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Before starting on the Setup Menu you should adjust the EVF diopter with the little wheel on the left side of the eyepiece.
Press the Disp button repeatedly until the screen is cluttered with the maximum amount of data. Use this rather than the subject to judge the optimum diopter setting.
I find it best to keep both eyes open and relaxed while finding the best dioptre setting.
Rotate the wheel each way until the camera data look sharpest.
The Setup Menu is the same for iA or P, A, S, M Mode settings so let’s start there.
* Clock set (page 34) , world time (page 64) and Travel date (page 65) are all covered in the Operating Instructions for Advanced Features.
* Wi-Fi is covered by an extensive 44 page description from pages 256-300.
* Beeps are covered on page 66.
* Live view mode is described on page 66. This is a bit of a mystery item. I have not been able to see any visible difference between the 30 fps and 60 fps versions and am not sure why the choice is offered. I just leave it on the 60 fps setting.
* Monitor Display Note !! When you look in the viewfinder this changes to “Viewfinder”.
Like other recent Panasonic cameras the FZ300 provides extensive user adjustment of the monitor and EVF (LVF in Pana-speak) appearance.
You can adjust for brightness, contrast, saturation, red tint (red/green balance) and blue tint (yellow/blue balance).
Each individual has different color perception and ideas about their preferred monitor/viewfinder appearance.
This camera allows you to precisely match the appearance to individual preference.
For the record I have the monitor at default (in the center of the scale) on all parameters.
For the EVF I have brightness +2, Contrast -1, Saturation +/- 0, Red tint +/- 0, Blue tint +/- 0.
* Monitor luminance. You can have Auto, 1, 2 or 3. I leave it on Auto which seems to work out well in most conditions.
* Economy. (page 68) This tells the camera how soon to go into sleep mode if no buttons are pressed. I just leave this ant the default settings. You can save power by selecting a shorter time to shut down.
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* USB Mode see page 68.
* TV connection see pages 68-72.
* Menu Resume. Set this ON. The camera will remember which menu item you last used and also when you change from one sub menu to another will remember the last tab used in the new sub menu. This makes finding oft used menu items easier.
There is no [My Menu] to menu Resume is useful.
* Menu background. This is one for personal preference.
* Menu Information. When you are learning to use the camera it can be useful to leave this ON but when you are familiar with the menus switch it OFF to declutter the screen.
* Version Disp. As of March 2017 the current firmware version is 2.2
* Exposure Comp. Reset. I recommend setting this to ON. In this case any exposure compensation will revert to zero when the camera is switched to a different shooting Mode or switched off. This saves one from making pictures with unintended +/- exposure compensation.
* Self Timer Auto Off. I recommend setting this to ON. In this case the self timer will self cancel when the camera is switched off but not when shooting mode is changed.
* No. Reset. The Panasonic folder/file numbering system works as follows
The initial symbol of the file number is either P for sRGB color space or _ for Adobe RGB color space.
The next three numbers represent the folder starting at 100 (not 001).
The next four numbers represent the file number within each folder starting at 0001.
Selecting [Yes] at No. Reset resets the file number to 0001 and “updates” the folder number.
To reset the folder number to 001 see the description on Page 73.
* Reset. See page 74 for a list of what exactly is reset at this tab.
* Reset Wi-Fi settings. This is self explanatory.
* Demo Mode. This is a demonstration of Post Focus Mode with peaking.
* Format. This initialises the card in the camera and deletes any existing picture files. Camera and card manufacturers recommend always formatting a card in the camera before using it.