Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 User's Manual Paperback – December 9, 2013

To say that I am an amateur photographer is an under statement. A point and shoot guy for over 40 years, half of which I never knew which side of the camera to look through.As I am being dragged into the 21st century I decided it was time to invest in a decent camera. Plus I was at the point where if I researched one more camera my brains were going to pour out of my ears.I've had my eye on the FZ200 since it's pre-release - impressed by the 5 star review from CNET, I was still hesitant to make the plunge. The clincher was when I came across Mr. Houghton's web site and read every single blog entry regarding the FZ200 - I was knocked out. What is more, Mr. Hougtons youtube channel is sheer brilliance - he goes over every aspect of the FZ200 and it's educational value is superb. Despite a huge following Graham will take the time to answer your questions directly within the youtube comment threads.The book is simply marvelous, it's the ultimmate "Go To" source for anything to do with the FZ200 - beautiful images married with a compelling conversational tone Mr. Haighton is as an accomplished a writer as he is a photographer.Quick Overview:* Written in a compelling conversational tone - easy to understand and follow.* From soup to nuts in depth explanations of all the Panny FZ200 can do* Covers every aspect of functionality from Auto Mode to Fully Manual Operation* Gorgeous images for both presentation and special effects* Top Quality cover stock 100 LB glossy - made to last* Top Quality binding* Informative, easy to follow step by step instructions with images.If you're considering this camera or already own it. I urge you to grab this outstanding resource. It's in every way a labor of love and a huge benefit for FZ200 owners. It's virtually an in depth course in photography put in layman's terms. Both the FZ200 and this companion book continues to blow me away.My FZ200 paired with this book - are working in tandem to make me a better photographer if this book can do this for me, I assure you it will do the same for you.Highest Recommendation

I ordered this book after watching the author's instructional You Tube videos. It is so well done and was immensely helpful (as were the videos) in getting to know my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 camera. For the first time, I actually learned about how to use the features on the camera before the camera even arrived in the mail! Sadly I loaned the book to a friend who bought the same camera and was about to go on a trip to Europe. She swears that she returned the book to me, but I have not been able to locate it every since. It was kind of expensive, so I am not going to try to replace it, but I highly recommend it. I also prefer the camera over my more expensive Canon and Nikon DSLRs!

Book is good. I like the videos by the same author on YouTube is the best..Book sometimes skip describing certain areas but it is good to have it around for the camera owners because Panasonic's user manual is very hard to understand and confusing. Graham has put in lots of effort to write the book.

This really fulfills its promise in the preface to deliver much relevant information not provided within the 220 page user manual supplied on DVD by Panasonic. It is chock-full of useful information about the capabilities of modern digital SLRs. As an experienced user of good quality 35mm SLRs, this told me a heck of a lot I did not know.And sometimes, when the camera offers a huge number of possible choices, the author shares his own personal preferences, which I think is a lot more useful than a long discourse.To provide an index I downloaded the e-version. I like the printed version of Graham's book because it is portable, and informs me in waiting rooms for doctors, dentists and on the train, where I digest further nuggets of useful info.

Graham is the consummate TEACHER, more than just technically gifted. This book is the perfect, friendly documentation and more, since it leaves you wanting to use the Panasonic Lumix FZ200/FZ300 camera, not avoid it because it seems like an enigma. It would be great if this could be upgraded for the new LUMIX FZ300 model (the one we just acquired) but the FZ200 book helps for most needs. Most of the FZ200 book still applies but there are significant differences, including 4K capabilities.This looks more like a labor of love than a for profit venture, and my wife and I truly appreciate that investment on Graham Houghton's part. THANK YOU, GRAHAM!

This book has been a major factor in my enjoyment of my new Lumix FZ200. I first encountered Mr. Houghton's u-tube videos and they helped inspire me to purchase the camera. While the videos are very useful, I prefer a written text. This book has an index which can be downloaded from www.grahamhoughton.com . I find the book strikes the right balance between simplicity and complexity, allowing one to learn the basics quickly and later dig downand learn how to fully utilize the camera. I think Mr Houghton has gone to a lot of effort to educate new FZ200 users, and I welcome the opportunity to purchase his book and signal my support of his efforts.

