Button to select MF Manual Focus.

Note: The camera will probably first appear to be out of focus, since the auto focus has just been temporarily disabled.

To manually focus the camera, PRESS and HOLD the MACRO button while using the ZOOM KEY (W / T) to focus the camera.

You now have complete control of the Shutter, Aperture and Focus of the camera. These settings will be applied to the image during processing and the results can be seen when the image is displayed in PLAYBACK mode.

• The camera will automatically return to the default Automatic Settings once the Mode Dial is turned from AV Mode, or once the camera is turned OFF.

Firmware updates.

Follow these steps to find out what version of the Firmware is currently in your camera:

1. Turn the Mode Dial to SETUP.
2. Turn ON the camera.
3. Use the "arrow down" to select RESET.
4. Use the "arrow right" for SELECT options.
5. Use the "arrow down" to select EXECUTE.
6. Press the ENTER button.

The Firmware version number will appear on the bottom right corner of the LCD Display. This process will also reset all of the default values associated with the current firmware version.

This camera was designed to support firmware updates as features, functions, connections and SmartMedia continue to evolve.

Procedure: Toshiba Imaging Systems Division will post updates on the web site as they are developed. The updates can be downloaded to your system and transferred to the camera by the SmartMedia. The process of updating the firmware in the camera is very much like the process of installing updated programs on a computer, and should not require specialized technical assistance.

CLICK HERE to go to Toshiba's firmware upgrade page.

The Setup menu is displayed whenever the mode dial is in the Setup position. Options here should be obvious. Auto Power Off is 1, 2 or 3 minutes. Sound controls the beeper noise, Video Out is selectable between NTSC and PAL, Frame Number enables sequential numbering of pictures. Reset will put all camera settings back to factory defaults.