Copyright © 2015-19 Clive Dyson Version 4.5 4
2. Taking stills photographs
Custom Modes
Those of you who have used my earlier manuals for Lumix G cameras will find that I’ve changed approach
in this manual. I used to base a custom mode on each useful combination of AF mode and
metering mode, and that worked well.
But for some time, I’ve allocated FOCUS AREA SET to a button
and started using the fact that, whilst in
FACE DETECTION AF mode, pressing FOCUS AREA SET switches to 1-AREA AF mode. This avoids
the need for a separate custom mode for 1-AREA AF mode. For stationary subjects I now use only
FACE DETECTION AF mode. This automatically switches to 49-AREA AF mode if no faces are detected
and I get immediate access to 1-AREA AF mode simply by pressing the FOCUS AREA SET button. A
single custom mode supports all three AF modes.
This helps, as the G7 only supports 3 custom modes (the GX7 and G80 both support 4). I recommend
setting up two custom modes for stationary subjects, with C
1
using either P or A exposure mode,
according to your preference, and C
2
using M exposure mode, as shown in Table 2. I set up the third
custom mode, C
3
, for moving subjects.
Table 2: Key settings for the three custom modes
Note (1): If you need it, select BURST mode on the DRIVE MODE dial when switching to the C
3
custom mode.
Remember to switch back to SINGLE on leaving the custom mode.
Note (2): Set FOCUS MODE on the AF/MF switch.
Note (3): If you are using a fully manual lens (without electronic contacts) there is no need to set the AF/MF switch
to MF as the camera will operate in MF mode. SHOOT W/O LENS is set to ON for these two custom
modes.
I like to have program mode available because it is so good on Lumix cameras. On some other cameras
you have to lock the exposure before you can adjust the balance between aperture and shutter speed,
so I prefer aperture priority. But on Lumix G cameras you just turn the front dial to adjust the balance
between aperture and shutter speed.
I use program or aperture priority exposure mode when depth of field is key (such as for portrait
photography). If I use aperture priority, I set SHOOT W/O LENS to ON, so I can use fully manual lenses.
Finally, I use manual exposure mode for specific situations (such as stitching panoramas for
astrophotography, often with a fully manual lens) so I set up a second custom mode for that, also with
SHOOT W/O LENS set to ON.
So that pressing FOCUS AREA SET enables the cursor keys (and touch screen) to move the AF area.
See Table 11 in chapter 4 for the full set of programmed settings for each custom mode.
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