266 Chatham Street, Cary, NC
It’s getting near to that time where I need to be fixin’ to get ready for this year’s Photo Safari. The primary fixin’ surrounds a new piece of photographic hardware, the Panasonic G85. I already spent more than a couple of hours figuring out the manual. I still don’t have it down yet, but I do know that I will have to spend a few more hours looking over the big manual downloaded to my iPad. I’m pretty sure that I have the basics down, but sensitive, perceptive and innovative artistes, such as myself, tend to use the more obscure functions on the camera, so I have to spend a lot of time with the manual.
Reading the manual is nice (Who am I kidding? RTFM* is no fun at all.), but what really matters is to figure out how the controls work to make the camera do what I want it to do. I still remember (and laugh at) the antics the GH2 pulled on me when I hit an obscure combination of buttons. (September 8, 2011)
After spending the requisite time RTFM I headed down to Academy street to photograph. Nothing particular in mind, I just wanted to get out and see how the camera operated and if I could figure out the controls. I will probably need a few more sessions photographing to make sure I am comfortable changing settings on the camera in the field.
I am happy to report using the camera is very easy to use. There have been some wonderful handling refinements between the GH2 and G85 and that makes the G85 a joy to use. The learning curve from the GH2 to the G85 is not all that great, so the basic operations are quite similar.
The next phase will be to see if I can get the images off the camera and into Light Room mobile because that’s what the photo safari will require. As the German Admiral once said, “If you fight in the North Atlantic, you train in the North Atlantic.” You have to learn to use your equipment under the same conditions you will have to use your equipment. That’s the next step. Preparation continues.
*Read the Manual
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