G7x Mark II - Best Settings

Hi all,

Thanks for your recommendations a few months ago - my G7x Mark II arrived today, giving me a couple of months to get used to it before taking it on honeymoon this summer.

While I wait for my SD card to arrive in the post tomorrow (sigh - I really wanted to try it out today!), I was wondering - for those that have used the camera for a long time, what settings have you tweaked to get the best out of the camera?

In particular, what are the best settings for shooting landscape photography? Or general video work?

I’d be interested in any recommendations.

Cheers!

abcabc wrote:

Yes I would very much like to hear from g7x II owners, what AWB setting you decided on, what Noise reduction you decided on?

And are you using this camera on RAW mode or bother bother to switch back and forth?

As with my DSLR, I always use RAW mode with my G7X Mk II because of the wide adjustment/correction latitude available in post-processing. And I enjoy post-processing (I use Lightroom Classic CC).

There isn't really one setting that works best for photography. It depends on what you're trying to do. If you're just shooting in auto mode and not post-processing the images, I think you'll be disappointed with the G7X II compared to a modern cell phone.

KeepCalm wrote:

PGH423 wrote:

There isn't really one setting that works best for photography. It depends on what you're trying to do. If you're just shooting in auto mode and not post-processing the images, I think you'll be disappointed with the G7X II compared to a modern cell phone.

Only if you are happy to see everything at a 28mm equivalent field of view for most of them and light is good and pay a premium price.

The Fuji FX70 is the only real camera equivalent to a cell phone and I certainly would not want all the distortion from such a wide angle in any portrait shots and yet not be able to get the advantages of a 24mm field of view. Of course if you crop down you can get the field of view and eliminate distortion but is a crop of what is possibly a 1/2.3" sensor going to match a full sensor 1" image telephoto view because these cell phone sensors are that good. You are talking about very low levels of light with a cell phone crop.

These vague cell phones are better than dedicated camera posts are all very well but at the heart of them it is a prime against zoom scenario and of course no control when you want it but just auto only unless you want to struggle with screen only and no controls or dials. Even the G9X has backup dial and button press to help out which I would miss greatly.

The first part of the sentence was: "If you're just shooting in auto mode and not post-processing the images." If that part applies, there's a high chance the person doesn't understand how to utilize the advantages of the Canon and will probably be happy with a cropped cell phone image too. The nature of the OP's question made me wonder if they'll be back here after buying a G7 X II and write something like, "It's so much worse than my Galaxy S8!" just because they don't understand how to use it.

Ysarex wrote:

abcabc wrote:

Yes I would very much like to hear from g7x II owners, what AWB setting you decided on, what Noise reduction you decided on?

And are you using this camera on RAW mode or bother bother to switch back and forth?

Since it seems the OP has gone, happy to answer your question.

I'm a fairly new G7x ii user and I'm overall very happy with the camera -- better than I expected.

I only save raw files and only will save raw files and so JPEG settings like NR are meaningless for me and I ignore them.

WB I set during processing by shooting a target in the field. That gives me the option then to have the camera WB set to unity which I do in order to better utilize the camera's live histogram as an exposure aid. So I set the WB once when I got the camera and will never change it again.

I think most people would find the way I use the camera quite eccentric but for me it's all about getting the best possible raw file every time.

What do you mean you shoot a target in the field to set the white balance?

PGH423 wrote:

Ysarex wrote:

abcabc wrote:

Yes I would very much like to hear from g7x II owners, what AWB setting you decided on, what Noise reduction you decided on?

And are you using this camera on RAW mode or bother bother to switch back and forth?

Since it seems the OP has gone, happy to answer your question.

I'm a fairly new G7x ii user and I'm overall very happy with the camera -- better than I expected.

I only save raw files and only will save raw files and so JPEG settings like NR are meaningless for me and I ignore them.

WB I set during processing by shooting a target in the field. That gives me the option then to have the camera WB set to unity which I do in order to better utilize the camera's live histogram as an exposure aid. So I set the WB once when I got the camera and will never change it again.

I think most people would find the way I use the camera quite eccentric but for me it's all about getting the best possible raw file every time.

What do you mean you shoot a target in the field to set the white balance?

You can use a specially designed grey card that you make a shot of under the lighting conditions at the time. I use an older product from these guys:

http://michaeltapesdesign.com/whibal.html

White balance will be different under different lighting conditions - there is no one white balance.

Ysarex wrote:

PGH423 wrote:

Ysarex wrote:

abcabc wrote:

Yes I would very much like to hear from g7x II owners, what AWB setting you decided on, what Noise reduction you decided on?

And are you using this camera on RAW mode or bother bother to switch back and forth?

Since it seems the OP has gone, happy to answer your question.

I'm a fairly new G7x ii user and I'm overall very happy with the camera -- better than I expected.

I only save raw files and only will save raw files and so JPEG settings like NR are meaningless for me and I ignore them.

WB I set during processing by shooting a target in the field. That gives me the option then to have the camera WB set to unity which I do in order to better utilize the camera's live histogram as an exposure aid. So I set the WB once when I got the camera and will never change it again.

I think most people would find the way I use the camera quite eccentric but for me it's all about getting the best possible raw file every time.

What do you mean you shoot a target in the field to set the white balance?

When I finish taking the photos I want in a given light I just take a final quick shot of a WB target for reference. Then during processing I read the target and transfer those temp and tint values to the photos I select to process.

White Styrofoam is spectrally neutral and makes an excellent target. I just cut out convenient size pieces from the bottom of food trays and put them in my camera case/bag or jacket pockets.

That is a great tip!