Panasonic Lumix Bridge Cameras Revisted: Part 5 - Manual Exposure Mode

In this video I take a look at manual exposure and how to use it and when.
My photographic blog:
www.grahamhoug...

[@frgjb]

Thank you, Graham. You have made owning my FZ-300 much more enjoyable with your educational videos.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Glad you like them! Really appreciated

[@ddsdss256]

Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce your videos. You do a great job explaining things and make valid points--I really appreciate your recent battery comparison (as I happen to have a couple of DTSEs for my FZ1000 but will now buy Lumix when I need new ones for any of my Lumix cameras). Regarding exposure modes, you are correct that a lot of the time, letting the camera decide does make sense, but as you point out, there are also many cases where the camera doesn't "know" what you're trying to do. For example, if a bird is sitting on a branch and the background is dark, I'm not going to let the camera average things out and under-expose the subject. I don't care about the background (which ideally will be blurred anyway) and in fact generally want it to be dark in such circumstances to make the subject pop. That's why I generally use manual mode, using the zebras to expose the subject as high as I can without clipping highlights. I also use this technique with my G9 and other bodies. In fact, it seems that most of the time, for artistic purposes my exposure is different from what A, S, or P modes would've produced (the histogram is rarely white). Part of that may be due to the fact that I shot for decades before auto-exposure existed, but mostly, no mater what metering mode I use (and it looks like you're inclined to produce another video the may explain that), I think I get better results in manual mode (when using auto modes, I often use compensation anyway). Unless the situation's developing too fast to manually adjust, I'll stick with M most of the time.

[@ksgtokgo]

Thank you! Your videos are the best. So much information, so easy to follow.

[@gabrielalamberti5860]

Thank you. BTW, the grid on that camera is so cool.

[@Eltheza]

Thanks ever so much! Your videos are always great! :-)

[@DaveAMcLaughlin]

Terrific video, Graham, as always! Thank you.

[@blutey]

Hi Graham. You used exposure compensation in this video to change the exposure for a photo. Will the method you used also work for video so we can under or over expose a video if we think the camera's auto exposure is wrong?

[@MrOldhoot]

If shooting a live event there isn't time to faff about with settings so part auto is preferably. I bought my FZ1000 back in sept. 2013 as an upgrade from the 200 to take pics at my son's wedding in northern Ireland. Amazingly the sun shone! I used aperture priority, a suitable F stop, face recognition and rapid fire. It's amazing how people's eyes and expressions can change in the space of a second so rapid fire usually guaranteed one shot of everyone with their eyes open. With well over 1000 shots I used Lightroom for processing and minor tweaks. I got some great shots, equally as good and some better than the pro photographer hired for the day. I nearly always use aperture priority sometimes compensating for too much back light. For fast moving action I might set a fast shutter speed and put ISO into auto mode to try and get a sharp picture. Fortunately the light gathering properties of the lens are very good which helps enormously. All helped by your excellent videos and my now deceased brother who was a photographer from about 1959 aged 12 onwards. Thank you.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

I think that iISO or auto ISO is feasible with the FZ1000/FZ10002 set with a ceiling of 1600. Based on images sent to me for quality evaluation a lot of people are still shooting at too low a shutter speed thinking that the OIS will prevent blurry pictures. Great idea about burst mode for group portraits - you can even clone in eyes from suitable images and make one composite with all eyes open.

[@sgit1]

You are fine tuning my photographic knowledge.

[@sobanek84]

YOU SIR ARE THE BEST!! HATS DOWN

[@philippegrauwin1581]

hello, amateur photographer, I recently own the fz300. I would like to know if your book is still being downloaded from your blog in pdf format?

[@irenecoates4580]

Thank you Graham, I'm still in a learning curve FZ80- but practicing. I found that with the exposure, if the flowers are not as bright as I'm seeing, I go a stop back in underexposure and it brings the flower to life. I have been on my knees photographing tall grasses in in our neighbouring field, but can't seem to get get the whole picture in focus, the nearest grasses and or weeds come up nice and in focus, but I can't get it all in focus. Could you at some time explain the EXPOSURE TRIANGLE AGAIN and how you change the settings accordingly, thanks. Take care Irene.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Irene, I think this will make a good topic for another video. Weather in the UK looks a little drier next week so I might be able to get out and do this.

[@chdcile]

I have enjoyed viewing you Panasonic reviews having been considering upgrading from my Compact. Ive decided a bridge camera will fulfil my needs a mixture of pictures and videos with the additional functionality and extended zoom etc. My dilemma, should I go ahead and purchase the FZ2000/1000, or should I wait a future spec upgrade, any thoughts appreciated.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

I'm not holding onto any hope of a newer generation bridge camera - Panasonic seem to have put a lot of R&D into full frame mirrorless cameras. Unless you shoot a lot of video the FZ1000 is probably the best choice. For more flexibility the FZ1000 mk2 gives you a swivel touch screen which is a great upgrade on the mk1.

[@konixtwenty8275]

What is LUMIX FZ2500 native ISO?

[@HamiltonSRink]

Question: I have two 20mp Lumix cameras. G9 and FZ2500. When both are set to 3:2 aspect ratio, and jpg fine, they produce two different size images. G9, 5184x3456. FZ2500, 5472x3648. What is going on here?

[@GrahamHoughton12]

Yes the G9 has a native 4:3 aspect ratio sensor so getting a 3:2 aspect ratio means that there is a slight crop on the width of the whole sensor. The Fz2000 has a native 3:2 aspect ratio meaning the whole area is used and a 4:3 gets cropped.

[@HamiltonSRink]

@@GrahamHoughton12 That does explain it! Thanks Graham!

[@DUKENUKEN49]

Hello I'm French it's a shame that the subtitles are not activated in French thank you