Using the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000

[Peter Rush]

I don't do stills Chris so have never even pressed the shutter button and I've had it nearly 6 months! Taking the dog for a walk in a minute so I might have a go! I should point out that I have some experience in photography and when I started out on my own in the wedding video business I also set myself up as a wedding photographer as well in case the income from the few video bookings I was getting at the time was not enough so I'm no stranger to it.

[Ronald Jackson]

Interested to read how you get on Peter. Me also with my FZ (and my GH4s) never a snap EXCEPT video grabs from 4K which not bad. I do bird vids so the 1/50th "fixed" shutter speed a bit of a drawback with "grabs".

Ron

[Chris Harding]

Me neither! I have yet to take a still on the FZ1000 .. too busy shooting video plus I'm so used to using the Nikons for stills and my wife has got used to them too. The Nikon software also gives you amazing facilities in post for photos ... Their D-Lighting is a huge asset and gets carried forward into the software too. However I must admit Roger's stills do tempt me to try a few stills at a wedding when I'm not too busy!! I slip in a few just for fun on Saturday!! The only thing that worries me a little is Nikon flash units have a backlight feature and I have yet to see the same on Panny flashes ... Like Pete I just shoot great video on the FZ's so far and am more than happy!!

[Roger Gunkel]

You really should experiment with the stills Chris, I think you will be quite surprised.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

I will at the next wedding it's one of just only 3 in 2015/16 that I'm not doing the photography too so while the Asian photogs are fussing with the couple I will test out the camera at the reception on the guests. I'm not really concerned at all with good outdoor shots or even well lit indoor shots but I do need good stuff at the reception and that's where flash comes into play and I can find nothing for the camera that equals the Nikon SB600 units we currently use on our Nikon still cameras. We work hard and fast at receptions so I definitely need a TTL flash that thinks for itself. Wifey does an open photobooth with a big black backdrop so I also need a flash unit that will not interpret the background as "more light is needed" and then end up with overexposed people ...the Nikon flashes have that built in.

Chris

[Nigel Barker]

If anyone in the UK is thinking of buying an FZ1000 there are some reconditioned ones with full warranty from the official Panasonic outlet store on eBay for just £499. Despite my new RX10m2 at that price I am tempted to get one myself just for the 400mm equivalent zoom. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ1000EB Bridge Camera 20.1MP 16x Optic Zoom 4K Video Record | eBay

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

If anyone in the UK is thinking of buying an FZ1000 there are some reconditioned ones with full warranty from the official Panasonic outlet store on eBay for just £499. Despite my new RX10m2 at that price I am tempted to get one myself just for the 400mm equivalent zoom. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ1000EB Bridge Camera 20.1MP 16x Optic Zoom 4K Video Record | eBay

I bought my second one from a Dutch supplier that I regularly use, very fast delivery, reliable and easy to contact. Their new price is only £29 more than the EBay refurbished ones. Search results for: 'LUMIX FZ1000'

Roger

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Roger

I will at the next wedding it's one of just only 3 in 2015/16 that I'm not doing the photography too so while the Asian photogs are fussing with the couple I will test out the camera at the reception on the guests. I'm not really concerned at all with good outdoor shots or even well lit indoor shots but I do need good stuff at the reception and that's where flash comes into play and I can find nothing for the camera that equals the Nikon SB600 units we currently use on our Nikon still cameras. We work hard and fast at receptions so I definitely need a TTL flash that thinks for itself. Wifey does an open photobooth with a big black backdrop so I also need a flash unit that will not interpret the background as "more light is needed" and then end up with overexposed people ...the Nikon flashes have that built in.

