Custom mode limitation? Can it save shutter speed and aperture?

Have a Panasonic ZS40. I'm interested in setting up some different custom settings-- say, for cloudy dreary days, the Moon, dark evenings, etc.

For that, it'd be great if one could register different apertures and shutter speeds for the different custom mode slots (there are 4 of them-- C1 and C2-1, C2-2, and C2-3).

I've tried this and that, but without any success. So far, it seems it does NOT save aperture OR shutter speed-- and, that's a great disappointment. :-(. It makes what could have been an incredible feature quite crippled.

Hope someone can chime in otherwise with some suggestions! Thanks!

The custom settings are designed to store mode and general menu options. I can't think of any camera that stores aperture or shutter speed values within a custom configuration.

Can't speak to the ZS40 since I don't have it, but the FZ1000 certainly stores shutter speed and/or aperture, as long as you're in the proper mode when you save the configuration.

For example, you need to be in S or M mode to save shutter speed. If you're in A or P mode (where the shutter speed is set automatically by the camera) then the shutter speed won't be saved.

--

Sherm
Sherms flickr page

sherman_levine said:

Can't speak to the ZS40 since I don't have it, but the FZ1000 certainly stores shutter speed and/or aperture, as long as you're in the proper mode when you save the configuration.

Click to expand...

Never noticed shutter speed and aperture settings are both stored in a custom memory. Thought it was the camera just recalling the last used manually set value(s).

I have a ZS40/TZ60 and I can confirm that the custom mode setttings, as Sherm says, work just like the FZ1000.

Tom

lorenzo said:

. :-(. It makes what could have been an incredible feature quite crippled.

Hope someone can chime in otherwise with some suggestions! Thanks!

Click to expand...

I think locking an aperture or shutter speed and limiting it to one setting would be crippling, IMO. I realize not everyone uses a camera the same way but this would limit and restrict the camera's capabilities. No?

jdeg said:

lorenzo said:

. :-(. It makes what could have been an incredible feature quite crippled.

Hope someone can chime in otherwise with some suggestions! Thanks!

Click to expand...

I think locking an aperture or shutter speed and limiting it to one setting would be crippling, IMO. I realize not everyone uses a camera the same way but this would limit and restrict the camera's capabilities. No?

Click to expand...

Doesn't lock anything - it just gives you a reproducible starting point. For example, I have one of my C settings for fast moving stuff (e.g. birds and animals). Starts at widest aperture and 1/1000 sec and auto ISO in S mode as soon as I set the knob to C or turn the camera on with the knob set to C.

I know that all I need to do is adjust the shutter speed down from 1/1000 and I'm all ready to go.

One quirky feature of the C settings is that you must choose a mode (PASM), so if you want to work in S mode, for example, then the current shutter speed is stored when you save the settings. 1/1000 sec seemed as reasonable as anything else.

--

Sherm
Sherms flickr page

Hey, all, thanks for chiming in!

Anyone with an ZS40, would you double-check its behavior, please?

Mine definitely does NOT save the shutter speed or aperture.

I just tested this again to confirm. I put mine into the M mode, set the shutter speed for 4 seconds and the aperture for 3.3. I went to Menu, then Set Up, and tried saving it under Custom Set Mode, C1.

Fine. I can now turn to C1 and it shows up. However, it didn't really save shutter speed and aperture at all.

Test 1. Go to any other mode (e.g., back to M) and change the shutter speed, then go back to C1 and the shutter is the new speed you just set, not the supposedly saved one!

In addition, whatever shutter speed you just set overrides whatever you previously saved to C2-1 or C2-2, etc. Kind of defeats the purpose of the custom modes, eh?

Test 2. Next, turn off the camera. Turn it back on. Each custom mode remains at the last shutter speed and aperture you used, not whatever was originally saved with that particular mode!

Test 3. Try setting a different shutter speed for C1 and C2-1. It cannot be done. Whatever the last speed was is what will show when switching to the other mode.

Test 4. Repeated the above, but used the S mode. Same results. Phil seems to be right: "the camera [is] just recalling the last used manually set value".

Why does this matter? See the original post. But here's a richer explanation.

