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A year shooting the Lumix GH4. Here's my settings.

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danieljcox

danieljcox

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Many photographers that travel with us are interested in my settings for the Lumix GH4. I've been shooting this wonderful camera now for one year and I've been extremely pleased. If you're interested I've listed my Custom settings and all other settings I shoot both GH4's I own. If you want the full story you can find it at http://naturalexposures.com/one-year-shooting-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4/. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to share.
  • Photo Style= Standard
  • Aspect Ratio= 3:2
  • Quality= RAW+Jpeg Fine
  • AFS/AFF= AFS
  • Metering mode= Matrix or Evaluative
  • Bust Rate= High
  • ISO Limit set = 1600
  • ISO Increments= 1/3 EV
  • Extended ISO= On
  • Long Shutter Noise Reduction= On
  • Color Space= sRGB
  • Photo Style= Standard
  • 4K Photo=On when Needed (Manual Exposure)
  • Rec Format= MOV
  • Rec Quality= Depends on every shoot
  • AFS/AFF= AFS
  • Continues AF= On (Sometimes Off if I'm using Manual focus)
  • Metering= Matrix or evaluative
  • Sound Output= Recorded Sound
  • Mic Level Display= On
  • Mic Level Limiter= On
  • AF/AE Lock= AF On
  • Shutter AF= Off
  • Quick AF= Off
  • Eye Sensor AF=Off
  • Direct Focus Area=Off
  • Focus Release Priority=Release
  • Peaking=On
  • Histogram=On
  • Zebra Pattern=Zebra2
  • Contant Preview=Off
  • Monitor Info Display=On
  • Auto Review Duration Time=Off (Very, very imprint to turn this off for action photography)
  • Fn Button Set-None other than what is default.
  • Eye Sensor=Low
  • Touch Settings
    • Touch Screen=On
    • Touch Tab= On
    • Touch AF=AF
    • Touch Pad AF=OFFSET (This has to be set to move AF sensor around LCD with finger)
  • Shoot without lens=On (this is so I can use my Nikkor 600mm F/4 with an adapter)
  • Live View Mode=30Fps
  • Battery Use Priority=Battery Grip
  • Menu Resume=On
 
You didn't mention if you do any tweaking to Photo Style or White Balance. I adjusted both to get the color I liked. Panny tends to be a little flat and cool with color - which I appreciate because it give me the control rather than dealing with OVERLY saturated colors (Olympus).
 
SF Photo Gal said:
You didn't mention if you do any tweaking to Photo Style or White Balance. I adjusted both to get the color I liked. Panny tends to be a little flat and cool with color - which I appreciate because it give me the control rather than dealing with OVERLY saturated colors (Olympus).
Click to expand...
 
Hello Daniel why do use the 3/2 aspect ratio and not the full sensor don't use loose some mpix ,wish panasonic would bring back a multi aspect ratio sensor like gh2 and lx100.
 
Just curious Daniel,

Are you finding much use for 4k video, for telephoto/wildlife video...mainly birds {from an IQ perspective only.....not from an editing advantage aspect}???

I'm still on-the-fence in that regard, as air quality seems to be the over-riding consideration regarding IQ, in many of the situations I find myself shooting in {normally within the 10>30meter range for small>medium sized birds, and up to 50meters for larger bird subjects}.

I am mainly concentrating on ground feeding/nesting/foraging birds though {and from low shooting angles}...where air quality seems to always be turbulent {to a greater or lesser extent}, and have often felt that 1080p is giving me all the available detail within the scene {occasionally I find that 720p is giving as much detail as 1080p...due to air clarity}.

At present, I find that 1080/50p more useful for recording twitchy movements at close'ish shooting distances, than 24p/25p etc.... so 4k is not an all-round option for me at present {but possibly could be, in the future...for situations offering good air clarity on a more regular basis}.
 
Enjoyed your article! Ever since Olympus brought the EM5 and EM1 onto the scene with their sexy lines and retro style, Panasonic's flagship line hasn't been getting a whole lotta love! So it's good to hear your positive review.

I ditched my GH2 in favour of the GH3 - not because of any perceived deficiency in IQ - but because I was never comfortable with the ergonomics. The GH3 may have the sex-appeal of a lump of coal, but in my hands it just feels right. My photography is nowhere near as demanding as yours and the GH3 is camera enough for me for some time! It performs well, is comfortable to use, (relatively) easy to understand and nothing has fallen off or broken (yet ~ fingers crossed!).

