Setup walkthrough·Document 5 of 21·From the GFX 100S II field guide
C3 Street & Documentary
— Menu Setup Guide
The GFX 100S II is not a street camera. At 102 MP with a large body and a maximum burst rate limited by buffer depth, it cannot approximate what a Leica Q, a Ricoh GR, or a small mirrorless does in genuinely decisive-moment work. What it offers is something different: every frame that lands is a medium format negative — tonal depth, spatial compression, and resolution that no APS-C or full-frame street camera produces. The discipline this imposes is not a compromise to manage; it is a practice to embrace. Fewer frames, more considered. Anticipate the peak rather than spray and hope. C3 configures the camera to be as fast and as invisible as this system can be. The rest is your eye.
How to use this document
Use this while configuring the active bank directly on camera in menu order.
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| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IMAGE SIZE | Full · 102 MP | Skip |
| 2 | IMAGE QUALITY | RAW | Confirm |
| Universal base. The argument for RAW in documentary and street work is as strong as anywhere in the system. Mixed artificial and natural light — the street's defining condition — produces colour casts that only RAW can fully correct in post. A JPEG committed to the camera's colour interpretation at the moment of capture loses the ability to recover the tonal atmosphere the scene actually had. | |||
| 3 | RAW RECORDING Two sub-settings: compression + bit depth | LOSSLESS · 16-bit | Confirm |
| Universal base. Street and documentary work often happens in the most demanding light conditions — mixed artificial, deep shadows, direct backlight. The 16-bit depth preserves the full shadow and highlight detail the sensor captured, giving maximum latitude in post when recovering from a necessarily reactive exposure. The slightly larger file size is the correct trade for a system shooting at ISO 3200–6400 in low light. | |||
| 4 | SELECT JPEG/HEIF | — | Skip |
| 5 | FILM SIMULATION | ACROS or CLASSIC NEG. | Set |
| Two valid choices — each imposes a different discipline. ACROS: forces you to read the scene in tones rather than colour. In complex, chromatically noisy street environments — neon signs, mixed shopfront light, clashing saturated surfaces — stripping colour from the preview reveals the underlying tonal structure that will determine whether the composition works as a print. If you think in black and white, shoot ACROS. CLASSIC NEG.: a subdued, slightly faded colour palette that reads more like film than digital. Useful when the colour of the scene is part of the documentary record — markets, cultural settings, interior environments where colour is information. Both are preview disciplines only; the RAW file captures full colour regardless. Choose and commit — do not switch within a session. | |||
| 6 | MONOCHROMATIC COLOR | — | Skip |
| 7 | GRAIN EFFECT Two sub-settings: Roughness + Size | WEAK · SMALL | Set |
| Preview only — RAW unaffected. With ACROS active, a Weak/Small grain overlay is the preview's honest acknowledgment of what ISO 3200–6400 material in documentary tradition looks like. Grain in this context is not a flaw — it is a visual quality with a photographic heritage. The grain preview helps you evaluate the tonal quality of the frame as it will read after conversion, rather than judging it against a falsely clean preview that will not represent the final output. If using Classic Neg. instead of ACROS, set Grain to OFF — the colour preview does not benefit from grain overlay in the same way. | |||
| 8 | COLOR CHROME EFFECT | OFF | Confirm |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | COLOR CHROME FX BLUE | OFF | Confirm |
| 10 | SMOOTH SKIN EFFECT | OFF | Confirm |
| 11 | DYNAMIC RANGE | 100% | Confirm |
| Universal. DR200% and DR400% force a minimum ISO and raise your noise floor. Street work already demands high ISO in mixed light — any forced ISO increase is directly harmful. 100% always. | |||
| 12 | D RANGE PRIORITY | OFF | Confirm |
| 13 | WHITE BALANCE Select AUTO → then choose the priority sub-option | AUTO · AMBIENCE PRIORITY | Set |
| Why Ambience Priority for street and documentary: The street's light is defined by its warmth — tungsten shopfronts, sodium streetlamps, candlelight in interiors, warm evening sun. Ambience Priority AWB preserves this warmth in the preview rather than clinically correcting it toward a neutral white. The resulting preview reads more honestly as the scene actually felt to be in. For a RAW workflow this is a preview preference only — WB is metadata — but a warm starting point in the field helps you evaluate whether the tonal atmosphere is what you intended. Exception: if you are in an environment with strongly misleading colour (green fluorescent overhead, mercury vapour) that makes the preview unusable, switch to Auto White Priority temporarily. | |||
| 14 | TONE CURVE Highlights and Shadows sliders | H: 0 · S: 0 | Confirm |
| Zero on both. Street and documentary environments have some of the most extreme dynamic range of any shooting context — a lit shopfront against a dark street, a window in shadow detail, a face in half-light. Any in-camera tone curve modification lies to you about what the RAW actually captured. You need an honest histogram reading to make rapid exposure decisions in changing light. Zero means the preview represents reality. | |||
| 15 | COLOR | 0 | Confirm |
| 16 | SHARPNESS | 0 | Confirm |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | HIGH ISO NR | −4 | Set |
| The most important IQ setting for street work. C3 operates at ISO 800–6400 routinely. At −4, the preview shows the actual noise state of the file at whatever ISO the camera has selected. If the preview looks grainy at ISO 3200, the file is genuinely noisy — and you should widen the aperture, move to better light, or accept the aesthetic rather than pretend the file is cleaner than it is. In-camera NR at default levels creates a false confidence: the preview looks acceptable, but the RAW file at 1:1 in Lightroom reveals noise the preview smoothed over. See reality. LRC AI Denoise handles the actual noise reduction in post, far more intelligently than any in-camera algorithm. | |||
