Just bought a Panasonic Lumix ZS5/TZ8

[Ste#70]

Apart from the basic auto settings can someone give me some tips on taking some nice shots.

I.E, night shots, Decent close up/portrait pics.

The auto settings seem pretty decent anyway but Im new to changing manual settings like exposure, shutter speed etc.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[The Boosh!]

See the stickies in this section for the basics

 

[Ste#70]

Such a noob error.

Apologies.

 

[Revels]

Practice. Practice. Practice.

 

[Ste#70]

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Definitely.

It seems you can set custom settings but there are so many scene modes. Is it best to just practice with these first before fiddling with the settings myself? :S

Total noob with this kind of stuff as ive always been a 'point and shoot, that will do' kind of guy lol.

 

[john182rs]

Not sure if it is the same as the TZ7 but you can set up the iso and shutter speed with very minor exposure too.
Shutter speed is only 250/1 i think and the burst rate is good when picture quality is set on minimal with no flash.
Its not that good of an example but this picture was taken before i found out how to maximize the shutter speed and use the best iso.

 

[Ste#70]

Thats the thing, im learning what exposure means and what changing the shutter speed will do and what kind of results I would get from adjusting these.

 

[Omid]

Thats the thing, im learning what exposure means and what changing the shutter speed will do and what kind of results I would get from adjusting these.

Its pretty straightforward,

The slower the shutter, the longer the sensor is exposed, the more light hits the sensor, the higher the exposure.

Aperture is confused because the maximum is the smallest number, and the minimum is the biggest number. The smaller the number you use, the bigger the pin hole, the more light let in, but this also means there is a shallower depth. Hope that helps, and hope it isn't too obvious!