"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

I have to say that I very, very rarely use full manual. In fact, it’s only when I use my legacy 300mm f2.8 lens shooting motorsport. I just find it easier with that lens, and it gives good consistency if I’m taking a lot of shots. The rest of the time, I’m usually to be found in aperture priority, and will dial in EV as and when it’s needed. I’ll use auto ISO on family days out just to give me less to think about and constantly fiddle with. This works for me, but it really is horses for courses. There isn’t a right way or a wrong way IMHO.

Simon.
 
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the black fox said:
dunno about the rest of you ,but I go out and take pics .
/QUOTE]
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Yes, we see that ... it's also a discussion thread, one in which you asked many a question and were glad to be answered ;) helps if you like others as much as you receive too. all about interaction, it's not Flickr
 
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srhmoto said:
I have to say that I very, very use full manual. In fact, it’s only when I use my legacy 300mm f2.8 lens shooting motorsport. I just find it easier with that lens, and it gives good consistency if I’m taking a lot of shots. The rest of the time, I’m usually to be found in aperture priority, and will dial in EV as and when it’s needed. I’ll use auto ISO on family days out just to give me less to think about and constantly fiddle with. This works for me, but it really is horses for courses. There isn’t a right way or a wrong way IMHO.

Simon.
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Again, personal preference, I see manual just as simplistic as any other mode. It makes no odds to anyone else, it's how I prefer to shoot, it's how comfortable 'I' am with it that matters, end results are really all that matter. This only came up because someone questioned why Pany cameras don't have exp comp in other modes, I'm not sure any other cameras do
 
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Cagey75 said:
Again, personal preference, I see manual just as simplistic as any other mode. It makes no odds to anyone else, it's how I prefer to shoot, it's how comfortable 'I' am with it that matters, end results are really all that matter. This only came up because someone questioned why Pany cameras don't have exp comp in other modes, I'm not sure any other cameras do
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this question frequently pops up on canon /nikon forums to Keith its mainly down to how much your willing to pay for your bells and whistles . I was out yesterday shooting side by side with a mate canon 1dx,500mm f4 lens ,1.4 tc gitzo tripod and wimberly gimbal so more or less similar focal length i.e his is full frame .it will be interesting to see his results side by side given theres a 8 grand + price difference and a circa 5kg weight difference .
he has obviously paid for those bells and whistles BUT will it make any difference to the finished product .
to sum it up if you need exp comp in manual mode then you got to pay for it or just carry on and get round it other ways ,we all have different needs . to the untrained eye that sees your pics they won't know or care if you took it on a 50mp hasslebad or a i.phone
 
Cagey75 said:
Shoot how you like folks, but stop ganging up thinking it's going to make you somehow right
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I made it quite clear that I believe everyone should do their own thing as did @broc If anyone is ganging up it wasn't either of us.
 
Cagey75 said:
You do as you like, but M mode, is what photographers used all the time way back, so don't start on about how 'iA' makes it so much easier, because it doesn't! It's laziness, you have like one or two more things to consider ... OH NO!!!! how melodramatic.


Shoot how you like folks, but stop ganging up thinking it's going to make you somehow right , lol - maybe learn the exp triangle better?
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Do you feel that you're a "proper" photographer because you use only manual mode? :p
 
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Surely if you want 'auto iso' in manual mode you would just adjust the exposure/brightness in post processing, that's all the camera is doing anyway. Or am I missing something.
 
Modern cameras are packed full of technology, which I can choose to use. I am happy to have cameras which give me the full range of 'personal' choice of varying degrees of automation or manual control. The same goes for using a PC rather than pen and paper, or driving my car rather than using a horse & cart.. I am old enough to remember using a film camera with limited manual shutter speed and aperture options without a light meter & spent many a happy hour in a darkroom 'fixing' exposure issues...,,,, give me modern technology any day.
 
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Is there any easier way to move focus points and re-centre it on a GX85?

Only way i'm finding is press left button on 4 way selector then down button on 4 way and move points with the same buttons.
Also any way to get the focus point back to a central position without just judging it by eye

Thanks
 
srhmoto said:
I have to say that I very, very rarely use full manual. In fact, it’s only when I use my legacy 300mm f2.8 lens shooting motorsport. I just find it easier with that lens, and it gives good consistency if I’m taking a lot of shots. The rest of the time, I’m usually to be found in aperture priority, and will dial in EV as and when it’s needed. I’ll use auto ISO on family days out just to give me less to think about and constantly fiddle with. This works for me, but it really is horses for courses. There isn’t a right way or a wrong way IMHO.