One would like to have a setting for, say, sports; another for, say, starry nightscapes (long shutter, high ISO, wide aperture, Tungsten white balance, & whole-field metering); and yet another for, say, the Moon (fast shutter speed, narrow aperture, daytime white balance, and spot metering).

I'd like to be able to switch easily among them, without having to putter to set each individual parameter. Note: It's not that you're stuck with that; you can always tweak each setting on the fly. But, whenever you want to get back to the original, a simple twist of the dial, or selection of a single menu item gets you there.

Other cameras. I've tested this on a Canon SX700 and A650 and they definitely save shutter speed and aperture, no matter what else you do in the other modes and they save the Custom setting between power off and on.

The ZS40 is so tantalizing with its 4 custom modes, but it doesn't seem to do this... unless there's some step or setting I've missed here!

You're absolutely right. My TZ60 (ZS40) doesn't save the shutter or aperture settings in custom modes but shows the last setting used.

Tom

Seconded, I used M and set f3.3 and 4s seconds and assigned to C2-3. I then changed the M settings to f3.3 and 1/50sec; switched to A mode, then C2-3, the settings shown were actually f3.3 and 1/50sec. Interesting...

Given your experience and responses above, I'd say this is a bug that you should report to Panasonic support.

None of my FZ models (FZ150, FZ200, FZ1000) have behaved that way - shutter speed is definitely saved in my custom setups, and I have relied on that fact extensively. I don't recall any of my other cameras from other manufacturers failing to save shutter speed either.

So, report it as a bug - maybe they will fix it in a firmware update...

I have this morning spoken with Panasonic UK Support. They have verified the bug and have raised a report to Panasonic HQ.

Tom

Hi Sherman! I'm trying to learn to shoot in shutter mode and I set it at 1,000 but the fz300 wants to move the aperture to f 2.8. I see here that there's some way to do this and keep the aperture in custom at 3.2 say. But I'm not understanding exactly how you're doing this can you explain please?

Thanks and hope you are doing well!

Note that with a fresh question sensibly different from the original one in the present thread, you could consider creating a new thread.

But anyway, if you want to impose both aperture and speed, you can try M mode.

Didier

Hi, thank you. But no, much as the OP asked I want to fix a set shutter speed with a set aperture in a custom menu and learn how to access it. F3.2, shutter speed 1000 iso no more than 200. And I'm not sure how to do any of that. Except maybe set it in manual and then.....? I also don't know how to cap or set an ISO. So since I don't know where to look nor what to look for I've asked Sherman for help. But any help is appreciated.

and I posted it here to indicate that I had attempted to look up the answer on the vast internet and it led me right back here to the people that usually help me

--
jlina

I don't know about M mode, but my TZ80 certainly restores the aperture for the A mode settings I've saved to C1, and the shutter for the S mode setting I've saved to C3.

Eg if I turn the dial to C, if it's set to C3 the shutter speed is 1/500. If I turn the dial back to S and change the shutter speed to 1/100, then turn the dial back to C, it's back on 1/500. Turn it back to S and it's back on 1/100.

for my fz1000 this would be the way i would set up

choose M mode











on my camera this dial changes the aperture and the shutter speed press it in and it clicks

now choose your aperture by rolling your thumb choose 3.2 now press it in and change the shutter speed















now choose your iso speed 200

















now press the menu button and find cust set up





choose C1





and choose yes





now turn your dial to ci every time you want to use those settings





having said all this i would rather use auto iso then choose 200,



while at the first stage of this you may also want to include your white balance

preference burst mode and your preferred focus settings

I would suggest

• dowloading the advanced user manual from the Panasonic site at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/camera/om/dmc-fz300_en_adv_om.pdf
• look up M mode : this allows you to choose both aperture and speed
• look up ISO settings : you can indeed define a cap for that
• when the camera is set up just the way you like, look up C mode to see how to store the present settings as a custom set (including aperture and speed since you started from M mode)

Note however that, depending on the amount of light available, it may just not be possible to have F/3.2 and 1/1000 sec and iso 200. In that case it will be up to you to decide which parameter you let get weaker according to what you must want.

Didier

I didn’t see your reply before posting mine, sorry Bassy ! Definitely easier to follow with pictures the way you did.
Didier

i just try to help the best that i can, some times i have trouble explaining things though

but a least i have a go lol