Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ3 User Manual

							Recording pictures (basic)
31
Recording pictures (basic)
Taking Pictures
∫The Mode Dial
This camera has a mode dial to suit for recording of many kinds of scenes.
Select the desired mode and enjoy the variety of recording.
Rotate the mode dial slowly and securely. 
: Program AE mode (P32)
The exposure is automatically adjusted by 
the camera.
: Aperture-priority AE (P53)
The shutter speed is automatically 
determined by the aperture value you set.
: Shutter-priority AE (P54)
The aperture value is automatically 
determined by the shutter speed you set.
: Manual exposure (P55)
The exposure is adjusted by the aperture 
value and the shutter speed which are 
manually adjusted.
: Macro mode (P58)
This mode allows you to take a picture 
getting closer to the subject.
: Motion image mode (P58)
This mode allows you to record motion 
images with audio.: Scene mode (P60)
This mode allows you to take pictures 
depending on the recording scenes.
: Simple mode (P36)
This is the recommended mode for 
beginners.
: Playback mode (P48)
This mode allows you to play back 
recorded pictures.
MS
A
P
SCN
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							Recording pictures (basic)
32
∫Program AE
The camera automatically sets the shutter 
speed and the aperture value according to 
the brightness of the subject.
 Insert the charged battery. (P15)
 Insert the card. (P16)
 Remove the lens cap.
11Turn the camera on.
2Set the mode dial to program 
AE mode [ ]. 
 The power indicator (green) lights. 
When it blinks, the remaining battery 
power is low. Insert a fully charged 
battery.
2Aim the AF area 1 to the point 
you want to focus and then press 
the shutter button halfway. 
A: Press the shutter button halfway to 
focus. The focus indication 2 is lit and then 
the aperture value 3 and the shutter 
speed 4 are displayed.
3Take a picture. 
B: Press the shutter button fully to take 
the picture.
OFF ON
MSA
SCN
P
1/25F2.8
When the 
subject is not 
focusedWhen the 
subject is 
focused
Focus 
indicationBlink (green) On (green)
AF area Turns from 
white to redTu r n s  f r o m  
white to green
Sound Beeps 4 times Beeps 2 times
1/25F2.8
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							Recording pictures (basic)
33
∫AF/AE Lock (AF: Auto focus/
AE: Auto exposure) 
When recording a picture of people with a 
composition as the above picture, you 
cannot focus on the subject because it is 
out of AF area in usual operation.
In this case,
1Aim the AF area at the subject.
2Press the shutter button halfway to fix 
the focus and the exposure.
3When the subject is focused, the focus 
indication lights.
4Keeping the focus and the exposure 
fixed, move the camera as you compose 
the picture.
5Press the shutter button fully.
 You can repeatedly retry AF/AE lock 
before pressing the shutter button. ∫Correct posture for taking good 
pictures
To take pictures without blurring:
 Hold the camera gently with both hands, 
keep arms stationary at your side and 
stand with your feet slightly apart.
 Make sure that camera shake does not 
occur when pressing the shutter button 
halfway.
 After pressing the shutter button, keep the 
camera stationary until the picture 
appears on the screen.
 In the following cases, keep the camera 
stationary for a longer time.
– Slow sync./Red-eye reduction [ ] 
(P41)
– When you set to a slower shutter speed 
(P54, 55)
– [NIGHT SCENERY], [NIGHT 
PORTRAIT], [FIREWORKS] and 
[PARTY] in scene mode (P60)
When recording with 
LCD Monitor
When recording with 
Viewfinder
Position of feet
 Hold the camera firmly with your right 
hand.
 Do not cover the microphone or the AF 
assist lamp with your finger or other 
objects.
 Do not touch the lens part.
201619
1/25F2.8
1/25F2.8
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							Recording pictures (basic)
34
∫Focusing
 The focus range is 0.98 feet (30 cm) –¶ 
(Wide), 3.94 feet (120 cm) –¶ (Tele).
 If you press the shutter button fully without 
prefocusing, pictures may be blurry or 
unfocused.
