Setting up the Panasonic TZ80 (ZS60) Part 1

TZ80

  

Basic decisions- touch screen, focus area, function buttons, dials

This series of three posts concentrates on still photography. 

The TZ80 is a very capable video camera with many options including 4K. However my interest and experience is with stills. Please consult other sources for discussion about video capture.

Panasonic’s first model of the TZ (Travel Zoom) line was the TZ1 of  2006. This was well reviewed for its many desirable qualities but criticised for not allowing the user to directly control aperture and shutter speed.

Over the years, successive TZ models have gained increased levels of user control. So now with the  TZ80 (ZS60) of 2016  we have a compact camera with a level of  features, configurability and control similar to that which you might expect to find on an enthusiast level DSLR or MILC.

The TZ80 in [iA] Mode is still the snapshooters friend but it has much more to offer for the enthusiast/expert user who is prepared to utilise the camera’s full capability.

The Operating Instructions for Advanced Features (which by the way also cover the TZ100/101/110) available online,  describe in considerable detail the many settings you might make but have little to say about why you might select one in preference to others.

Snapshooters  and beginners to camera photography can leave all settings at factory default, set the Mode Dial to [iA], charge the battery, insert an SD memory card, set the time and date when prompted and start taking photos without further ado.

This little series of posts is aimed at users who want to take more control over camera operation.

Panasonic offers  [iA+] Mode on the TZ80.  Press the Menu/Set button with the Mode Dial at the [iA] position and see the [iA] icon at the top left of the monitor screen. Scroll right to select [iA+].

Clearly Panasonic is prompting you to consider [iA+] as the next step up from ordinary [iA] Mode. 

Indeed [iA+] gives you more features and capabilities than [iA].  By all means experiment with the options available in [iA+].

However I find this Mode more confusing than helpful and recommend moving right along to the P (Program) Mode setting on the Mode Dial, then to the A, S and M modes.  These provide much more user control of the image capture process.

To make best use of the options available some basic decisions must be made. Central to this process is selecting the method of moving the active AF area.  Just like more expensive cameras the TZ80 allows you to move the active AF area anywhere in the frame (and to change its size).

The AF area position can be moved using the touch screen, with several options available or the Cursor Buttons (4 way controller) again with several options available.

But wait: You also need to decide whether you are a left eye viewer or a right eye viewer.

Why ?  Because it is easier for right eye viewers to use the ‘Touch Pad AF’ function described below.

Why is that ?,   Because left eye viewers constantly find their nose touching the screen thereby causing unwanted actions.

Therefore it is more likely that touch screen operation will find favour with right eye viewers than left eye viewers.

Fear not lefties, you can use the ‘Direct Focus Area’ function of the Cursor Buttons as described below.  Of course right eye viewers can also use the ‘Direct Focus Area’ function.

Holding the camera in landscape orientation. This is a bit unconventional but effective. The left index finger forms an eyecup around the viewfinder, excluding stray light and setting the eye at the optimal distance from the eyepiece. The left hand has a secure grip on the camera allowing the right hand to release grip completely as required. The fourth finger of the left hand rests on and can operate the lens ring to adjust aperture or shutter speed. The fingers must not be allowed to rest on the inner barrel(s) of the lens. This could lead to optical decentering or possibly damage to the zoom mechanism.

Portrait orientation. This is not quite as secure as the hold in landscape orientation but is still adequately effective. The right thumb can still be used for Touch Pad AF or Direct Focus Area.

Holding the camera

Whether you decide to use ‘Touch Pad AF’ or “Direct Focus Area’ there is still the question of holding the camera securely.  This refers  particularly to the position of the left hand  and fingers which have to hold the camera while the AF area is being moved by either method as both require the right hand to release its grip on the camera. 

Touch screen functions   Screen 7/8 in the Custom Menu, Pages 61-64 of the Operating Instructions.

The TZ80 has touch screen functions,  previous TZ models did not. Some people are ardent supporters of touch screens on still cameras, others are less enthusiastic. 

It may be that Panasonic added touch to the TZ80 in order to support the various 4K photo capabilities.

Once you set Touch Screen ON,  the fields below become active. These are Touch Tab, Touch AF (with submenu options) and Touch Pad AF (also with submenu options).  

The problem for still photos is that it is difficult to utilise touch screen functions while looking through the viewfinder (EVF or in Pana-speak, LVF).

Touch Pad AF is a method for moving the active AF area with your right thumb on the monitor while looking through the viewfinder. This works as advertised by Panasonic. The sub menu options are [Exact] and [Offset]. I recommend [Offset] which allows you to move the AF area across to the left side of the frame without your thumb having to go past midway on the monitor. It also allows you to ‘nudge’ the AF area which is not possible when moving AF area while looking at the monitor.

