clouds at night, handheld or resting on surface but rotated: up to about 2500 ISO, up to about 1.3" shutter time. expose at +2.3 exposure is ideal. aperture as large as possible. autofocus doesn't work on dim objects, but you can do much better with manual. 1.3" will blur a bit, esp. handheld (you'll have to have a really small image) so you have to choose if you want +2.3 exposure, or a shorter shutter time.
you'll be able to see the general shape of things pretty well, about as good as with the eyes, but it will be so grainy that it won't look very awe inspiring.
anytime: handheld, 1/320 sec is distinguishably better than 1/100. 1/620 isn't much better than 1/320 tho. 1/160 is in the middle, still not as good as 1/320. 1/200 is close to 1/320, not quite there but almost. well worth it on a typical shot to go from f8 to f6.3 to get from 1/100 to 1/320. diff b/t f5 and f6.3, at same shutter speed, is not large.
Most of the lists of items to be set are taken from the table on page 141 of the English manual. However, I have also discovered some items that are not listed in the table in the manual, but nevertheless are saved by Custom Resets.
Blanks indicate items left at system default, or things not important enough to me to write down.
Custom reset 1: default; landscapes. shots at low ISO with bracketing for HDR, manual focus. (ISO 200 by default, but auto goes to 800) Custom reset 2: indoor action. burst of shots at high ISO, no bracketing, autofocus.
Custom Reset 1 + My Mode 1: good light with bracketing but less fiddling (auto focus, auto ISO, noise filter) (also use for autofocus) Custom Reset 2 + My Mode 1: poor light with bracketing
Custom Reset 1 + My Mode 2: good light, 2 second timer, auto-ISO. Custom Reset 2 + My Mode 2: indoor posing. poor light, 2-second timer (if you need to autofocus, do that before pressing the My Mode button)
(all of these are for handheld; if I have time to mount a tripod, I'll have time to fiddle with settings and turn off image stabilizer (IS))
My default configuration. For shooting clouds and landscapes. Exposure bracketing is on, for HDR (high dynamic range; you can postprocess together a bunch of exposure bracketed shots into one HDR picture). Manual focus (usually I take these pictures at infinity focus).
The following items are not listed in the table in the manual, but nevertheless are saved by Custom Resets.
LV disp | level gauge | ||
shutter | 50 | ||
F-stop | 3.5 |
Here are the items from the manual:
exp | 0 | ||
Image stabilizer | IS 1 | ||
sequential | sequential | ||
PICTURE MODE | 2 - natural | ||
GRADATION | auto | ||
AE BKT | 3F/1 | ||
AF mode: STILL PICTURE | MF | ||
AF mode: MOVIE MODE | MF | ||
AF AREA | spot, at center | ||
DIAL FUNCTION | P: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: Ps (program shift) | ||
A: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: FNo | |||
S: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: shutter, M: shutter, FNo | |||
MENU: sub: l, r, main: l,r, and value | |||
AEL/AFL | S1/C1/M1 | ||
Fn FUNCTION | one touch WB | ||
arrows FUNCTION | on | ||
left arrow FUNCTION | AF | ||
SLEEP | 1min | ||
INFO SETTING | playback: overall, highlight and shadow (not histogram) | ||
LV-info: zoom (not: histogram, multi view, image only, grid1, grid2, grid3) | |||
METERING | esp | ||
AELMetering | auto | ||
ISO | 200 | ||
ISO STEP | 1/3 | ||
ISO-AUTO SET | high limit: 2000, default: 320 | ||
ISO-AUTO | all | ||
NOISE REDUCT. | auto | ||
NOISE FILTER | off |
And the following are held constant and hence will be omitted from the second custom reset table:
file sz:STILL PICTURE | LSF + RAW | ||
IMAGE ASPECT | 4:3 | ||
Flash mode | |||
file sz: MOVIE | HD | ||
flash +/- | |||
WB BKT | no | ||
FL BKT | no | ||
ISO BKT | no | ||
beep on focus lock | off | ||
REC VIEW | 8 sec | ||
FOCUS RING | counterclockwise | ||
DIAL DIRECTION | dial1 (counterclockwise) | ||
AEL/AFL MEMO | on | ||
AEL/AFL swap w/ Fn | off | ||
RLS PRIORITY S | off | ||
RLS PRIORITY C | on | ||
BULB TIMER | 8 mins | ||
ANTI-SHOCK | off | ||
LIVE VIEW BOOST | off | ||
flash X-SYNC. | |||
flash SLOW LIMIT | |||
flash adjust + exposure | |||
WB | auto | ||
WB+- | 0,0 | ||
COLOR SPACE | sRGB | ||
SHADING COMP. | off | ||
file size SET | LSF, LF, MSF, MF | ||
QUICK ERASE | off | ||
RAW+JPEG ERASE | raw+jpeg | ||
EXPOSURE SHIFT | 0,0,0 | ||
MF ASSIST | on | ||
LEVEL GAUGE | on | ||
MOVIE+STILL | off | ||
MOVIE sound | on | ||
PIXEL COUNT | middle: 3200x2400, small: 1280x960 | ||
EV STEP | 1/3 |
For indoor pics with moving objects when I don't have much time to fiddle around setting up the camera, rather automated. Autofocus, no exposure bracketing, sequential shooting. ISO default is 320, not 200, and Auto ISO is enabled, ISO limit is 4000. Noise filter is set to low.
Things that differ from Custom Reset 1 are starred (the starring might be out of date).
