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| FZ1000 This picture of Djupivogur, Iceland got in because I like it, although it was not taken with a G7. |
Setup Menu
Setup Menu is the one to work through first even though Panasonic put it second last on the list, go figure.
Most of the Setup Menu items are well described in the Owners Manual and require little help from me.
I mention some which might benefit from a little extra explanation.
Live View Mode (Page 75) is a bit confusing. There appears to be little observable difference between 30fps and 60fps. I set 60.
Monitor Display Both the monitor and EFV (LVF in Panasonic speak) are adjustable for Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Green/Red balance and Yellow/Blue balance.
NOTE: To adjust the EVF select [Monitor Display] then look in the viewfinder. Now the adjustments apply to the EVF. The Manual does say this on Page 76 but plenty of owners and reviewers miss that and assume the EVF is not adjustable, when it is.
I find the monitor looks fine with all settings at default but the EVF is way too contrasty for the typically high subject brightness range found in Sydney so I use for the EVF: Brightness +2, Contrast -6, Saturation 0, Red tint -3, Blue tint -2.
Monitor Luminance I leave this at Auto which works fine.
Economy Time to Sleep Mode and time to Auto LVF/Monitor Off is adjustable. I just leave both at the 5 minute default.
Menu Resume There is no [My Menu] so Menu Resume ON is handy. When the [Menu/Set] button is pressed after the camera is switched on it will return to the last used menu and tab. When you switch to a different menu the last used tab will be highlighted.
Menu Background You can play around with this. As with most things on this camera there are plenty of options.
Version Disp tells you which firmware version is loaded on the body and lens.
Exposure Comp Reset This is very useful. When ON any Exposure Compensation setting will be cancelled if you switch the camera off or change Mode. This saves inadvertent exposure compensation.
Sensor Cleaning The Owners Manual says this is to “blow off’ debris on the sensor. I suspect a problem with translation to the English language here. I believe the cover filter in front of the sensor is actually vibrated.
FormatAlways format a card in the camera before using it especially if the card was previously used in another camera.
Recording Menu
Photo Style This is a very important setting for JPG shooters. By default you get a series of presets, Standard, Vivid, Natural etc. That’s fine but I recommend you figure out a Custom Photo Style which can be applied to any of the presets by pressing the down Cursor Key then adjusting Contrast, Sharpness, Noise Reduction and Color Saturation.
Best settings will depend on personal preference and also environment. I photograph mostly in Sydney where clear skies and high subject brightness range are common.
My Custom settings are Contrast -3, Sharpness +1, Noise Reduction -5, Saturation 0.
Some recent Panasonic cameras including the G7 apply considerable NR by default, presumably for smooth results at high ISO. I find this gives a highly un-natural “waxworks” appearance to faces.
You can change the settings any time.
Filter Settings You can apply the Creative Control filters in PASM modes and Panorama, JPG only.
You can also take one shot with and another without the filter, again JPG only.
Aspect Ratio The camera actually captures only one native aspect ratio which is 4:3. It does not have a multi aspect ratio sensor. Ratios other than 4:3 are achieved by simple crop.
Picture Size Why would you buy a 16 Mp camera then only use half or a quarter of the pixels ?
For some people it might be to squeeze more shots onto a memory card I guess, but the reason which make a bit more sense to me is to access the [Ex Tele Conv] feature mysteriously found on screen 7 of the Rec Menu instead of adjacent to the Picture Size tab where it might more logically be located.
This provides a type of digital tele extender which could be useful in some circumstances.
Quality You get RAW, JPG at two levels or RAW+JPG. If RAW+JPG is selected the JPG only functions are inoperative. If you assign [Quality] to a Fn button or the Q menu then changing the setting in one place (say, the Fn button) will be reflected in the menu.
AFS/AFF This determines which option is applied when the Focus Mode lever is set to the AFS/AFF position. AFS (AF Single) is reasonably self explanatory, AFF is a bit more complicated.
Thus its operation is similar to AFS with a static subject. It is not quite the same however. With the kit zoom on the G7 I found AFS achieves focus more quickly with less back and forth focus movement than AFF.
But if the camera detects subject movement it switches to AF Continuous until the subject movement ceases.
AFF is not the same as AFC in which the camera continuously exercises AF movement even if the subject is static.
My tests show AFS is faster and more positive with still subjects and AFC is more responsive with moving subjects.
Metering Mode You can have Multi (which is the default), Center Weighted or Spot.
If you want to get yourself into a whole heap of bother with metering by all means try Spot.
