Lumix LX100M2 review Part 2 Setting up (stills) Setup and Rec Menus 11 November 2018

There are some practical steps you might want to take on receiving your new camera.

* Pull on powder free disposable gloves and photograph the camera from several angles before anybody lays a hand on it. This is to ensure you have photos of a clean product for subsequent resale.

*  Fit a high quality 43mm protect filter on the lens. I recommend and use B+W multiresist or high level  Hoya brands but no doubt others are suitable.   Contributors to camera forums argue endlessly about this but I have never found a high grade filter to degrade image quality and the filter is much easier and safer to clean than the front element of the lens.

* Buy a spare Lumix BLG-10E battery and a Lumix or  generic battery charger. USB charging has its advantages but when you want to use the camera while charging a battery a separate charger is required.

* Prise off those nasty, irritating triangular strap connectors and their plastic protectors and secure these in a small zip lock bag for subsequent resale.

* Leave the dorky neck strap in the box and buy a cheap generic wrist strap which is much better suited to the camera’s compact dimensions.

* A sensible option might be to fit a generic monitor screen protector, provided it is compatible with the touch function.

* I use and recommend the Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 5 carry bag. This is a bit oversize for the LX100M1/2 but provides plenty of room for a microfiber cloth, spare batteries and cards.

The LX100M2 is a far cry from the basic little compacts which were so popular just a few years ago. It is a sophisticated, fully featured model suitable for advanced amateur or professional use.

It has an extensive range of features and capabilities which make it a very versatile photographic tool.

The camera can be configured to individual user preference. This is done in the Setup Phase of use and mainly involves making settings in the menus.

The new user should download the 308 page “Operating Instructions for Advanced Features” from any Panasonic website, by following the prompts from “Support” for the product.

This is one of the better PDF user guides with clear text and diagrams, mostly clear explanations and easy jump navigation.

The LX100M2 menu system is one of the best I have seen on a camera. The graphical user interface is clear and easy to read, navigation is straightforward, the menus and submenus are clearly and logically laid out.

The custom menu is now subdivided  into Exposure, Focus/Release,  Operation, Monitor/Display and Lens/others subheadings which make sense to me as a camera user.

There is a My Menu which can be populated with user selections.

Menu Resume allows the user to quickly recall a previously used item.

In this post I will run through the menus making reference only to those items which I think require explanation beyond that available in the Operating Instructions.

Custom Set Feature  Most Lumix cameras have a Mode Dial but for reasons unknown to me  Panasonic’s product development people decided  not to use one on the LX100 Mk1/2.  If there is a Mode Dial one or more positions on the dial can be allocated to Custom Modes which can be configured by the user.  This provides a fast reliable way to quickly change a group of several functions when required.

With the LX100 models the designers have tried to retain the Custom Mode facility but without the Mode Dial.

So the Custom Mode has to be accessed via the Setup Menu, which rather defeats the whole point of the feature.

[Utilise Custom Set Feature] can be allocated to My Menu which speeds access a bit.

I have my tripod settings grouped onto C1 (ISO 200, Stabiliser off,  2 Second timer, bracketing off)  and C2 (same as C1 but with bracketing on).

The actual procedure for allocating a set of values to a Custom Mode is well enough described in the Instructions.

Unfortunately you cannot see by looking at the camera if a Custom Mode has been set.

Monitor display speed/LVF display speed   Set these to 60 fps. If 30 fps is set the preview image becomes very jerky when panning and viewfinder blackout after each shot is prolonged.

The LX100M1/2 and most Lumix cameras allow the user to adjust both EVF (LVF) and monitor for brightness, contrast, saturation, red tint and blue tint.  I find the monitor looks good at default settings but the EVF can require some adjustment over the first few weeks of use to achieve settings which look good to my eyes.

Monitor Luminance  I leave this on A (Automatic) which seems to work well enough.

Eye Sensor  I se this to LOW and LVF/Monitor Switch to LVF/MON AUTO.

Level gauge adjust  My copy needed adjustment on receipt. The instructions are clear enough.

Format  Allocate this to My Menu so you can access it more quickly.

Picture Size  I see no point in setting anything less than the maximum which is L.

Quality   If you elect to shoot JPG use only the highest setting.   The lower setting seems pointless to me. If you shoot Raw be aware that the camera automatically generates a low res JPG with the Raw file so a review image can be displayed. This will not enable sharpness to be properly evaluated in camera.  Shooting Raw+JPG overcomes this problem.

This camera presents the user with several places for controlling focus.  These include:

1. The  MF/Macro/AF lever on the lens barrel.

2. The AFS/AFF/AFC selection in the Rec Menu.  I move this to My Menu for easier access.

AFF is not the same as AFC. If AFC is used the camera continuously hunts looking for best focus. In AFF the camera finds focus then stops focussing but will refocus if it detects a change in subject distance.

My practice is to use AFS or AFC as I like to have control over the camera’s behaviour.

3. The AF Mode accessed from the left cursor button.

4. The AF/AELock  button on the back of the camera. More about this later.

Photo Style    Lumix cameras including the LX100 models permit extensive user configuration of JPG output. Note that Photo Style adjustments do not affect Raw files.

You can select any one of the preset styles or make your own custom style.

I use a custom Photo Style with Contrast 0, Sharpness +2, Noise Reduction -5, Saturation 0.

Color Space There have been great arguments about this on camera forums, mostly above my head. I just set Adobe RGB.

Metering Mode  I reckon I would need a very good reason to use any setting other than [Multiple].  Some users say they prefer spot but I might find that useful only when I am doing contemplative work, preferably on a tripod to be certain of placing the spot exactly on a mid tone are of the subject. And I don’t use it even then.

i Dynamic  I leave this on Auto so if I am using JPG capture it will operate automatically.

ISO Auto Upper Limit   Take your pick. Some people are unreasonably averse to a bit of grain in their photos which leads to them missing shots by setting the upper ISO limit too low. I use 6400.

Min Shutter Speed   This camera does not shift minimum shutter speed as the lens zooms so you might want to experiment with the minimum (slowest) shutter speed you can readily manage hand held at the wide and long ends of the zoom.

I set 1/15 which I can manage reasonably well hand held with the OIS on. Of course the OIS cannot compensate for subject movement.

Stabiliser   I put this on Fn2. As far as I am aware, all camera makers including Panasonic  advise users to switch the stabiliser off  if the camera is on a tripod.

Burst Rate  I set M because this is the fastest rate at which the camera will provide AF and AE and EVF preview on every frame.  You can change the burst rate setting from the down cursor key by scrolling to the burst rate then pressing the up key for more settings.

Panorama Settings  As there is no Mode Dial you access panorama via the Drive Mode on the down cursor key. For hand held auto panoramas I hold the camera in portrait orientation handle side up using the bottom of the four options for Direction and Standard Picture Size.

The camera can make very good auto panoramas but some technique and practice is required. I will post about this separately.

Shutter Type  I use the mechanical shutter almost exclusively. There is no downside to doing so, no shutter shock and only the faintest of click sounds if electronic beeps are off.

If you want a shutter speed faster than 1/2000 sec the E Shutter is required.

Bracket   This is where you set up your bracketing preferences.There are lots of options. I bring Bracketing up to fn5 for easy access.

HDR, iZoom and Digital Zoom only become active if quality is set to JPG.