LV disp | normal | ||
shutter | *640 | ||
F-stop | *5.0 | ||
exp | 0 | ||
Image stabilizer | IS 1 | ||
sequential | sequential | ||
PICTURE MODE | 2 - natural | ||
GRADATION | auto | ||
AE BKT | *off | ||
AF mode: STILL PICTURE | S-AF+MF | ||
AF mode: MOVIE MODE | S-AF+MF | ||
AF AREA | MF: spot, at center. others: all | ||
DIAL FUNCTION | P: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: Ps (program shift) | ||
A: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: FNo | |||
S: main dial: exposure comp, sub dial: shutter, M: FNo and speed, | |||
MENU: sub: l, r, main: l,r, and value | |||
AEL/AFL | S1/C1/M1 | ||
Fn FUNCTION | my mode | ||
arrows FUNCTION | on | ||
left arrow FUNCTION | AF | ||
SLEEP | 1min | ||
INFO SETTING | playback: image only, overall, highlight and shadow (not histogram) | ||
LV-info: zoom, histogram (not: multi view, image only, grid1, grid2, grid3) | |||
METERING | esp | ||
AELMetering | auto | ||
ISO | *auto | ||
ISO STEP | 1/3 | ||
ISO-AUTO SET | *high limit: 4000, default: 320 | ||
ISO-AUTO | all | ||
NOISE REDUCT. | auto | ||
NOISE FILTER | *low |
I plan to use this mode when I want more automation; it has Auto Focus, Auto ISO and Low Noise Filter. AE Bracketing is still on. I can also use it just to quickly autofocus when in manual focus mode, and then I exit the My Mode by releasing the shutter button (as in the bullet point in the Tips section above).
Things that differ from Custom Reset 1 are starred (the starring might be out of date).
The following items are not listed in the table in the manual, but nevertheless are saved by My Mode:
shutter | 320 | ||
F-stop | 5.6 |
Here are the items from the manual:
exp | 0 | ||
Image stabilizer | IS 1 | ||
sequential | sequential | ||
PICTURE MODE | 2 - natural | ||
GRADATION | auto | ||
AE BKT | 3F/1 | ||
AF mode: STILL PICTURE | *S-AF+MF | ||
AF AREA | *MF, S-AF: spot, at center. others: all | ||
EV STEP | 1/3 | ||
METERING | esp | ||
ISO | *auto | ||
ISO STEP | 1/3 | ||
NOISE REDUCT. | auto | ||
NOISE FILTER | *low |
And the following are held constant and hence will be omitted from the second My Mode table:
Flash mode | |||
file sz:STILL PICTURE | LSF + RAW | ||
IMAGE ASPECT | 4:3 | ||
flash +/- | |||
WB BKT | no | ||
FL BKT | no | ||
ISO BKT | no | ||
RLS PRIORITY S | off | ||
RLS PRIORITY C | on | ||
LIVE VIEW BOOST | off | ||
ANTI-SHOCK | off | ||
flash X-SYNC. | |||
flash SLOW LIMIT | |||
flash adjust + exposure | |||
WB | auto | ||
WB+- | 0,0 | ||
COLOR SPACE | sRGB | ||
SHADING COMP. | off | ||
EXPOSURE SHIFT | 0,0,0 |
When I want a steadier picture and no exposure bracketing; turn off AE bracket and set the 2-second timer. Auto ISO. (hopefully) Good for pictures of people who are posing.
shutter | 320 | ||
F-stop | 5.6 | ||
exp | 0 | ||
Image stabilizer | IS 1 | ||
sequential | *2-sec timer | ||
PICTURE MODE | 2 - natural | ||
GRADATION | auto | ||
AE BKT | *off | ||
AF mode: STILL PICTURE | MF | ||
AF AREA | MF: spot, at center. others: all | ||
EV STEP | 1/3 | ||
METERING | esp | ||
ISO | *auto | ||
ISO STEP | 1/3 | ||
NOISE REDUCT. | auto | ||
NOISE FILTER | off |
some items from the table in the manual which can't be registered with either My Mode or Custom Reset:
MULTIPLE EXPOSURE | no | ||
time | |||
language | |||
LCD brightness, color temp | |||
custom MENU DISPLAY | yes | ||
FIRMWARE | |||
MY MODE SETUP | listed in other tables in this document | ||
BUTTON TIMER | 3 | ||
VIDEO OUT | |||
USB MODE | |||
FACE DETECT | off | ||
ALL WB+- | 0,0 | ||
FILE NAME | auto | ||
PRIORITY SET | yes | ||
dpi SETTING | |||
EDIT FILENAME | |||
PIXEL MAPPING | |||
HDMI |
Note: default Auto ISO shutter speed cutoff seems to be 60 in P mode
C-AF. Like Dis Mode with shutter speed cutoff around 500, and ISO max at 800.
C-AF. Like Dis Mode with shutter speed cutoff around 60, and ISO max at 800. Aperture 4.0.
S-AF. ISO Auto. Seems to set ISO at 1600 unless it is really bright (if the shutter would go over 250?). If the ISO gets down to 200, it adjusts the aperture. I wish it was MF, ISO up to 1000, shutter speed up to 160, with the Fn button refocusing.
Suggestions that could (should!) conceivably be accomplished with a firmware update (these all seem pretty easy to add; I expect the development team could get through this entire list in a reasonable amount of time (weeks?). If the UI code was open source, I could write them myself):
Important features which are lacking:
Wishlist: