Home » Video » ...

Fz200 where to buy Videos

Panasonic Lumix FZ200 User Guide Illustrated Part 3(a) The Semi Automatic modes

Get my free eBook User's Guide for the FZ200 available from my photoblog site //www.grahamhoughton.com/download-section/ Also available from Amazon ...

User Comments

Graham Houghton commented on 13 Dec 2012

This is the eternal problem with small sensor cameras to get enough electrical output for the signal processing the camera has to wind up the iso and this introduces noise big time. The only method of low light video is to either use the iA mode and hit record and the camera should switch to low light mode or select it in the scene mode. You won't effect the outcome with any of the profiles. The use of manual mode allows lower shutter speeds but will give subject blur if there is any motion.

Graham Houghton commented on 17 Aug 2013

Hello Anne, this technique is a useful feature and yes you turn on the forced flash and then you can adjust the amount of flash output power to balance the daylight. to do this you need to go to Flash adjust on page 5 of the Rec menu. Here you can reduce the flash power by 2 complete stops ( or boost it if needed for against the sun shots) You can also use a single layer of paper tissue to reduce and soften the light from the flash - this gives some more natural lighting as well.

Bob Marshall commented on 14 May 2013

Oops my bad, My question is to gain knowledge of what to do (in advance) for filming wildlife in a national park which is still covered in snow. I don't have the FZ200 yet but, should have shipment by Monday. I do have tons of wildlife video on DVDs from my old camcorder. I've been watching your videos over & over again to learn as much as I can in advance. Thanks so much for you answer! Along with being such a great teacher you are so good to answer questions! Thanks

Graham Houghton commented on 01 Jan 2013

Capturing movement requires short shutter speeds to arrest any motion in the subject. Telephoto exaggerates the movements so its best to stick to wider zooms and use the f2.8 aperture. You will need to use a higher iso to allow you to use 1/250 sec exposure. Try to find a point in the dance where the motion is least when you press the shutter - a case of studying the movements to determine this point. Sometimes movement can add character to a shot if it is controlled

Graham Houghton commented on 28 Aug 2013

If you are in aperture priority mode the camera will determine the shutter speed based upon the light level, if its too low then you will need to increase the ISO setting for the camera to choose a faster speed. If in P mode then You half press the shutter button to see the exposure then rotate the back control wheel to change the aperture/shutter speed combination to what you want. In S mode just dial in the speed you want and the camera will set the aperture

Dilip Ranade commented on 13 Dec 2012

Thanks a lot for this series on FZ200. I find these videos extremely useful and informative. This is true selfless service to the FZ200 users. If you ever publish a priced PDF version there will be may buyers. Surely count me in! Your videos are clear and easy to understand. I saw the first two even before I brought my camera...and now this third one. I wish such video instructions are supplied with every camera!! Thank you Graham for the hard work

Graham Houghton commented on 31 May 2013

If you want the best from the camera and can afford the time to process your images ( even batch import processing) you should switch to natural photostyle and put -2 everywhere. Then you get images with lots more highlight-shadow range and you can sharpen and adjust tone to suit your own preferences. Otherwise I would add the +1 sharp -2NR in all the other profiles too.

Graham Houghton commented on 26 Dec 2012

The only realistic option is to use shutter priority mode S and set the shutter speed to a value which will stop the subject movement ( probably 1/250 or 1/500 depending on zoom), set iso to 400 ( 800 max if the light is sufficient as the noise will not be as prominent and it will give you the chance to use higher shutter speed) and set the focus to use the AFF mode.

mieunelsibaunel commented on 11 Jan 2013

thanks for your quick answer. i know how to change the 4 parametrs but i'm asking you what"s your combination to get the lowest noise possible?i mean what value you use for contrast,sharp,noise reduction,color saturation and max iso to get the best result.it's like in the tutorial(sharp+2,nr -2,contrast=0,color saturation=0) or you have other combination.thanks

Jorjann Kuypers commented on 18 Sep 2015

Good morning! Thank you for the great videos on camera use. I have a DMC-ZS15 and I'm trying to follow your illustrated guide for the FZ200 --- I'm learning a lot as I work through but the FZ200 has many functions not available on the DMC-ZS15. Can you send me a link or tell me how to find an illustrated guide for my camera? Thank you so much.

