panasonic custom settings FAIL

this isn't just a 'can't figure out the new gh5' question as the custom settings on the mode dial have defeated me on every single panasonic camera i've ever owned and i end up destroying days worth of settings trying to figure it out until i give up in defeat and curse each time i see the mode dial space being wasted by these useless functions. i've bought at least a dozen after-market books and none of them have allowed me to use these functions. the only difference with the gh5 is that this time i had a backup file which i could load in and recover my settings.

here's how this custom functions _should_ work. i should be able to set up the camera and then write the settings to, let's say, /c1/. then, when i wanted to recover those settings i should simply turn the mode dial to /c1/ and use those settings. this is _not_ how it works.


what happens is that i set up the camera, go to the /cust set mem/ menu item and select /c1/ and instead of it writing my settings to /c1/, it reads some random data from c1 into the camera and trashes my setup. and the dammed menu item even says 'set mem'. in other words, write your setting to the /c1/ memory. but that's not what happens.

to add to the clust3rfsck that is this feature, the c1-c3 modes are somehow connected to your /pasm/ mode. i still haven't figured that out.

i mean, what i want couldn't be simpler. i want to set up a mode which, when i spin the dial to /c1/, records in slow motion. i set up the camera, write it to /c1/, but it doesn't write to /c1/, it loads the random crap in /c1/ and overwrites the current camera settings.

i obviously don't have a clue as to the paradigm of how this works. i've worked with computers and memory since the mid 70s and it's very very hard to come up some paradigm so screwed up that i can't figure out an iota of logic behind the method, but panasonic has managed it.

and yes, now that i have a /save to file/ function i could simply save the slo-mo setup to a named file and load it when i want it. but if i'm going to go through those steps i could simply change the two settings i need to record in slo-mo. in fact, setting those manually might be as fast as spinning the dial to /c1/. but i'd like to be able to use those 3 positions on the dial for something and not just look at them and curse them for taking up space they could have used for a panorama function.

if anyone can really explain how to use the /cust men/ function in plain english, i would appreciate it.

thanks! /guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

I do not have the GH5. The directions in the manual don't seem much different than on my Gx7, G7 or G85. Perhaps you could take a picture of each screen/choice and post them or perhaps a video of you trying to set the custom location. Its not impossible that there is a bug. Someones got to be the first to run into things.

With my G85 I do the following steps:

1. Do not have the dial on top of the camera on a C mode
2. From the Custom Wrench menu, Select Cust. Set Mem.
3. Navigate to C1, C2 or C3 and press set
4. A message displays saying Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set. It is defaulted to No so I move it to Yes then press set

Mark

I've never had a problem with the custom modes.

To simplify things, start out in the mode that you want to use as the basis for your custom slot, e.g., if you want to have a custom setting for Aperture Priority, set the mode dial to aperture priority. If you want a custom setting for video, set the mode dial to movie mode.

Example: switch to movie mode and set it up the way you want it (e.g., 4K, 24P, MOV, Shutter Priority, Cine-D profile, peaking on, etc., etc., etc.).

Once you everything set up the way you want it, go to the Custom Menu>Cust. Set Mem. (first item on page 1) and click on the slot you want to use (say C1 in this case).

Now when you turn the mode dial to C1 you should get all the settings you created. This can even include different custom button settings for each custom slot if you want to go that far.

One thing that can be confusing is if you're already in C3 mode. When you go to the menu there's a C menu where you switch between C3-1, C3-2, and C3-3.... Don't confuse that with Cust. Set Mem. which overwrites existing custom settings.

Mark Kaprielian said:

I do not have the GH5. The directions in the manual don't seem much different than on my Gx7, G7 or G85. Perhaps you could take a picture of each screen/choice and post them or perhaps a video of you trying to set the custom location. Its not impossible that there is a bug. Someones got to be the first to run into things.

