Sony Mavica CD400

First things first

Some Standard Operating Procedures for Any Camera

Always make sure the lens cap is not on when the camera is
Make sure no part of your finger is in front of (or heaven forbid on) the lens
If it’s dark where you’re taking the picture, turn the flash on
If you’re taking a picture through glass, turn the flash off

Getting Started

All of the directions are given assuming that you are looking at the back of the camera.

Inserting the CD

THE CAMERA MUST BE TURNED OFF BEFORE OPENING IT TO INSERT THE CD!!!

Locate the open button on the left side of the camera
Slide the lock button towards the front of the camera
Then slide the open button down to pop open the camera
Firmly, but gently, insert the CD onto the nub in the middle, pressing around the clear area surrounding the hole to insure the CD is locked into place
Close the door

Removing the CD

Simply follow the insert directions in reverse
NOTE: the CD is designed to be firmly held in place by 3 springs. Removing the CD may require a bit of effort, but this camera is still delicate, so be careful.

Turning the Camera On

To turn the camera on, slide the switch located on the top right of the camera.
Note that the switch slides around the turn knob

Formatting the CD

A warning message will be displayed on the LCD if the CD you insert is not formatted. If you receive this message, format the CD as follows:

Rotate the knob on the top right to the Set Up position. This may be done while the camera is on or off.
Use the 4 point arrow button (located on the back right of the camera) to arrow right once. This will highlight Finalize
- Finalize is used to prevent further writing to the CD
- it also allows the CD to be read on older computers
Arrow down once to Format
Arrow to the right to expand the menu, then arrow up to select OK
Press the 4 point arrow button in the center to make your selection
NOTE: formatting a CD will erase all data contained on it. This is irreversible, so do not select this option unless you really mean it.
Place the camera on a firm, stable surface (a table) and do not move it until the format process has completed (indicated by a status bar along the bottom, and a “ding” when it is complete).

Once formatted, the CD is ready to accept content.

To Preview Pictures

Pictures that you have taken can be previewed from the camera. To do so:

Rotate the selection knob (located on the top right) to the arrow position. This will display all pictures currently contained on the CD
The 4 point arrow button will allow you to display the pictures
- Press the arrow button left or right to display the next picture or the previous picture
- Press the arrow button up or down to increase or decrease the volume if you are replaying a video clip
The zoom button (located above the 4 point button) will zoom in on pictures, or by zooming out, will display multiply pictures at once.
Pressing the menu button will bring up these options
- Delete
- Protect (prevent accidental deletion)
- Print (used when hooked to a computer)
- Slide (displays a slide show of your pictures)
- Resize (lets you change the resolution of a picture)
  - Lowering the resolution [the current resolution is displayed at the top of the picture, with an empty box indicating that it is a still image] will reduce the space necessary to store the image, at the cost of picture quality.
  - Raising the resolution CANNOT bring this quality back; it can only simulate it.
- Rotate (rotates the picture in increments of 90 degrees).

To Take Pictures with the Camera

Rotate the knob on the top right to the SCN position
Press the menu button and arrow over to the far left choice, SCN.
Choose the appropriate setting from the menu:
- Night-time, night-time portrait, landscape, or portrait.
  - For indoor use, portrait (the bottom selection) is the recommended choice
- You may also change the picture quality from the menu
  - Select the third choice from the left, which will change to read Image Size when highlighted
  - The choices are ranked from best quality on the top, to lowest quality on the bottom
When finished with all your choices, press the menu button again to make the menu go away
To zoom in or out, use the zoom button located above the 4 point arrow button on the back side of the camera
- When you zoom, a bar will appear in the top left of the display, indicating how much you are zooming.
- There is a separator mark about two thirds along the length of this bar
  - this is the point at which the lens ceases physical movement, and the zoom becomes digital
  - digital zooming means that the camera’s hardware is used to zoom in on a portion of the image that it captures, instead of the traditional moving lens to change the focal distance
- You may turn the flash on, off, or to auto by using the up arrow on the 4 point button.
  - A flash icon will appear in the top left of the image
    - a lightning bolt indicates the flash is turned on always
    - a circle and slash through the lightning bolt indicates the flash is turned off
    - and no icon indicates that the flash is on fully auto and will turn itself on if/when necessary
  - If you have not taken a flash picture yet, the flash is locked down in a protective casing, but will pop up when needed. Please press gently on the top of the flash to return it to it’s casing when it will not be used for a bit
The timer mode of the camera may be turned on by pressing down on the 4 point button
- You will have 10 seconds from the time you press the shutter button until the camera takes a picture
- Timer mode is automatically turned off after you take a timed picture
And finally; to take a picture
- Simply line up the subject
- Gently press the shutter button until you hear a beep
- This will lock in the focus and lighting settings
- Then finish pushing the shutter button down to complete taking the picture.
- A counter in the top right corner will tell you how many pictures you have left.

To View Images on Your Computer

Before you start this, you must remember that the Sony Mavica uses a mini-CD, not the standard size computer CD. Most computers that have a CD tray have a ring to hold standard CDs and an inner or recessed ring to accommodate these mini-CDs. If you have an older computer, your CD tray may not have the inner or recessed ring. If this is the case for you, an adapter is included in the camera case. Insert the mini-CD into the adapter before placing it in the CD tray.

Turn off the camera
Remove the CD (see above)
Insert the CD into your computer’s drive.

My Computer Will Not Read the CD

This may happen for two reasons:

You have a very old computer that just does not know what to do with this CD
or CD-R drivers are not installed on your computer, and again, your computer does not know what to do with the Sony CD

A USB cable is provided in the camera case to help you in this situation. To use the cable

Plug the small end into the port located under the rubber flap on the left side of the camera
Plug the other end into the USB port on your computer
The computer will auto-detect the camera once it is turned on.
The images may then be transferred to your computer in several ways. For example, Windows XP automatically creates an access option in My Computer that lets you directly take images from the camera. You may also use the import option in Adobe Photoshop to transfer images from the camera.

This is meant, of course, just to get your started. You should consult the camera manual included in the bag for more information.