Getting more out of the W880i's camera

The Sony Ericsson W880i may be primarily a music phone but it also has a top quality 2.0 megapixel camera and video recording capability.

While the W880i's camera offers impressive performance just using its automatic settings, you can unlock a lot more of its potential by learning how to get the most from its various settings.

To enter the camera mode, simply hold the phone horizontally, then press and hold the camera button on the upper right edge. The screen will become your camera viewfinder (Figure 1). Click the camera button again or press the centre navigation key to capture an image,

To access the camera menu, press Settings.

Pressing Left and Right on the control pad (up and down in vertical phone mode) will let you scroll through the options.

Pressing Down will set the camera to video mode (Figure 2), while Up will revert to camera mode.

One of the first things to consider is the size of the image. You can adjust this to 2MP (large), 1MP (medium) and VGA (small). Large is the best option if you want to keep your pictures and transfer them to a PC for printing later.

The screen size on the W880i isn’t large enough to really see the full potential of a 2.0 megapixel image but you should see a big difference when displayed on your computer screen.

To change image size, Press Settings, highlight Picture size and click Select (Figure 3). Select the size you want (Figure 4) and click Select to return to the viewfinder. Your chosen picture size will be displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen.

The Picture quality setting lets you increase the quality of your photos. Press Settings, highlight Picture quality and click Select (Figure 5). To increase the quality of an image, highlight Fine and click Select (Figure 6).

Fine images are slightly less compressed, and will appear smoother, especially on a PC. However, they are larger in size, and so if you’re planning on sending pictures via email or MMS, it is a good idea to reduce the size and quality of the shots you’re taking as this will make them faster - and cheaper - to send.

Adjusting the Shoot mode in the camera menu lets you take different types of shot. Panorama will take three shots in succession; after you take the first shot, you’ll see an outline of the right-hand edge of the first image, which lets you line it up with your next photo. This is great for taking pictures of scenery and panoramas.

For action shots, set the Shoot mode to Burst. This will take four photos in rapid succession and save them so you can pick the best one later. Frames mode lets you add fun frames that overlay the viewfinder before you take the shot.

To activate any of these modes, click Settings, highlight Shoot mode and click Select (Figure 7). Choose your mode using the navigation keys and click Select (Figure 8).

Other options within camera settings include Night mode and Light. Night mode enhances the brightness for use in low lighting conditions, while the Light acts as a substitute for a flash.

The W880i also includes a choice of effects (Figures 9 & 10), which let you take photos as negatives, in sepia tints, or in black & white. The camera also features a self timer – activate this by highlighting the self-timer icon and clicking Select.

When you press the shutter button, the camera will tick for 10 seconds, allowing you to get into position before the photo is captured.

Like many digital cameras, the W880i camera also offers an adjustable White Balance. It is set to automatic by default, but it’s worth experimenting with the different settings to get the best possible results from your phone camera.

Choose from Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Incandescent to suit different lighting conditions. You can access these by scrolling right in the camera setting until you highlight White balance, then pressing Select.