Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5By: Dave EtchellsPanasonic updates its 12x optically stabilized Leica lens digicam to five megapixels. <<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 7:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 05/09/2005 |
Exposure
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Shutter Priority mode puts you in control of the shutter speed setting (from 1/2,000 to eight seconds), while the camera chooses a corresponding lens aperture. As with the Program AE mode, you maintain control over all other exposure options. Aperture Priority works along similar lines, except that you control the aperture (f/2.8 to f/8.0) and the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. Both the shutter speed and aperture values are displayed on the LCD monitor. If the camera can't find an aperture or shutter speed to produce the correct exposure with the shutter speed or aperture you've selected, the LCD indicators will turn red, letting you know that you need to change the setting you selected.
Important note: In common with many other consumer-level digital cameras, the Panasonic FZ5's maximum shutter speed depends on the shutter speed selected. At apertures larger than f/4.0, the maximum shutter speed is 1/1000. From f/4.0 - f/5/0, the maximum is 1/1300, from f/5.6 to f/7.1 it's 1/1600, the highest speed of 1/2000 only being available at f/8.0.
Full Manual exposure mode lets you control both shutter speed and lens aperture independently. Pressing the Exposure button switches the four-way rocker control arrow keys from their normal functions to control aperture (the up/down arrows) and shutter speed (the left/right arrows). A nice touch is that half-pressing the shutter button calls up an exposure-meter display on the LCD screen, showing the currently selected exposure level, across a range of +/- 2 EV. The exposure-meter display disappears after a few seconds of inactivity, or you can use the Display button to select a display mode without the on-screen information overlay.
A number of preset "scene" exposure modes are also available for shooting under special conditions, and include Portrait, Sports, Scenery, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Panning, Fireworks, Party, and Snow modes. These modes preset a variety of camera options, helping novice photographers capture good-looking pictures in challenging situations without requiring a full knowledge of the camera. The Scene modes are accessed through the "SCN" option on the Mode Dial. Through the Setup menu, you can set the camera to automatically display the Scene menu when entering this mode, or set it so that the previously selected scene mode is enabled whenever switching to Scene mode.
Portrait mode enhances flesh tones and uses a large aperture setting to reduce depth of field, resulting in blurred backgrounds and strong focal emphasis on the primary subject. Sports mode instead utilizes fast shutter speeds and wider apertures, in effect "freezing" fast-paced action. Scenery mode is for capturing wide landscapes, and locks focus at infinity.
Night Scenery mode uses a slow shutter speed to capture the color and detail of evening settings without using the flash. Because of the slow exposure, a tripod is recommended. Night Portrait mode works in the same manner, but utilizes the flash to illuminate the primary subject in the foreground. By using a slow shutter speed and the flash together, the overall scene is more evenly exposed. (The flash mode is fixed at Slow-Sync with Red-Eye Reduction. Portrait subjects should be warned to stay still after the flash, until the shutter is closed.)
Panning mode is useful for following a moving subject, such as a person on a bicycle or in a slow-moving vehicle, so that the subject stays in focus while the background becomes a blur. When shooting in Panning mode, hold down the Shutter button while moving the camera to follow the subject. (Just make sure that the subject is moving at a speed you can easily follow without blurring.) Fireworks mode preserves the color and pattern of fireworks by using a slow shutter speed to capture the full effect (a tripod is recommended). Party mode is best for taking pictures under dim indoor lighting with a flash. You can select between Forced Red-Eye Reduction and Slow-Sync Red-Eye Reduction modes, and a tripod is recommended. Finally, Snow mode captures good exposures in bright, snowy conditions, and adjusts the white balance and exposure to ensure the bright snow doesn't trick the camera into underexposure or color casts.
Exposure compensation can be adjusted from –2 to +2 exposure values (EV), in one-third-step increments. The camera's metering system offers three operating modes, which include Multiple, Center-Weighted, and Spot, selectable through the Record menu. Multiple metering measures brightness throughout the entire frame, and determines the best overall exposure. Center-weighted averaging is based on an averaged light reading of the overall scene, but places more emphasis on the center of the viewfinder or LCD monitor. Spot metering reads only a specific point in the viewfinder. You can lock the exposure (and focus) by halfway pressing and holding the Shutter button, and then reframing the subject.
The DMC-FZ5 offers six White Balance modes, including Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Flash, and White Set (manual). The White Set mode allows you to manually set the white balance by holding a white card in front of the camera to set the value in the setup mode. You can fine-tune the camera's white balance by adding more red or blue to the color balance in all of the modes except Auto, Simple, and Scene, using the WB Adjust feature (accessed by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until WB Adjust appears on the LCD monitor).
ISO film speed equivalents on the DMC-FZ5 are set in the Record menu, with choices of Auto, 80, 100, 200, and 400. The higher the ISO setting, the more you can extend the camera's exposure range in low-light situations. Just keep in mind that higher ISO values have progressively lower quality levels, with increased image noise. On that note, the DMC-FZ5 does feature long-exposure Noise Reduction, which uses dark frame subtraction to reduce the amount of image noise in longer exposures. What this means is that after the initial exposure, the camera takes a second exposure with the shutter closed, and compares the two images to subtract the noise pixels from the main image.
The DMC-FZ5 also offers a Color Effect setting with Cool, Warm, Black and White, and Sepia color options. A Picture Adjustment menu option features an additional adjustment tool, with options somewhat deceptively labeled as "Natural," "Standard," and "Vivid." On the FZ5, these options are a little confusing, in that they affect the amount of in-camera sharpening applied to the Z5's images, as well as the color saturation. - I'd much prefer to see a separate menu option for controlling in-camera sharpening independently.
