Going through the menus is boring but setting the most appropriate options can make a big difference to the user experience.
For the most part, going through the menus with the Manual in hand is straightforward, with page references back to the relevant description from the Menu pages 145-153.
So I will just mention any which I think require some user input.
Starting with the Setup menu:
* Format. You should always format a new card or one which has been used in another camera.
The GR2 has menu resume by default so if you last used Format it will come up first next time you press Menu/OK.
* LCD brightness. I usually leave this on Auto but switch to Manual at the highest level outdoors in bright light.
* I set operation sounds at the lowest level and auto power off settings at default. You could have the camera operate in almost complete silence by turning the sounds off.
* ISO step setting. I see no point in using 1/3 stop ISO increments when both shutter speed and aperture do.
* ISO Auto-High settings. I have
Maximum ISO 6400
Minimum ISO 100
Change Shutter Speed 1/60
* I have the AF auxiliary light off because it is annoying and distracting for subjects.
* AF Mode. I use Normal which is the default.
* LCD confirmation time OFF.
* Grid guide display options. I use the lowest of the three available but most of the time I can’t see the lines anyway so it matters little.
* Information Display Mode ON.
* Fn Button Settings ON.
* Auto Rotate ON.
* Highlight Alert ON.
* One press zoom ratio. I use 4x. In playback when I press the ADJ lever IN the review image jumps to 4x magnification at the focus point.
* Target zoom play ON.
* Color Space. I use Adobe RGB and shoot RAW always.
Key Custom Options
The procedure for registering and naming groups of settings is well described in the Manual page 114. There are three hard settings available plus up to 6 items in a settings box.
* I set [ADJ lever direct ISO control ] OFF but you can have it ON and retain the normal function of the ADJ lever.
* M/TAv Mode Dial Setting controls the effect of the up-down dial and the ADJ lever in M Mode. I leave it at the default [Setting 1] in which the up-down dial controls aperture and the ADJ lever controls shutter speed. [Setting 2] reverses the functions.
* AFL focus settings. I use Spot AF as it is the most versatile.
* One press M mode and Shutter Button Confirmation are described on page 48 of the Manual. I don’t quite see how these features help my photo capture flow so I have Shutter Button Confirmation OFF.
Shooting Menu
* The default setting for Focus is Multi AF. This is one way to ensure that you never quite know what part of the subject will be rendered sharp.
I always use Spot AF.
* I have already described how to change Snap Focus distance, Press/hold up cross key while turning up-down dial.
* Full Press snap ON. Page 66 of the Manual.
* Exposure metering Multi.
* Picture format. Some users like to capture JPG but I always set RAW as that gives me much more information to work with in the image editor. Why you would select anything other than the largest JPG setting I have no idea.
* Effect OFF. Some users like to capture in black and white. The problem is that all the adjustments are then baked in. I like doing monochrome but always start with a color image.
* Crop. I prefer to do this in post processing for more controlled results.
* Ambient brightness. This is described on Page 89 of the Manual but I still don’t understand what it means.
* Continuous Mode OFF.
* Auto Bracket. I use auto exposure bracketing +/- 2 EV steps.
* White balance. I shoot Raw, so I use auto WB.
* ISO Setting/NR. I find the Auto-Hi auto ISO setting the most useful. Noise reduction does not apply to Raw but for the times when I might shoot JPG I set NR OFF at each of the Strong/Medium/Weak levels.
* I have Slow shutter speed NR ON. However if you are photographing at night this could be a nuisance as the NR process requires a time equal to the original exposure.
* On the infrequent occasions when I use flash it is only as a fill so I set Flash Exposure Compensation to -1.0.