With my G85 I do the following steps:

1. Do not have the dial on top of the camera on a C mode
2. From the Custom Wrench menu, Select Cust. Set Mem.
3. Navigate to C1, C2 or C3 and press set
4. A message displays saying Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set. It is defaulted to No so I move it to Yes then press set

Mark

Click to expand...

This ^^^^^^^^^^. Set up your camera exactly as you want. Hit menu, scroll down to spanner C tab, scroll to whatever C position you want to save the settings in, hit menu, hit yes, done.

Did you happen to see https://suggestionofmotion.com/blog/panasonic-gh4-setup-custom-profiles/ ?

It's about the GH4, but that's probably similar to how it works on the GH5. It says you should start out with the mode dial set to Manual Video Mode (and then do the Cust Set Mem thing). Could that be it?

Strangely, in a screenshot of the Cust Set Mem dialog, it shows a message "Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set 1?", when in fact it should be overwriting the Custom Set with the current camera settings, i.e. the other way around. Well, at least that seems consistent with your findings.

(And then they say Oly's menus are cryptic! )

Mark Kaprielian said:

I do not have the GH5. The directions in the manual don't seem much different than on my Gx7, G7 or G85. Perhaps you could take a picture of each screen/choice and post them or perhaps a video of you trying to set the custom location. Its not impossible that there is a bug. Someones got to be the first to run into things.

With my G85 I do the following steps:

1. Do not have the dial on top of the camera on a C mode
2. From the Custom Wrench menu, Select Cust. Set Mem.
3. Navigate to C1, C2 or C3 and press set
4. A message displays saying Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set. It is defaulted to No so I move it to Yes then press set

Mark

Click to expand...

the bug is me! your step #3 isn't in the instructions i'm using--the labels are on the screen and you select a label. which seems to be what this instruction sheet indicates--it never tells me to turn the dial until the next page where it tells you how to call up the settings you wrote to c1-c3.







yeah, i just checked again. when you go into the menu it has a list (c1, c2, c3-1, c3-2, and c3-3) and you select one from the list. if you turn the mode dial the menu disappears.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

maybe i need to set it to c1 before i go into the menu .....


no ... if i do that it asks me whether i want to overwrite the camera settings with the contents of c1. which is _exactly_ the opposite of what i want to do. i need to get the settings _into_ c1.

/guy

amtberg said:

I've never had a problem with the custom modes.

To simplify things, start out in the mode that you want to use as the basis for your custom slot, e.g., if you want to have a custom setting for Aperture Priority, set the mode dial to aperture priority. If you want a custom setting for video, set the mode dial to movie mode.

Example: switch to movie mode and set it up the way you want it (e.g., 4K, 24P, MOV, Shutter Priority, Cine-D profile, peaking on, etc., etc., etc.).

Once you everything set up the way you want it, go to the Custom Menu>Cust. Set Mem. (first item on page 1) and click on the slot you want to use (say C1 in this case).

Now when you turn the mode dial to C1 you should get all the settings you created. This can even include different custom button settings for each custom slot if you want to go that far.

One thing that can be confusing is if you're already in C3 mode. When you go to the menu there's a C menu where you switch between C3-1, C3-2, and C3-3.... Don't confuse that with Cust. Set Mem. which overwrites existing custom settings.

Click to expand...

what you say is exactly what i did. in order to set up slo-motion mode i had to do it from the /movie/ mode. then i brought up the /cust set/ menu and thought i was storing those settings to c1. but when i turned the dial to c1, it had random settings in it--perhaps the factory settings.

no, the problem is obvious, the /cust mem set/ doesn't write to the custom slot, it writes the contents of the slot to the camera. it says so in plain english in a popup:


"overwrite current camera settings with custom set 1? (yes/no)"

obviously, this is not what i'm wanting.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

wait a moment. i've found a video for the g85 (similar to my gh5).

be back after i've watched it .....

