FZ1000 Ergonomics Part 1 Setup, Prepare, Review

The FZ1000 operates quickly making it very suitable for unplanned candid shots.

 

My interest in camera ergonomics  was provoked by the experience of using early model Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras including the G1 and G3 and GH2. These cameras were burdened with several  design faults which adversely affected the user experience.  I wrote  at length about these cameras and others in the early stages of this blog's life.  The blog archive through 2012 contains much of my early work and thinking about camera ergonomics.

Since those  days it appears that Panasonic's designers have been learning. There has certainly been a huge improvement in the user experience of holding, viewing and operating more recent models.

 

The FZ1000   user interface clearly owes much to the GH3/4 but also has similarities to the FZ200.

I will review the FZ1000  under my usual headings which relate to the phases of camera use.  In this post I  look at Setup, Prepare and Review phases. The next post will be about Capture Phase.

Setup Phase  The main Setup tasks are Menu selections, allocating user selected items to the Custom Q Menu, allocating tasks to the Function Buttons and creating Custom Modes. The FZ1000 behaves very much like a recent model Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera with regard to these functions.

The menu design is clear and easy to read and navigate. The procedure for allocating items to the Q Menu and Fn buttons is well described in the Operating Instructions

Users familiar with the Panasonic menu system will have no trouble with the FZ1000.  But a first time high end Panasonic camera user might feel daunted by the  multitude of choices which must be made. This comes with the territory of a camera which is so highly configurable. I have posted on this blog a little series on setting up the FZ1000 to help with the process.

The arrangement of items is mostly logical, but some items seem out of place, for instance Auto Review is in the Custom Mneu not the Playback Menu where I would have expected  to find it.

Prepare Phase  This is the period of a minute or few just before starting to make exposures when the camera may need to be reconfigured for a new set of conditions.  The  FZ1000  manages this very well. There are hard control modules for Main Capture Mode, Focus Mode and Drive Mode. The Fn buttons and Q Menu make preparation for shooting very efficient.  All the control modules are easy to reach and operate.

Review Phase  In this Phase photos are reviewed on the monitor or EVF. The FZ1000 manages this very efficiently. The lever around the shutter button controls zoom, the rear dial scrolls from one frame to the next or previous and the Cursor Keys enable navigation around the enlarged frame. Very efficient and user friendly.