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, SHQ = Super High Quality (7-megapixels) and there's enough space on our xD card for 144 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 red "can't focus" icon (not shown.) The "red lightning bolt" icon indicates the flash is charged and ready.

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 pressing the Mode button. 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 24 different exposure modes: Portrait, Landscape, Landscape+Portriat, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Available Light Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Museum, Cuisine, Behind Glass, Documents, Auction, Shoot& Select 1, Shoot&Select 2, Beach&Snow, Under Water Wide 1, Under Water Wide 2, Under Water Macro, and Underwater Snapshot.

Unlike its Stylus siblings, the 720 SW can be submerged up to 10 feet, 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 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

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 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

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

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

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

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), HQ (320x240) or SQ (160x120) resolution motion video at 15fps with sound. The length of a movie is limited only by the available memory. Because the Stylus 720 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.