nuno4bit commented on 13 Dec 2012

Thanks so much Graham!!! Your tutorial are so good I have a FZ200 and i have a BIG question, with low light i see very noise image when i do video record, even increased ISO :( What you suggesting to reduce this effect, profile, color, sharpness, NR, etc?? I record is 1080p 50fps Thank you so much one more time and i'm sorry for my english

Rene Horsthuis commented on 31 Dec 2012

Hi Graham, Thanx for your inspiring videos. I've got a question about the settings for photography inside a building, with moving people (dancing) and if I want to avoid using a flash. So far it's hard to take sharp pictures, but it might be that I use the wrong settings. Could you help me out? And all the best wishes for 2013 :)

Graham Houghton commented on 12 Jan 2013

Hi I use the +2 sharp and -2 Noise reduction in the standard photostyle. If I want more exposure lattitude. especially for video, I will use the Natural photostyle and add -2 contrast and -2 saturation. I will then post process to get the required contrast I want. This way produces lower jpeg noise in camera

Graham Houghton commented on 10 Jan 2013

Hi, just go into the setup menu, cursor to photostyle, cursor again to the standard photo style and then use the cursor down key to change any of the 4 parameters. You can save the set up as the custom mode which will leave the standard mode unchanged. I will be showing this in a later tutorial on the FZ200.

Bob Marshall commented on 14 May 2013

Thanks again, your videos are a big help! Another person asked 23pt vs center point focus question (for the movement of the birds). My question is center point over focus tracking? For video mostly. My subjects are deer, elk, mtn. goats, bears, etc. so the distance is usually quite far = 100 to 300yds.

hanumic1 commented on 09 Jan 2013

Hi there, do you know "photo SFX art" (search on Google for it)? There you can watch a great free video explaining how you can make fantastic photos. It helped Matt to shoot photographs that leave you with that wow-effect any time you take a look at them. Hopefully it will work for you too.

John Stratford commented on 31 May 2013

Hi Graham, I'm so pleased to have found your videos. Absolutely invaluable to someone like me coming from film photography. Would you recommend using your +1 sharpening, -2 noise reduction setting all the time in the different photo styles? Thanks again... Regards John

Rene Horsthuis commented on 02 Jan 2013

Hi Graham, Thanx for your response. I will try en experiment with your recommended settings. And I see there are more questions about indoor photography and movement... Could be nice to see a movie about that :) Happy 2013 for you and all of your cameras ;)

Graham Houghton commented on 17 Dec 2012

I generally find if I set 1 area focus and expand it size i get a better hit rate than 23 area as sometimes that mode picks up objects that i don't want like trees or other birds on the periphery rather than the one i want in the middle.

phil baines commented on 21 Apr 2013

hi graham, thanks for these very informative videos. the best ive seen on how to get the best out of your camera, im purchasing the fz200 tomorrow, it should be the ideal camera for my needs...keep up the good work...many thanks phil

ANNE S REED commented on 16 Aug 2013

Thank you for your series. Please help me understand how I can get a "flash-fill" during outdoor normal lighting. Is it possible in the AUTO modes? I just want to fill in the faces without overriding existing lighting.

Tim Simmonds commented on 04 Jan 2013

Thanks Graham. I'm catching up slowly. It's good that you give real life examples. I also like that you state what settings you would use which is sometimes more useful to know than just what ever option does. Cheers.

mieunelsibaunel commented on 09 Jan 2013

hello graham.i usuly use P mode in my photo.how you adjust the 4 parameters of the standard mode to get the lowest noise possible?like in your review(s+2,nr-2) or you have samething new?thanks for your good reviews

t3chnotub3 commented on 24 Mar 2013

this is my first camera, i bought this because of your photos, and these instructions are very helpful.. thanks a lot!!! ... i sent you a message on facebook.. my name is ZEAL.. good day graham.

Graham Houghton commented on 14 May 2013

Hi Bob for this distance wouldn't it be better to use AFS mode as the focus wouldn't change that much at this distance, do you find the camera hunts for focus using AFC at this distance

Karen Loughrey commented on 05 Oct 2013

Awesome series of tutorials Graham. I've been using Lumix FZ'd since 2005 & I thought I knew my way around them pretty well, so I'm amazed at how much new stuff I'm learning.

