Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ57 User manual

Panasonic®DMC-TZ57
Claudio DI Veroli ® User Manual v.1.0 May. 2017
1. NAMES OF MAIN PARTS

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2. BASIC INFORMATION AND PREPARATIONS
AE = Auto-exposure AF = Auto-Focus EV = Exposure-Value SH = shutter pressed halfway  = UL,LL,UR,LR screen corners
SD Card: recordable JPEG quality-fine pictures with ratio 4:3, and MP4 movies
Picture / Movie | 16 MB 3 MB |FHD HD VGA
Card type Size | 4608x3456 2048x1536 | 1920x1080 1280x720 640x480
Internal Memory 78 MB | 14 50 | - -2’30”
SD (8 MB - 2 GB) 1 GB | 160 700 | 6’15” 12’15” 31’15”
SDHC (4 - 32 GB) 8 GB | 1300 5700 | 50’00” 1h 40’ 4h 10’
SDHC (4 - 32 GB) 32 GB | 5400 23300 | 3h 20’ 6h 50’ 17h 10’
SDXC (48 - 64 GB) 64 GB | 10800 46700 | 6h 50’ 14h 00’ 34h 30’
Inserting/Removing Battery & Card Check: Camera off, Lens retracted!
Slide the Card/Battery door’s button inwards to open the door.
Insert the Battery following its arrow, until it locks. To remove, slide the grey lock first.
Insert the Memory Card with contacts visible (label facing the camera front) until it clicks.
To remove, push the card until it clicks, then pull the card out. SD card Class  4
If no Memory Card is inserted, the camera uses the very small Built-in Memory (78Mb).
Battery power
The battery power appears on :
When the indication turns red and blinks, recharge or replace the battery.
Every 10 photos or minutes, turn the camera off so that the battery cools off.
To charge plug the USB cable with its arrow towards the camera front: red charging lamp lits.
Or else use a special USB/AC adapter to charge the battery outside the camera .
When the battery is fully charged, the charging lamp goes off: disconnect the USB cable.
When the camera is not in use, remove the battery: settings & clock are preserved for 3 months.
Charging time: Approx. 2h30’ = 210’
Number of pictures (50% flash): Approx. 350 pictures (recording time approx. 130’)
Length of recorded movies: Approx. 50’
Playback time: Approx. 4.5h
Photo numbering and Folders
When the SD card is formatted, a photo folder 100 is created and file numbers start from 0001
When file number reaches 999 a new folder (101,102 … 999) is created and file numbers restarted
Zoom and 35mm Equivalent and Max. Aperture Always refocus after zooming!
Zoom 35mm F Zoom 35mm F Zoom 35mm F Zoom 35mm F
1 X 24 mm 3,3 1.5 X 36 mm 3.7 2 X 48 mm 4.2 4 X 96 mm 5.3
8 X 192 mm 5.5 12 X 288 mm 5.9 16 X 384 mm 5.9 20 X 480 mm 6.4
Correct posture - Accessories
Right hand: Index on shutter | Middle finger on front grip | Thumb over Charge/WiFi lamp.
Left hand: Classical index-up-thumb-down. Fingers should not cover AF lamp or Flash!
Tripod/Monopod: Ensure that the screw is less than 5.5mm long!
Arrows, Q.Menu and Menu Symbols (see also the symbols on top of this page)
 Arrow buttons around the MENU/SET button. Press the MENU/SET button
 Press the Q.MENU button and move arrows. SH Shutter pressed halfway
Flip-Up Monitor and Selfie Modes all
PARTIALLY UP: Allows to take pictures with the camera in either very low or very high positions.
FULLY UP: Enables Self Shot Mode. for settings such as Multi-Exposure and Self-Timer.
SELF SHOT MODE ENABLE/DISABLE:  REC p. 4.

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2. RECORDING - PICTURE MODES
Set the RECORDING/PLAYBACK mode RECORDING by pressing either SH or
SH: Focus OK shows green light and 2 beeps. Focus BAD shows red light and 4 beeps.
Intelligent Auto
Automatically activates STABILIZER, AF LAMP, iISO, SCENE and FACE DETECTION, iEXPOSURE,
RED-EYE REMOVAL and BACKLIGHT COMPENSATION..
Closest Focus range: 1X at 3cm, 5-8X at 2mt, 20X at 1mt. Other values may differ from user settings:
e.g. ECONOMY 5 min., QUALITY Fine, AUTO REVIEW 2SEC. and AUTO WHITE BALANCE (AWB)
SCENE DETECTION
If optimum scene is identified, a blue icon displays for 2 seconds, then stays but in red.
If no scene is detected, standard settings are set and the icon stays as .
AF TRACKING: press to activate &c. See next chapter for non-iA, Q.MENU-selected AF Tracking.
