New FZ1000 User - hints and tips?

[Mark Fry]

After long deliberations, I've just bought myself a new FZ1000. I finally plumped for it over the Sony RX10 because it felt better in my hands, the view-finder seemed a little clearer, the extra zoom range and it was 10% cheaper (£600 vs. £660, after I send in my cash-back claim) from that well-known department store that's never knowingly under-sold (but not a DVi sponsor ;-) ).

I realise that it's not quite so well-thought-out for video as the RX10 (no ND, no headphone socket, jerky zoom action using the lens-ring...) but I don't expect to use it for video except as a "B-cam" or for grabbing something unexpectedly when out shooting stills.

I'm just beginning to get used to it, and I wondered if any users with a little more experience would care to pass on any useful tips? For instance, are there any essential accessories, other than spare batteries? Are there any reliable 3rd-party batteries or must one shell out for Panasonic-branded ones? Are the programs supplied by Panasonic worth installing? Screw-on filters or square slot-in? What are those iDynamic and similar settings for, and does anyone actually use them? Do the AFF and AFC auto-focus modes work well or should I concentrate on AFS - my first experiments with AFC weren't too successful!

One thing I've noticed already, shooting on a sunny afternoon, is how light-sensitive it is. Even at an indicated 125-ISO, I was using shutter speeds well over 1/1000s at f5.6. I realise that's partly because the minimum aperture is only f8 (because of the relatively small 1" chip? Diffraction effects at f11+??) but even so, it seems that the ISO figure has no relation to what I'm used to from film. I can see that an ND filter will be needed for video, to keep shutter speeds at the preferred 1/50.

I used to do a lot of photography, back in film days, with a Nikon FM (TTL metering but everything else manual/mechanical) and (mostly) Kodachrome 200. In recent years I've concentrated on video, moving from S-VHS to DV and HD, with a variety of Panasonic and Canon camcorders.

[Darren Levine]

It's a fun little cam! i had it for a bit, and reluctantly gave it back, and now have a GH4 which adds some additional features i was looking for for a particular need.

Overall, just go play with it a lot! when shooting video, put it into the framerate you want, and use the 100mbit mode. bump up the master pedal a few points, i like natural profile with contrast dialed down a bit but there's also cine v and d to look at. and idy and ires are interesting and give some good results, but i tend to leave them off

one tidbit is about the stabilizer, which works well, but i noticed it gets pretty snagged by pointing too high or two low, and is better just turned off in some of those cases.

And yes, definitely get at least a 3 stop ND, that limited aperture range is killer.

i'm still tempted to pick another fz1000 up, it's a darn good deal for such a camera!