Panasonic Lumix Bridge Cameras - A Basic Photography Course

Following lots of feedback from KZbin comments and from responses on my Newsletter group, I have decided to try a new series looking at picture taking with Panasonic Lumix Bridge Cameras. Concentrating on how to take pictures rather than the technical set up of menus and controls etc.
Whilst this series is not camera specific you may need to refer to the relevant camera tutorials that I have here on KZbin if you are unfamiliar with setting up things like Single (1-area)Area Auto Focus.
In this video I look at a typical landscape shot and how I would go about capturing the images.
If you have not subscribed to my newsletter you can do so by completing the form on the home page of my photoblog which gives me the authority to email you the newsletters. They come out every four weeks and contain not only news but many technical discussions on new gear and techniques. www.grahamhoughton.com/

[@davemartin4456]

Thank you Graham for taking the time for us newbies to the Panasonic bridge cameras. I have just upgraded from the FZ200 to the FZ1000ii and am still overwhelmed by the amount of dials / settings. This is just what I needed to get my confidence building in my own photography. Thanks again

[@ashstubbings2603]

I've been the proud owner of the FZ330 for about 6 months now and I'm really please with it. I'm really looking forward to this series. I'm by no means an expert and sometimes I come a bit unstuck with regard to composition, so this series will be very helpful. Thanks Graham.

[@renaturnbull6111]

Great advice, Graham. Thanks. Very straight forward!

[@ksgtokgo]

Looking forward to the series. Thank you!

[@jimmarshall1708]

Great premise for this series. Looking forward to taking previous technical videos and seeing practical use. Thanks

[@RichMiller]

Thank you, Graham. I'm really looking forward to your later videos.

[@leolehner7125]

I liked your use of trying the circular polarizing filter to try and remove some sheen from the water. I'm looking forward to more video's in this series. Thanks Graham!

[@teresahooper6954]

Thank you Graham. This is exactly the videos I need to step out of my comfort zone of ia+. I found this just right for technicality. Looking forward to more!

[@JohnClulow]

Excellent video pertinent to virtually any camera. You've managed to cover a wide range of fundamentals in under 20 minutes !! I've been shooting digital for 15 years now, and I picked up several useful tips.

[@ive595]

Thank you Graham

[@steffandevine]

Very good, I have the FZ2000 but very little experience with good composition techniques etc. I'm looking forward to more of these.

[@chiangmaicharlies]

A very basic series, as you stated, and done in your inimitable style. Very constructive and informative.

[@whitbyflyer]

Very informative video. I am still using the FZ100, mainly in the automtic mode but will now explore the benefits of your wise words. Many thanks.

[@stephenmathewcowen6792]

Thanks Graham. Very useful indeed about using aperture priority mode and focusing two thirds in. Looking forward to the Macro tutorial.

[@RickyJarnagin]

Fantastic start to what promises to be an Awesome series! Thanks Graham!

[@michaelwilliamson2766]

Thanks so much Graham. The tips on the composing a photo were very much appreciate.

[@IanLevings]

Thanks Graham another great video, as always I learn something new every time, not used focus at a 3rd and recompose, so I look forward to trying that out.

[@OnwardsandUpwardsalways]

I have the FZ200 and I found this very informative, couldn’t find any good tutorials for my camera. Looking forward to more

[@joycemotley4055]

Great start to the series. Thanks!

[@tonistarr6737]

I'm interested in taking pictures of birds in the garden with my FZ82. I hope you're going to cover that! This series is great.

[@earlebacciochi9796]

Great timing Graham, just started stately home / landscape watercolour painting and like to use my FZ82 for reference to complete painting at home👍

[@tommo5050]

Thanks for this informative video. I've been using the FZ200 for years and learned a lot from your technical tutorials. These will be a good refresher and I like that you refer back to the previous tutorials for more information.

[@deepoteet7626]

Good job Graham! I understand composition and always enjoy your video's. It makes for a great refresher course. I have been shooting my FZ1000 Mk2 at 6.3 and forgetting to pull my focus at 3/4 into my shot. I will set the camera up for 5.6 and focus correctly and see what happens. Look forward to your followup on the FZ1000 manual for the Mk2.

[@eaglevp]

Learning a lot,looking forward to this series

[@MrPawPaw]

Thank you. This is exactly what I needed.

[@leffphield]

Thanks Graham, your tutorial reminded me why I chose the FZ80. Very informative.

[@787UrbanApparel]

..... Thanks Again ! Lovely scenery of the Hall ... useful tips on the Lumix .

[@GrahamHoughton12]

thank you, more tips to come which I hope will be helpful.

[@ScudoCamper]

Great to see you out and about mate. Just got myself a gx8. Love it so far. 🙂 hope your doing great. 😁

[@luisv7117]

Best videos ever it is a pleasure to listen to you Mr.Houghton and thank you for not playing stupid music like the rest.

