My compact configuration
From the series, Play.Ground. Taken at Old Airport Road, one of my childhood hangouts when I stayed with my Grandma.
So, recently I came into possession of a D-Lux 5, and believe it or not, that’s my first compact digital camera. Other than this, the other cameras I have at home are all film-based.
Now, we all know that shooting digitally and with film have some differences, but it’s a good thing that the D-Lux 5 is an advanced compact with plenty of room for customization.
The first thing that I did when I got the camera was to adjust all the parameters to make my shooting more familiar and comfortable.
Here’s my configuration:
- RAW + JPEG (fine)
- JPEG in Dynamic B/W
- Auto ISO, Max ISO 400
- Lens resume at 35mm
- Manual focus
- 4: 3 aspect ratio
- Aperture priority mode at f/3.2
- LCD screen off (15s)
- Sleep (2m)
Luckily the D-Lux 5 has a feature to map most of these settings into a custom function slot which allows me to return to them with a click on the mode dial. Others, such at focusing mode and aspect ratio, are easily adjusted by sliding the controls around the lens barrel.
The manual focusing scale was also a god-send, telling me that I can shoot at f/3.2, and any subjects from 2m to infinity will be sharp: Perfect for my day-to-day shooting on the streets.
All these settings made my shooting a lot more film-like and I can react faster to situations compared to having to tinker with settings each time I wanted to take a photo. I don’t have to wait for the autofocus to snap into action, and I bear comfort in knowing that images taken at ISO 400 are reasonably clean for archival.
While this exercise is meant for me to make full use of the D-Lux 5, it also goes to show that if you know a camera well enough (and is magnanimous to live with certain compromises), almost any camera can be used efficiently.
Now, let’s shoot.
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