Ceterweighted is there I suppose for traditionalists who grew up with this on their SLR many years ago. It works OK.
Multi is like Centerweighted with algorithms to recognise various different scene types. For all general photography this is the most reliable.
Burst Rate See the table in the Manual Page 182
The camera will shoot up to 40 still photo frames per second in Super High with the E-Shutter ON. This could be useful for analysing a golf swing for instance, where the subject is not moving in relation to the camera.
In the more usual case where you want to photograph a subject moving towards or away from the camera you should set Burst Rate M which provides live view and AF on each frame at 6 fps. The G7 has DFD focus which with a suitable lens enables a high percentage of in focus shots of moving subjects at 6 FPS. This capability is similar to that of a semi pro DSLR.
4K Photo Manual Pages 185-191 The G7 has the facility to capture still photos of about 8 Mpx each at very high speed using 4K Photo Mode. I have not yet gained experience with this but users on forums are reporting some hitherto unavailable capabilities.
The procedure is very fully described in the Manual.
Note there is a new to M43 cameras dedicated 4K Photo position on the Drive Mode Dial.
Auto Bracket Manual Page 199-200 The Manual describes the options and setting method pretty well. You should set Burst, in the [Single/Burst Settings] tab unless there is a specific reason for wanting to press the shutter button for each exposure of the set.
Unfortunately neither the G7 nor other Panasonic cameras allow Timer Delay to be used with Auto Bracketing. So on tripod, you either have to hold the camera while it is on the tripod, which is sometimes quite feasible, or trigger the shutter with a smartphone or (electronic) cable release.
Self Timer This for times when you have the camera on a tripod. There are three options: 10 sec to get in the group photo, 10 sec then three shots hoping that in one of them everybody’s eyes will be open or 2 sec to prevent camera shake. This is a good one to bring up to the Q menu.
Time Lapse Animation Manual Pages 203-208. I have to confess I have yet to figure out how to get Time Lapse working. There is extensive description of it in the manual however.
Highlight/Shadow Manual, Page 135. I first saw this feature in Olympus M43 cameras, now Panasonic has it. It works for RAW and JPG capture. The problem is that it bakes in a tone curve which you might later decide does not suit the subject.
Now we come to a group of picture settings which only work on JPG files.
i-Dynamic Page 143 The main purpose of this function is to prevent blown out highlights in JPG photos when there is high subject brightness range. Basically the camera underexposes the photo then lifts the dark tones to make a normal looking output.
I find it very useful. The options are High, Standard, Low, Auto and Off.
I set Auto and leave it there permanently. The camera detects high subject brightness range and applies the correction automatically.
i-Resolution Page 143 My understanding of this is that the camera seeks to apply sharpening to places where it is required such as foliage but not where it is not needed such as in clouds and sky.
The effect is subtle. You might want to try it.
I leave it Off as I have not yet been convinced of its value.
i-Handheld Night Shot Page 86: Works with iA and iA+ only. I think the description on Page 86 is adequate.
i-HDR Page 87: Works with iA and iA+ only.
These two features are fully automatic, relying on the camera to detect and respond to the current conditions.
HDR Page 144. This works in the PASM Modes. The camera takes three shots in quick succession when the shutter button is pressed once and combines the three into a single JPG file with better highlight and shadow detail than could be achieved with one shot.
It does work but only for JPG capture and output.
Under the [Set] tab you can select auto, +-1, +-2 or +-3 EV or Auto bracketing. I find Auto works well enough.
It will work with careful hand held use as long as Auto Align is ON.
Multi Exp(osure) Page 210-211 This is another Panasonic feature which appears in successive cameras and which I still fail to comprehend. I have played around with it and never figured out how it works or is supposed to work. There is an explanation in the Manual which others may understand better than me.
Panorama Settings Page 103-104 Panorama has its own position on the Main Mode Dial.
Turn the Mode Dial to the Panorama icon then the Panorama settings tab in the Rec Menu becomes active.
The function works at any zoom position but as the lens is zoomed out sweep angle decreases.
I find Picture size Standard works best. Wide is really too wide for most purposes.
The Direction indications are correct but a bit confusing. You can sweep horizontally (Left > Right) in landscape or portrait orientation and you can sweep vertically in landscape or portrait orientation.
I find the most useful setting is the bottom one of the four available which allows sweeping horizontally with portrait orientation.
Success with Panorama requires careful subject selection and some practice.
