Setting up the Panasonic TZ80 (ZS60) Part 2

TZ80 Plenty of detail, decent highlight and shadow detail. Luminance noise visible at base ISO.

Setup and Rec Menus

In this post  I will just run through the Setup and Rec Menus with suggestions about those items which I think deserve more explanation than can be found in the Operating Instructions for Advanced features. Some items like setting the clock and time zones need no input from me. Others like the Wi-Fi setup appear to be well documented in the Operating Instructions.

Setup Menu

Online Manual   I tried the URL listed but got nowhere. I find that Panasonic Europe is usually the best place to find the Operating Instructions. Keep clicking through from the ‘Support’ tab for the camera model. The file size is about 11.2 MB.

Live View Mode  The choice is 30 or 60 fps. Page 78 of the Instructions.  Panasonic says 60 fps prioritises display speed over picture quality and uses more power than 30 fps. I set 30 fps for general photography.  The 60 fps setting might have been something to include in a Custom Mode for sport/action. Unfortunately the camera will not allow any Setup Menu items to be included in Custom Modes.

Monitor Display   NOTE ! This item changes to Viewfinder when you look in the viewfinder.

You can adjust Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Red Tint and Blue Tint in both the monitor and viewfinder.

Individuals will have their own preferences of course.

I leave all settings for the monitor at default.

For the viewfinder I have Brightness +6, Contrast 0, Saturation 0, Red Tint 0, Blue Tint -3.

Monitor Luminance You can experiment but I just leave this at the default setting which is [A].

Economy  Again you can experiment but the default settings seem to be appropriate most of the time.

Menu Resume  Set this ON for quick access to a frequently used Menu item.  The camera will remember which Menu item was last used and return to this when the Menu/Set button is pressed even after the camera has been switched off.

Exposure Comp Reset  This is very handy. When you set this ON any exposure compensation used during a photo session is cancelled when the camera is powered off or the Mode Dial is turned to a different position.  This prevents inadvertent carry over of an exposure compensation setting from one photo session to the next.

Self Timer Auto Off  This is similar. Set this ON so you don’t have to remember to cancel the self timer when you power the camera off.

Rec Menu

Photo Style  This is Panasonic’s term for user adjustments to JPG settings. The TZ70 mysteriously did not allow Photo Style settings which make a welcome re-appearance in the TZ80.

You can use the presets, such as Standard, Vivid, Natural….etc  by scrolling across or create a Custom Photo Style by scrolling down from any of the presets.

You can have several Custom Photo Styles if desired.

You can adjust Contrast, Sharpness, Noise Reduction and Saturation.

Individuals have their own ideas about this and some experiment is indicated. For instance if you regularly photograph in an environment with low subject brightness range you might want the Contrast set high. But in direct sun with a clear atmosphere you might want contrast low.

You can change any setting at any time.

I use Contrast +1, Sharpness +4, Noise reduction -5, Saturation 0.

It has seemed to me that all recent Panasonic cameras have been using excessive Noise Reduction at default, leading to soft, mushy looking JPGs. So I have all of them set to the minimum possible NR.

Filter Settings  Page 131 of the Instructions.

You can apply filter effects usually found in the Creative Control Mode in other Modes such as P,A,S etc.. Exactly why you might want to do this is a bit unclear to me…………

Aspect Ratio  This camera does not have a multi aspect ratio sensor so any aspect ratio other than 4:3 is achieved by a simple crop of the output picture.

Picture Size  I sometimes see on user forums a novice camera user complaining about the quality of his or her pictures only to discover the person has set some picture size other than the maximum available (L). Always set L.

Quality   This can usefully be assigned to a Function Button. You can have JPG in two levels, RAW and JPG+RAW. I see no point in ever setting the lesser of the two JPG levels.

Sensitivity (ISO) This is another one which can usefully be assigned to a Function Button.  I use Auto ISO most of the time for hand held general photography and 80 for best quality when the camera is on a tripod or otherwise securely supported.

White Balance  I have noticed over the years a steady improvement in Panasonic’s auto white balance to the point that I hardly ever use anything else. The camera actually enables extensive and sophisticated user adjustment of white balance setting with presets, color adjustment, setting specific adjustment and Kelvin settings.

AF (Autofocus) Mode    Instructions Pages 149-155.  You would normally access this via the Q Menu.

The options are 1 Area, Face-Eye Detection, Tracking, 49 Area.

I find [1 Area] the  most reliable and useful for most subjects.  

