FAQ (LX3 settings etc.)

Poster, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Window, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Poisonberry, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Red thing, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Here a two photographs from yesterday, when I had a meeting in Helsinki (quite late), and two from today when I managed to go for a walk before sunset. If you want to see a theme here, it might be Red - see the "red control" question below.

I got some questions by a Flickr user who has a Panasonic LX3. The questions are such that they get asked again and again, so here goes: my attempt at Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers).

1) Which film mode do you use the most? And did you modify your favorite film mode, by changing contrast, saturation, etc...?

I have several different settings stored in the custom modes. My most used setting (for color) uses standard film mode with everything at 0 except noise reduction (nr) at -2. The the second most used users (for b&w) dynamic b&w film mode. I have tweaked these settings lightly, and sometimes even forgotten I have done so, but now I tend to leave them as they are.

2) Do you shoot RAW often or mostly JPEG?

Never RAW, always JPEG. This is makes the workflow really simple: delete most (90-95%), store the rest.

3) Do you do any post-processing or is it mostly straight out of the camera?

I usually don't do post-processing at all. Occasionally I fix the exposure slightly, if I haven't got it absolutely correct in camera.

4) How have you gotten you Red's under control? I notice the camera tends to over saturate the Red's in most images? That is why I was trying Nostalgic.

I haven't had trouble with red - perhaps here in Finland we have so little of it that there is no problem of over saturation... Or then I just have grown used to the look of the images. I do think they look quite natural, similar to how the scene looked to the eye. Except, of course, in cases where there is artificial light with different light temperatures in the same image - then no camera can show the scene similar to the eye.

Also, the LCD of the LX3 does have a problem with red, it dominates the photograph all too much - but on the computer, this problem disappears.

5) Any other info or experiences with the LX3 would be appreciated.

Well, here is a list of my most useful accessories (besides a spare battery and plenty of memory cards) for the LX3: a 20 cm mini-tripod and a 3 inch screen protector, both cheap ones from Dealextreme. The mini-tripod cost something like 3 euro and the screen protector something like 1.20 (with postage). After two years of use, the screen protector peeled off the camera. I have ordered another from Dealextreme, this one cost 90 cents. The mini-tripod still works perfectly although the black paint is peeling off slightly.