The Custom Menu hosts a miscellaneous congregation of items which could and in my view should be more coherently organised by Panasonic with subheadings meaningful to users.
Some cameras like the Nikon Coolpix group are starved of setup options. Some, like this one have lots, some might say too many. Hence this post. I hope it helps.
As before I will only refer to items about which I think I have something useful to contribute in addition to that which you can read in the Operating Instructions for Advanced Features, starting on page 338.
Cust. Set Mem. This feature allows you to establish three different setups in addition to the basic one. It’s all described quite well on pages 111-112.
All you have to do is remember what the heck each button and dial does in each of the four possible different configurations. Maybe that’s something to write down somewhere handy.
Typical scenarios which might benefit from a custom setup might include landscape on tripod, night, macro and sport/action.
I never use this facility preferring to go through my camera settings like a checklist so I know what to expect when I press a button.
Silent Mode (page 191) uses the E-Shutter which has some disadvantages, including banding under fluroro and LED lighting and skew distortion with moving subjects..
If I am photographing somewhere where quiet is important I prefer just to silence the beeps on screen 1/5 of the Setup Menu. The diaphragm type mechanical shutter is so quiet I need to put my ear right on the lens barrel to hear it.
AF/AE Lock This tells the camera what to do when you press the AF/AE LOCK button.
You can have AE Lock, AF Lock, both or AF-ON.
In the first three cases the lock is only held while you hold the button down.
The next tab down is [AF AE Lock Hold]. If this is set to ON then AF, or AE will stay locked after one press on the button and will unlock when you press the button again.
AF-ON is useful when you want to separate AF from Capture. This works like back button focus on an advanced DSLR and is handy when you are shooting action with AF-C and Burst Mode. You can get the AF system rolling by holding down the back button then start taking pictures by pressing the shutter button.
It takes a bit of practice but can be a useful technique.
Shutter AFis what you expect the camera to do and the way almost all cameras work by default.
Half Press Release is a bit disconcerting because the shutter fires on half press. The precise purpose of this option eludes me.
Quick AF is another option for the user in a desperate hurry. The camera tries to focus all the time even without pressing the shutter button. It’s one way to burn up battery power I guess.
Eye Sensor AF is similar except the camera tries to focus as soon as you bring your eye to the viewfinder.
Pinpoint AF Time This is the length of time the PIP display stays on the screen. I leave it at MID which is about half a second.
Pinpoint AF Display This can be set to Full or PIP (picture in picture). I find PIP easiest to live with.
AF Assist Lamp Switch it OFF. The camera focusses just fine with it off even in very low light.
Direct Focus Area. I discussed this in #4 of this setting up series.
Focus/Release priority I don’t really know what is the point of this option. I don’t want the camera firing off if the subject is not yet in focus so I set Focus Priority.
AF+MF This was also discussed in #4 of the series. It allows you to establish autofocus then adjust it manually on the fly. It can be handy is a bird, for instance, is hiding behind some foliage as is often the case. I set AF+MF ON.
MF Assist This decides what control portal will implement AF assist. I use the side Dial which I find to be the easiest to use.
MF Assist Display I find PIP the easiest to work with.
MF Guide Unfortunately this camera does not have a proper distance scale just an analogue display with a mountain at one end and a flower at the other. It is slightly useful so I set it ON.
Peakingis one of the features available on an EVF which caused me to give up cameras with an optical viewfinder years ago. Peaking helps identify the best ‘in-focus’ position with manual focus.
I set the level to high and the color at blue. You can experiment with both. Peaking is very useful.
Histogram Having a histogram on the screen was once regarded as a useful guide to good exposure but on this camera I find the Zebras much more useful so the histogram never appears on my screen.
Guide Line Guide lines can be very handy. I use them for making sure my verticals really are. Therefore I use the third type down in the list of options, with the two lines intersecting at the center.
Center Marker I put this ON to help me identify exactly where is the center of the frame. This helps particularly with architectural subjects.
Zebra Pattern Zebras are the best thing since sliced bread. They are the best guide to highlight exposure and to the amount of negative exposure compensation required to prevent highlights blowing out. Best of all they give you their message before the exposure so you don’t have to chimp to find out if you got the exposure right.
Panasonic allows you to have two zebras. I set Zebra 1 for RAW capture at 105% and Zebra 2 for JPG at 100%. These setting were derived by trial and error. I suggest you run your own tests.
One zebra can also be set to 70% for Caucasian skin tone, an aid to exposure typically used in videography.
Constant Preview This only works in Manual Exposure Mode. The purpose is to represent in real time the effect on the picture of changes to aperture or shutter speed.
You would normally have this ON. Studio flash workers switch it OFF so they can see to compose and focus on the screen.
Expo. Meter Why Panasonic still has this in their firmware I have no idea. It is a great lump of a display which serves no useful purpose that I can see. Switch it OFF.
Dial Guide You might want this ON until you are familiar with the camera’s operation then switch it OFF to de-clutter the display.
LVF Disp Style/Monitor Disp Style You can set both the monitor and EVF to either monitor style with camera data superimposed on the lower section of the image preview or viewfinder style with the camera data on a black band beneath the image preview.
Take your pick. I prefer viewfinder style as the key camera data are easier to read.
Monitor Info. Disp. If you set this ON and then press the Disp button repeatedly you will come to a screen with 18 types of camera data on a gray background. If you now press Fn3 one of the data icons will become active. You can scroll to another icon with the cursor keys and then press the Menu/Set button to bring up a screen to change the displayed parameter.
This is easier to do than read and is just another way to access and alter various parameters.
Auto Review This just slows down the picture taking process and uses battery power so I switch it off. But some users especially those coming from a DSLR are I the habit of chimping each shot as they go.
Fn Button Set, Side Button Setting, Q Menu, Dial Set and Touch settings were discussed in # 4 of this series.
Eye Sensor Most users appear to prefer the sensitivity setting at Low. This reduces the frequency of unintended switching.
The next tab is [LVF/Monitor Switch]. I suggest you experiment with the options here. I suspect many users would simply set the first option [LVF/MON AUTO] and that works fine.
However I set [MON]. The way this works is that when the monitor is closed and folded to face the camera the EVF switches ON. When the monitor is folded out the monitor switches on.
This suits the way I work with a camera. There are plenty of options from which to choose.