Does your camera have half press exposure preview? (in Manual mode)

I can confirm that the FZ2000 / FZ2500 does have half-press preview in manual mode, as can be seen in Graham Houghton's video on this model (timestamp 11:33)

ChaosCloud said:

I'm evaluating the GX9, surprised that it's lacking the ability to preview exposure settings on half-press of shutter button in manual mode.

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On GX9, or any other M43 Pannys, we don't need to half press shutter to read the brightness condition of the frame under the used settings (parameters &/or filters).

As you might have said on another forum asking on GX8 (it is not a member of the usual GX line, similarly for GX850 & GX880 which are not too. Only GX1, GX7, GX85 (a.k.a GX7 mk-2) & GX9 (a.k.a. GX7 mk- 3) are the real GX products. ), Preview should be the heart of your concern (which is controlled by the Menu option: Constant Preview).

Unfortunately over the years Panny has refined the Preview for minor modification over various generations of cameras, it could be hard to generalize it on all Panny cameras.

Specifically on GX9, or any models which allows Exposure Compensation to Auto ISO in M (pls notice Panny cameras are developed in 3 major stages: M only, M & Auto ISO but no EC, and lately M & Auto ISO allows EC), Live View is supported on all P/S/A/M. But if we set LV as the default viewing mode in M, CP must be "OFF".

If we wish to have a more accurate simulated image, we have fo set CP to "ON" to make Preview the default viewing mode. But this is for M only. Under P/S/A, if CP = on, it would allow us to activate Preview on ad hoc basis but not a default viewing mode.

No matter the default viewing mode will be LV or Preview, the simulated image will reflect the lighting condition plus other filter effect in real time without any extra key nor step.

I suspect you might have used Auto ISO, such that the brightness of the frame won't change by adjusting on either f/stop or shutter speed. Because Auto ISO would compensate most changes to keep the entire exposure to 0ev metering. This could make many people not familiar with the system misunderstanding that their LV is broken.

As M mode of GX9 allows Auto ISO, so Preview will exhibit similar behavior of LV too. Use manual ISO or EC could show the changes in brightness without any key...

Wish the above would clarify your question.

ChaosCloud said:

On my FZ1000 and FZ30 preview on half-press is the norm.

The GX9 still has the constant preview option, but that becomes really annoying once your exposure time gets into the 1/6 sec and longer range since your composition is delayed by the slowly updating preview. Also has a separate preview function that can be assigned to a Fn button, but that's an extra step compared to preview displayed while half-pressing the shutter button.

edit: adding images to demonstrate


live view of FZ1000 in manual mode with shutter button not pressed.


live view of FZ1000 in manual mode with shutter button half pressed, which previews the exposure brightness.

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--
Albert
** Please forgive my typo error.
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G85: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63025800
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GX9: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67648667

Definitely did not have auto ISO on when testing with the GX9, but that's a good point - if auto ISO is active it would conceal half-press preview on a camera that has half-press preview.

I am not trying to generalize, I'm trying to find out specifically which cameras have half-press preview and which ones don't. This would provide insight on if there was a point in time that Panasonic removed it.

On my M43 cameras (since G1, then the later models I owned: GX1, GF3, GX7, GX85, G85, GX9 & GX850), don't need half press shutter to see the exposure preview. I trust GX8 and the older GHs would do the same. Not sure the newer G100/G100-2 or the G9/G9-2 would go further on this.

IIRC it should be the same for the older Pany compacts I owned (LC5, FZ5, FZ28 & FZ30). FZ30 was my last Pany superzoom bridge before jumping onto ILC wagon. Thank you for your update on Panny had changed it on later superzoom bridges... This sounds not convenience to me :-( .

Both Live View (as explained) or Preview (more useful to M to older models), in Panny's terms, should show the exposure condition (brightness of the frame) in real time when we adjust (by Exposure Compensation) the exposure. Is it what WYSIWYG operation should be?

I know that the non live view mode of DSLRs, or the early Nikon mirrorless or the early Fuji aren't. They need to hit a key to refresh the live view image for the latest simulation under the new parameter setting, similar to your description. A reason I haven't jumped ship in my 16 years' ILC life.

If in manual mode WYSIWYG at all times with your live view, that means you have the "Constant Preview" option enabled (or auto ISO enabled).

FZ1000 has the "Constant Preview" option, but with that option disabled it previews on half press. The FZ2000 / FZ2500 behaves the same.

FZ30 does not have the Constant Preview option - it previews on half-press in manual mode, so it seems to me that removal of half-press preview was the more recent change, OR it's just different in the compact vs ILC software. I don't have enough information to know which.

"Constant Preview" is a feature available on many Panasonic Lumix cameras, including the GH5, S1, S5, and G9, that allows you to see the effect of aperture and shutter speed adjustments in real-time on the recording screen when in manual exposure mode. It's particularly useful for ensuring proper exposure while making adjustments with aperture, speed and iso.

My Lumix zs/tz100 and zs/tz200 has the "Constant Preview" option, but with that option disabled, it previews on half press.

My Lumix zs70/tz90 and zs80d/tz95d also has the "Constant Preview" option but in a different way (you have to assign "Preview" to a button like F1 or F2 etc) then you have to press the button F1 two times to have the option enabled, but after you press half and/or take a picture, that will disable the option each time, so it's not very convenient. Still with the option "Preview" disabled, it previews on half press.

If you want to know how to enable those options, just tell me

juvdm said:

My Lumix zs/tz100 and zs/tz200 has the "Constant Preview" option, but with that option disabled, it previews on half press.

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Good to know, thanks.

juvdm said:

My Lumix zs70/tz90 and zs80d/tz95d also has the "Constant Preview" option but in a different way (you have to assign "Preview" to a button like F1 or F2 etc) then you have to press the button F1 two times to have the option enabled, but after you press half and/or take a picture, that will disable the option each time, so it's not very convenient. Still with the option "Preview" disabled, it previews on half press.

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Interesting. My FZ1000 has the "Preview" function in addition to "Constant Preview" option. The "Preview" function that assigns to a button seems very unwieldy as you've noted.