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C H A P T E R
Exploring the
Sony Alpha
A700
G
oing out and photographing with your Sony Alpha
A700 set on Auto is easy, but to really unlock the
capabilities of your camera, knowledge is the key. This chapter
helps get you acquainted with the A700 and all of its controls
and features.
The A700 is built on an aluminum chassis made of a magne-
sium alloy with a plastic-coated exterior and rubber environ-
mental seals. The camera features a 12-megapixel CMOS
sensor, an 11-point auto focus system, and a wide range of ISO
speeds. With a 3-inch LCD, an impressive range of color modes
(called Creative Styles), and Dynamic-Range Optimizer func-
tions that are supported in RAW using the included Sony soft-
ware, the A700 offers tremendous power to get great shots.
However, it also has many buttons, switches, levers, and dials,
to control all these great features. This chapter guides you
through what and where all the controls are.
Camera Controls
Holding the camera as you would when shooting, you should
notice that the layout of the buttons and the controls seems
to be just right. And, with the amazing amount of customiza-
tion that is possible with the A700, some of the buttons can
even be programmed to perform different functions.
Chapter 2 covers customization; the definitions
here apply to a camera with the factory default
settings.
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In This Chapter
Camera controls
Remote Commander
Viewfinder display
LCD display
Image files
ISO sensitivity
Viewing images on the
camera
White balance setting
Metering modes
Scene exposure modes
Semiautomatic and
manual exposure
modes
Drive modes
Creative Styles
D-Range Optimization
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