User manual POLAROID PDC-800

PDC-800 Camera Quick Start Guide Quick Start Guide Polaroid PDC-800 Camera Contents Introduction Using this guide What you need If you need help Safety precautions Familiarizing yourself with the camera controls Setting up the camera Taking pictures Viewing pictures you have taken Transferring pictures to your computer Connecting the camera to your computer Starting the PhotoStudio application Downloading (copying) still pictures to your computer Downloading still pictures and audio Downloading continuous mode pictures Enhancing pictures with PhotoStudio software Importing pictures to other applications Importing still picture files directly Using the Windows clipboard for all picture types Erasing pictures from the camera Erasing pictures individually Erasing all pictures at once Picture storage capacity 3 3 3 3 3 4 6 7 9 10 10 11 11 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 1 Selecting and using memory cards Purchasing memory cards Memory card capacities Inserting and removing memory cards Initializing (formatting) memory cards Changing the camera date and time Selecting the image quality mode Selecting the recording mode Installing PhotoStudio software Other camera features Important operating tips Extending battery life Holding the camera Taking still pictures in rapid sequence Pausing at off when moving the camera main switch Camera care and troubleshooting 19 19 19 20 20 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 25 25 25 25 PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 2 Quick Start Guide Polaroid PDC-800 Camera Introduction Using this guide Use this guide to perform the basic tasks of taking pictures with your PDC800 camera and downloading (copying) them from the camera to your computer with PhotoStudio software. For more detailed information about the camera and PhotoStudio software, refer to the PDC-800 Operation Manual and the PhotoStudio User Manual. What you need To perform the tasks in this guide, you need the following PDC-800 components: · PDC-800 camera · PDC-800 serial cable · Four AA batteries · AC adapter · PhotoStudio setup diskettes · PDC-800 LCD monitor (optional) · Memory card (optional) To use Polaroid PhotoStudio software for downloading and processing PDC800 pictures, you must also have a computer meeting these requirements: · IBM-compatible with 486 processor (Pentium recommended) · 4 MB of RAM (16 MB recommended) · 20 MB of available disk space (40 MB recommended) · 640x480 screen resolution (800x 600 recommended) · 256-color display (true color, 16 or 24 bit, recommended) · Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 operating system If you need help For technical assistance, call toll-free from within the U.S.A.: 1-800-432-5355, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern time). Safety precautions Before using the PDC-800 for the first time, review the safety precautions recommended in the PDC-800 Operation Manual. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 3 Familiarizing yourself with the camera controls Before setting up or using the PDC-800 camera for the first time, review the camera controls and connections shown below and on the next page. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 4 + PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 5 Setting up the camera 1 Insert four AA alkaline batteries. 2 If you are using the optional LCD monitor, attach it to the camera. 3 If you are using the optional AC adapter, connect it to the camera. The adapter is highly recommended for conserving battery power during picture viewing and downloading, especially with the optional LCD monitor. 4 If you are using an optional memory card, insert it into the camera. A new card may also require initialization ("formatting"), described on page 20. 5 Set the correct date and time on the camera, if necessary. (See page 22.) PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 6 Taking pictures 1 Slide the camera main switch to REC. 2 If you're using the optional LCD monitor, turn its power switch to ON. 3 Choose either internal memory or a memory card for picture storage by pressing and holding the Select button until IN or CARD appears on the display panel. Internal memory selected Memory card selected 4 Select the image quality mode by pressing the PIC button. For most picture-taking, select N (normal) or F (fine). See page 22 for more details about image quality choices. NORMAL MODE ECONOMY MODE FINE MODE PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 7 5 Select the desired recording mode by pressing the REC MODE/ERASE button until the desired recording mode symbol appears on the display panel. For most pictures, use the Still Picture mode ( ). See page 23 for more information about recording modes. Still Picture Mode Still Picture & Audio Mode Continuous Mode Document Mode Audio Mode 6 Hold the camera properly for picture taking. Do not block the lens or flash with your fingers. 7 View the scene through the viewfinder (or press the LIVE button on the camera to view the scene on the optional LCD monitor) and compose the picture. 8 Select standard or wide-angle view by moving the Bifocal switching lever. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 8 9 Press the shutter release button half-way to activate autofocus, then continue pressing the shutter release button smoothly all the way down to take the picture. Note: When taking several pictures in rapid sequence while in the Still Picture mode, wait at least 1 second between pictures to prevent recording errors. Viewing pictures you have taken You can use the following steps to view the pictures in the camera with television or the optional LCD monitor. If possible, use the AC adapter while viewing pictures to conserve battery power. 1 If you are using television, attach the camera to the television video-in and audio-in connectors using the camera AV cable. Turn the television on. (If necessary, refer to the television instructions for using the video-in connector.) 2 Slide the camera main switch to PLAY. If you're using the optional LCD monitor, also turn its power switch to ON. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 9 3 Choose either internal memory or the memory card as the source by pressing and holding the Select button until IN or CARD appears on the display panel. Internal memory selected Memory card selected 4 Press the FWD or REV button to move forward or back through the pictures. Transferring pictures to your computer Before using the procedures in this section for the first time, install the PhotoStudio software on your computer as described on page 24. Connecting the camera to your computer 1 Slide the camera main switch to POWER OFF. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 10 2 Attach the serial cable provided to the RS-232C/AUX connector (a) on the camera. Attach the other end of the cable (b) to a serial (COM) connector on your computer. 3 Follow your computer instructions to set up the serial port associated with the connector. Starting the PhotoStudio application 1 Start your computer and wait for the Windows desktop to appear. 2 If you are using the Windows 95 operating system: Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to PhotoStudio, and click PhotoStudio 2.0. If you are using Windows 3.1 or Windows NT operating system: Doubleclick the PhotoStudio program group, and double-click PhotoStudio 2.0. 3 Wait for the PhotoStudio application window to appear. Downloading (copying) still pictures to your computer 1 If possible, use the AC adapter to conserve the battery power. 2 Slide the camera main switch to PLAY. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 11 3 Click the File menu and select Download Polaroid Files to display the Download Options box. 4 Select PDC-800 as Source. (Serial Port selection is automatic; you do not need to edit it.) 5 Click Add to Album and choose New Album as the album name. 6 Choose an image format (J6i, JPG, BMP, or TIF) from the Save Images As box. (BMP is the recommended format for applications running under the Windows operating system. See the PhotoStudio User Manual for more information about file formats.) 7 Click OK to display the Download from Polaroid Camera box. 8 To download all the pictures in the camera, click Select All. To download some of the pictures, advance from one picture to the next by clicking the >> or << button. When the number of a picture to be downloaded appears or the picture appears on the LCD monitor, click the Current Frame checkbox to select it. Continue advancing and selecting until you select all the pictures you want to download. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 12 9 Click OK to start downloading the pictures from the camera to the computer. Each picture appears in an album frame after downloading. 10 Wait for a short audible tone from the camera, indicating that all the selected pictures have been downloaded. 11 If you want, type a description of the album contents in the Description box at the bottom of the Album window. 12 Click Save to display the Save New Album box. 13 Type a name for the album and click OK. The pictures you downloaded are visible in the Album window, and a file name appears below each picture. (The image files in the Polaroid subfolder of the Pstudio folder, on the drive with the PhotoStudio program files.) 14 To edit (rotate, retouch, crop, etc.) or print one or more of the album images with PhotoStudio software, go to Enhancing pictures with PhotoStudio software). To import the pictures to another application for editing, presentation or printing, go to Importing pictures to other applications on page 15. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 13 Downloading still pictures and audio To download still pictures with audio (pictures taken in the Still Picture & Audio mode) from the PDC-800 camera to the computer, use the steps in the previous section. To keep the recorded sound with the file, however, you must choose the J6i format for saving the files. After saving the still pictures with audio in a PhotoStudio album, you can import them into other applications as AVI files. See Importing pictures to other applications on page 15. Downloading continuous mode pictures You cannot download (copy) continuous mode pictures directly from the PDC-800 camera to your computer. You must first record or copy the pictures onto a memory card. (If necessary, see the PDC-800 Operation Manual to copy pictures from the camera internal memory to a memory card.) Next, remove the memory card from the PDC-800 camera and connect the card to a PCMCIA adapter on your computer. After connecting the memory card to your computer as described above, use these steps to download the pictures from the card to your computer: 1 Start the PhotoStudio application. 