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

well, that was informative. not only have panasonic left out some very very vital steps and neglected to explain how it works, the language of the prompt is about as misleading as you could get unless you have a grudge against the user.

the way this video:


shows it is you have to set up the camera the way you want c1 to work, then use the /cust set mem/ to register it although it _never_ says it's going to put your camera info in the slot. in fact, it says the exact _opposite_, that it's going to overwrite your camera settings with the contents of c1. and that's exactly what happened to me the first time--i had to reload my settings from the backup file.



so the guy 'registers' how the camera is setup to /c1/, then (this is unbelievable) he has to go back and undo everything he just did to get hit /pasm/ modes to work the way he wants them. what bullsh!t! and it means that i can't even load the backup file to restore my settings because loading the backup file zaps the /c1/ mode.

this is programming at the cretin level---it couldn't be more user-hostile.

but when he went into /c1/ it appears to have registered his settings. but this is total horsesh1t! did they outsource this code module to lower slobbovia? i could come up with a half-dozen more efficient ways to program this function and they have picked the least intuitive of all of them. plus, they didn't even document how to use it properly.

so i'm going to try one more time following the video frame-by-frame. after all, i only have two settings to change, but perhaps the fact that i have to go into /video/ mode is what's throwing everything off.

/guy

Danielvr said:

Did you happen to see https://suggestionofmotion.com/blog/panasonic-gh4-setup-custom-profiles/ ?
It's about the GH4, but that's probably similar to how it works on the GH5. It says you should start out with the mode dial set to Manual Video Mode (and then do the Cust Set Mem thing). Could that be it?

Strangely, in a screenshot of the Cust Set Mem dialog, it shows a message "Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set 1?", when in fact it should be overwriting the Custom Set with the current camera settings, i.e. the other way around. Well, at least that seems consistent with your findings.

(And then they say Oly's menus are cryptic! )

Click to expand...

tks much for that link--i think that's exactly what i'm looking for. i'll report back once i've read it.

/guy

look at the wording on the same menu on the gh4--it's the proper wording:







someone has totally boogered the gh5 menu item here. but then again, i've never been able to get this working on _any_ panasonic camera i've owned.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

Ummmm, they have neglected nothing. It's so simple a child can do it. Set camera up exactly how you want it to operate. Hit menu, & save the settings in whatever C number you desire. Then simply turn the mode dial to the C setting where you saved it. Done. Could. Not. Be. Easier.

good news is that, thanks to all you guys, 4 panasonic documents, and 3 videos, i seem to have accomplished what i wanted which couldn't have been simpler--it was two changes.


i went to /video/ mode and set the rec quality to 1080p/30 and the /vbr/ to 180fps. then i went to /cust mem set/ and despite the wording, selected /c1/ and hit /set/.

i then reset my rec quality back to 4k60p where it was and when you do that the /vbr/ menu greys out because that quality isn't supported for /vbr/.

i then turned the mode dial to /c1/ and indeed it did change to /video/ mode with a 33% displayed meaning it was using the vbr frame rate. does anyone know if setting 1080p30 and 180fps is the slowest you can go? those percentage figures are confusing. if you set it to 1080p60, it shows 17% which you'd think would be slower, but i don't think that's right.

anyway, tks to all who responded. at least i don't have too much current need for the custom slots--i just thought this one would be nice. it only saves me a couple of clicks because i have the /rec quality/ and /vbr/ set in the q.menu right side by side. this was more of an exercise to see if i could finally get it to work if i really needed it.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

KTMfan said:

Ummmm, they have neglected nothing. It's so simple a child can do it. Set camera up exactly how you want it to operate. Hit menu, & save the settings in whatever C number you desire. Then simply turn the mode dial to the C setting where you saved it. Done. Could. Not. Be. Easier.

Click to expand...

so you don't agree the wording on the gh5 (as opposed to the wording on the screenshot i posted of the gh4) is completely wrong?

plus, the first time i tried this, the random stuff in /c1/ overwrote the camera and i did nearly exactly what you posted. that's why i came here and posted the question--that wasn't supposed to happen and i still don't know how it happened, but i assure you i had to restore from the backup file.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

Danielvr said:

Did you happen to see https://suggestionofmotion.com/blog/panasonic-gh4-setup-custom-profiles/ ?
It's about the GH4, but that's probably similar to how it works on the GH5. It says you should start out with the mode dial set to Manual Video Mode (and then do the Cust Set Mem thing). Could that be it?