I am finding this function works quite well with the TZ80. On larger cameras like the M43 models,  I find  Touch Pad AF not very useful because of the distance which the right thumb must move from its normal position in order to reach the middle of the monitor screen. In addition with  hump top models the location of the EVF causes the face to obstruct movement of the right thumb across the monitor screen.  The other problem is that you need to press the Disp button to recenter/resize the AF area and this is easier if the thumb is already on the Cursor Buttons. So on those cameras I use and recommend ‘Direct Focus Area’ using the cursor Buttons.

But the TZ80 is a much smaller camera, it is easily supported by the left hand, the EVF is at the far left side and the right thumb can easily reach across into the monitor screen area. So Touch Pad AF becomes a viable option on this camera.

Before leaving this subject I just mention an odd behaviour which I encountered while testing the various touch screen options. If you have your nose or a finger touching the screen then touch the screen with a second finger and move that second finger it has the effect of changing the size of the Active AF area without moving it.

The normal method of changing active AF area size is to rotate the rear dial when the AF Area Setting Screen is active  (AF area is yellow with four yellow arrows).  Press the Disp Button when the AF area square looks like this to return the square to center. Press Disp again to restore the AF square to default size.

Update July 2016:  I got irritated by the incessant propensity for the AF area to go walkabout when touch screen is active so I have switched it off and use Direct Focus Area as below.

Moving  active focus area with the Cursor Keys

If you are a left eye viewer or decide for your own reasons that you do not like Touch Pad AF then you can move the active AF Area with the Cursor Keys.

As usual with a Panasonic camera there are several ways you can approach this.

The two most useful are:

1.  Assign AF Mode (Autofocus Mode) to a Function Button.  When you press that button the AF Mode screen displays. Then press the Down cursor Button to enter the [AF Area] screen with the AF area displayed with a yellow bounding box and four yellow arrows.  Now the Cursor Buttons will move the AF Area up/down/left/right.  Rotate the rear dial to change AF Area size. Press the Disp button to center the AF Area. Press Disp again to revert the AF area to default size.  Half press the shutter button to re enter capture mode.

That method works but you have to press two different buttons to reach the point where you can move the active AF Area.

2. Direct Focus Area.  Find this at the bottom of Custom Menu screen 2/8 and Page 156-157  of the Operating Instructions.

When [Direct Focus Area] is ON you can directly move the active AF Area with the Cursor Keys without first having to press any other button.

This is a wonderful thing but the downside is you have to find alternative access points for the default functions of  the Cursor Buttons:

* Exposure Compensation and Flash Control can be found in the Q Menu.

* Drive Mode and Focus Mode do not have a place in the Q Menu (and there is no facility for a Custom Q Menu on the TZ80)  or in any of the Main Menus so if you want to access these, and you most definitely do, you must allocate them to a Function Button. 

So if you want to move the AF Area with the Cursor Keys this process leaves  only one Fn button with function as yet unallocated.

Does it need to be this complicated ?

NO !!!

In my view it is way past time that all manufacturers fitted their cameras with a JOG lever (a.k.a.Joystick) There is a perfect spot for one on the back of the TZ80, centered on the ‘F’ of the Fn4/LVF button.

The JOG lever does away with all the rigmarole currently required to setup a method for moving the active AF Area. The prime purpose of the JOG lever is to directly move AF Area around the frame. 

The technology is well established with JOG levers having been fitted to high end cameras for many years.

Q Menu

The TZ80 has a fixed Q Menu. Many other Panasonic cameras allow a Custom Q Menu which would have been handy for the TZ80 but sorry, it doesn’t have one. (but the TZ100 does, go figure) 

Fortunately most of the items which are provided are useful in the Prepare and Capture Phases of use.

Principles

Optimally you want to control primary and secondary focus and exposure parameters in Capture Phase of use with the shutter button and the front (lens ring) and rear (around the Cursor Buttons) dial, supplemented if required by Fn buttons.

Any spare Fn buttons and the Q Menu are ideal for making adjustments in the Prepare Phase of use.

Settings which do not require adjustment in Prepare or Capture Phases are best left in the Main Menu system. ‘Menu Resume’ allows the most often used items to be reached promptly.

Function button assignments

There are 49 possible functions which can be allocated to the Function Buttons. See the list on Pages 71-72 of the Operating Instructions and  Custom Menu,  screen 6/8  [Fn Button Set]  then click through to scroll through the 13 screens!  of options for each button.

The number which can be assigned depends on:

a) whether you have decided to use Touch Pad AF or Direct Focus Area to move the active AF Area.

b) Whether you decide to use the ‘soft’ Fn 5,6,7,8,9  buttons or not.  These appear as flyouts from the [Fn] soft button  on the right side of the monitor screen when Touch Tab is set to ON.