[@tommyroddy9442]

Having gone through your excellent videos on the FZ82 this is an ideal follow on series of videos. Looking forward to the next ones in the series :)

[@barrieaustin2043]

Great tutorials thank you I am using the FZ82 and find them very interesting.

[@David-jb5dv]

Thanks for all the time and thought you put into these things

[@sjefkie1948]

As always, a very well thought-out tutorial! Thanks Graham. I use an FZ300 too.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

thank you, I'll be using the Fz300 as well in the series for some of the techniques.

[@walterjacobs5280]

Nice video, looking forward for more to use with my FZ2000. Thanks Graham and keep up the good work.

[@gavin9038]

Great to see a new video Graham. My FZ1000 took a dip in a swimming pool unfortunately, bought a FZ300 to replace it but do now miss the larger sensor.

[@mutantkoffee]

Lool

[@sanysmail]

Please continue your good works, sir!

[@KatyLiedToMe]

i really like this series

[@flookoco2008]

Very good video as always Graham. I would like to see a bit more discussion and analysis of the images taken. How they could be improved, beginner mistakes etc. Looking forward to the macro video next.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

thanks for the ideas. striking a balance between shooting and editing is quite difficult but I'll try to include that in the next ones.

[@sweetbriarspencer]

Oh dear. Have just bought myself an FZ82 as a first ever ‘real’ camera. Your intro mentioned moving from a smart phone (that’s me!), but then you spent at least 10 minutes on what I would call ‘technical’ stuff. Other comments here seem to appreciate these videos, so it must be me! Is there a video that explains aperture, focal length, depth of field etc? I think I need to understand even more basic ‘basics’ before trying out your suggestions.

[@j.damiangarcia477]

Muchas gracias. Estos videos son de gran ayuda.

[@EKS49]

Much prefer basic to technical as that goes over my head like many other people so thanks Graham. Looking forward to many more videos like this - very basic and a lot more tips and tricks please on all aspects including basic editing would also help.

[@april19551]

Thanks again Graham for another great video. I am looking forward especially to your next one. Hope you are using the 10002 for that one too.

[@tonistarr6737]

Really useful, thanks.

[@cazcam2000]

Great Video, keep up the good work!

[@nowaas66]

Really nice video, I've learned a lot from you Mr. Graham and hope to see some videos about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 camera. I know the camera a little old now but it's one of the Panasonic's greatest and it deserves a good attention form you. Thanks

[@tonykoch4284]

Thank you Graham, this was an excellent video and more of the same would a great help be for us aspiring Bridge camera users. I would also appreciate you sharing the photo style and any custom style settings you used on this occasion. Tony K, Vancouver, Canada

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Hello Tony, I decided to keep the photostyles at the 0 position for this series and use the standard photostyle as these tend to be subject dependant and also very subjective

[@user-sl1ys4xi7o]

Thank you so much; clear and to the point as usual😃 could you please explain if 1/3 focusing is estimated by the eye or actually aligned with the rule-of - thirds grid which is activated on the LCD screen.

[@aldogentile245]

Hi Graham, Another excelent series. I paid attention at 13:48, I suppose that you used AF Lock and then you guessed the hyperfocal distance in order to get the best depth of the field.

[@colindickinson2932]

I like your first video, and the ideas and tips you include. I had forgotten about focusing closer in, and then re-framing the image. I presume you hold the shutter half-down to focus, and then holding the shutter button half down re-frame the whole picture? That's what I remember about this technique, but it's not in your camera speak!! I'm looking forward to your future videos! Can you use the FZ300/330 in one of them?!

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Yes that's the technique, but I'll show you in another video how you can modify this so that if the exposure changes because of the reframing you can overcome this and keep the focus point - or you can shift the single area AF point to the 1/3 way into the image to remove the need to reframe - so many options but I'm trying to keep the first episodes as simple as I can. Thanks for the comment.

[@Krlos5605]

Thank you! can't wait for the next videos. It would be nice if you could use also the FZ300/330.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Yes I will be using all the range in this series to offer something for everyone.

[@sun-days-fun]

Very good vids. Greetings from south of Germany

[@EKS49]

I liked this video as it was easy to understand so look forward to more in this vain Graham. When will you be doing the photo stacking video?

[@Culbokie_croft]

Instruction is pitched correctly for me. Thanks

[@CloverPhotoandVideo]

Very nice video! I have a number of DSLRs but picked up the FZ1000 about a month ago for a very good price during the Amazon Prime sales event, and I have found the FZ1000 to be a very capable camera. I am looking forward to your video on macro photography, and any information about shooting stuff like birds in flight (I know shooting fast moving birds can be challenging with a bridge camera) would also be useful.

[@hishamelbatawi3014]

Thank you for coming back to Lumix FZ series. How about blurring background using FZ300 (smaller sensor)?

[@GrahamHoughton12]

I'll be demonstrating some techniques for portraits in this series so that might help.