The Olys have certainly a big following around here, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the GH3/4.
 
kiwigirl said:
I ditched my GH2 in favour of the GH3 - not because of any perceived deficiency in IQ - but because I was never comfortable with the ergonomics. The GH3 may have the sex-appeal of a lump of coal,
Click to expand...
Totally disagree. I added an aftermarket battery grip and it really gives it a "professional" look and you can go forever and not worry about batteries. And it really does improve the handling, especially if you're constantly switching to portrait shooting.

I think the GH models have been really underrated for stills and unless Panny throws in the towel on m4/3, I don't think I would change to Oly. In fact, I would probably switch to Sony.

Alyson - aka FagGurl - Queerchick - AlyCat
San Francisco, CA
 
danieljcox said:
Many photographers that travel with us are interested in my settings for the Lumix GH4. I've been shooting this wonderful camera now for one year and I've been extremely pleased. If you're interested I've listed my Custom settings and all other settings I shoot both GH4's I own. If you want the full story you can find it at http://naturalexposures.com/one-year-shooting-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4/. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to share.
  • Photo Style= Standard
  • Aspect Ratio= 3:2
  • Quality= RAW+Jpeg Fine
  • AFS/AFF= AFS
  • Metering mode= Matrix or Evaluative
  • Bust Rate= High
  • ISO Limit set = 1600
  • ISO Increments= 1/3 EV
  • Extended ISO= On
  • Long Shutter Noise Reduction= On
  • Color Space= sRGB
Click to expand...
Danny, why are you wasting time shooting both RAW+jpg? Just shoot raw. then the rest of the picture settings won't matter (natural, etc, etc_).

seriously.

it takes a few moments in lightroom to process raw into any flavor of jpg. but with tremendously more range.
 
Last edited:
David, I enjoyed your article on the GH4! Very informative and shows once again Panasonic know what they are doing. I've shot with the G1/GH2 and my current go to cameras are the GX7 with the GH3 being my backup camera. I moved to Utah in July and my wife and I visited the Moab in January 2015. The GX7 and GH3 perfomed like champs and we were able to capture what I believe is our best photography yet!

The GH series and Panasonic ALWAYS get short thrift on stills and it is utter nonsense! I have a shot of Antelope Island in Utah that was the first featured in Outdoor Photography magazines 2015 American Landscape Photography contest and I've been published and won awards using nothing but Panasonic camera's and lenses. In the end it comes down to the photographer but don't believe you can't capture award winning still photography using Panasonic. Not true!! And we don't even have to talk about the video side of the house. It leads the pack

Mark Seawell
 
Last edited:
Excellent read!

First I want to thank you for an excellent blog and some of the tips you had written made me re think my approach towards my GHs. Once again thank you!
 
macropaul said:
Hello Daniel why do use the 3/2 aspect ratio and not the full sensor don't use loose some mpix ,wish panasonic would bring back a multi aspect ratio sensor like gh2 and lx100.
Click to expand...
Macropaul,

I like the the look of 3:2 better than 4:3. Yes I know I could crop in my post processing but I try to spend as little time on the computer as possible. Also, I have many, many thousands of Nikon 3:2 proportioned images that I use along with my Lumix images for my travel presentations. It's nice to have all images the same aspect ratio, once again not having to make crops to the images that are shown together. Just my own preferences.
 
danieljcox said:
macropaul said:
Hello Daniel why do use the 3/2 aspect ratio and not the full sensor don't use loose some mpix ,wish panasonic would bring back a multi aspect ratio sensor like gh2 and lx100.
Click to expand...
Macropaul,

I like the the look of 3:2 better than 4:3. Yes I know I could crop in my post processing but I try to spend as little time on the computer as possible.
Click to expand...
 
mseawell said:
David, I enjoyed your article on the GH4! Very informative and shows once again Panasonic know what they are doing.

The GH series and Panasonic ALWAYS get short thrift on stills and it is utter nonsense!

Mark Seawell
Click to expand...
Mark,

Glad you liked the piece. I couldn't agree with you more about Panasonic getting short shrift on the amazing things they are doing as a still camera manufacturer. It is a shame and more photographers should try some of their phenominal terchnology. I personally feel much of it is due to Panasonic not being known as a camera company. Even though Olympus never made it to the big league like Canon and Nikon, they are still well known as a camera company that does produce great glass and some interesting cameras. However, I believe if people try what Panasonic is offering they will find as I have that Lumix is a phenomenal system. Thanks for your input.