2 Click the File menu and select Download Polaroid Files to display the Download Options box. 3 Select Disk Drive as Source. 4 Click Add to Album and choose New Album as the album name. 5 Choose J6i as the image format from the Save Images As box. 6 Click OK to display the Copy to Album box. 7 Select the drive letter representing the PCMCIA port to display all the files on the memory card. 8 Select files by holding the Control key and clicking on the file names you want to download. 9 Click Open to start downloading the pictures from the camera to the computer. Each picture appears in an album frame after downloading. 10 Wait for a short audible tone from the camera, indicating that all the selected pictures have been downloaded. 11 If you want, type a description of the album contents in the Description box at the bottom of the Album window. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 14 12 Click Save to display the Save New Album box. 13 Type a name for the album and click OK. The pictures you downloaded are visible in the Album window, and a file name appears below each picture. (The image files in the Polaroid subfolder of the Pstudio folder, on the drive with the PhotoStudio program files.) 14 To import the pictures to another application, go to Importing pictures to other applications on page 15. Enhancing pictures with PhotoStudio software After you download pictures from the PDC-800 camera and display them in a PhotoStudio Album window as described in the previous section, you can use PhotoStudio software to edit or print one or more of them. To open an image file (picture) in the PhotoStudio application for editing or printing, double-click on the picture in the Album window. After the picture appears in its own PhotoStudio window, follow the instructions in the PhotoStudio User Manual to edit or print it. Importing pictures to other applications After downloading pictures from the camera to your computer, you have several ways to import them to other applications for enhancement, presentation or printing. Two effective methods are presented below, but you can also refer to your Windows documentation or application instructions for other techniques. Importing still picture files directly If you selected JPG, BMP or TIF file format when you downloaded the pictures to your computer, you can import the pictures directly into most graphics, presentation and word processing applications. (For files in the J6i format, you must use the Windows clipboard as described below.) For the picture-importing steps, refer to the instructions with your application. You can identify a picture you want to import by the file name below it in the PhotoStudio Album window. (You'll find the image files in the Polaroid subfolder of the Pstudio folder, on the drive with the PhotoStudio program files.) PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 15 Using the Windows clipboard for all picture types Still pictures Use the Windows clipboard to import still pictures to your application by double-clicking on a picture in the PhotoStudio Album window. When the picture appears in its own PhotoStudio window, click the Edit menu and select Copy. Next, open your graphics, presentation or word-processing application. Follow the application instructions for pasting a picture from the Windows clipboard into your current document. (For most applications, click the Edit menu and select Paste.) Still pictures with audio or continuous-mode pictures If the picture to be imported was taken in the Still Picture & Audio mode or in Continuous mode, double-click on the picture in the PhotoStudio Album window to display the Playback Options box. Then choose Play Video, Save Played AVI, a resolution and a color mode. Click OK to display the picture, play the audio or continuous picture sequence, and save the picture and sound as an AVI file. Next, click anywhere in the AVI window with the right mouse button to display a pop-up menu. Choose Copy from the pop-up menu to copy the picture and sound to the Windows clipboard. Open your graphics, presentation or word-processing application and follow the application instructions for pasting the AVI file from the Windows clipboard into your current document. (For most applications, click the Edit menu and select Paste.) Erasing pictures from the camera After you download your pictures from the PDC-800 camera to your computer, use one of the following procedures to erase the pictures from the camera before you take more pictures. You can also use the individual picture erasing procedure to erase an unsatisfactory picture immediately after you take it. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 16 Erasing pictures individually 1 Turn the camera main switch to PLAY. 2 Choose to erase pictures from either the internal memory or the memory card by pressing and holding the Select button until IN or CARD appears on the display panel. 3 Press the REC MODE/ERASE button to display Erase on the camera display panel. 4 Press the FWD or REV button until the number of a picture to be erased appears on the display panel or the picture appears on the LCD monitor, then press the shutter release button to erase the picture. 5 Repeat step 4 as necessary to erase additional pictures. 6 Press REC MODE/ERASE to exit from Erase mode. Erasing all pictures at once 1 Turn the camera main switch to PLAY. 2 Choose to erase pictures either from the internal memory or memory card by pressing and holding the Select button until IN or CARD appears on the display panel. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 17 3 Open the side cover of the camera, and press the FORMAT button with a ball-point pen until "Fo" appears on the display panel. 4 Press and hold the shutter release button until the camera emits a short tone. 5 Wait until the counter display returns to "0," indicating that all pictures have been erased and the internal memory or the memory card has been initialized. Picture storage capacity The number of pictures you can store in the PDC-800 internal memory depends on the image quality mode and recording mode you use. For example, a picture taken in the F (fine) quality mode and the Still Picture & Audio recording mode requires more storage space than a picture taken in the E (economy) quality mode and the Still Picture mode. The following table shows how many pictures you can store in the PDC-800 internal memory at various image quality and recording modes. Fine 9 pictures 7 9 9 Image quality Normal Economy 19 pictures 38 pictures 12 19 19 19 38 38 Still Picture mode Still Picture & Audio mode Continuous mode Document mode Audio mode 7 minutes 46 seconds PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 18 You can increase PDC-800 storage capacity by using the optional memory cards described in the following section. Selecting and using memory cards Optional, removable memory cards increase the PDC-800 picture storage capacity. The amount of increased storage depends on the storage capacity of each card and the number of cards you have. Purchasing memory cards You can purchase additional memory cards at many computer and electronic stores. Memory cards used with the PDC-800 must be one of the following: · · Flash memory cards conforming to ATA standard Type I or II memory cards conforming to PCMCIA 2.1, JEIDA 4.2 standard, with 40-megabyte maximum capacity and 300-nanosecond maximum write cycle Flash memory cards conforming to AIMS standard, with 40-megabyte maximum capacity · Memory card capacities Memory cards are available in various storage capacities. The table below provides the picture storage capacities of typical memory cards. 4 MB memory card Still Picture mode Still Picture & Audio mode Continuous mode Document mode Audio mode 10 MB memory card Still Picture mode Still Picture & Audio mode Continuous mode Document mode Audio mode Fine 52 pictures 43 52 52 Fine 18 pictures 14 18 18 Image quality Normal Economy 38 pictures 76 pictures 24 38 38 38 76 76 15 minutes 30 seconds Image quality Normal Economy 105 pictures 210 pictures 74 105 105 114 210 210 43 minutes 0 seconds PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 19 20 MB memory card Still Picture mode Still Picture & Audio mode Continuous mode Document mode Audio mode Fine 105 pictures 87 105 105 Image quality Normal Economy 211 pictures 422 pictures 149 211 211 230 422 422 86 minutes 33 seconds Inserting and removing memory cards To insert a memory card, open the camera side cover. Make sure the top surface of the card is facing upward, and insert the card into the camera in the direction indicated on the card. Gently press the card into the slot until the end of the card does not extend out of the slot. To remove the memory card, open the camera side cover and slide the card ejection lever as shown. Initializing (formatting) memory cards Before you can use a new memory card with the PDC-800, you must initialize it according to the steps below. You should also initialize memory cards that have been initialized for other devices or have been through more than 4000 record and playback cycles. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 20 1 Insert the memory card into the camera as described above. 2 Turn the camera main switch to PLAY. 3 Press and hold the Select button until CARD appears on the display panel. 4 Open the side cover of the camera, and press the FORMAT button with a ball-point pen until "Fo" appears on the display panel. 5 Press and hold the shutter release button until the camera emits a short tone, indicating that initializing has started. 6 Wait until "0" appears on the counter display, indicating that the memory card has been initialized. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 21 Changing the camera date and time 1 Slide the camera main switch to REC. 2 Press and hold the DATE button until the year on the display panel starts flashing. 