Setting up the Panasonic TZ110 (ZS100)

The TZ110 makes good auto panoramas in camera. Access to this function is right on the Mode Dial.

The TZ110  packs a large number of features and capabilities into a very compact body.

In addition the function of many of the controls can be selected by the user from a long list of options.

This is a wonderful thing as it allows each user to configure the camera to their personal requirements.  

However those unaccustomed to the Panasonic way might find themselves challenged by the number of permutations and combinations available.

The first major decision  is whether or not to use touch screen features and if so which ones.

As I write this,  Digital Photography Review is conducting an online poll of readers to discover their attitude towards touch screen capability. 

9.5% said they couldn’t get by without it.

27.8% said they dislike touch screens.

The remainder were not concerned either way.

The TZ110 can be operated with or without the touch screen.

Touch screen operation does have benefits but it also has a fairly high nuisance factor. I read numerous complaints on user forums about this.  The AF area and grid lines tend to go walkabout unexpectedly and if the on screen ‘soft’ Fn buttons are also active (which by the way I do not recommend) then  settings allocated to the soft Fn buttons are liable to change without notice as one’s fingers brush against the screen.

Reasons you might elect to use touch screen functions

* You make frequent use of  4K Photo functions.

* You shoot a lot of video, especially on a tripod.

* Setting up the Custom Q Menu is easier with touch than without.

* This next one is a bit convoluted so please bear with me. It goes like this:

If you set Direct Focus Area you lose access to Exposure Compensation via the UP Cursor Button.

You can allocate Exposure Compensation [EC] to the rear dial.  That works fine in P, A and S Modes with the lens ring working to change Program Shift, Aperture or Shutter Speed.

But there is a glitch in the firmware when M Mode is set. If EC is not allocated to the rear dial then in M Mode the lens ring changes aperture and the rear dial changes shutter speed. The firmware should be configured so that if EC is allocated to the rear dial then when M Mode is selected the rear dial reverts to changing shutter speed (because exposure compensation is not required in M Mode).

But that does not happen and the result is you have no direct way to change shutter speed in M Mode if EC has been allocated to the rear dial.

This is a silly programming error which suggests to me that the maker sought insufficient feedback about the user experience before releasing the product to market.

The problem is avoided if the touch screen is used to move the focus area.  

Reasons you might prefer not to use touch functions

* The guide lines and active AF area box are forever going walkabout. Usually the right thumb touches the top right corner of the screen sending the AF area to that location.

While moving the AF area the guide lines are also often moved inadvertently.

* If you have the soft Fn buttons (the on screen ones) active, expect many changes to camera status without notice as your thumb brushes against one or more of the soft Fn buttons.

A compromise – using some touch functions

The compromise which I use for the TZ110 is as follows:

Find the [Touch Settings] on screen 8/8 in the Custom Menu.

There are four submenus, I set

* Touch Screen ON

* Touch Tab OFF (That gets those pesky soft Fn buttons off the screen)

* Touch AF set to AF.  If  OFF  is selected at this tab you cannot use touch to move the AF Area on the monitor.

* Touch Pad AF   OFFSET.   This feature allows you to move the AF area by touch while viewing through the EVF. The OFFSET setting allows the right thumb to move the AF area anywhere without having to move across to the left side of the monitor screen.  A ‘nudge’ capability is built into the OFFSET function.

The second major decision  is whether or not to use Direct Focus Area.

Reasons you might want to set [Direct Focus Area]   at screen 3/8 in the Custom Menu.

* You became irritated by unintended shifts of the active AF area and/or guide lines when the touch screen is active.

* You have a preference for hard controls when operating a camera.

* You are happy to allocate exposure compensation to the rear dial and don’t use M  Mode.

Reasons you might not want to set [Direct Focus Area]

* You lose access to Exposure Compensation on the UP cursor button.

* You also lose access on the cursor buttons to Focus Mode, Drive Mode and White Balance although these are readily reallocated to the Q Menu or a Function button.

* You make a lot of photos in portrait orientation. This one is a bit out of left wing however I have found that in landscape orientation Direct Focus Area is slightly easier to use but in portrait orientation Touch Pad AF is easier to use. (assuming a ‘right hand up’ hold)  You have to use the camera quite a bit to notice this.

If  the TZ110  had a JOG Lever  all this convoluted decision making would not be necessary.

It is now my very strong view that every camera should have a JOG Lever (a.k.a. Joystick) for direct control of the AF area position.

A JOG lever could be located right where the AF/AEL button now sits but would need to be a larger module set back towards the user so that operation of the JOG lever would not cause the thumb to touch the screen.

Function Button task allocations

It will be clear from the discussion above that the functions which you will want to allocate to the Fn buttons depend on decisions already made about touch screen use and Direct Focus Area.

