The FZ1000 operates quickly making it very suitable for unplanned candid shots. |
My interest in camera
ergonomics was provoked by the
experience of using early model Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras including
the G1 and G3 and GH2. These cameras were burdened with several design faults which adversely affected the
user experience. I wrote at length about these cameras and others in
the early stages of this blog's life.
The blog archive through 2012 contains much of my early work and
thinking about camera ergonomics.
Since those days it
appears that Panasonic's designers have been learning. There has certainly been
a huge improvement in the user experience of holding, viewing and operating
more recent models.
The FZ1000 user interface clearly owes much to the GH3/4
but also has similarities to the FZ200.
I will review the
FZ1000 under my usual headings which
relate to the phases of camera use. In
this post I look at Setup, Prepare and
Review phases. The next post will be about Capture Phase.
Setup Phase The main Setup tasks are Menu selections,
allocating user selected items to the Custom Q Menu, allocating tasks to the
Function Buttons and creating Custom Modes. The FZ1000 behaves very much like a
recent model Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera with regard to these functions.
The menu design is clear and easy to read and navigate. The
procedure for allocating items to the Q Menu and Fn buttons is well described
in the Operating Instructions
Users familiar with the Panasonic menu system will have no
trouble with the FZ1000. But a first
time high end Panasonic camera user might feel daunted by the multitude of choices which must be made. This
comes with the territory of a camera which is so highly configurable. I have
posted on this blog a little series on setting up the FZ1000 to help with the
process.
The arrangement of items is mostly logical, but some items
seem out of place, for instance Auto Review is in the Custom Mneu not the
Playback Menu where I would have expected
to find it.
Prepare Phase This is the period of a minute or few just
before starting to make exposures when the camera may need to be reconfigured
for a new set of conditions. The FZ1000
manages this very well. There are hard control modules for Main Capture
Mode, Focus Mode and Drive Mode. The Fn buttons and Q Menu make preparation for
shooting very efficient. All the control
modules are easy to reach and operate.
Review Phase In this Phase photos are reviewed on the
monitor or EVF. The FZ1000 manages this very efficiently. The lever around the
shutter button controls zoom, the rear dial scrolls from one frame to the next
or previous and the Cursor Keys enable navigation around the enlarged frame.
Very efficient and user friendly.
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