Face-Eye detect has its place for people pictures but sometimes fails to do its face-detecting thing.

49 Area is the one you get in [iA] Mode, with all those little green AF squares, over which you have no control.

Tracking tries to hold focus on a nominated subject element ( a dog, person’s face, whatever) as it moves laterally across the frame. It might also follow focus on the nominated thing as it moves towards or away from the camera. Or not, as can happen.

AFS/AFF/AFC  Page 148 of the Instructions.   This is also found in the Q Menu.

AFS is AF single. The camera finds and locks focus with a half press of the shutter button.

AFC is AF continuous. The camera continuously works the AF mechanism seeking best focus. This is best for moving subjects for which the DFD function enables predictive AF.  It is however  not optimal for still subjects on which the camera tends to hunt as it seeks best focus.

AFF is AF Flexible which is a kind of hybrid of  AFS and AFC but without the predictive function.

The description on Page 148 of the Instructions is quite good.

Metering Mode  Page 183 of the Instructions.

Options are Multiple, Centerweighted and Spot. You would want a very good reason to use anything other than Multiple.  Spot will almost certainly guarantee unsatisfactory exposures in most circumstances.

Burst Rate    Page 203 of the Instructions gives a good explanation with a table detailing the numerous options.  This is where you nominate the rate which will be set when Drive Mode is set to Burst. 

For sport/action work I use M, which gives AF, AE and live view on every frame at about 5fps.

To check a golf swing or similar you can select a higher frame rate with loss of some functionality.

4K Photo  There is extensive discussion about this in the Instructions, Pages 184-198.

This is allocated by default to the Fn1 button.

Auto Bracket  Page 206-207 of the Instructions. This is where you tell Drive Mode what do when Auto Bracket is set.

You can select from 9 options ranging from 3 shots at 1/3 stop intervals to 7 shots at 1 step intervals.

The camera will fire the selected number of shots while the shutter button is held down. It  needs to be on a tripod or other secure support so all the frames are in alignment.

Self Timer   Page 208 of the instructions.   This is where you tell Drive Mode what to do when Self Timer is set.

i Dynamic  Page 143 of the Instructions. This applies to JPG images. When [iDynamic] is ON the camera underexposes to prevent highlight blow out, then lifts the tone curve to correct mid tone brightness before outputting the JPG file to the memory card. It is useful when subject brightness range is high.

You have Auto, High, Standard, Low and Off.

I set Auto and leave it on permanently. The camera detects when subject brightness range is high and applies the correction automatically. It does help to prevent blown highlights to which the TZ80 is somewhat prone.

i Resolution   Page 142 of the Instructions.   This feature has been available on Panasonic cameras for several years but in the past I have never been able to convince myself that it was useful. However I ran some tests with JPGs on the  TZ80 and found that iResolution does work on this camera. When set to STANDARD  it cleans up the typical softness seen towards the corners at the wide end of the zoom.

I also tested performance in AFC at Burst M with JPG, RAW and JPG+RAW capture. The camera must have a really fast processor because even with the extra work required to implement iDynamic and IResolution it performed almost as well as with those features switched off.

With them both on the camera ran indefinitely at 5fps with JPG (max quality), ran for 16 frames at 5fps  before slowing with RAW capture and 14 frames at 4.5 fps before slowing with RAW+JPG quality.

That is a very good performance for a compact camera and considerably better than many entry level DSLRs and MILCs.

So my recommendation and practice is to leave i Dynamic set permanently to AUTO and i Resolution set permanently to STANDARD.

Post Focus  There is a full description of this in the Instructions,  Pages 210-215.

This is a wonderful new feature which I never knew I wanted and after reading about it I still don’t know that I want it. It looks like something Panasonic included because they can,  not because somebody asked for it.

Anyway it’s there and by default access to the feature is assigned to the Fn2 button. So if you want to use it you need either to gain access via the Rec Menu or use up a Fn button, the opportunity cost of which is you cannot use that button for anything else.

It seems a whole lot easier to me to just focus on the part of the subject which I want to be in focus and take the picture.

i Handheld Night Shot  Page 91 of the Instructions.  This is a fully automated feature which only works in [iA] or [iA+] and only if Quality has been set to JPG (not RAW or JPG+RAW) for which you need  to set one of the PASM Modes. It attempts to get you a picture at night when you have no tripod by making a series of exposures then combining them in camera.

i HDR  Page 92 of the Instructions. This is another fully automated feature which only works in [iA] or [iA+] modes with JPG capture. The camera detects a high subject brightness range, takes three frames in quick succession and combines them in camera for better highlight and shadow detail than would be possible with a single JPG photo. It works as advertised.