Strangely, in a screenshot of the Cust Set Mem dialog, it shows a message "Overwrite current camera settings with Custom Set 1?", when in fact it should be overwriting the Custom Set with the current camera settings, i.e. the other way around. Well, at least that seems consistent with your findings.

(And then they say Oly's menus are cryptic! )

Click to expand...

panasonic menus are a bastion of clarity compared with oly and sony. i remember my excitement when i got an em5mk2 and returned it a week later when the menu system defeated me despite me buying two books on it.

i have a couple of sonys which i'm not happy with either, but those cameras as much too useful to return even if it means i struggle with finding settings i need.

/guy

i posted the wrong screen shot. it appears that the gh4 had the opposite wording about overwriting the camera as well. the top line is from the author of the article and isn't on the screen:





and i think i've just decoded what they meant to say. they mean that _after_ you've saved your settings to /c1-cx/, _then_ when you select /c1-cx/ it will overwrite the camera settings. but even then you have to assume that those settings are still there under the /mode/ you started from.

i have a blinding headache. but i have to say that i couldn't be more pleased with the setup of the gh5 and the nice touches they've added. the ability to hold down a function key and have all the options pop up is a godsend for anyone losing their memory or likes to program them on the fly. the /mymenu/ is a nice touch although you can only put about 20 items in it. in fact, there's so many places to squirrel stuff away (fn keys, q.menu, my.menu, and the c.modes) it takes me a second or two to remember which function is where. still, choice is better than no choice.

more favorites are the ability to go directly to l.mono with the push of a fn button. and the two 1-shot functions so you can shoot one raw+jpeg or spot-meter your next shot. those are great and functions i use constantly and on previous cameras had to dig into menus just for one or a few shots.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

It works as it always did. The manual tells you exactly what to do either way and everybody else can do it just fine.

Maybe, just maybe, you're one of those people who find it easier telling their life story on forums rather than taking a couple minutes to RTFM?

gteague said:

KTMfan said:

Ummmm, they have neglected nothing. It's so simple a child can do it. Set camera up exactly how you want it to operate. Hit menu, & save the settings in whatever C number you desire. Then simply turn the mode dial to the C setting where you saved it. Done. Could. Not. Be. Easier.

Click to expand...

so you don't agree the wording on the gh5 (as opposed to the wording on the screenshot i posted of the gh4) is completely wrong?

Click to expand...

Guy, it's not just you. The GX85 seems to behave the same way. The prompt says the opposite of what I am expecting to do. After a few attempts one night I gave up and haven't looked at it since!

gteague said:

KTMfan said:

Ummmm, they have neglected nothing. It's so simple a child can do it. Set camera up exactly how you want it to operate. Hit menu, & save the settings in whatever C number you desire. Then simply turn the mode dial to the C setting where you saved it. Done. Could. Not. Be. Easier.

Click to expand...

so you don't agree the wording on the gh5 (as opposed to the wording on the screenshot i posted of the gh4) is completely wrong?

plus, the first time i tried this, the random stuff in /c1/ overwrote the camera and i did nearly exactly what you posted. that's why i came here and posted the question--that wasn't supposed to happen and i still don't know how it happened, but i assure you i had to restore from the backup file.

/guy

--
"Before you take that shot, ask yourself: What Would HCB do?" ~/s

Click to expand...

Dunno. Reading your rants makes my head hurt. My camera says exactly what you're panicking about on yours. I've never even thought about it to be honest. I just hit yes & be done with it. It just works. Are the menus perfect? Absolutely not. But I have zero issues with them, switching back & forwards between my Canons & Panny.

However, I probably should warn you, for the love of baby jebus, do not go anywhere near the NFC/WiFi setup menu. If you think C menus are bad, your head will definitely explode should you venture into that territory. Or even vaguely close to it.