In practiced hands The FZ1000 operates quickly and efficiently making it very suitable for street and candid photography. |
The task list for a
practiced user operating a well specified camera such as the FZ1000 is:
While continuously looking through the EVF and without
shifting grip on the camera with either hand,
* Adjust primary exposure parameters, Aperture, Shutter
Speed, ISO.
* Adjust secondary exposure parameters, Exposure
Compensation, Program Shift, AE Lock, White Balance.
* Adjust primary framing and focus parameters, Zoom,
Initiate/lock Autofocus, Manual Focus.
* Adjust secondary Focus parameters, Change position and
size of AF Box, manual over ride AF, AF Lock, AF in MF.
Of course not all these tasks need to be carried out with
every exposure but it should be possible to do so if required.
This may appear to be a daunting list but the FZ1000 is
able to carry out most of those tasks while in the process of making pictures and without shifting grip.
The only caveats are:
* The right thumb has to drop down to the cursor buttons to change position of the AF
box, which does briefly disrupt grip. I
prefer a JOG lever for this purpose, located near the position of the AF/AE-L
button. My mockups have this feature which I think could work well in practice.
* If the AF/AE-L button is being used for AF-ON it is in an
awkward place if the camera is held in
landscape orientation, requiring a stretch across to reach it. Several complaints have appeared on user
forums about this. I prefer the standard
Canon location for an AF-ON button, which on this camera would be in the valley
between the rear dial and the Focus Mode lever, just under the distal phalanx
of the thumb.
These are minor issues. Overall the camera is a pleasure to
operate. User interface modules are well designed and well positioned. Buttons
are not pressed accidentally but are easy to find by feel when required.
The cursor buttons (4
way controller) have the desirable "rocking saucer" design with
raised edges, which is easy to locate and operate by feel.
The other 5 buttons on the back of the camera are easy to
locate and operate by feel. The playback button has a depressed top so it can
be identified by feel. This is a good idea which could to advantage be made even more explicit with
more obvious differences between the various buttons.
There are no buttons to the right of the 4 way controller
(cursor buttons). The G6 has buttons there which are forever being
inadvertently activated. So that problem has been eliminated. There are also no
buttons in the thumb support. That is a problem with the Disp button of the
GH3/4 which is awkwardly placed.
The Focus/Zoom lever on the lens barrel is easy to locate
and operate by feel.
Summary Panasonic appears to have put considerable
thought into the user interface of this camera. The designers appear
to have learned from experience with previous model M43 and superzoom cameras. The
resulting control layout is both efficient and a pleasure to operate.
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