Electronic Shutter Page 179. I recommend allocating this to a Fn button or the Q Menu. It is required to prevent blur due to shutter shock with some lenses at some focal lengths and shutter speeds. I use it most of the time for general photography. See the list of imaging and capture limitations with E-Shutter listed on Page 179. I have several posts about it on this blog.
Shutter Delay Page 180. This works with the mechanical shutter and is useful for tripod work when the exposure time is longer than 1 second.
The M-Shutter on a mirrorless camera has a 4 action cycle: Close>open>exposure>close>open.
The first close action can shake the camera causing blur. Shutter delay introduces a delay of the set time between the first (close) action and the second (open) action. My tests show this is enough to prevent blur. I use 2 seconds which also allows camera shake to dissipate.
I put Shutter Delay with some other settings on a Custom Mode for long exposure tripod work.
Flash Page 234-241. I think the explanations in the Owners manual are quite adequate. The G7 has some very sophisticated flash capabilities including off camera studio setups. I hardly ever use flash so I know very little about it.
The [Flash] tab will be greyed out if E-Shutter is ON.
Red Eye Removal Page 234 The red eye removal function is described on Page 234 of the Manual.
ISO Limit Set This is the highest speed which Auto ISO will set. If you assign ISO to a Fn button then pressing the button brings up a dual dial display with ISO limit assigned to the front dial and ISO setting assigned to the rear dial.
This provides a fast way to control ISO setting.
ISO Increments It might be tempting to set 1/3 step increments but 1 step is faster. You get 1/3 step exposure increments anyway as both the aperture and shutter speed use 1/3 step increments.
Extended ISO The “native” base ISO setting of the sensor is 200. With [Extended ISO] ON you can set ISO 100. Beware of this. When overexposed highlights are recovered in Adobe Camera Raw they take on a bright pink hue. For all general photography I suggest avoiding ISO 100.
Fortunately Auto ISO will not use to 100 setting.
Long Shtr NR When active the camera makes the exposure then applies noise reduction taking the same time as the exposure. I generally recommend this be turned ON although that could be inconvenient with very long exposures.
The tab will be greyed out if E-Shutter is ON because long exposures are not available with E-Shutter.
Shading Comp Page 145 This applies a post capture software correction for darkening at the periphery of the frame which can occur with some lenses.
Diffraction Comp Page 146 This seeks to correct presumably by applying sharpening for loss of sharpness which can occur when the lens aperture is stoped down to smaller (larger f number) than f8.
These two corrections may be useful for JPG shooters who want to use pictures straight out of camera.
They both add to the processing load of each image and may slow Burst Mode speeds.
Ex Tele Conv Pages 225-227 As previously mentioned this provides a form of digital zoom. It only works if Image Size is set to M (8Mpx) or S (4Mpx).
There are two options:
Zoom: you can read all about this in the Manual. Panasonic claims the feature can be used “without deteriorating image quality” which seems quite disingenuous to me. Presumably they mean no deterioration beyond that which would be found with 8 Mpx or 4 Mpx anyway. This feature involves assigning a Fn button, which means using a high priority control module for a low priority function.
Tele Conv: This selection makes the angle of view behave as if an optical teleconverter were fitted to the lens, thereby reducing the angle of view at all positions of the zoom ring.
Digital Zoom Page 227 This is another digital zoom option.
I have done many trials with digital zoom options on the FZ1000 camera and found that cropping a RAW file gives a better result. I presume that will be the case for the M43 format as well.
However JPG shooters might want to explore Ex Tele Conv or Digital zoom to extend the effective reach of any lens.
Color Space This can be set to Adobe RGB or sRGB. I set it to Adobe RGB which is optimal for RAW capture. JPGs will use sRGB anyway.
Stabiliser Some lenses have a OIS ON/OFF switch on the lens barrel, some do not. Stabiliser control is a good one to assign to a Fn button or the Q Menu as you are likely to want to access it quickly. Panasonic recommends it be switched OFF when the camera is on tripod. I put it on Fn11.
Face Recog Pages 213-217 Note this is not Face Detection AF. Face Recog involves programming the camera to recognise a specific face and focus on that. No doubt this is a bit of clever technology which of course DSLRs can’t do with OVF viewing and maybe that is why we see it on current Panasonic cameras. But the person using the camera is perfectly capable of deciding which subject should be in focus so the practical purpose of Face Recog has always somewhat eluded me.
Profile Setup Page 218 This allows you to “record profiles of babies and pets on images”
Presumably someone, somewhere, finds this useful.
That’s it for Rec Menu, Custom Menu is the next post in this series.
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