Simon.
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As I say, for me there are times when neither aperture or shutter priority are useable options as they both have their little foibles. Manual too had it's issues until they allowed auto ISO and exposure compensation and I have to say that it works well the only proviso being that I have to use an AF lens otherwise it stops working.
 
Cagey75 said:
Again, personal preference, I see manual just as simplistic as any other mode. It makes no odds to anyone else, it's how I prefer to shoot, it's how comfortable 'I' am with it that matters, end results are really all that matter. This only came up because someone questioned why Pany cameras don't have exp comp in other modes, I'm not sure any other cameras do
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Other cameras have it and it's absolutely brilliant.

Full manual is slooooow and not suited to quick changing subjects and lighting unless you are happy to fudge the settings and attempt to sort it all out post capture but with auto ISO and exp comp new possibilities open up and manual becomes a fast acting exposure mode not only being suitable but being the best mode for moving subjects in changing lighting conditions when settings are probably going to need to be changed often and quickly.

With the options of auto ISO and exp comp full manual (as in you press a button and turn a dial to change absolutely everything) is quite obviously still there but without it should I want to shoot hand held in low light at a shutter speed suitable for people photography my options are limited, slow and clunky involving more button presses and dial turning.

I've been with MFT since the GF1 but it's been a frustrating experience with what I see as issues which could and should have been avoided with every camera I've owned. The bodies are for me a constant frustration but the lenses are the saving feature and without the compact good enough lenses I'd have walked away a long time ago. The APS-C Sony A6xxx is very tempting and the bodies would cure most of the annoyances I have with MFT but with the larger APS-C chip come the bigger lenses which wouldn't be too much of an issue with some but with others there are issues (no compact 35mm equivalent f1.8) and more so with some of the zooms I'd be looking at as some are IMO just too big for a compact unobtrusive system.

At the moment I'm glad that with AF lenses the GX9 works well but very annoyed that with manual lenses it all goes to pot and becomes an unusable mess. All in all it's just another disappointment with a Pany body, oh well... maybe in another 5 years they'll have caught up to what Sony offered 10 years ago.
 
JackBell said:
Surely if you want 'auto iso' in manual mode you would just adjust the exposure/brightness in post processing, that's all the camera is doing anyway. Or am I missing something.
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Yup you can get the settings somewhere near and sort it out post capture and with some of the ISO invariant chips that is possible. I think. At least within ranges. I'll have to do some more testing and see how I feel but at the moment and going on what happened yesterday I think there are downsides to not having auto ISO and exp comp and instead selecting there abouts settings and sorting it out post capture. For whole pictures viewed normally things will probably be ok but when looking closely the image quality hit from attempting to fix a shot post capture by increasing the exposure and / or adding fill light seem to the there.
 
broc said:
Modern cameras are packed full of technology, which I can choose to use. I am happy to have cameras which give me the full range of 'personal' choice of varying degrees of automation or manual control. The same goes for using a PC rather than pen and paper, or driving my car rather than using a horse & cart.. I am old enough to remember using a film camera with limited manual shutter speed and aperture options without a light meter & spent many a happy hour in a darkroom 'fixing' exposure issues...,,,, give me modern technology any day.
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I possibly older than a few here :D and I've used some pretty basic kit but the fact is that basic kit limits your options and the situations in which you can get the best shot. Try shooting full manual at a social function, it's possible, just fit a 28 or 35mm lens, set the camera to focus between 2 and 3m at f5.6-8 and set the ISO or fit the film and away you go. You'll get some nice shots. They may be noisy and they wont stand up to pixel peeping but you'll get something, try and adjust for every shot and you'll miss lots. Take a Sony A7III with eye detect and all the rest and you'll get a hit rate that couldn't be matched by any other kit to date. There's no denying that having the features and capabilities gives you options as even with an A7III you can turn everything off and pretend it's 1953 if you want.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Is there any easier way to move focus points and re-centre it on a GX85?

Only way i'm finding is press left button on 4 way selector then down button on 4 way and move points with the same buttons.
Also any way to get the focus point back to a central position without just judging it by eye

Thanks
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That's the only way to move it as far as I know (apart from the touch screen.) To send it back hit the disp button while the focus point is highlighted.
 
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woof woof said:
That's the only way to move it as far as I know (apart from the touch screen.) To send it back hit the disp button while the focus point is highlighted.
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Thank you, the disp button bit will come in handy.

