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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

FZ38/35 Settings (1 Viewer)

ben_lewis

Well-known member
Hi all,

I have had the fz38/35 for about a year and have got by using the macro mode for a lot of bird shots, it seems to work surprisingly well for perched birds and some flight shots too. I have tried the other settings with the raynox 2.2x adapter, which boosts the zoom right up.
The one thing I know is that I am probably not getting the most out of the camera, despite being happy with a lot of my shots.

What settings would you recommend/do you use for taking shots of a) perched birds, b) birds in flight? I am quite intrigued to hear what settings others are using.

Many thanks
 
I only have the FZ28, Ben, but most of my settings should apply to the FZ38.

Although I do sometimes use different settings for flight shots (Multi Area AF and Spot Metering), mostly I use Aperture Priority (the 'A' on the dial). The only thing I change often is the exposure compensation, but probably never more that +- 1EV; the rest of my settings are as follows:

  • Contrast -1 [Perhaps less blown highlights]
  • Sharpness -1 [Less noise straight out of the camera, and you can always reduce it with software if you need to (I hardly ever need to)]
  • Noise Reduction -2
  • Center Weighted Metering [99% of the time it's fine; maybe Spot Metering for Backlit or Black/White subjects. If I was shooting Landscapes, then I'd mostly use Pattern Metering]
  • Single Point AF [The smallest square, needed for Birds perched in trees/bushes etc, doesn't hurt for other subjects]
  • ISO limit 400 [You might get away with 800]
  • Auto White Balance [Sometimes "Sunny" works better]
  • Pre AF = Off
  • IExposure = Low

And I'm sure I've forgotten a few things, but I'm a bit busy ATM.

All of those settings are saved in the C1 Custom Setting, so I can change things in Aperture Priority without losing my settings (I like to experiment|=)|). The only thing to watch out for with Aperture Priority is you'll get overexposed pictures in very bright light at higher zoom, as you won't get a fast enough shutter speed. The FZ28 will go to 1/2000th second shutter, but not at higher zooms. The Aperture is dependent on the focal length. So you might only get 1/1300th at 300mm and 1/1000th at 486mm (guessing, not accurate). So in bright light, especially flight shots, you often need to close the aperture to F5.6 or more.

I'll try and check this thread tomorrow, in case I've forgotten anything.
 
Thanks again Chris, thats the sort of info I was looking for. I have experimented with the A setting a bit, but I shall see what happens when I follow your above settings.
 
I have the fz18: one of the first things I did was to set NR to the lowest possible setting. Unless you absolutely won't do post processing, then NR is better applied as late as possible in the process (and this is in agreement with ChrisKten, above). Smallest possible focus area used to serve me well.

Someone adviced using shutter priority instead of Aperture priority for superzooms; I forgot who, and I have actually never experimented with that setting.

Niels
 
I only have the FZ28, Ben, but most of my settings should apply to the FZ38.

Although I do sometimes use different settings for flight shots (Multi Area AF and Spot Metering), mostly I use Aperture Priority (the 'A' on the dial). The only thing I change often is the exposure compensation, but probably never more that +- 1EV; the rest of my settings are as follows:

  • Contrast -1 [Perhaps less blown highlights]
  • Sharpness -1 [Less noise straight out of the camera, and you can always reduce it with software if you need to (I hardly ever need to)]
  • Noise Reduction -2
  • Center Weighted Metering [99% of the time it's fine; maybe Spot Metering for Backlit or Black/White subjects. If I was shooting Landscapes, then I'd mostly use Pattern Metering]
  • Single Point AF [The smallest square, needed for Birds perched in trees/bushes etc, doesn't hurt for other subjects]
  • ISO limit 400 [You might get away with 800]
  • Auto White Balance [Sometimes "Sunny" works better]
  • Pre AF = Off
  • IExposure = Low

And I'm sure I've forgotten a few things, but I'm a bit busy ATM.

All of those settings are saved in the C1 Custom Setting, so I can change things in Aperture Priority without losing my settings (I like to experiment|=)|). The only thing to watch out for with Aperture Priority is you'll get overexposed pictures in very bright light at higher zoom, as you won't get a fast enough shutter speed. The FZ28 will go to 1/2000th second shutter, but not at higher zooms. The Aperture is dependent on the focal length. So you might only get 1/1300th at 300mm and 1/1000th at 486mm (guessing, not accurate). So in bright light, especially flight shots, you often need to close the aperture to F5.6 or more.

I'll try and check this thread tomorrow, in case I've forgotten anything.

Could anyone clarify, once you have created a custom setting as above, do you still choose, say, 'A' for aperture priority, or would you select 'Custom 1' setting? Just bought a FZ45 for the other half and trying to learn what to do...lol
 
Could anyone clarify, once you have created a custom setting as above, do you still choose, say, 'A' for aperture priority, or would you select 'Custom 1' setting? Just bought a FZ45 for the other half and trying to learn what to do...lol

You select Cust on the dial and the camera defaults to the last of the three Custom settings you used.

HTH, Paul
 
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