Auto Exposure Bracketing
The Auto Exposure Bracketing mode is accessed by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until "Auto Bracket" appears on the LCD monitor. It automatically captures a series of three images, each at a different exposure setting. You can manually set the exposure variation between shots in one-third-step increments, up to as much as +/- 1 EV. The camera makes all three exposures in rapid succession with just one press of the Shutter button. Unfortunately, just as in the FZ3, this function cannot be used with flash photography. If the flash fires, only one image will be recorded. (The likely reason for this is that the onboard flash recharges too slowly to be usable in a multiple-exposure application like this.)
Burst Shooting
The DMC-FZ5 has three Burst shooting modes, which are accessed by pressing the Burst button on the top panel. Low Speed mode captures a maximum of 4 consecutive frames at a bit over two frames per second, while High Speed mode captures a maximum of 4 images at 3.0 frames per second, as long as you hold down the shutter release. (Burst length will depend on the subject you're shooting, and how well the resulting images compress. In my testing, using a standard noise pattern for worst-case compressibility, I found a maximum burst length of four frames.) There's also an Infinity mode, which limits the number of images only by memory card capacity, and shoots at just over two frames per second. (Interestingly, I found that the frame rate in "Infinity" mode was actually almost exactly the same as "Low Speed" mode, leading me to wonder why one would ever care to use Low Speed mode, although there may be differences between the two with a slow memory card.) The number of images and actual shot-to-shot speed depend on several factors, including the amount of memory remaining on the flash card and the size/quality of the images being acquired. It's important to note that the shooting speeds mentioned here are based on measurements made with a Lexar 32x SD card: Slower memory cards may introduce limitations on maximum run length, particularly in the "Infinity" mode.
Movie Mode
The DMC-FZ5 also offers a Movie mode, which is accessed by turning the Mode dial on top of the camera to the miniature film frame symbol. The Motion JPEG files are recorded at 320 x 240 pixels, at either 30 or 10 frames per second. Recording times are limited by frame rate and memory card capacity. Recording stops and starts with a full press of the shutter button, and the amount of available recording time appears in the upper right corner of the LCD monitor. While the lens can be zoomed before and after movie recording, it cannot be activated during the recording process itself, and the camera's exposure is also set and fixed at the beginning of the recording interval. Unlike many cameras which take advantage of the vastly lower resolution of the movie as compared to the imager, and replace the optical zoom with a digital zoom that crops the center from the image to effectively "zoom" the movie, the FZ5 also disables digital zoom in movie mode. Movies are recorded with sound. As with its "INF" continuous shooting mode, the FZ5's Movie mode appears capable of recording movies continuously to the limit of card capacity, provided you use a fast enough memory card.
Flip Animation Mode
This mode, enabled through the Record menu, lets you connect a string of images
together to make a 20-second movie that resembles a flip animation. You can
record as many as 100 consecutive images to create the animation. To capture
the series, select "Image Capture" under the Flip Animation menu option,
then snap away. During capture, you're told how many images you've captured,
and how many remain. You can also switch to review mode to browse and delete
images you've captured. Once you've captured all of the files you need, select
"Create Motion Image" and select the frame rate (either five or ten
frames per second) to string the images together into a motion file. Once the
animation has been created, you can opt to delete the still images to save memory
space. (This can be a fun mode. Sony had a Flip Animation option on their cameras
a couple of years back, but that feature was limited to a much shorter sequence
of images.)
Self-Timer Mode
The Self-Timer is set by pressing the left arrow key on the Multicontroller,
and offers a choice between a two- or 10-second countdown. When set to Self-Timer,
the camera displays the standard self-timer icon (a clock counting down) in
the LCD display, and depressing the Shutter button activates the countdown,
during which a lamp on the camera's front panel blinks. The two-second option
is very handy when you're shooting long exposures with the camera on a tripod,
and want to avoid jiggling the camera and blurring the shot when you press the
Shutter button with your finger. The two-second countdown is enough time for
any vibrations to die down before the shutter opens, but not so long as to seriously
slow your shooting. - I also find myself using a short self-timer for shots
in low light or macro situations, where I just prop the camera on a convenient
rock, fence post, or water glass (at a restaurant, for example) to avoid hand-held
jiggles. Very convenient, when you don't happen to have a tripod along.
Flash
The Panasonic Lumix FZ5's built-in, pop-up flash operates in one of six modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction (Auto), Forced, Red-Eye Reduction (Forced), Slow-Sync (with Red-Eye Reduction), and Flash Off. The Auto mode tells the camera to determine when flash is necessary, based on existing exposure conditions. Forced means that the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of lighting conditions, and Flash Off completely disables the flash. The three Red-Eye Reduction modes fire a small pre-flash one second before the full flash, to reduce the redeye effect in portraits. Slow-Sync mode combines the flash with a slower shutter speed, letting more of the ambient light fall on the camera's sensor, brightening background objects.
The flash exposure can be adjusted from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until the Flash Exposure Compensation adjustment appears. Panasonic rates the DMC-FZ5's flash as effective from 0.98 to 14.8 feet (30 centimeters to 4.5 meters) depending on the zoom setting and ISO. In my own tests, light from the camera's flash started to fall off at about 10 feet at ISO 80, with the lens towards the telephoto end of its range. This is about average among the consumer-level digital cameras I test, but a bit of a step down from the performance of the FZ3 in this area. Given the extent of its other "enthusiast" features, I was a little surprised to not see a sync connector on the FZ5, for use with an external flash unit. - For that capability, you'll have to go to the higher-end (and higher resolution) FZ20 model, which sports a hot shoe.
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