In addition your use of video and of 4K Photo functions will strongly determine which functions you want ready access to.

Function button task allocations are described on Pages 70-72 of the Operating Instructions for Advanced Features.

You will see there are 54 functions and only 4 Fn buttons one of which must be used for the Q menu.

So you need to put considerable thought into making selections, which by the way can be changed at any time as your experience with the camera informs your decision making process.

This setup guide is intended to be informative not prescriptive as each individual has his or her own ideas about control priorities, however her are some suggested principles:

For still photography allocate functions required in the Capture Phase of use to the hard controls.  

These include primary and secondary exposure and focus parameters.

The hard controls are the Control Ring, Rear Dial,  Cursor Buttons and Fn Buttons.

Primary exposure----Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO sensitivity.

Secondary exposure---Exposure Compensation, White Balance.

Primary Focus-----Zoom, start AF, perform MF

Secondary Focus---Change position and size of AF area, switch AF<>MF, switch AFS/AFC.

If you use video and 4K Photo functions then deciding what tasks to allocate to the Fn buttons is more difficult.

Whatever function you allocate to a button or dial the opportunity cost of doing so is that no other function can be allocated to the same control module.

Q Menu function allocations

You can use the Q Menu in default configuration and with the TZ110 (but not the TZ80) you can also create a Custom Q Menu.

The mechanics of this are best done using drag and drop with the touch screen active.

Please refer to Pages 68/69 of the Operating Instructions.

Functions best allocated to the Q Menu are those which require adjustment in Prepare Phase of use.

This includes the various Modes which control drive, focus and flash and other operations.

My copy of the Operating Instructions does not have a list of functions which can be allocated to a Custom Q Menu, however they can be found readily enough in the camera itself.

There are 5 screens each with 8 items so the number of options could be daunting.

The Custom Q Menu can have up to 15 items but only 5 are visible at any time so 5 is the optimum number of items to allocate to a Custom Q Menu.

Control Ring/Rear Dial functions

Continuing the theme of bewildering overchoice, Panasonic allows you to customise the function of the Control Ring (around the lens) and the Rear Dial.

The default functions can be found on Page 50 of the Operating Instructions and the 16 alternative functions for each dial are listed on Page 74. Why are they not on Page 51 ? beats me………….

Anyway….my suggestion is: be careful what you wish for.

By this I mean that it may be tempting to allocate one of the alternative functions to the dials.

But  the opportunity cost of doing so is that you lose the default function.

Still… if you only ever set P on the Mode Dial this could free up the dials for alternative functions.

Menu settings

The TZ110 and TZ80 use the same Operating Instructions and share most (but not all) Menu settings. 

Please refer to my posts on setting up the TZ80 for more discussion on the Menu settings.

My setup

I mainly shoot still photos with only occasional use of video and then only MP4/FHD/50P.

I  have not yet found a pressing reason to use any of the 4K Photo Modes, which are no doubt very clever but I don’t really see where they fit into my workflow practice. Others will have their own views and practices.

My setup profile:

* Control Ring/Rear Dial: Default.

* Touch screen: On, Touch AF> AF, Touch Tab> Off, Touch Pad AF> Offset.

* Q Menu: Focus Mode (AF/MF/Macro),  Drive Mode,  AF Mode,  AFS/AFF/AFC,  Flash mode.

* Fn Buttons:

Fn1: Quality

Fn2: ISO

Fn3: Q Menu

Fn4: Stabiliser

* I have Direct AF Area OFF.

Update September 2016

After using the camera with touch screen on for several months I have reverted to my usual practice with Panasonic cameras which is to switch touch OFF altogether.
The reason for this is that with touch ON the slightest touch on the screen bumps the AF area off position which gets irritating after a while.

I now have [Direct AF Area] ON 

Fn buttons: 
Fn1  Focus Mode
Fn2  Drive Mode
Fn3  Q Menu  I have left the Q Menu at default settings [Preset] in the Custom Menu.
Fn4  Stabiliser

Lens ring to [Default] which controls aperture in A Mode, Shutter Speed in S Mode.
Rear dial to Exposure Compensation.

Auto Panorama setup

First turn the Mode Dial to the Panorama icon

Next enter the Rec Menu, screen 5/8 and scroll to the [Panorama Settings] tab

There are two submenus, Direction and Picture Size.

In the Direction tab I set the bottom of the four options available. It might not be obvious from the pictogram but this enables you to hold the camera in portrait orientation and swing from left to right when recording. This enables greater image height than is possible if the camera is held in landscape orientation.

I use the WIDE Picture Size.

And that’s yer lot for setting up the TZ110 (alias TZ101, ZS100, TZ100, TX1).