 When the focus indication is blinking, the 
subject is not focused. Press the shutter 
button halfway and focus on the subject 
again.
 If the camera will not focus after a few 
tries, turn it off and on and try again.
 In the following cases, the camera cannot 
focus on subjects properly.
– When including both near and distant 
subjects in a scene.
– When there is dirt or dust on the glass 
between the lens and the subject.
– When there are illuminated or glittering 
objects around the subject.
– When taking a picture in a dark place.
– When the subject is moving fast.
– When the scene has low contrast.
– When jitter occurs.
– When recording a very bright subject.
We recommend taking pictures using
AF/AE lock (P33) or prefocus (P74). In 
dark places, the AF assist lamp (P75) may 
turn on to focus on the subject.
 Even if the focus indication appears and 
the subject is focused, it is canceled when 
you release the shutter button. Press the 
shutter button halfway again.∫Jitter (camera shake)
 Be careful of jittering when pressing the 
shutter button.
 When jitter could occur, the jitter alert 1 
appears. 
 When the jitter alert appears, we 
recommend using a tripod. If you cannot 
use a tripod, be careful of how you hold 
the camera. (P33)
∫Exposure
 If you press the shutter button halfway 
when the exposure is not adequate, the 
indication of the aperture value and the 
shutter speed turns red. (However, the 
aperture value and the shutter speed do 
not turn red when the flash is activated.)
 The brightness of the screen may differ 
from that of recorded pictures. In 
particular, when taking pictures in dark 
places with slow shutter speed, the 
subject looks dark on the screen, but the 
actual picture is bright.
 When most of the subjects in the screen 
are bright (e.g. blue sky on a clear day, 
snowy field, etc.), the recorded pictures 
may become dark. In this case, 
compensate the exposure value on the 
camera. (P45)
1/8F2.8
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							Recording pictures (basic)
35
 When you press the shutter button, the 
screen may become bright for a moment. 
This function allows easy adjustment of 
focus and the recorded picture will not be 
affected.
 We recommend setting the clock again 
before taking pictures. (P22)
 When the time for power save is set (P24), 
the camera is automatically turned off if 
you do not operate within the set time. 
When operating the camera again, press 
the shutter button or turn the camera off 
and on.
 In some cases, if the distance between 
the camera and the subject is beyond the 
recordable range when you use the 
camera, the picture may not be properly 
focused even if the focus indication is lit.
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							Recording pictures (basic)
36
Taking Pictures in Simple Mode
This mode allows beginners to take 
pictures easily. Only the necessary menus 
appear to make the operations simple.
1Select the desired item and set 
the desired value. 
∫Settings in Simple mode
[PICT.MODE]
[AUTO REVIEW]
[BEEP]
[CLOCK SET]
Change date and time. (P22)
SIMPLE MODE
AUTO REVIEW
BEEP
CLOCK SET
ENLARGE
4k6/10k15 cm
E-MAIL
PICT.MODE
MENU
MENU
EXITMENUSELECT SET
ENLARGE This selection is intended 
for situations when large 
printing (8qk10q, Letter 
etc.) is desired.
4qk6q/
10k15cmThis selection offers an 
easy way to produce 
small “general purpose” 
prints.
E-MAIL This selection favors a 
smaller file size, optimized 
for home page and e-mail 
use.
The recorded picture does not 
automatically appear.
The recorded picture automatically 
appears on the screen for about 
1 second.
OFF No operational sound
LOW Soft operational sound
HIGH Loud operational sound
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							Recording pictures (basic)
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∫Other Settings in Simple mode
In Simple mode, other settings are fixed as follows. For details, refer to the pages 
corresponding to each item.