Chris

Hi Chris,

We don't do a photobooth, but at last week's wedding I was asked to take some extra group and friends pics in the evening. I always carry a reflective umbrella and stand with a bright low energy studio bulb just in case. I set one up in front of a wood panelled wall to the side front and tried the FZ1000 without flash. It handled it beautifully and with a much warmer feel to using a flash.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Roger

Actually we only run an "open" photobooth so it is a simple black backdrop on stands and a bunch of props. When I bought the backdrop and stands kit off eBay it also came with two light stands, 2 x white umbrellas and 2 x 125W CFL lamps .... It would probably work a lot better although not as convenient as a flash. We, of course, don't get any shadow issues even with direct flash with the black backdrop!! I must set it up in the camera room at home and try my camera with it ..It will probably work very well. I wonder how the camera will work with a video light on it?? That might give me nice stills and provide easy on camera lighting... I'll experiment tomorrow at the reception too !!

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

Claire and I have both got separate joint packages tomorrow, so we will both be experimenting with the LUMIX. We will both have studio lights if necessary and a 132 led on camera light in the camera bag.

I do find if I use the camera light for portraits, that they aren't keen on looking directly at it, plus the light is too even like a direct flash. I prefer off camera lighting if I can, to give a little less light to one side of the face and more depth to the shot. With your open photo booth setup, I can see that the shot is all about the moment the flash is fired, but on the other hand, people do seem to like posing in the fixed light as well and you don't have the blinking problem.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

We used to use flash for fills on outside shoots but the closed eyes is a nightmare!! I just shoot without it now as you have to delete so many pics ...even if you switch the flash off the mere presence of seeing a flash unit on the camera (they don't know that it's turned off) they seem to automatically close their eyes when you say 1-2-3 .... With the FZ's decent ISO I don't see why reception shots couldn't use an LED light for a fill ....I'm shooting video at the tables and getting brilliant results without any lighting so I cannot see why stills shouldn't be as good??? Yeah for the booth I have CFL lights so no problem there and it saves using flash too ..funny on the booth they don't seem to close their eyes!!!

I would appreciate your comments on shooting guests at the reception with the FZ1000 without any extra lighting ..I can do a couple but mine tomorrow is only video so I don't want to upset the photog!!!

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

Shooting the guests without lighting is a difficult one Chris as it obviously depends on the lighting levels in the room. I would be prepared to take the camera to ISO 3200 if necessary, but if you may want to crop probably a bit lower. The automatics handle the evening guest shots well, but I would put a stop on exceeding ISO3200. Using the biggest aperture and a light flash works well so that you can maintain a lower ISO, but you know that anyway and a medium LED for quick round the tables works well to avoid closed eyes.

Last week, Claire used mainly ISO 125-200, with 50-100th shutter and a wide flash setting and just tilted the flash up and down to vary the intensity depending on the range.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Roger

Enjoy your wedding too! I have lots of time on this one actually since they have their own photog!! so ceremony at 2:00pm today (civil one so that will be done and dusted by 2:30pm) then after yje photog has done groups I'll do a quick stedicam shoot at the same venue (it has nice gardens) I'm going to shoot some general stills on the FZ so I can see how it performs on a sunny day (we have blue skies today and 26 degrees C) Then at the reception I'll play with some inside shots on the Lumix too It's one of the weddings where I would have rather have done photos too as I'll be done by 3:00pm latest and the guests only arrive at the reception at 6pm ..Will probably pop home for a cuppa to kill some time!

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

Claire and I both had long photo/video weddings today with both taking around 11 hours base to base. Claire used the FZ1000 for all her stills and two Panny video cams for the video. She came back buzzing about how good the LUMIX is for stills, and how she used the auto settings for virtually all the outside shots and M for evening and flash.

My experience for the stills was virtually identical, although I managed to get some sunset shots mixing manual flash into both auto and manual settings. For the first time I also used the FZ1000 as the main video camera with one of the Panny videocams as a B cam.. I took a decision to leave the LUMIX on IA+ for the church service, using the sub record button for the video. This meant that I was able to take silent stills without stopping the video, as the vicar didn't want any flash or shutter noises and absolutely no moving about.