HDR    Page 143 of the Instructions  Not to be confused with  [i HDR], HDR is also a JPG only feature but works with the P,A,S, M Modes.  When ON the camera makes three exposures in quick succession and combines them to produce a single JPG file. It is not found in the Q Menu. You can set HDR to a Fn button but the opportunity cost of that is displacement of a higher value item.

The TZ80 has a simplified Off/On version of HDR. The TZ100 has the more fully specified version with submenus, usually found in Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Time Lapse Shot  A full description can be found in Pages 216-218 of the Instructions. For a consumer compact the TZ80 has some rather sophisticated functions of which this is one.

Stop Motion Animation   This is another sophisticated function well described at Pages 219-222 of  the Instructions.

Panorama Settings  Pages 110-111 of the Instructions.

The TZ80 has an auto panorama mode which works well and can if used with care and practice produce very impressive results. The camera will automatically set the lens to the wide end and E-Shutter is set.

First turn the Mode Dial to the Panorama icon.

Then enter the Rec Menu, when you will find the Panorama Settings tab active.

You get options for Direction and Picture Size.

You can make panoramas in landscape or portrait orientation sweeping horizontally or vertically, making a total of 8 options.

I recommend and use for horizontal panoramas (the most common kind) the bottom of the four Direction options shown in the Direction submenu. Hold the camera in portrait orientation and sweep from left to right.

I recommend setting Picture Size to STANDARD as WIDE is really a bit extreme for most purposes.

Substantial practice is needed to acquire an understanding of which subject types lend themselves well to the panorama treatment and to develop optimal technique. Most bad results are due to poor subject selection or poor technique.

Many natural subjects are managed well but diagonal architectural lines are not.

You can get some amusing effects by including moving subjects in a panorama sweep.

Shutter Type  The TZ80 uses a diaphragm type leaf shutter so the E-Shutter is not required unless shutter speeds faster than 1/2000 second are required. I have no idea when that might be.

There is no issue with shutter shock as far as I am aware.

Just set MSHTR and forget about it.

Flash Adjust  This is where you tell the camera what to do when Flash Mode (at the Right Cursor button or Q Menu) is set to Auto or Forced Flash On.  I use -1 stop so the flash operates as an adjunct to the natural light not a replacement for it.  This can be quite useful when using the camera indoors, permitting a natural appearance to the subject while  allowing a lower ISO setting than would be possible without flash.

Red Eye Removal  This fires the flash twice, the idea being that the first flash closes the pupil of the subject’s eyes, thus providing less opportunity for light to reflect back from the retina (red with blood vessels) when the main flash fires. Even if this feature is set OFF in the Rec Menu, it can still be selected from the Q Menu.

ISO Limit Set  This sets the upper limit which auto ISO can set. Your tolerance for luminance noise (grain) will determine your setting. With RAW capture and careful processing in Adobe Camera Raw I have found ISO 1600 can produce good results.

ISO Increments   Set this to 1 EV.  Aperture and Shutter Speed have 1/3 stop increments so there is no need for ISO to do likewise.

Extended ISO  On most Panasonic cameras this applies to the lower ISO limit which can be set.  But on the TZ80 it just allows a 6400 setting which is one stop higher than the standard upper limit of 3200. On this camera 6400 is ridiculously grainy and not recommended.

Diffraction Compensation  On cameras such as the TZ80 with a very small sensor, image quality due to diffraction at the iris diaphragm in the lens will start to become detectable in images at an aperture smaller than (a larger f number) about f4. This feature tries to correct for this presumably with extra sharpening. I have yet to test the feature.

i.Zoom and Digital Zoom  These are JPG only features which in effect take a crop of the middle part of the frame and resize it to give the appearance of an extra zoom capability. By all means play around with this for fun.  However I find the results quite unsatisfactory. The problem is that the lens is borderline for sharpness at the long end of the optical zoom and will not tolerate cropping and resizing.

Stabiliser  If you always use the camera hand held and never put it on a tripod or other support then you can leave the Stabiliser on all the time. But it needs to be switched off for tripod mounted (or equivalent) use and it is not to be found in the Q Menu. So I have it on Fn4.

You can read about Face Recog  on Page 226 of the Instructions and Profile Setup  on Page 229.

And that’s yer lot for Setup and Rec Menus.