3 Press the FWD or REV button to display the current year. 4 Press the DATE button again to start the month designation flashing, and press the FWD or REV button to display the current month. 5 Continue pressing the DATE button, then changing the flashing value with the FWD or REV button until you have set the day, hour and minute correctly. 6 Press the DATE button to exit from the date and time adjustment mode and start the clock. Selecting the image quality mode The PDC-800 offers three image quality modes: fine (F), normal (N), and economy (E). The F (fine) and N (normal) image quality modes provide excellent results when pictures are printed at normal size (3.75" x 5"). Use the E (economy) mode only when the pictures will be displayed on a screen or printed at smaller sizes. When you do not require maximum image quality, the E (economy) mode lets you store more pictures in the camera internal memory or on an image card. (See page 18 and 19 for internal memory and memory card capacities at various mode settings.) Pictures taken in the E mode also download more quickly to your computer. To change the image quality mode, slide the camera main switch to REC. Then press the PIC button until F, N, or E appears on the display panel. Note: You cannot change the image quality mode when a live image is visible on the LCD monitor. Press the LIVE button to turn off the LCD display, press the PIC button to choose the desired image quality, then press the LIVE button again to display a live image. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 22 Selecting the recording mode The PDC-800 has five recording modes: Recording mode Still Picture Still Picture & Audio Display panel symbol Description Records one picture at a time. Records one picture at a time, along with approximately 10 seconds of audio from the microphone built into the camera below the viewfinder. Records a sequence of pictures, at a rate of about one picture per second, as long as the shutter release button is held down. Records one high-contrast picture at a time. Suitable for photographing documents containing text and line-drawings. Records up to about 8 minutes of audio (from the built-in microphone) on the camera internal memory. Memory cards can also be used for longer recording times. Continuous Document Audio Because the most popular recording mode is Still Picture, most of the instructions in this guide refer to that mode. See the PDC-800 Operation Manual for information about the other recording modes. To choose the recording mode, slide the camera main switch to REC. Then press the REC MODE/ERASE button until the symbol for the desired mode appears on the display panel. Note: You cannot change the recording mode when a live image is visible on the LCD monitor. Press the LIVE button to turn off the LCD display, press the REC MODE/ERASE button to choose the desired mode, then press the LIVE button again to display a live image. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 23 Installing PhotoStudio software Use these steps to install PhotoStudio software on your computer for transferring pictures from the PDC-800 camera to your computer. (For computer requirements, see What you need on page 3.) 1 Start your computer and wait for the Windows desktop to appear. 2 Insert the disketted labeled Windows 3.x and Windows 95/NT Disk 1 ­ Setup into the floppy disk drive. 3 If you are using the Windows 95 operating system, click the Start button and select Run. If you are using Windows 3.1 or Windows NT operating sytem, click the File menu and select Run. 4 Type a:\setup and click OK. 5 Follow instructions on the screen to complete the installation. Other camera features The PDC-800 camera has many capabilities not described in this quick start guide. See the PDC-800 Operation Manual for more details about these features: · · · · · · · · Continuous mode recording Document recording Audio recording No-flash and forced-flash pictures Indicator lights Focus lock Live monitoring (with manual focus) Self-timer · · · · · Copying images from internal memory to a memory card Exposure adjustment or compensation (EV adjustment) Macro (close-up) pictures Auto power-off Audible indicator (buzzer) PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 24 Important operating tips Extending battery life Four alkaline AA camera batteries may have a shorter life than the 300 pictures estimated in the PDC-800 Operation Manual. Use the AC adapter whenever possible to extend battery life. For greater economy, you can use rechargeable NiCad or NiMH batteries in place of alkaline batteries. Holding the camera When taking pictures, hold the camera as shown below. Be sure to keep your fingers away from the lens and flash. Taking still pictures in rapid sequence When taking several pictures in rapid sequence while in the Still Picture mode, wait at least 1 second between pictures to prevent recording errors. Pausing at off when moving the camera main switch When moving the camera main switch from REC to PLAY or from PLAY to REC, pause briefly at the OFF position to avoid memory card reading errors. Camera care and troubleshooting Refer to Chapter 5 of PDC-800 Operation Manual for detailed camera handling, care and troubleshooting. PDC-800 Quick Start ­ Page 25