Programme AE No Program Shift is available
See below Auto Exposure compensation or, in Chapter 3, White Balance and AF Mode.
Aperture Priority See below AE Compensation and Apertures and Shutter speeds
EXPOSURE, then  changes Aperture, then EXPOSURE to exit & re-enable arrows for other uses.
Shutter Priority See below AE Compensation and Apertures and Shutter speeds
EXPOSURE, then  changes Shutter Speed, then EXPOSURE to exit, re-enabling arrows).
Manual Exposure See below Apertures and Shutter speeds available
EXPOSURE, then  changes Aperture and  changes Shutter Speed,
then SH checks with an aperture scale, once OK, EXPOSURE exits, re-enabling arrows.
Apertures and Shutter speeds available for modes
SHUTTER SPEEDS: 4”(low ISO only) to 1/2000” in most settings, with very few exceptions.
APERTURES: Min. 8.0. Max. 3.3-6.4: see in Ch. 1 “Zoom and 35mm Equivalent and Max. Aperture”..
Custom modes Allow concocting and storing your own Modes
REGISTERING: In any Mode,  SETUP p.2 CUST.SET.MEM. etc.
NOT SAVED: BEEP, VOLUME, AUTO REVIEW, ZOOM RESUME, SCENE MENU
PHOTOGRAPHY: Switching to C1 or C2: the latter has 3 sub-customs, with a comparison table.
Some further settings not shown are also stored, e.g. DIGITAL ZOOM ON/OFF.
PANO Panorama mode Takes and merges many pictures in succession
RECORDING: Select Panorama Direction, SH and record moving the camera slowly and steadily.
RESOLUTION: Fixed as follows: Horizontal Panorama 3200x720, Vertical Panorama 960x3200.
Scene mod Most Modes use their special ISO settings (Sensitivity, Limit & Intelligent)
 selects among the colour icons on screen. Press to set.
PORTRAIT and SOFT SKIN changes the colour of skin and also background.
SCENERY is for wide distant landscapes.
SPORTS uses faster speed to prevent blurring. Stand at least 5mt away.
NIGHT PORTRAIT takes people with night background. Use the flash in Sand if possible tripod.
NIGHT SCENERY takes vivid nightscapes with no flash. If possible use a tripod.
HANDHELD NIGHT SHOT combines many pictures in one to minimize jitter and digital noise.
HDR combines different exposures automatically to fix excessive contrast. If possible use tripod.
FOOD takes natural pictures of food.
BABY 1/2 & PET uses a weak flash to improve skin. Can enter Name & Birthday.
SUNSET takes vivid pictures of sunsets.
HIGH SENS. prevents blurring in dark, indoor conditions.
STARRY SKY select 15 or 30 sec. speed! Hold camera steady, best with tripod.
GLASS THROUGH for pictures through the window of a car or train.

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Creative Control mode ISO is set to Auto, White Balance to AWB
Most settings change colour for special effects: the effect is obvious.
TOY EFFECT produces vignetting.
MINIATURE EFFECT blurs the upper and lower borders.
SOFT FOCUS blurs the whole picture for portraits, flowers and the like.
STAR FILTER produces stars from pin-points of light.
ONE POINT COLOR allows selecting a colour: all the other colours become black and white.
3. RECORDING –Q.MENU
Press Q.MENU:  selects feature,  selects setting. All are memorised.
Picture Size Modes all. Special subset for .
ISO Sensitivity Modes
Auto (100-1600) / 100 … 3200 / iISO: (100-1600). Use low ISO to get very low shutter speeds.
White Balance Modes
AUTO WHITE BAL CLOUDY (+ red) INCANDESCENT (blue)
DAYLIGHT SHADE (++red) WHITE (alternative to DAYLIGHT)
All settings allow fine tuning of Red vs Blue (ºK) by pressing DISPLAY: icon on screen is Red/Blue.
WHITE is identical to DAYLIGHT: it is just an alternative for a different Red vs Blue setting.
Many Scene Modes automatically use AWB.
AF Mode Modes all except
FACE DETECTION: detects face on yellow rectangle, SH focuses on it. Not av. in Scene modes
AF TRACKING Not available in Panorama and some Creative Modes
oBring subject to AF frame and press to lock on the subject.
oAF turns yellow and locks on subject. Press again to cancel the lock.
23-AREA: Focuses on up to 23 points in each area. Best for difficult focusing.
1-AREA AND SPOT: Centre focusing. Centre cannot be moved
Burst Mode Modes all except Panorama
Focus, Exposure and WB are fixed to settings for 1st picture.
n: pictures per second. Availability depends on picture size and Mode.
Movie Quality: Selects FHD, HD or VGA.
