Panny FZ15 screen darkens when using flash indoors

When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets very
dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and see
details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no effect on the
brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as I
depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets much
darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's face.
This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of important shots.
Is there some setting that I can change to remedy this situation?
Bob Williams

Bob Williams wrote:
When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets very
dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and see
details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as I
depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets much
darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's face.
This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of important
shots. Is there some setting that I can change to remedy this
situation? Bob Williams

Do you have any exposure compensation set?

David

Bob Williams writes:

When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets very
dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and see
details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as I
depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets much
darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's face.
This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of important shots.
Is there some setting that I can change to remedy this situation?

No, unfortunately, that's just the way the camera works. The display/
viewfinder brightness when you half press the shutter is adjusted for
the chosen aperture/shutter/etc, and, with the flash in use, will be
too dark until the flash goes off--which is not helpful for
composition, as you've noticed.

-Dave

Dave Sill wrote:
Bob Williams writes:


When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets very
dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and see
details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as I
depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets much
darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's face.
This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of important shots.
Is there some setting that I can change to remedy this situation?


No, unfortunately, that's just the way the camera works. The display/
viewfinder brightness when you half press the shutter is adjusted for
the chosen aperture/shutter/etc, and, with the flash in use, will be
too dark until the flash goes off--which is not helpful for
composition, as you've noticed.

-Dave

Thanks for the confirmation.
That's what I figured was going on.
In low light, w/o flash, the settings may be f=2.8 @ 1/4 sec.
When I half press the shutter, the image stays bright because the
settings do not change.
However, with flash, when I half press the shutter, the camera displays
the subject at f=2.8 @ 1/60 sec., which of course is too dark to see
what's going on.
It is a real PIA. I wonder if Panny fixed that in later models.
I know that David Taylor & Spouse have two later models.
Maybe he can shed some light on this.....HEY! DAVE.....
Bob Williams

David J Taylor wrote:

Bob Williams wrote:

When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets very
dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and see
details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as I
depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets much
darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's face.
This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of important
shots. Is there some setting that I can change to remedy this
situation? Bob Williams


Do you have any exposure compensation set?

David

No! Compensation is set on "0"
David, Please read my response to Dave Sill.....below and give me a
heads up on how your later model FZs react to this situation.
Thanks.......Bob.

On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:16:03 -0700
Bob Williams wrote:



Dave Sill wrote:
Bob Williams writes:


When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets
very dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and
see details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no
effect on the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as
I depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets
much darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's
face. This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of
important shots. Is there some setting that I can change to remedy
this situation?


No, unfortunately, that's just the way the camera works. The
display/ viewfinder brightness when you half press the shutter is
adjusted for the chosen aperture/shutter/etc, and, with the flash
in use, will be too dark until the flash goes off--which is not
helpful for composition, as you've noticed.

-Dave

Thanks for the confirmation.
That's what I figured was going on.
In low light, w/o flash, the settings may be f=2.8 @ 1/4 sec.
When I half press the shutter, the image stays bright because the
settings do not change.
However, with flash, when I half press the shutter, the camera
displays the subject at f=2.8 @ 1/60 sec., which of course is too
dark to see what's going on.
It is a real PIA. I wonder if Panny fixed that in later models.
I know that David Taylor & Spouse have two later models.
Maybe he can shed some light on this.....HEY! DAVE.....
Bob Williams

My FZ30 behaves sort of like your FZ15. In both shutter and aperture
priority modes, half-pressing the shutter in a low-light situation
causes the display to go dark. This happens whether the flash is
enabled or not. Adjusting the shutter or aperture with the shutter
release half pressed causes the display brightness to change
accordingly, but is probably also messing up the exposure.

In program-shift mode, half-pressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the display whether the flash is enabled or not.
Shifting the exposure with the shutter half pressed causes the
display brightness to change and is probably messing up the exposure.

This camera has a control for display brightness in the menus.
Perhaps that could be used to compensate for a too-dim display
in low-light situations. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things
they added in the FZ30, so it may not help you with your camera.

Paul Allen

Bob Williams wrote:
David J Taylor wrote:

Bob Williams wrote:

When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets
very dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and
see details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no
effect on the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as
I depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets
much darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's
face. This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of
important shots. Is there some setting that I can change to remedy
this situation? Bob Williams


Do you have any exposure compensation set?

David

No! Compensation is set on "0"
David, Please read my response to Dave Sill.....below and give me a
heads up on how your later model FZs react to this situation.
Thanks.......Bob.

That's why I asked. IIRC, in a low-light situation recently, with the FZ5
if the exposure compensation was 0, the image stayed bright, but if I set
a non-zero value, the image darkened. No, this is wrong, I can't
reproduce this now I try. In fact, I can't quite see the logic at all on
the FZ5. In one test, looking at a dark area, the viewfinder brightness
was less when I used natural light than when I enabled the flash (and the
indicated exposures were 1/4s for natural light and a much shorter one for
flash.

The Nikon 8400, with it's "gain up" viewfinder, was easier to use.

Cheers,
David

Paul Allen wrote:
On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:16:03 -0700
Bob Williams wrote:



Dave Sill wrote:

Bob Williams writes:



When I take indoor shots in low light with flash, the screen gets
very dark when I depress the shutter button.

Without flash enabled, I can compose the picture in low light and
see details in the screen image. Depressing the shutter has no
effect on the brightness of the image on the LCD screen
When I enable flash, I can still compose as before , but as soon as
I depress the shutter button (partially or fully) the screen gets
much darker and I cannot see detail or expressions on my subject's
face. This is very annoying and caused me to blow a couple of
important shots. Is there some setting that I can change to remedy
this situation?


No, unfortunately, that's just the way the camera works. The
display/ viewfinder brightness when you half press the shutter is
adjusted for the chosen aperture/shutter/etc, and, with the flash
in use, will be too dark until the flash goes off--which is not
helpful for composition, as you've noticed.

-Dave

Thanks for the confirmation.
That's what I figured was going on.
In low light, w/o flash, the settings may be f=2.8 @ 1/4 sec.
When I half press the shutter, the image stays bright because the
settings do not change.
However, with flash, when I half press the shutter, the camera
displays the subject at f=2.8 @ 1/60 sec., which of course is too
dark to see what's going on.
It is a real PIA. I wonder if Panny fixed that in later models.
I know that David Taylor & Spouse have two later models.
Maybe he can shed some light on this.....HEY! DAVE.....
Bob Williams


My FZ30 behaves sort of like your FZ15. In both shutter and aperture
priority modes, half-pressing the shutter in a low-light situation
causes the display to go dark. This happens whether the flash is
enabled or not. Adjusting the shutter or aperture with the shutter
release half pressed causes the display brightness to change
accordingly, but is probably also messing up the exposure.

In program-shift mode, half-pressing the shutter has no effect on
the brightness of the display whether the flash is enabled or not.
Shifting the exposure with the shutter half pressed causes the
display brightness to change and is probably messing up the exposure.

This camera has a control for display brightness in the menus.
Perhaps that could be used to compensate for a too-dim display
in low-light situations. I'm pretty sure that's one of the things
they added in the FZ30, so it may not help you with your camera.

Paul Allen


Guess I'll have to RTFM again and see if there is something I'm missing.
Thanks to all for your feedback.
Bob Williams