Focus range 3.94 feet (120 cm) –¶ (Tele)
0.16 feet (5 cm) –¶ (Wide)
MONITOR [0] (standard) P25
POWER SAVE [2MIN.] P25
Self-timer 10 seconds P44
Burst speed Low speed P47
Number of recordable pictures in Burst mode
 [ENLARGE]: max. 7 pictures
[4qk6q/10k15cm]: max. 13 pictures
 [E-MAIL]: max. 13 pictures
White balance [AUTO] P68
ISO sensitivity [AUTO] P70
Picture size and 
Quality [ENLARGE]: 2016k1512 pixels/Fine
[4qk6q/10k15cm]: 1600k1200 pixels/Standard
 [E-MAIL]: 640k480 pixels/StandardP70
P71
Metering mode [ ] (Multiple) P72
AF mode [ ] (1-area-focusing) P72
AF trigger [ ] P74
AF assist lamp [ON] P75
Optical Image 
Stabilizer[MODE1] P77
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							Recording pictures (basic)
38
∫The Backlight Compensation
Backlight is a situation where light comes 
from the back of subjects. The subjects 
such as people become dark when pictures 
are recorded in the backlight. If you press 
3, [ ] (compensating backlight ON 
indication) appears and the backlight 
compensation function is activated. This 
function compensates the backlight by 
brightening the whole of the picture. 
 If you press 3 while [ ] is displayed, 
[ ] disappears and the backlight 
compensation function is canceled.
 When you use the backlight compensation 
function, we recommend using the flash.
 You cannot set the following items in the 
Simple mode.
– [PLAY ON LCD]
– [NO.RESET]
–[RESET]
– [USB MODE]
– [HIGHLIGHT]
–[VIDEO OUT]
–[LANGUAGE]
 However, the setting on [NO.RESET] and 
[LANGUAGE] in setup menu is reflected 
to the Simple mode.
 The settings on the simple mode are not 
applied to other recording modes except 
[CLOCK SET] and [BEEP].
 You cannot use the following functions in 
the simple mode.
– White balance fine adjustment
– Exposure compensation
– Auto bracket
– [PICT.SIZE]
– [QUALITY]
– [AUDIO REC.]
– [CONT.AF]
– [D.ZOOM]
– [COL.EFFECT]
–[PICT.ADJ.]
– [FLIP ANIM.]
– Flash output adjustment
 However, the setting on [PICT.SIZE] and 
[QUALITY] corresponds to the setting on 
[PICT.MODE].
8
BACKLIGHT
8
BACKLIGHT
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							Recording pictures (basic)
39
Checking the Recorded Picture (Review)
1Press 4. 
 The last recorded picture appears for 
about 10 seconds.
 Press the shutter button halfway or 4 
to cancel the review.
 You can check the previous or following 
picture with 2/1.
 When the recorded pictures are too 
bright or dim, compensate the 
exposure. (P45)
2Enlarge and shift the picture. 
:1k>4k>8k
:8k>4k>1k When you change the magnification or 
the position to be displayed, the zoom 
position indication A appears for about 
1 second to check where is enlarged.
∫Recorded pictures can be deleted 
during the review (Quick Deletion) 
 Once deleted, pictures cannot be 
recovered.
 Multi pictures or all pictures can be 
deleted. Read P51 or P52 to operate 
them.REVIEW1X
DELETE 4X EXIT
T W
1XDELETE8X
REVIEW4X
DELETE THIS PICTURE?
DELETE SINGLE
MULTI/ALLSELECT
SET
YESNO
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							Recording pictures (basic)
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Using the Optical Zoom
You can make people and subjects appear 
closer with the 12 times optical zoom, and 
landscapes can be recorded in wide angle.
∫To make subjects appear further away 
use (Wide) ∫To make subjects appear closer use 
(Tele) 
 The picture may have some distortion 
(typical example: vertical straight line bent 
outwards). This is due to the lens 
aberration, which is common to some 
extent with all photographic lenses. 
Distortion may be more visible when using 
a wider area of the zoom lens as you get 
closer to the subject.
 When using the zoom lens at high 
magnification, the quality of the picture 
can be enhanced if a tripod is used. At 
high magnification, even small 
movements can cause a slight decrease 
in picture sharpness.
 If you use the zoom function after focusing 
on the subject, focus on the subject again.
 The indicated zoom magnification is an 
approximation.
WT   1X
201619
T W
201619
T W
WT 12X
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