Moving the af point seems very long winded, two button presses just to get there before another one to move it.
Wondering if you can assign movement to the four buttons as you can on Fuji, admittedly then have to find a place for the functions those buttons usually serve?
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Do you feel that you're a "proper" photographer because you use only manual mode? :p
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That is one of the silliest things people say when they hear you prefer to shoot manual . I know you're kidding, but some actually think it's some kind of elite preference . It isn't, it's ONE control extra, and once you're used to it no more difficult than any other mode . In fact, counting exp comp in other modes, it's easier. It's like back button focus, I don't get why so many do it, but hey, if it's better for them let them on. I never do it because I actually find it trickier.
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
I made it quite clear that I believe everyone should do their own thing as did @broc If anyone is ganging up it wasn't either of us.
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Let him speak for himself.

Don't big yourselves up for posting a few weeks images btw, I've probably posted more than anyone since last November :D

I love seeing the images, but we are allowed talk in between, get a bit weird otherwise

woof woof said:
Other cameras have it and it's absolutely brilliant.

Full manual is slooooow and not suited to quick changing subjects and lighting unless you are happy to fudge the settings and attempt to sort it all out post capture but with auto ISO and exp comp new possibilities open up and manual becomes a fast acting exposure mode not only being suitable but being the best mode for moving subjects in changing lighting conditions when settings are probably going to need to be changed often and quickly.

With the options of auto ISO and exp comp full manual (as in you press a button and turn a dial to change absolutely everything) is quite obviously still there but without it should I want to shoot hand held in low light at a shutter speed suitable for people photography my options are limited, slow and clunky involving more button presses and dial turning.

I've been with MFT since the GF1 but it's been a frustrating experience with what I see as issues which could and should have been avoided with every camera I've owned. The bodies are for me a constant frustration but the lenses are the saving feature and without the compact good enough lenses I'd have walked away a long time ago. The APS-C Sony A6xxx is very tempting and the bodies would cure most of the annoyances I have with MFT but with the larger APS-C chip come the bigger lenses which wouldn't be too much of an issue with some but with others there are issues (no compact 35mm equivalent f1.8) and more so with some of the zooms I'd be looking at as some are IMO just too big for a compact unobtrusive system.

At the moment I'm glad that with AF lenses the GX9 works well but very annoyed that with manual lenses it all goes to pot and becomes an unusable mess. All in all it's just another disappointment with a Pany body, oh well... maybe in another 5 years they'll have caught up to what Sony offered 10 years ago.
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I used a D800E for 5yrs and never once used auto anything on it. Full manual isn't slow for me, or I'd use the other modes. It doesn't require any faffing about whatsoever, just a simple flick of the dial to change SS or ISO, I guess I trained myself over time to get used to it. I still don't the exp comp in M mode, it doesn't make sense to me.
 
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Cagey75 said:
That is one of the stupidest things people say when they hear you prefer to shoot manual.
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I think they're more likely to say it in response to things like...
Cagey75 said:
so don't start on about how 'iA' makes it so much easier, because it doesn't! It's laziness, you have like one or two more things to consider ... OH NO!!!! how melodramatic.
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You may not have meant it as such but it comes across as an arrogant rant and that won't encourage people to give you much credibility. Adding things like...
Cagey75 said:
Are you partners or something? Let him speak for himself. Don't big yourselves up for posting a few weeks images btw, I've probably posted more than anyone since last November.
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...simply makes matters worse. Cool down and accept that others have different opinions and that they have a right to those opinions which are probably based on quite different experience to your own.

Remember that a lot of us older guys didn't even use an exposure meter when we started. 50 years ago I relied on the little pictures printed inside the film carton or on the crinkly paper wrapped around the film and I can still judge exposure out of doors to within roughly half a stop. I'm not boasting when I say this or trying to put you in your place - simply trying to give you some context for why you may find you get a better experience by taking a softer approach.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I think they're more likely to say it in response to things like...
You may not have meant it as such but it comes across as an arrogant rant and that won't encourage people to give you much credibility. Adding things like...
...simply makes matters worse. Cool down and accept that others have different opinions and that they have a right to those opinions which are probably based on quite different experience to your own.