Not as simplified as I would've have liked. Hopefully it will be worth it once I have some time to sit down with camera and experiment.

I love my Lumix FZ200! I am not a sophisticated photographer, but bought this camera in order to do justice to two big, scenery-filled trips we were going to take. I spent some time figuring out what settings I'd want, and then was able to get amazing photos using the camera largely as a point-and-shoot. The zoom was plenty for good shots of both cheetahs and icebergs – as much as I could use handheld without too much wobbling. I have no doubt that a better photographer could use this camera in a much fuller way. It has given me the confidence to become that better photographer! But – I repeat – my photos from our trips are amazing.

Having bought the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 Camera, there is a very basic small introductory leaflet highlighting features of the camera and how to point and shoot. There is then a Disc with more information that you can download, but it is not easy to refer to this, when say you are in the field, and customers do not want to print off lots of pages in a loose leaf format of poor quality.So this book fills a very valuable gap, providing a comprehensive manual based on an experienced photographers detailed in depth knowledge, on how to get the best out of capable camera, which can be rather complex and bewildering in its menu and features. Apart from a detailed run through on all the buttons and menus on and in the camera, there are a range of detailed scenarios run through, showing you how to get the best out of your new camera in different situations, taking you through step by step.I am a relative novice, in the past mainly changing the white balance to help with getting a decent detailed picture, but not doing a lot else apart from framing the pictures and zooming in or out as I wish. There are also a whole series of tutorials on U tube demonstrating different things that you can do to optimise the results that you will be able to achieve. Overall this is a really helpful practical manual, I will only use part of it, but individual more expert users wanting more complex and interesting results will find a great deal to read up about and learn from to benefit their future use. One shortcoming that others have commented on is no Index to the book, the author has subsequently produced a version which you can print off and put in the rear of the book, maybe something to add into a future revised edition or add to each volume.It is a surprise and great pity that having made a significant outlay on this splendid camera, the manufacturers themselves do not provide a decent useful hard copy paper manual for users. Graham Houghton has helped plug this frustrating gap with this very practical user manual which will help get the best out of this very capable camera for many years to done. It is not particularly cheap, but will prove well worth its value in the longer term, helping to trouble shoot and enable more competent and complex results to be achieved.So far having had this camera 3 months now I am delighted to report that I have been very pleased with the results I have achieved, It has been great with its powerful zoom capturing wildlife, and I have been pleased with concert pictures with no flash in low light situations.

This is the way camera manuals should be written. Graham Houghton gives you a hands on view of the FZ200 pointing out all of itsstrengths and weaknesses( and gives ways around them). I have a FZ150 and most of the manual can be used with this camera as well.To get an idea of how helpful and the manner in which it is written look up Graham's videos on YouTube, he reviews many differentcameras and shows how to get the best from them in actual field tests. There is a link to his website where you can look at this manualin PDF format - you'll want a hard copy of it once you see how well it covers all aspects of the FZ200!

Informative and easy to understand. Contains a lot of practical tips. Mr. Houghton does a wonderful job in explaining the ins and outs of this camera. A must have for every FZ200-owner!

I fairly recently purchased this excellent users manual, produced by Graham Houghton.Having seen several of Graham's youtube videos I deemed it advisable to get a hard copy that I could peruse at my leisure and carry around with me. I have only read about 50 pages so far, saving the rest for the winter months when outdoor activities are limited.I have gleaned far more working knowledge from the book in that short read than that obtained from seven years experience of using the camera with very little help obtained from the official Panasonic manual.I only wish I had come across this masterpiece of Graham's earlier.Furthermore, because the quality of my photographs has been very hit and miss, I had been very tempted to invest in another camera.I now realise that this camera, when used to its full potential, will satisfy most of my needs.I photograph predominantly nature and have had some excellent results, but also quite a lot of dross due to inadequate set up. I am confident, after "picking Graham's brains", that my success rate will dramatically improve.I also use my camera to video steam trains. Generally the results have been pretty good.

This is an excellent book!I have watched all of Mr Houghton's videos as well.Both the book and the videos make using the FZ 200 easy.I am new to the camera world and I am able to say, from experience, that this book is excellent for beginners.