Setting up the Panasonic FZ80 Part 2 iA Mode and Setup Menu

FZ80

My guess would be that many FZ80 users will start off with the Mode Dial at the default position which is [iA].

The first step is to charge up a battery then pop that in the camera with an SD card which should be formatted in the camera before recording.

Switch the camera on then when prompted, set the date, time and time zone.

Now press the LVF button to switch display to the viewfinder and adjust the dioptre wheel on the right side of the eyepiece to suit the user’s eyes.  Press the Disp button a few times to put as much camera data information as possible on the screen and look at this while turning the diopter wheel back and forth to find the position giving best sharpness.

Right out of the box, some controls work others do not in the [iA] Mode.

The zoom lever, shutter button, motion picture (red) button, focus mode button, Menu/Set button, left cursor (Tracking), down cursor (Drive Mode), Fn1 (4K Photo), Fn2 (Post focus) Fn3 (Q Menu)  buttons all work.

The rear dial does not work either directly or after push-click.

Autofocus is set to 49 Area (multiple little green AF area boxes as determined by the camera) and i- ISO operates.

It seems a bit odd to me that Panasonic puts rather advanced features like 4K Photo and Post Focus right there on the Fn buttons but not more basic camera control options like managing ISO or AF type.

I presume this is part of the promotional push for Panasonic’s 4K photo modes which other makers do not offer. (And which by the way, I never use).

You can leave all the settings at default, go forth and enjoy the FZ80’s amazing speed of operation and zoom reach.

The camera works well with this simple setup and I suspect many users will be happy to leave it that way.

But for those who want to further explore the FZ80’s considerably greater talents a visit to the menus is required.

First up, although mysteriously placed next-to-last on the list is the Setup Menu.

Before delving into the menus download the “Operating Instructions for Advanced Features” PDF from any Panasonic website and save this to a convenient location on your computer or tablet.

At first sight this 311 page document may seem rather daunting. However it is for the most part well written and very informative. It is also easy to navigate with the jump icons.

I will only deal in this post with menu items which I feel require clarification beyond the contents of the operating instructions.

The Setup menu is the only one which has the same content in each of the Shooting Modes available on the Mode Dial.

Wi-Fi  is extensively and well described in the Instructions from Page 228.

Live View Mode  This is one of those perennial Panasonic menu items the best setting for which remains unclear to me. I use 60 fps, not really knowing how that might be better than 30 fps.

Monitor Display   NOTE !!!   Press the LVF button and look in the viewfinder when this tab is active and the tab changes to [Viewfinder].

Both monitor and viewfinder allow extensive adjustment of brightness, contrast saturation, red tint and blue tint.

Each individual has slightly different color sensitivity and contrast/brightness preference. All can be satisfied.

For the record I leave all settings for the Monitor at default [+/- 0].

For the EVF (LVF in Pana-speak) I use Brightness -1, Contrast +1, Saturation and color balance at default. [+/- 0].

Monitor luminance I leave this at default which is the [Auto] setting.

Monitor Priority (play) This controls what happens when you press the Playback button. When the setting is ON playback will appear on the monitor even if the EVF was active for capture.

Economy  I leave settings at default.

Menu Resume  Set this ON so the item last viewed comes up first next time.

Menu Information  Users unfamiliar with the Panasonic interface can leave this on until they become accustomed to the meaning of the items then switch it off to declutter the screen.

Exposure Comp Reset I recommend setting this item ON. Now any exposure compensation set will automatically cancel if the camera is powered off or the Mode Dial setting changes. (N/A in iA)

Self Timer Auto Off   I always set this ON. Then the self timer automatically cancels when the camera is powered off.

Format  This erases data from the memory card. This should be done if a card is new or was previously used in another camera.