I suspect that people are going to love or hate these soft Fn buttons depending on their finger size and experience with texting on small screens. 

I can only suggest you give them a try. They are the only way to get additional Fn button items once functions have been allocated to the four hard Fn Buttons.  I personally found the touch screen Fn buttons frustratingly small, fiddly and a distraction from the process of making pictures but some users with small fingers will very likely love them.

Ring/Dial Set

Find this in the Custom Menu, screen 7/8 and Page 75 of the Operating Instructions. You will see that in typical Panasonic fashion there are 17 functions which can be assigned to each of the front (lens ring) and rear (Control) dials.

Decisions

You will see that the options available for the Fn Buttons and Ring/Dial functions are a dog’s breakfast of Setup, Prepare and Capture Phase items jumbled together in haphazard fashion.

Some of these items are duplicated in the Main Menus, some in the Q Menu, some nowhere else.

As Harry Belafonte once sang, “it’s as clear as mud, but it cover’ de ground”.

Each individual will have his or her own ideas about which functions they want to be quickly accessible so it is not useful for me to be prescriptive.

So I will indicate what selections I use and why. The reader will have different priorities and thus will reach different conclusions.  Whatever you decide is easily altered at any time.

I use Touch Pad AF to move the active AF Area.  

Update: See below. I have decided the camera works better for me with the touch functions switched off.

Ring/Dial Set: 

I leave both at Default.  This means both have the same function in P Mode (Program shift) A Mode (Change Aperture) and S Mode (Change Shutter Speed). In M Mode the Ring changes Aperture and the Rear Dial changes Shutter Speed.

It is tempting to allocate some other function to either the Ring or Dial. For instance you can allocate Exposure Compensation to the Rear Dial for quicker adjustment than is possible with the Up cursor button.  But then the dial will not change Shutter Speed in M Mode.

Update July 2016:   I now have Exposure Compensation allocated to the rear dial. In M Mode the shutter speed can be set either via the Q Menu or by turning the mode Dial to S and setting the desired shutter speed which will be retained when the dial is turned to M.

So what initially appears to be a cornucopia of options may well amount to something less for users who want to use M  Mode.

If you use M Mode infrequently then it could  be appropriate to allocate control of a primary or secondary exposure or focus parameter to one of the dials, leaving the other one to serve its principal function as described above.

Note: There is a workaround for M Mode if the rear dial is set to Exposure Compensation. Shutter Speed can be changed via the Q Menu.

Thus you might allocate  Sensitivity (ISO), Exposure Compensation or White Balance to one of the dials. Most of the other options are for Setup or Prepare Phase actions, more appropriate to a Fn Button or the Main Menu.

Function Buttons:  My selections are: With touch screen functions ON:

Fn1:  Quality (RAW/JPG)  Note that Quality is available in the Q Menu.  If you habitually use one quality setting and might only occasionally want to change it, then this Fn button could be used for something else.

Fn2: Sensitivity (ISO)  This is also available on the Q Menu for users who typically set Auto ISO and only occasionally want direct control of the ISO setting. If so, this button could be used for something else.

Fn3: Q Menu. I use this button for Q Menu because it is near the bottom of the camera in a lower priority position than Fn 1 and 2 which I use for more frequently accessed items. You must use one of the Fn Buttons for the Q Menu.

Fn4: Stabiliser (OIS) If you never use a tripod then you probably never need to turn the Stabiliser off and can leave it in the Rec Menu, thereby freeing up Fn4 for some other function.

Update  After working with the camera for a week I have decided for ergonomic reasons to switch off touch screen functions and use Direct Focus Area to move the AF area.

I will post separately about this but in practice I have found that camera operation is more streamlined without the touch screen functions.  When the Cursor Buttons are used to move the AF Area my thumb stays within a small area while changing AF area, AF area size and returning AF Area to default position and size via the Disp Button.

I have the lens ring set to default function which is Program Shift in P mode, Change Aperture in A Mode and Change Shutter Speed in S Mode.

I have allocated Exposure Compensation to the Rear Dial for quick operation. Unfortunately this means that the Rear Dial will not change Shutter Speed in M Mode. All is not lost however. Shutter Speed can be adjusted via the Q Menu. This is cumbersome and means in practice I will rarely if ever use M Mode.  

My Function Button allocations are: With touch screen functions OFF:

Fn1: Drive Mode (Not available on the Main or Q Menu)

Fn2: Focus Mode (Not available on the Main or Q Menu)

Fn3: Q Menu

Fn4: Stabiliser

In the next post I will go through the Setup and Rec Menus.