A quick look at the stills in the church confirms that they look very sharp and it was so easy to concentrate on the camerawork for video and just press the stills shutter whenever I felt it was a good stills opportunity. A couple of times on changing shots to congregation, I found the camera focusing on the wrong part of the scene due to people at different distances, so rather than stopping the video, I changed to manual focus while recording. I got the focus direction wrong on several occasions, which gave a couple of seconds of searching time, but easily covered with the B cam. I'm not used to needing to restart the recording after 29 minutes, but found I could do that during a hymn.

During the formal photo session, I continued to avoid the creative video mode so that I could use the sub button for video and main shutter for stills, so alternated between them for a while. Back at the reception, I checked the quality of the stills taken while videoing and decided that they were high enough quality to continue using that method when I wanted video of the same scene. That meant that at times I could set up the poses as I would for stills only, but then shoot the video and take the still without having to reset anything. The only things to be aware of is that only a certain number of stills can be taken during any continuous video take, I'll have to check how many, but it means that I missed a couple of shots during the ceremony, so will have to use screen grabs. The video frame is also tighter than the stills frame, so some of the border is lost if you start the video record while you are set up for stills.

For the first dance and following dances, all lights were out apart from disco lights and for the first time, I felt that the footage was sharper than the Panny video cams, which I had paralleled up just in case.

Altogether it was a great learning day, and although I felt a little uncomfortable initially using just the FZ1000 for much of the day for video and stills, I gradually got used to it and it made things so much easier than using still and video cameras on my double tripod mount. The quality of both video and stills throughout the day was amazingly good, with the auto white balance continuously getting it right. It was a bright sunny day with a white marquee, blue skies, white puffy clouds and lots of grass, but auto exposure only needed the occasional gain adjustment. I have never taken so many stills where almost every shot was right, focus, superb colour and exposure.

For a solo shooter it is a godsend and although I seem to be overflowing with superlatives, it is without doubt the best camera I have ever owned for convenience and quality both in video and stills. There are a few things like the zoom, battery door and lack of headphone monitoring that could be improved, but nothing that is a major problem. I'm not sure what Panasonic will add when they eventually upgrade it, but it can only enhance what I consider to be an excellent little camera.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

Many thanks for that excellent summary! My wedding on Saturday turned out very well also ... I still used Creative Video Mode for all the video and apart from a silly mistake (somehow I had accidentally switch the focus to manual and didn't notice on the A-Camera ) Amazingly enough that clip was sharp and perfectly focussed ..I only found out it was in manual when I looked thru the EVF and saw the groomsman high lighted in blue focus peaking so when the opportunity arose I quickly changed it. Our reception was REALLY low light ...A few dimmed lights and then candles !! I tossed my video light on the camera and turned the dimmer to full and was stunned to see the image totally blown out ...I used the light now and again in a couple of dark corners with guests otherwise it wasn't needed. If I still had my Sony's the light would have been a lot brighter as no light would have resulted in a dirty brown image!! I did speeches in front of the bridal table and the only light was two small halogens in the ceiling yet the camera handled that lighting perfectly!! I did have a short time to "play" so I took stills with just the dim video light ..images were good BUT shutter speed hovered between 1/10 and 1/15th at best so one gets a few blurry shots which isn't practical! If I turn up the video light it just blows out the skin tones so definitely indoor stills need a flash to light the whole scene correctly and keep the shutter up at 1/60th at least otherwise camera shake is going to happen especially handheld shots. Our next wedding is a "normal" one with us doing photos too so I'll definitely use the FZ1000 for the photoshoot!!

Only had one tiny disaster at the wedding ...I was checking the one cam during the ceremony and put the 2nd cam on a granite wall where it promptly slid down the rough stone face where a nice guest caught it BUT it scratched my LCD at the bottom!! I wish I could get the tough plastic covers that my Nikons have!!!

Chris