The interface of the DMC-FZ30 follows
the design used for other Panasonic cameras, presenting the
information superimposed on the screen or the EVF in white letters
on semi-transparent black blocks that improve legibility. The
current shooting mode or the playback mode is indicated in the
upper left of the monitor and highlighted by the use of colour
— red or green respectively — making it easy to
see. The menus are similar, making use of coloured backgrounds
for the tab that serves to select either the first section that
contains options specifically related to the current mode; or
the Setup options which are accessed by the second tab,
irrespective of the camera's current mode:
Monitor: serves to adjust the brightness of the
EVF or the LCD monitor separately (7 steps).
Auto Review: displays, or not, the image immediately
after capture for a set period of time (1 or 3 secs), or
zooms the image 4X after presenting it for 1 second to ascertain
sharpness.
Play on LCD selects where the image will be displayed
first in playback: the LCD monitor, or the EVF.
Power Save: sets the delay before the camera automatically
shuts down after a period of inactivity (1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes).
MF Assist: On or Off. When On, the centre portion
of the frame is magnified on the EVF or the LCD screen to
assist during Manual Focusing.
Beep offers three settings to control the volume
of the sounds produced by the FZ30 during operations: Soft,
Loud or Off.
Shutter: sets the volume of the shutter sound produced
by the FZ30, Soft, Loud, or Off.
Volume: serves to adjust the playback volume for
recorded sounds or video clips over 7 levels.
Clock Set: is to set the internal clock and calendar
of the camera.
No. Reset: resets the file numbering system of
the camera so that it will restart from 1.
Reset: returns all options to their original factory
settings, but not the date/time settings and folder number.
USB Mode: to select the USB protocol, either PC
(to connect to a computer) or PictBridge (to connect to
a PictBridge compatible printer and print photos).
Highlight: On or Off. When On the option causes
the potentially overexposed part of a just-captured image
to flash on the screen during review.
Video Out: sets the output video signal to NTSC
or PAL.
Scene Menu: to select if the Scene menu is shown
automatically or not when the Mode dial is turned to SCN1
or SCN2.
Language: to select the interface language (English,
French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese or Traditional
Chinese).
Panasonic includes a printed manual with the DMC-FZ30. The
manual covers all aspects of the camera and its operation,
but is regrettably short on specific and occasionally glosses
over important functions. While in comparison to previous
Panasonic manuals it is an improvement, it is still not up
to the quality, or performance of the camera it accompanies.
Software
The CD bundled with the Panasonic DMC-FZ30
contains a number of programs:
Lumix Simple Viewer(see further),
Photo Fun Studio Viewer(see further),
QuickTime, to view movies,
USB Driver,
Acrobat Reader to view the PDF documentation,
and ArcSoft Photo Suite which includes:
Photo Impressions 5, an image editor;
Panorama Maker 3, to create panoramic images
by assembling series of overlapping photos;
PhotoBase 4.5, software to organize photos
and videos.
Lumix Simple Viewer (shown
at right) is, as its name indicates, simply an image viewer
that can display photos located on the memory card in the
camera, or on the computer's hard disk and show the shooting
data. The program can also be used to print photos or attach
a selected image to an e-mail, using the e-mail client already
on the computer.
Worth noting, although produced by Panasonic, the Lumix
Simple Viewer is unable to show RAW format images captured
with the FZ30.
Photo Fun Studio Viewer,
another program from Panasonic, can only be run if Lumix Simple
Viewer is not running. It is a more advanced and more comprehensive
viewer and is in fact easier to use than the "Simple"
Viewer, and has a more user friendly interface. Regrettably,
it too is incapable of displaying RAW images, and that capability
is relegated to Photo Impression 5, one of the programs
in ArcSoft's Photo Suite.
Photo Impression 5 is the
only program supplied with the FZ30 that allows making adjustments
or editing images. The program makes it possible to adjust
photos for brightness, contrast, or sharpness, and can be
used to resize or crop photos, adjust their colour tone, or
eliminate red-eye. Moreover, it can also be used to add borders
or graphics to photos.
Unlike the Panasonic software, Photo Impression 5 can decrypt
RAW images captured with the FZ30, and can be used to re-save
them into more common file formats such as TIFF or JPEG.
With this program, the editing
possible with any image — RAW images included —
is quite limited. Moreover, the program lacks basic capabilities
such as, for instance, the ability to show photos at precise
and clearly indicated magnification levels. Also, Photo Impression
5 is clearly not designed to take advantage of the FZ30's
RAW format, and the editing controls that are standard in
the RAW editing software of other manufacturers are glaringly,
and sadly, absent.
For those using Adobe Photoshop CS2 however, the newest RAW
plug-in can be installed and offers an excellent level of
control over the FZ30's images.
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Interface & Software
