Because the J1 is geared toward ease of use, I didn't read the reviewer's guide before shooting with the small but well-constructed camera (no user manual was available, either). The J1's operation is pretty straightforward, although consumers will want to at least browse the user manual to understand what lies beneath the mode dial's four modes, Motion Snapshot, Smart Photo Selector, Still Image, and Movie. The occasional tip or hint will appear on the LCD, suggesting a trip to the F (function) button for mode-specific options.

I didn't take long to get up to speed on the J1, although initially I overlooked the tiny F (function) button. But the menus are easy--if a little long--to navigate. Fortunately, using the camera's command dial to scroll through the options speeds up the process.

Below the mode dial on the camera's rear panel is the typical control layout found on the majority of compact cameras, including display, playback, and menu buttons, as well as a dial for navigating, adjusting exposure compensation, accessing AE/AF lock, and setting the flash and self-timer. The top panel is home to the camera's tiny pop-up flash, on/off button, shutter button, and movie-recording button.

Although the control layout is pretty standard, the J1 requires a bit of menu-diving for anything beyond the basics, namely choosing exposure modes (full manual, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, scene auto selector, and program auto); switching between JPEG, RAW, and RAW + JPEG; selecting frame rates for video; and choosing from standard, neutral, vivid, monochrome, portrait, and landscape picture controls, among other options.