Monitor Brightness: A*: Auto w/ambient light | Power: very bright | OFF. Valid for PLAYBACK as well
4. RECORDING –ARROWS
Auto Exposure Compensation Modes all except and
till EXPOSURE appears, then . Shows in . (pressing or Q.MENU does not cancel!)
Auto Bracket Modes all
till AUTO BRACKET appears, then (cancelled manually or when power OFF)
Not available in Scene Modes: Panorama and Handheld Night Shot, and Movies.
Focus Type: Auto, Macro, Manual Modes NO Macro AF in Selfie
shows Macro menu: AF / MacroZoom / OFF.  select and : AF shows in .
MIN. FOCUS
RANGE AS
TESTED
Focus Type
1X
3X
10-20X
AF (MACRO OFF)
10 cm
40 cm
2 mt
AF MACRO
2 cm
15 cm
1 mt
MACRO ZOOM
1 cm
2 cm
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Flash Modes
shows the Flash Menu,  selects alternative and MENU sets.
Some Modes and/or Scenes only allow some Flash alternatives.
oA AUTO Flash is automatically activated in low light conditions.
oAAUTO/RED-EYE Same, with pre-flash to reduce the red-eye in low-light conditions.
oFORCED FLASH Flash is always activated. Only mode in many Scene Modes.
oSSLOW SYNC./RED-EYE Flash with low shutter speed, for night backgrounds.
o FORCED FLASH OFF Flash is disabled.
In RED-EYE flash modes, if Face Detection is active, the camera also fixes red-eye in the picture.
In Flash Modes other than SSLOW SYNC, min. shutter speed is 1/60”, except some Scene Modes
FLASH RANGE in ISO Auto: Wide (F3.3): 0.6-6.0 mt. Tele (F6.4): 1.0-3.1 mt.
Self-timer Modes all
shows the Self-timer Menu: 10” / 2” (3” in Selfie Mode) / OFF.
5. RECORDING –MENU
Auto Review No Zoom, No manual Review in REC mode
 SETUP p.4 AUTO REVIEW sel. OFF / 1SEC / 2SEC / HOLD
HOLD shows the photo until any button is pressed.
Beep / Sounds:  SETUP p.2 BEEP sel. BEEP LEVEL & TONE, SHUTTER VOL. & TONE
Economy:  SETUP p.3 ECO, Auto Power Off: 2MIN. / 5MIN. / 10MIN. / OFF.
Monitor Power Save: ON / OFF
Exposure Metering Modes
 REC p.2 METERING MODE sel.:
()MULTI METERING / ( ) CENTER WEIGHTED / SPOT.
Face Detection: see PDF p.97ff.
LCD Colour:  SETUP p.2  Monitor Display &c. Pictures and Movies incl. PLAYBACK
iExposure, Digital Zoom, AF Lamp, Red-Eye, Stabilizer  REC …
p.2, I.EXPOSURE: Modes . ON/OFF. Reduces contrast. Shows ionscreen.
p.3, DIGITAL ZOOM: Modes .
p.3, AF ASSIST LAMP: Modes all but (always ON) and (some OFF): ON: range 1.5mt / OFF.
p.3, RED-EYE REMOVAL: Modes
ON (works only with Flash Red-Eye and AF Mode set to FACE DETECTION) / OFF.
p.4, STABILIZER: Modes : ON / OFF (some Scene Modes force either).
Travel Features: see Advanced Manual p.44ff.
Travel Destinations
SETUP p.1, WORLD TIME, DESTINATION, sel.  time zone and summer time.
Back to WORLD TIME; sel. DESTINATION or HOME: a message confirms camera clock change.

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6. PLAYBACK
Press the Playback button .
By default: PLAYBACK MODE All . (shows all the pictures in the SD card and memory)
Picture Play (All)
 to select the Picture to be played back. Hold buttons for fast backward/forward.
Zoom Tele: zooms-in on the picture onscreen: 2x, 4x, 8x and 16x.
o moves enlarged picture section.
Zoom Wide: zooms-out and then produces 12 pictures, 30 pictures, Calendar.
o12/30 screens: press  to select a picture/Movie and to show it.
oCalendar: press  to select a day and to show only pictures/movie of that day.
Zoom for a Movie: controls the playback volume.
Slide Show Pictures only
PLAYBACK MODE SLIDE SHOW, and select:
START : slide show. Play/Pause, Stop,Back while paused, Next while paused.
SETUP: enters another menu: EFFECT, DURATION (1”/ 2” / 3”/ 5”) and REPEAT.
Once the show ends, camera returns to NORMAL PLAY.
Filtering Play
PLAYBACK MODE FILTERING PLAY : Picture, Video, 3D, Travel, Category. Etc.
Movie Divide
Splits a Movie in two, allowing later to delete unneeded beginning or end.
