Panasonic GF1 Exposure Options
The Panasonic GF1 offers all the exposure options you'd expect in an SLR-class camera, plus a few Panasonic-specific options. Available exposure modes include Program AE, Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes with shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 60 seconds available, as well as a Bulb setting for longer exposures up to four minutes. The x-sync speed for flash photography is 1/160 second. A fully automatic mode called Intelligent Auto (iA) enables Shake Detection, Motion Detection, Scene Detection, Face Detection, Subject Detection, and Light Detection to try to deliver optimum results under a wide range of conditions. (In our experience playing with the camera, iA did a surprisingly good job, under a wide range of lighting conditions.) The Panasonic GF1 also offers a number of Scene modes, a My Color Mode, and a Custom mode where up to four sets of shooting modes and settings can be stored and recalled. See the Modes and Menus page for more details.
While in Program AE mode, you can rotate the rear control dial to select different combinations of aperture and shutter speed settings than those normally chosen by the autoexposure system. This is often called Program Shift. If the automatic program would have chosen 1/125 second and f/5.6, you could instead direct the camera to use 1/60 at f/8 or 1/30 at f/11, to get greater depth of field. It's a very nice touch that's common on a lot of SLRs these days, and is a handy option for those times when you need some measure of increased control, but still want the camera to do most of the work for you.
Another feature that's also pretty common, but still very welcome is the electronic analog exposure display visible in the viewfinder data readout as well as on the rear-panel shooting display when the camera is in Manual exposure mode. This shows the amount the camera thinks an image will be over- or underexposed, based on the settings you have selected, and helps you find the best exposure for the subject.
Panasonic GF1 Face Recognition
The camera will display and write into the EXIF headers up to three people's names when it recognizes their faces. In addition to just the name, a birthday can be registered, as well as focus priority. Focus priority allows the camera to optimize focus and exposure for the highest priority face it finds in a scene with multiple faces. The included PHOTOfunSTUDIO software bundle can also be used to search for images containing specific people on your PC.
If you program in a birthday for a person, whenever the camera recognizes that person's face in an image in playback mode, it will display their age as of the date of the photo in an overlay over the image on the camera's screen. The birthday information is also written into the JPEG file's EXIF header, so it will also be accessible in Panasonic's bundled PHOTOfunSTUDIO software. (Sorry, Mac users; available only for Windows PCs.)
We didn't play with it in our lab, but at a Panasonic demo for their 2009 models earlier this year, Panasonic staff demonstrated how PHOTOfunSTUDIO can be used to improve on the camera's face recognition, by training the software on a larger number of images.
Panasonic GF1 ISO Range
An Auto ISO mode is available, and you can set the upper limit to ISO 200, 400, 800, or 1,600 in Record Menu 4. (The "Off" setting defaults to a limit of ISO 400.) Intelligent ISO mode detects subject movement, and will boost ISO to increase the shutter speed in an attempt to freeze subject motion. The maximum ISO selected by Intelligent ISO is 800 with the flash off, and 400 with the flash on.
Panasonic GF1 Noise Reduction
The Panasonic GF1 gives you five choices for noise reduction, ranging from -2 to +2, with 0 being the default. While the user manual doesn't say, we can see by examining our Still Life ISO NR series that the noise reduction controlled by this setting is applied at all ISOs, not just higher ones. A separate Long Shutter noise reduction On/Off setting is available for dark frame subtraction for long exposures.
Panasonic GF1 White Balance Options
In most of the white balance modes, you can fine-tune the color by pressing the down arrow. You're then presented with a x/y axis graph with which you can adjust between Amber and Blue levels and Green and Magenta levels by using the four arrow buttons.
In Kelvin white balance mode, the up/down directions on the Multi Selector or rotating the rear dial adjusts the Kelvin temperature with numerical readout, while a scale shows the color temperature relative to existing presets.
Custom white balance is set by selecting one of the two Custom White Balance settings, pointing the camera at a neutral white or grey card under the lighting you'll be shooting in, filling a frame in the center of the display with the reference target, and then pressing the Menu/Set button.
You can also bracket white balance exposures. The bracket setting is performed using the fine-tuning adjustment values, and three images are taken when the shutter button is pressed once. An Amber to Blue axis sequence can be selected, or a Green to Magenta axis sequence.
Panasonic GF1 Metering Options
The Panasonic GF1's Exposure Compensation adjustment increases or reduces the overall exposure from -3 to +3 exposure values (EV) in one-third stop increments, and like White Balance, the effect of Exposure Compensation is simulated on the preview. An Auto Bracketing feature captures multiple shots with different exposures. See the Drive Mode section on Auto Bracketing below for more details.
Panasonic GF1 iExposure
Panasonic GF1 Drive Modes
Panasonic GF1 Film Modes
Here's how Panasonic describes the available Film Modes (the descriptive verbiage below is theirs):
Film Mode
|
Effect
|
Standard (Color)
|
This is the standard setting
|
Dynamic (Color)
|
The saturation and contrast of the stored colors are increased
|
Nature (Color)
|
Brighter red, green, and blue. Enhanced beauty of nature
|
Smooth (Color)
|
The contrast is lowered for smoother and clearer color
|
Nostalgic (Color)
|
Lower saturation and contrast. Reflecting passage of time
|
Vibrant (Color)
|
Higher saturation and contrast than dynamic
|
Standard (B&W)
|
This is the standard setting
|
Dynamic (B&W)
|
The contrast is increased
|
Smooth (B&W)
|
Smooths the picture without losing the skin texture
|
My Film 1 /
My Film 2 |
The saved setting is used. (You can start with any of the preset modes, and adjust each parameters in 5 steps.)
|
Multi Film
|
It will take pictures changing the type of film in accordance with the setting every time the shutter button is pressed. (Up to 3 pictures.)
|
Multi Film is like a Film Mode bracketing feature, that lets you define up to three types of Film Modes to be used in a bracketing sequence. The shutter button must be pressed for each type of film desired in a bracketing sequence, or you can put the Panasonic GF1 into Continuous Drive mode and hold the shutter button down; the camera will stop capturing after three shots.
The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Photo Gallery .
Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!
Follow Imaging Resource