--

Daniel J. Cox
http://www.naturalexposures.com
http://naturalexposures.com/corkboard/
#Lumixlounge
 
Last edited:
jennajenna said:
danieljcox said:
Many photographers that travel with us are interested in my settings for the Lumix GH4. I've been shooting this wonderful camera now for one year and I've been extremely pleased. If you're interested I've listed my Custom settings and all other settings I shoot both GH4's I own. If you want the full story you can find it at http://naturalexposures.com/one-year-shooting-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4/. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to share.
  • Photo Style= Standard
  • Aspect Ratio= 3:2
  • Quality= RAW+Jpeg Fine
  • AFS/AFF= AFS
  • Metering mode= Matrix or Evaluative
  • Bust Rate= High
  • ISO Limit set = 1600
  • ISO Increments= 1/3 EV
  • Extended ISO= On
  • Long Shutter Noise Reduction= On
  • Color Space= sRGB
Click to expand...
Danny, why are you wasting time shooting both RAW+jpg? Just shoot raw. then the rest of the picture settings won't matter (natural, etc, etc_).

seriously.

it takes a few moments in lightroom to process raw into any flavor of jpg. but with tremendously more range.
Click to expand...
JennaJenna,

I shoot both RAW and JPEG so I can easily transfer JPEGs to my iPhone or iPad via the Panasonic Image App which is a nice tool for social media as well as teaching opportunities for our Natural Exposures Explorers. I've been shooting and using the advantages of the RAW files for many many years but thanks for the suggestion.
 
SF Photo Gal said:
kiwigirl said:
I ditched my GH2 in favour of the GH3 - not because of any perceived deficiency in IQ - but because I was never comfortable with the ergonomics. The GH3 may have the sex-appeal of a lump of coal,
Click to expand...
Totally disagree. I added an aftermarket battery grip and it really gives it a "professional" look and you can go forever and not worry about batteries. And it really does improve the handling, especially if you're constantly switching to portrait shooting.

I think the GH models have been really underrated for stills and unless Panny throws in the towel on m4/3, I don't think I would change to Oly. In fact, I would probably switch to Sony.

Alyson - aka FagGurl - Queerchick - AlyCat
San Francisco, CA
Click to expand...
Kiwigirl,

Two batteries are about day and a half for my shooting situations. Even less when shooting lots of 4K Video. The Nikon pro batteries in the D4 would last as many as four days. Admittedly it wasn't running EVF's and rear LCD's so the Lumix actually does pretty well but no reason not to hope for even better.

I agree with you that the GH cameras have been under rated for still photography. I hope desperately Panasonic does not throw in the towel and keeps up the fight. They make great gear and hopefully posts like this will encourage others to give them a try.
 
Alan_W1 said:
Just curious Daniel,

Are you finding much use for 4k video, for telephoto/wildlife video...mainly birds {from an IQ perspective only.....not from an editing advantage aspect}???

I'm still on-the-fence in that regard, as air quality seems to be the over-riding consideration regarding IQ, in many of the situations I find myself shooting in {normally within the 10>30meter range for small>medium sized birds, and up to 50meters for larger bird subjects}.

I am mainly concentrating on ground feeding/nesting/foraging birds though {and from low shooting angles}...where air quality seems to always be turbulent {to a greater or lesser extent}, and have often felt that 1080p is giving me all the available detail within the scene {occasionally I find that 720p is giving as much detail as 1080p...due to air clarity}.

At present, I find that 1080/50p more useful for recording twitchy movements at close'ish shooting distances, than 24p/25p etc.... so 4k is not an all-round option for me at present {but possibly could be, in the future...for situations offering good air clarity on a more regular basis}.
Click to expand...
Alan,

I'm shooting 4K Video a great deal. I'm still mostly a "Stills" shooter but the 4K video option is very nice to have. I also sell some of my footage and many of the large Media buyers expect 4K Video today. It's not essential if it's super unique footage but overall they want the best quality possible and currently they see that as 4K video. That's just my experience.
 
SF Photo Gal said:
You didn't mention if you do any tweaking to Photo Style or White Balance. I adjusted both to get the color I liked. Panny tends to be a little flat and cool with color - which I appreciate because it give me the control rather than dealing with OVERLY saturated colors (Olympus).
Click to expand...
 
kiwigirl said:
Enjoyed your article! Ever since Olympus brought the EM5 and EM1 onto the scene with their sexy lines and retro style, Panasonic's flagship line hasn't been getting a whole lotta love! So it's good to hear your positive review.