Remember that a lot of us older guys didn't even use an exposure meter when we started. 50 years ago I relied on the little pictures printed inside the film carton or on the crinkly paper wrapped around the film and I can still judge exposure out of doors to within roughly half a stop. I'm not boasting when I say this or trying to put you in your place - simply trying to give you some context for why you may find you get a better experience by taking a softer approach.
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You don't know me very well then :D I do go off on one now and then, get a bit ranty, but I just see the same stuff over and over again. Do you know how many times I've had people tell me Manual mode was a waste of time?

I'm no spring chicken either, I'm 42, been shooting since I was 8 or 9, started on old film cameras - they had nothing fancy about them, no auto modes, no LCD of course, no real indication of how your exposure was coming out only your own guess work pretty much. I learned from them how to guage the light, and improved over time, you do just get to 'know'

Anyway, it's silly arguing, we're all after the same thing, decent end results.

I've been shooting every day btw, just more family summer stuff, not the type of images I post to Flickr really.
 
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Yep but Keith your not explaining your from Ireland and when you started photography your first lens was supplied by the local dairy as they were changing to plastic milk cartons :exit::exit::exit:


Anyway calm down guys since changing to MFT I have found Keith to be one of the best advisors on the system on here . Chill out time please ,and btw Keith I got 30 years on you and been taking pics since my teens
 
Cagey75 said:
You do as you like, but M mode, is what photographers used all the time way back, so don't start on about how 'iA' makes it so much easier, because it doesn't! It's laziness, you have like one or two more things to consider ... OH NO!!!! how melodramatic.


Shoot how you like folks, but stop ganging up thinking it's going to make you somehow right , lol - maybe learn the exp triangle better?
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Have you read what you typed? And how it comes across?
:woot:
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
Have you read what you typed? And how it comes across?
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Ask me do I care - I say what I say, how you take it is your issue, not mine. You'd be a long time waiting on me to excuse myself I can tell you.


the black fox said:
Yep but Keith your not explaining your from Ireland and when you started photography your first lens was supplied by the local dairy as they were changing to plastic milk cartons :exit::exit::exit:


Anyway calm down guys since changing to MFT I have found Keith to be one of the best advisors on the system on here . Chill out time please ,and btw Keith I got 30 years on you and been taking pics since my teens
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Haha, well, one thing about learning photography here is you get used to shooting in crappy weather and light very quickly.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Oh the irony.....:)
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Keep wasting your time not contributing anything to the thread all you like. You disagreeing with what I say don't make me wrong, learn to understand that, put your handbag away, and you'll lose less sleep.
 
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Cagey75 said:
Keep wasting your time not contributing anything to the thread all you like. You disagreeing with what I say don't make me wrong, learn to understand that and you'll lose less sleep.



There's always one, Bob seems to want to keep his handbag out, he didn't mind any advice I gave him when needed either
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Always grateful for advice received, and respectful of others opinions.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Always grateful for advice received, and respectful of others opinions.
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I had edited that because I didn't want to use fox's words as a defence. There's nothing wrong with challenging opinions, it's healthy debate IMO [just another opinion mind]
 
We have ‘proper’ buses in North Yorkshire :)

gx8 Lumix 7-14mm


i-9R3c2tb-XL.jpg
 
Cagey75 said:
Well it does look like it was at some event, but there is people on board, and looks like it still runs. Be cool to see them on the road
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Yes, it still runs and Beamish use it and other vintage buses and trams to ferry people around their large site. If you have never visited Beamish I heartly recommend it. Wonderful place for photographers.
 
The question of how manual mode works got me thinking, and I believe the problem is that cameras are still designed like film cameras used to be. Cameras generally had settings for 2 auto exposure modes (aperture priority and shutter priority) and manual (not auto anything). This made sense for film cameras as you couldn't change the ISO without changing the film. Now, however, there are 3 auto exposure modes (not 2), corresponding to the 3 sides of the exposure 'triangle':
  1. Fix the aperture and ISO, let the camera choose the shutter speed (aperture priority)
  2. Fix the shutter speed and ISO, let the camera choose the aperture (shutter priority)
  3. Fix the aperture and shutter speed, let the camera choose the ISO (auto ISO?)
It seems to me that the dial should have 4 exposure mode settings: for Av, Tv, 'auto iso' and manual, rather than just 3 (Av, Tv and manual) as they have now. The 3 auto modes would have exposure compensation, and the manual mode would not. To me that seems completely logical - the only reason not to have the extra mode on the dial is because 'that's the way it's always been done' (never a good reason IMHO).
 
Hi Guys, Does anyone have and rate the P25mm f1.4 Summilux ?
 
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