FZ-10. New user here, I have a couple of questions.

[mmdrummer]

Hi, I am a proud owner of the FZ-10 and I love this camera! My concerns are with taking distant views such as landscapes, etc. They never seem to be all that sharp. Close up photos and macros are extremely sharp. Any suggestions? Also I was wondering about what suggestions you may have concerning an outboard flash. I would like to use a sync cord from the hot shoe to my rotating flash bracket. I also use this with my Nikon 35mm slr's with success. What flash units would you suggest and if I have to set it manually what settings do you recommend for inside shots such as weddings, etc. This camera keeps impressing me with each passing day! I do wish it had an exposure lock that was independent from the focus lock. Any suggestions concerning these issues are welcome. Thanks!!

[Guerito]

The closer you are to the subject, the more detail you will see. This is because you have more pixels to resolve the subject. If you want to impress people with how sharp an image your camera can take, use close-ups. If you were to take a picture of a penny from 10 meters away, you would be using far less pixels than if you were only a few centimeters away, thus you would have higher resolution and a sharper picture. One flash a lot of FZ10 owners use is the Sunpak 383 Super. I have one, but I feel it’s too big for the camera, though it might be good with a flash bracket. Since the camera has a manual focus, you can set the focus for the desired distance manually and it will stay at that position until you re-focus or turn off the camera. With the focus set, you can then set the exposure with a half-press on the shutter without re-focusing the lens.

[Normcar]

mmdrummer...

To get landscapes as focused as possible with the FZ10 use the "A" choice in the menu's AE Mode (this is aperture priority). Then press the "exposure" button and set your aperture to the highest number, F8 (which is your smallest aperture setting on the FZ10, which is limited, but still works fine).

If reduced light keeps you from setting to F8, then set it as close to that as possible because the aperture setting with the large number will increase your depth of field so that as much stuff as is possible will be in focus.

If you "still" can't get enough light, then you will be forced to use a tripod and set your AF setting to full "M" or manual, then lower the shutter speed until your exposure bar is smack in the middle of the line in your LCD or viewfinder, showing you that your exposure is good. The FZ10 seems to overexpose a bit to me so I'd suggest that you can allow for the exposure to be less than in the middle and still get a relatively good shot.

In any event, using full "M" or manual, and playing around with your shutter speed and aperture setting, you will find yourself getting some fine landscapes, especially sunsets when you stop down that aperture to get the nice colors.

You can do an "8" second exposure with the FZ10 so with a tripod that allows for a whole pile of leverage in getting the shot and the light that you need.

[mmdrummer]

Thanks to all for the helpful suggestions! I will try these as soon as time allows!