I ditched my GH2 in favour of the GH3 - not because of any perceived deficiency in IQ - but because I was never comfortable with the ergonomics. The GH3 may have the sex-appeal of a lump of coal, but in my hands it just feels right. My photography is nowhere near as demanding as yours and the GH3 is camera enough for me for some time! It performs well, is comfortable to use, (relatively) easy to understand and nothing has fallen off or broken (yet ~ fingers crossed!).

The Olys have certainly a big following around here, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the GH3/4.
Click to expand...
Kiwigirl,

You are right about Olympus getting a whole lot of press. It's not just their retro style but the fact they are charging forward with amazing professional oriented lenses. They're lenses superb but their Retro style camera leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to ease of use.

Lumix cameras are so much more intuitive and easy to use right out of the box and I personally think they are sexy as hell. But MORE IMPORTANTLY is they are easy and intuitive to use. Looks are great if they also get the job done. But if not Look are useless. Case in point of difficult use is Olympus's lack of ANY, standard, common sense, control buttons such as WB, +/- EV and ISO. Yes you can customize anything you want on the Olympus but I teach hundreds of classes and students a year and I can tell you from experience, many, many enthusiast photographers have one hell of time remembering what and how they set their OM-D EM-1 cameras up. I nearly an hour this afternoon in Costa Rica helping two Olympus shooters try and figure out how to get Multiple AF sensors to work as one large sensor. It was a process of digging in to the Main Menu and having to set it from deep within.

With the Lumix GH4 it's as simple as touching the Touch Sensitive Screen and enlarging the sensor with the back command dial OR touching and expanding your fingers on the touch LCD. No menu needed and that is just one of dozens of much more complicated options that Lumix does with ease and Olympus requires multiple steps and a lengthy delve in to the Menu System. There is just no comparison when it comes to ease of use and simplicity between Lumix and Olympus and Lumix wins this test hands down.
 
I did manage to handle the (rather elusive in our town) EM1 before I bought the GH3. It felt "nice" but I didn't get that "I WANT ONE" reaction to it. Not being able to find a GH3 locally (even more elusive), I finally reluctantly ordered one on line. We don't have the option here to send it back if we don't like it - but no problem, I love it! And having a few other Pannies there was no steep learning curve.

Only other brand I've had was a Canon S70 which I found extremely fiddly. So I'm pleased your comments seem to confirm I made the right decision! :)
 
danieljcox said:
jennajenna said:
danieljcox said:
Many photographers that travel with us are interested in my settings for the Lumix GH4. I've been shooting this wonderful camera now for one year and I've been extremely pleased. If you're interested I've listed my Custom settings and all other settings I shoot both GH4's I own. If you want the full story you can find it at http://naturalexposures.com/one-year-shooting-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4/. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to share.
  • Photo Style= Standard
  • Aspect Ratio= 3:2
  • Quality= RAW+Jpeg Fine
  • AFS/AFF= AFS
  • Metering mode= Matrix or Evaluative
  • Bust Rate= High
  • ISO Limit set = 1600
  • ISO Increments= 1/3 EV
  • Extended ISO= On
  • Long Shutter Noise Reduction= On
  • Color Space= sRGB
Click to expand...
Danny, why are you wasting time shooting both RAW+jpg? Just shoot raw. then the rest of the picture settings won't matter (natural, etc, etc_).

seriously.

it takes a few moments in lightroom to process raw into any flavor of jpg. but with tremendously more range.
Click to expand...
JennaJenna,

I shoot both RAW and JPEG so I can easily transfer JPEGs to my iPhone or iPad via the PanasonicImage App which is a nice tool for social media as well as teaching opportunities for our Natural Exposures Explorers. I've been shooting and using the advantages of the RAW files for many many years but thanks for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
Another advantage of shooting Raw + Jpeg (Fine) is that the images have more definition when you zoom in on the LCD. Some cameras only display only the equivalent of a low-quality jpeg when zooming in on a Raw-only shot.

S
danieljcox said:
--
Daniel J. Cox
http://www.naturalexposures.com
http://naturalexposures.com/corkboard/
#Lumixlounge
Click to expand...
--
-------------------------------
My Flickr stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottkmacleod/
-
My latest work of fiction:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/444160
-
My kit:
GM5, E-P3, 12/2.0, 17/1.8, 25/1.8, 45/1.8, 60/2.8 Macro, 7.5 Fisheye, 7-14, 12-35 f2.8, 12-32, 35-100 f4-5.6, 14-42 IIR, 40-150 ED, 75-300 II
 
Last edited:
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