Camera Labs

I have just noticed something while giving the FZ28 a second shoot.

I've read alot of people complaining about the video being ... too sharp etc.
It seems that the exposure is a bit over the top causing the video to be clipped etc.
If you press the joystick and move it to the left you can see that you can lower or upper the exposure. I would suggest to move it down to at least -1 or even lower.
I'm trying it at the moment with great result.
Give it a shot and let us all know if it works for you.

_________________
Ir MSNP
Cisco certified addict
http://picasaweb.google.com/l.peeters

Good tip Luke-san!

The rain stopped for a moment and I was actualy able to test the differences out.
Bear in mind that it is almost freezing outside, that there is fog and that the amount of light is very minimal (lights are on inside most houses).
Also this was just a panning video, so no interesting stuff.
I still need to test it during sunshine but that isn't going to happen soon in this part of Europe.
To my opinion and half calibrated monitor the best setting is -2/3 to -1

default http://luc.dommel.be/panasonic/zero.avi

-2/3 (not -1 as the name says) http://luc.dommel.be/panasonic/minus1.avi

_________________
Ir MSNP
Cisco certified addict
http://picasaweb.google.com/l.peeters

Big difference in the 2 posted videos! Thank you luke for the tip.

Hello all from a newbie. I've had my new FZ28 for a couple of days and love it, it's a great piece of work. Reading all the posts here have given me some great pointers, I'm grateful to you all and especially to Gordon and his impartial reviews. I just bought a lot of accessories through the site to hopefully make a small contribution to all the effort that's expended here.

Now to a feature that should be very evident but not findable by me - How do I put a date stamp on a photo? Every digital camera I've had has the option to put the date, usually bottom right of a picture but after reading the manual twice and doing a google search can't find how to do it. Would one of you please hold my hand and point it out?

Thanks and have a great holiday.

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Bruce

Hi av8,

I've just checked the online UK pdf manual.
It's a bit big to copy/paste it here but you should be able to find the explanation on page 103 and 104.
Edit : it seems that you can only do this in playback mode, in other words after the picture has been taken.

On a personal note. I always use the EXIF info in the photo to determine date and time. That way your photo remains clean.
Just google for 'EXIF browser' and you will find alot of free applications that will do the trick.
You can also use the more then nice freeware tool from google called picasa to manage your photo. There is a cool thing called 'timeline' which is nice to find stuff back.
Enjoy the holidays.

_________________
Ir MSNP
Cisco certified addict
http://picasaweb.google.com/l.peeters

Thanks for the quick response, Luke-san and happy holidays to you. The date stamp is only displayed while in playback mode on the camera, once the picture transferred to a computer the date is gone.

It looks like it will take some sort of manual step for each photo to somehow get the date superimposed on the image itself, quite a bit of manual work on 6-8 pictures I take every day. I can put the date in the photo caption on Picasaweb but not the ones I upload to my own domain and link to in a forum message. I'll figure something out, I love this camera enough to find a workaround.

And thanks for the exif info, I've been using it seemingly forever. I use a great little program called Thumber that is set up to create a folder under "C:\Pictures" of the date (2008, 12 24), moves the pictures from the camera and renames them with the exact date and time (2008, 12-24 23-04-10.jpg) leaving me an empty camera and a picture folder with sub-folders for each day.

Picasa is wonderful, I use it quite a bit even though I have almost every photo editor known to man. I'm on a couple of hydroponics forums and rely on the date stamp to show people looking at a picture what date it was taken and thus, the plant growth.

Thanks again, you're a wealth of knowledge.

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Bruce

Hi Bruce / av8, welcome on board, and thanks for supporting us through your purchases!

As you've discovered the date stamp facility on most cameras is only available when you're printing direct from the camera. I'm sure there's tools out there which would read the time and date from the exif file and write it onto images forever though if you prefer - but remember, this wouldn't be removeable, so only do it to copies.

Hi Bruce,


You made me curious.
Seems like there are several solutions.

http://www.kozasoft.com/ps/ (with a bit of a nag screen)

or

http://pcarvalho.com/photodatestamper/

I just gave these a quick go so your milage may vary

_________________
Ir MSNP
Cisco certified addict
http://picasaweb.google.com/l.peeters

Thank you both so much and thanks for the warm welcome from the MAN! I hope you're both having a great holiday.

As we age I guess we get dumber and I've lived 10 years past where I thought and planned I would. Everything has worn out on schedule but I'm still around with all these worn out parts. The brain never thought about searching for date stamp programs but again, I've never needed one since most of my digital cameras had the capability built in.

Thanks for the links Luke, I think the first one is just what I'm looking for and I don't mind spending a little money to get what I want and help the developer (like Gordon) keep going. It's even better because I only use date stamps on particular pictures and when I forgot to reset it on my old cameras I wasn't happy.

On a tangent, what is the deal with NZ? You guys seem to have more drive and innovation than most any place on earth lately. You Kiwis have some state of the art hydroponic gear that really impresses me besides having a great photography site. Whatever the reason, I really appreciate it, keep it up.
Thanks,

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Bruce

Hi Bruce, I can't really say, as I'm a Brit who only moved out to NZ three years ago!

Hi Gordon,

As you might already know, I am from Malaysia (South-east Asia), Can I purchase any cameras/accessaries from your website and get them delivery to me (Malaysia) ?? THANKS

p/s: Thanks for your tips and info on the FZ28, I am using FZ28 for more than 3 months by now, and I must said I ma very satisfied with its picture quality as well as the features its has to offer. However, I did notice that the sound from video recording is quite poor, and I have sent my camera to the PANA service centre and they said the problem is either caused by the PCB card or the mic/speaker, we need more time but its definately can be fixed. So, hopefull they are right and hope to get back my camera is days.


and some of my photo collections ===>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31425946@N06/



Best Rgds
Henry

Steve's Digicam with a "ATP Pro Max (Class 6) 4GB SDHC card"

20MB/s got "comparative" 5fps for the fine burst, and 2fps for continuous.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_rev ... 8_pg5.html

Does that sound reasonable?

Type 4 states min speed is 2MB/s
Type 6 states, min speed is 6MB/s

Thanks

Hi everyone, Has anyone used their FZ28 out in the cold. The manual states the operating temperature is 0 to 40 degrees celsius. I'm also aware of possible condensation on the lens when going back indoors. Could there be any other problems with the camera.

Thanks

Rui

Excellent screen protectors here www.zagg.com I have one ordered for my newly purchased FZ28.

A little tricky installing (make sure you're in a mostly dust free environment, watch the install video etc.) but any minor bubbles left after install mysteriously disappear overnight - maybe as the install spray evaporates? Can be easily peeled off without leaving residue behind - I know this because I installed my first one with my dog lurking about and removed it to clean off some dog hair.

Anyway, I have these protectors on my kid's PSPs, and my iPod Touch and my Samsung Instinct. Nothing but good things to say about them, and no I don't work for them.

I see the GGS protector is glass, which might ultimately be clearer than the Zagg film - the Zagg protector is some sort of flexible film supposedly developed to protect US Military helicopter blades. It is, however, scratch proof. Probably came out of Area 51 - ha ha.