Nikon CoolPix950 Instructions for

OneShot360™

Recommended Camera Settings

•Turn the camera on to the manual recording mode (M-REC)

•Set image quality to Fine. This is accomplished by holding down the "QUAL" button located below the color LCD screen and rotating the dial located in front of and below the shutter release button until "FINE" appears in the lower right hand corner of the color LCD screen.

•Disable the flash. To toggle between the different flash modes, including OFF, press the flash mode button located to the right of the small digital LCD screen near the shutter release button. The flash mode is indicated on both LCD screens (on the right hand side of the small digital LCD screen and in the upper right hand corner of the larger color LCD screen).

•We recommend zooming in until the circular OneShot360 image exactly fills the digital camera LCD viewer screen. If you zoom in too much, you will lose part of the field of view. If you zoom in too little, you will not get maximum resolution. Note also that the OneShot360 image may not be exactly centered in the LCD screen – this is normal. The zoom control is located on the same side of the camera as the color LCD screen in the upper right hand corner. You must re-calibrate the zoom level after powering the camera down.

•For indoor shots, put the camera in aperture priority mode. This is done by holding down the "MODE" button located below the color LCD screen and rotating the dial in front of and slightly below the shutter release button. You are in aperture priority mode when the letter "A" appears in the lower left hand corner of both LCD screens. Next set the camera to the middle of 3 aperture settings (approximately F4.7 at the correct zoom level for OneShot360 images). You can see the aperture value in the lower middle portion of the color LCD screen and also in the smaller digital LCD screen. For outdoor shots, automatic exposure is fine. This mode is indicated by the letter "P" in the lower left hand corner of both LCD screens.

•The Nikon CoolPix 950 is equipped with a timer. This allows the photographer to exit the area before the shot is taken. This button is located on the same side of the camera as the smaller digital LCD screen, on the lower right hand side. Press the button 3 times until the timer symbol appears in the upper left hand corner of the color LCD screen. The timer must be manually re-enabled for each shot that you want to use it.

•Now make sure the camera is set to a focal distance of 1.5 meters. The button for placing the camera in manual focus mode is the same as that for setting the timer, so if you want to use both the timer and a manual focus setting, you must enable the timer first. Otherwise the camera will be set back to auto focus mode when you enable the timer. To input a manual focus distance, press and hold down the manual focus mode button as you rotate the dial located just in front of and below the shutter release button. Rotate that dial until 1.5 appears on either LCD screen.

Optional Menu Settings

By pressing the "MENU" button just above the color LCD screen, you will have access to a few more settings you may find useful. While in these menus, use the zoom buttons to scroll up and down the menus and use the shutter release button to select a value or setting:

•Under fluorescent lights, the final image sometimes has a bluish tinge. Consider using the “fluorescent” white balance setting for a warmer-looking indoor picture.

•Matrix Metering (the default) gives the best results for OneShot360 images

•Under the "SET UP" sub-menu, you may want to change the "AUTO OFF" setting to a longer time period such as 5 minutes. Although this feature helps to save battery life, the default value (30 seconds) may not be enough time to set up for a OneShot360 image, at least until you are more familiar with the process.

•Also under the "SET UP" sub-menu, there is an option called "CONTROLS" which leads to another sub-menu. You may want to check the first three options in this sub-menu. This will maintain your flash, mode (aperture priority) and focus settings even if you turn the camera on and off between shots. However, you will still have to place the camera in manual focus mode every time you want to use the timer for a shot (because the timer switches off after every shot, and pressing the timer/M-focus button to re-enable the timer switches the camera back in to auto-focus mode).