Panasonic Photography Tips
- To get the most out of your camera, understand its controls.film-camera on camera-bag image by Andrii Oleksiienko from Fotolia.com
Digital photography can be as simple as point-and-shoot snapshots or as complicated as fine-art photography, depending upon how much effort you want to put into it. Panasonic digital cameras offer the automation of face-detection software and auto-exposure algorithms for point-and-shoot users, while also offering proprietary technologies that adapt analog SLR functions and enhance them for the digital age. Understanding your Panasonic's capabilities is essential in getting the most out of your purchase. - If you're shooting on a point-and-shoot camera--such as one of Panasonic's Lumix handhelds--and are using the viewfinder, remember that you're not seeing the same image that the lens sees. Your vantage point is an inch or so higher than the lens, a difference in vantage point known as the parallax shift. Parallax shift can significantly change how the final photo is shot, especially when shooting close-ups. To avoid parallax shift, shoot using the camera's display screen instead of the viewfinder. If you must shoot using the viewfinder, avoid filling the frame with the subject, as you'd risk losing its edges due to the shift. In post-production, you can crop the photo as needed.
- The rule of thirds is a composition technique in which photographs are divided either horizontally or vertically into three equal segments. Ideally, the subject of your photograph should be centered on one of the imaginary lines that divide the photograph into three segments. If possible, a photograph will balance foreground or background elements to one or two of the three sections. Panasonic's proprietary Limux Digital Interchangeable lens system allows users of SLRs to view through their lens on the camera's view screen, rather than through the viewfinder as with other brands of DSLR, making it much easier for photographers to frame and compose the shot.
- Panasonic's Lumix SLR (single lens reflex) cameras provide photographers with much more control of how their camera captures light onto its sensor. When shooting in manual mode ("M" on your mode dial), it's essential you match your exposure time to lighting conditions. Using the light meter in your viewfinder, the line on the edge with a range of -2 to +2, view the scene you intend to shoot. The indicator triangle should be centered a zero for perfect exposure. If it's in the negative range, using the wheel on the front of the camera, adjust your shutter speed to a longer exposure. If the indicator is in the positive range, use the wheel to adjust your shutter speed to a shorter exposure. Keep adjusting exposure times, until the indicator in the light meter moves to zero.
- Aperture, measured in F-stops, controls how wide open a light ring in your camera is. Each full step in an F-stop lets in twice the light as the stop before it: so shooting at F7.0 lets in twice the light as F6.0 and four times as much light as F5.0.
If you're unsure what aperture is perfect for your shot, you can utilize the Limux's AE bracketing controls. Use the exposure menu to take bursts of photographs, using aperture values one, two or three settings above and below the one at which it is set. Each time you press the shutter button, your camera will take three, five or seven photos with the range (the AE bracket) you specified. - ISO speeds are a carryover from the days of shooting film, and they measure how sensitive your light sensor is to light. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive your digital "film" will be; high ISOs are useful in shooting action or low light, as they allow for faster shutter speeds, although picture quality gets grainier with each successive ISO step.