[@adrianabraham3344]

Makes using the fz82 easier thank you

[@rayjenkins2754]

Your more techie videos have been very good & I've learned much from them. I have the Fz2500 & am thinking of adding the G9. I think this is a good format & adds to the pragmatic side - like focusing into a 2/3rds area for greater depth of field. Have you ever had your Fz2500, or any fixed lens taken off & serviced for dust removal ? After 3 yrs of use I'm seeing some dust flakes as I look down into the lens. Thanks for your work.

[@hughellins1422]

liked this one

[@gkseeton]

I think this is an interesting balance. I will use this video to introduce the composition skills for my 10yr old, but I will be exploring the use of the settings. Highly useful IMO.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

thank you. I'll try something different in the next one to gauge the reaction as I felt I could have added more tips in this one.

[@AlexKnightVancouver]

I’ve enjoyed watching quite a lot of your videos on these cameras. As someone that uses FZ300 cameras only for video podcasts, would love some deep dives on how to maximize shallow depth of field. I understand this is more of a challenge on these lenses. I’ve been able to get a slight blurry background after some experimentation, but I’m not sure if I’ve maximized it.

[@aram5642]

I would love to hear from you how you use the AF Lock button (in the center of the AFS/AFC/MF lever). Also, I feel a big rejection from taking pictures indoors, bit sometimes I need to. My recent visit to a model railroad exhibition was a thorough fiasco. These little trains seem to go so fast that the sports mode might come in handy (but this was an afterthought).

[@louissolomon7488]

Please discuss the SCN on the FZ300 Camera

[@33bluearmy]

Hi Graham, I've just bought a Panasonic FZ72 bridge camera, I love the camera but I do have a question I can't find the answer to. On one of your fantastic videos you mention that a hot shoe flash will sync at max speed BUT what is the maximum sync speed for the built in flash? Thank you for this great channel.

[@aram5642]

If I may suggest, when you do a comparison (like with and without polarizing filter), could put the two images one next to another? Would that complicate postproduction a lot for you?

[@estellepatella2520]

I find the user manual and the on screen icons etc. for my Panasonic FZ70 to be incomprehensible. I have had the camera for a year and a half and I still have no idea to do anything but point and shoot on the auto setting.

[@RichardHannam]

Interesting technique you mention "Focus then re-compose" Doesn't that require a focus lock to be applied or is it automatic on these cameras?

[@happybudgiesify]

I wondered the same thing.

[@felixthecat1882]

Great thing with these bridge cameras is that you can still shoot in RAW.

[@tonystaples7457]

Much better than I thought to would be. Why do you use single area AF for much of the time? I always thought the matrix AF was the best or at least that's what many tutorials seem to suggest.

[@merlinthegray1]

The 49 areas mode can be a great option for scenes with objects at various distances from the camera, however I want to have full control on where I want the actual focus to be. Consider a bird in a tree. The matrix method may not get the focus but using a small target single af, or the pinpoint method almost guarantees you getting the bird and not the tree in focus -, especially at longer focal lengths

[@tonystaples7457]

@@merlinthegray1Thanks Graham. I was thinking you used single point all the time. I also meant to ask about the lens hood and why you didn't use it in the 1st video but did in the second one.

[@T21-TwentyOneTrailers.]

👍

[@BlinkRaven5873]

Can you help me plz... I have lumix fz82... And everytime I set to timelapse and press the shutter to to start the timelapse... My camera is going to off...do I need to set the settings? Plz help me I don't know how to fix this... Thank you...

[@pansypotter4]

I have an FZ82 and I'm still struggling to use anything other than automatic mode.

[@mutantkoffee]

Just trial and error, and practice.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Give me the chance to show the benefits of moving out of iA and your photography and confidence will improve - or your money back!

[@privateuploads-geo2625]

Graham.... I wish I could follow you, but from my perspective you talk way too fast, give too much info, and my brain just starts to shut down because I cannot follow what you are saying, and then you start do math on the fly of this times that and I am totally lost. I've gone through your setup videos as well and have the same issue. I come from 35 mm SLRs in the 70's....things were much simpler and I could easily manipulate shutter speed and aperture....of course ISO was basically set by the film you used.... when I'm in aperture mode, I can see how to adjust shutter and aperture, but I do not see a way to adjust ISO...I'm sure I'll find it...but I don't hear you address how you are doing it in this video. It's like a menu with way too many dishes to choose from.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Usually the iso is set in Aperture priority mode by pressing the ISO button on the 4 - way controller. I take on board your comments about my delivery pace and will try to slow down!

[@privateuploads-geo2625]

@@GrahamHoughton12 Thanks for the reply Graham...one thought from my perspective as an older person trying to get used to all the buttons on these newer cameras...I would like to know how to go out and shoot for example, in Aperture mode, and know what setup to use to get the pics I want and where to look to see the necessary FStop and Shutter speed (i know this now)... and how to make any particular adjustments for say shooting mountain scenery while hiking, and then switching to macro for close ups of flowers or little critters... basically just enough for that particular day