Gabriel Ferreira commented on 16 Dec 2012

Hello Graham. Excellent video, as always. So tell me, is there any benefit on using the single point focus to shoot, like those birds, instead of using the 23-point? Thanks

Graham Houghton commented on 19 May 2013

For birds in flight use the S mode and set the shutter to 1/500 sec. Keep the iso below 400 and you might need to use + exposure compensation with bright skies

Ali Al Dalwi commented on 14 Dec 2012

Thank you for this helpful video, but I'm sure that my settings are the same as you have on the video but I can't reach the 23/area "the focus method"

Brian Ellsworth commented on 09 Jun 2015

Just can't seem to understand NR.... Does a + value give or reduce noise but reduce sharpening or the opposite.... Can't seem to see the difference

Smithers of Stamford commented on 13 Jun 2015

how do you have the graph on the screen you didn't show how to do this ? thanks graham and great video but I'm struggling with this one ?

Panasonic FZ200 on Sale - Find out where to get Panasonic FZ200 Best Price

Visit //www.panasonicfz200.com to get best price on Digital Compact Camera. You will enjoy using this Panasonic FZ200 Camera.

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 compared with the Panasonic FZ200

A side by side stills mode test of the two cameras showing the enhanced imaged quality that can be achieved with the FZ1000 if you need larger format prints or ...

User Comments

natserog commented on 27 Jul 2015

trying to decide between the Panasonic FZ1000 and the Sony RX10 ll Just cant see the 500 if I bought the Sony RZ10 ll I shoot 95% stills. help! :)

Simon Garfancule commented on 10 Sep 2015

+natserog Go for the RX10 (1) or do you need to record in 4k?

Jim Kurczewski commented on 22 Jul 2015

Graham, how do you know when the camera is at 2x digital zoom?

Jim Kurczewski commented on 28 Jul 2015

Oh, I didn't know that iZoom used digital zoom. Kind of makes sense though -- going from 400mm to 800mm. Thanks!

MrTyouBE commented on 27 Jul 2015

Go to Settings and turn on (i think its called) intelligent zoom then you will be able to zoom in even more than 400mm when the display says 800mm you have 2× digital zoom ;)

Özgün Demir commented on 27 Jan 2015

You reminded me David Attenborough a bit..

Özgün Demir commented on 02 Feb 2015

+SharonHaber66:)

SharonHaber66 commented on 01 Feb 2015

Lol, seems I wasn't the only one who has this feel!

Tim Turner commented on 02 Jan 2015

I shoot Motorsports Photography with a Canon Rebel T3I and a 70-300 MM L Series Lens... which doesn't auto focus for video and will not shoot at 120 fps at a decent resolution for slo mo. I have been using the FZ200 solely for video, a few podium shots and scenery, so I'm used to having to have 2 cameras. The FZ200 is now ailing and in need of repair which should cost around $250. I was seriously considering the FZ1000, mainly because I like the larger size and hope for a better grip. The FZ200 is too small like a toy. However I can't seem to be able to confirm that the FZ1000 shoots 120 fps at 720p. I'm really not impressed with the difference in 4K and who has the monitors for it anyway? The FZ200 makes for great Slow Motion Video and Motorsports enthusiasts love it. Especially since the GoPro's now have it.

Graham Houghton commented on 05 Jan 2015

+Tim Turner Hi Tim I'm only doing off the footage I downloaded and viewed in Movie inspector and in my editing program and it is output as a 1080p 25fps file. The sensor will captur at 100fps on a PAL based camera and 120fps on a NTSC camera so that is where the discrepancy is I think

Tim Turner commented on 03 Jan 2015

+Graham Houghton Now I'm confused... another Video Review I saw claimed it would shoot 1080p at 120 fps. If it doesn't, I wouldn't buy it.

Graham Houghton commented on 03 Jan 2015

there has been a lot of bad information circulated around the so called high speed mode of the FZ1000 based on pre-production software releases. In the production version of the camera high speed video really doesn't exist. The sensor is clocked at 100fps however the video output is 1080p 25 fps MP4 format. It looks like there must have been stability/overheating issues? and so it was culled from the final software releases.

Son of Shiva commented on 24 Dec 2014

David Attenborough does camera reviews?

Graham Houghton commented on 24 Dec 2014

I wish, LOL!

widgewunner commented on 30 Nov 2014

I ordered an FZ200 exclusively for its 640x480 240fps high speed (slow motion) video mode (which, BTW, led me to your excellent tutorial series - just watched the whole darn thing - thanks!) So does the FZ1000 also do this 240fps mode? (I've scoured the Panasonic basic and advanced manuals but can't find an answer to this for the FZ1000.) That, and why didn't you cover this (very cool and unique to the FZ200) feature in your video series? (I'm going to be using this feature for scientific purposes.)