PLAYBACK p.2 VIDEO DIVIDE .
 to select the Movie to be divided.
play movie, pause at the point to split, to split: Confirmation screen displayed, etc.
Protect Pictures or Movies
PLAYBACK p.3 PROTECT : follow menus. Protected items shown with .
Deleting Pictures and Movies
, select alternatives with  and act with .
DELETE MULTI: shows 6 pictures per screen.
Select pictures with  and press DISPLAY to select. Press to delete them.
If you exit without deleting, your selection marks are NOT memorised.
Copy between SD card and internal memory e.g. for crucial backup
PLAYBACK p.3 COPY:
INSD: Copy built-in memory to SD card etc.
SDIN: Copy one item from SD card to built-in memory: select with  and act with .
Wi-Fi control via Smartphone
Have a smartphone ready with Wi-Fi enabled and the Panasonic Image App installed.
Press the camera’s Wi-Fi button. Follow the directions on screen. Blue lamp goes on.
Put the camera in place over a table or tripod. Go to the smartphone and start the Image App.
To finalise, end the Image App. In the camera follow directions until the blue lamp goes off.
Wi-Fi to send images to PC: see Advanced Manual p. 153.
PC USB Connection
Connect: The PC should be ON. Connect it to the camera with the USB cable.
Camera OFF: Battery recharges. Camera ON: USB power is used, battery does not recharge.
RECORDING: Camera can be used with PC power.
PLAYBACK: Camera connects to PC to download. Cannot delete files in the SD card!
DISCONNECT: Ensure no ACCESS shows in the camera, then use the PC’s USB Disconnect tray.

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7. RECORDING MOVIES Zoom only works in slow speed. Movie format MP4 only
Preparation
Memory Card: Use a SDHC Class 6 card. VGA and larger sizes need 10MB/s. Movies are in 25 fps.
Movie Size: MOTION ·· REC QUALITY: FHD (1920x1080) / HD (1280x720) / VGA (640x480).
If Movie Size ratio (16:9 exc. VGA) differs from Picture Size (usually 4:3), the screen size changes
when Movie recording starts, because 4:3 uses the full screen but 16:9 does not. If so, optionally . . .
SETUP p.3 VIDEO REC AREA: ON: upper & lower parts of screen are dimmed / OFF.
Continuous AF: MOTION C·AF CONT. AF: ON / OFF: fixes the focus as per start of Movie.
Wind Cut: MOTION WIND CUT: ON: filters treble & bass and shows awful icon / OFF.
Many picture features are not available when recording movies.
This camera has a one-speed-only zoom, for both pictures and movies.
Recording Modes all
Mode, when it detects a special scene, will change dynamically between:
i-PORTRAIT (w/Face Detection) i-SCENERY
i-MACRO i-LOW LIGHT (special for Movies)
Press to Start/Stop. Movie time displays in . Available time displays in .
The camera will try and refocus continuously, but if needed press SH to do it.
8. ERROR MESSAGES … and suggested solutions
THIS PICTURE IS PROTECTED: Cannot delete Pictures marked as Protected .
BUILT-IN MEMORY ERROR: Remove SD card and Format the Built-In memory.
PLEASE TURN CAMERA OFF THEN ON AGAIN: Because lens barrel was obstructed!
MEMORY CARD LOCKED: The Write-Protect switch on the SD card is in LOCK position.
MEMORY CARD ERROR / READ/WRITE ERROR CHECK CARD: Turn OFF, remove card, reinsert.
MEMORY CARD ERROR / CARD NOT FORMATTED WITH THIS CAMERA / FOLDER CANNOT BE CREATED:
Save SD card data to PC, then disconnect USB and format the SD card with the camera.
CONNECTION FAILED (during Wi-Fi): weak signal, too much distant.
OTHER ERRORS WITH NO MESSAGE:
Camera does not turn on: remove the battery, ensure it is charged, reinsert the battery.
Cannot take picture: check that (1) mode dial correctly set and (2) there is available memory, (3) the
card was initially formatted in this camera, not in any other camera or computer.
2 or more pictures are taken at one time: the camera is set to either Burst Mode or Auto Bracket.
Vertical or horizontal lines appear: artefact of sensor when there is a very strong light in the picture.
Folder No. and File No. displayed as [] and screen black: card edited in PC. Save and reformat.
The lens clicks: abrupt change in scene brightness causes aperture adjustment. Not a malfunction.
Monitor flickers briefly after turning camera on: caused by fluorescent or LED light, not a malfunction.
Flash does not work: check the Mode, Flash settings and other that may be causing the issue.
Red object surrounded by skin colour appears grey: artefact of Red-Eye Removal.
Find many other error messages and situations on the Advanced Manual pp. 167-186.
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