| 18 | CLARITY | 0 | Confirm |
| 19 | LONG EXPOSURE NR | OFF | Confirm |
| 20 | LENS MODULATION OPTIMIZER | ON | Confirm |
| 21 | COLOR SPACE | ADOBE RGB | Confirm |
| 22 | PIXEL MAPPING | — | Skip |
| 23 | EDIT / SAVE CUSTOM SETTING | ← Use last | Later |
| 24 | AUTO UPDATE CUSTOM SETTING | DISABLE | Critical |
| Universal critical. In street work you make rapid in-the-moment adjustments — ISO nudges, exposure compensation, switching flicker reduction on and off as you move between environments. With ENABLE, every one of these adjustments is silently written back to the C3 bank. DISABLE protects the bank from what are intended to be temporary field adjustments. | |||
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | MOUNT ADAPTOR SETTING | — | Skip |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FOCUS AREA Position set in live view with focus lever | — | Skip |
| 2 | AF MODE | ZONE | Set |
| Zone AF: the correct compromise for street work. Single Point AF is too slow — the subject enters the frame and you need focus immediately, not after repositioning a precise point. Wide/Tracking chases whatever element happens to be closest or most prominent in the full frame, which in a busy street environment means it tracks the wrong person constantly. Zone AF covers a defined region within which the camera selects the closest subject — giving you speed without the erratic subject-jumping of Wide/Tracking. Configure the Zone to a centre-weighted rectangle covering roughly the middle third of the frame using ZONE CUSTOM SETTING (item 3 below). This is your primary focus instrument for street. Reserve Single Point for when you have time to compose deliberately, and Wide/Tracking for the rare instance where a subject is moving through the full frame and you need the system to pursue them. | |||
| 3 | ZONE CUSTOM SETTING Configure the zone size and position | Centre · medium rectangle | Set |
| Enter ZONE CUSTOM SETTING and configure the zone to a medium-sized rectangle centred on the frame — approximately the central third horizontally and vertically. This zone is large enough to acquire a subject who is approaching or moving laterally without needing the point repositioned, and small enough to avoid capturing background elements when the subject is offset from centre. For street work at 45-100mm with subjects at 3-8m, this zone covers the compositional working area where the subject will be in most street frames. If the GF 100-200mm F5.6 is mounted for restricted-distance documentary, tighten the zone and raise the shutter floor rather than trusting the default C3 geometry. Save this zone configuration — it persists in the bank. | |||
| 4 | AF MODE ALL SETTING | — | Skip |
| 5 | AF-C CUSTOM SETTINGS | SET 1 | Set |
| Why Set 1, not Set 4 as in C4: SET 1 configures Tracking Sensitivity to 2 — deliberately conservative. When you are tracking a specific subject on a busy street, other people will constantly cross between you and your subject. A high tracking sensitivity (SET 4) would immediately abandon your subject and chase the new closest element — losing the person you were following. SET 1 holds focus on the current tracked subject even when something passes between you and them. It sacrifices immediate acquisition speed for subject loyalty. This is the defining difference between street tracking and sport tracking. In C4, aggressive tracking acquisition is correct because every moving element is the subject. In C3, the subject is one specific person in a crowd — you need the camera to hold onto them through interruptions. | |||
| 6 | STORE AF MODE BY ORIENTATION | ON | Confirm |
| In street work you rotate between horizontal and vertical orientation rapidly — a person walking toward you in a vertical frame, the same scene in horizontal for a wider environmental read. STORE AF MODE BY ORIENTATION keeps the Zone position appropriate for each orientation without requiring you to reposition the zone each time you rotate. | |||
| 7 | AF POINT DISPLAY | — | Skip |
| 8 | WRAP FOCUS POINT | — | Skip |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | NUMBER OF FOCUS POINTS | 117 POINTS (9×13) | Set |
| 117 points is not a Zone AF speed setting on this camera; Fujifilm applies NUMBER OF FOCUS POINTS when SINGLE POINT or manual focus-point selection is active. It remains the sensible C3 choice because if you step out of Zone AF into Single Point, the 9×13 grid lets you move the point across the frame faster than 425 points while still giving enough precision for street work. | |||
| 10 | PRE-AF | OFF | Confirm |
| Pre-AF continuously adjusts focus even without pressing the shutter button — draining battery measurably. Unlike C4 sport work where every second of session time matters and battery is accepted as a cost, street sessions can last hours. The battery discipline of Pre-AF OFF is correct for C3. The working method in street photography is pre-focusing or rapid half-press acquisition — not continuous motor searching. | |||
| 11 | AF ILLUMINATOR | ALWAYS OFF | Critical |
| The most important single setting for documentary ethics. The AF illuminator projects a visible beam onto the subject to assist focus in low light. In documentary and street contexts this is not merely inconvenient — it is an ethical violation of the candid relationship with the subject. It announces your intent, destroys discretion, and intrudes on the subject's experience of the moment you were trying to record. There is no situation in C3 where this should be active. Confirm it is OFF. Build it into your pre-session checklist. If you need focus assistance in very low light, use MF with focus peak highlight. | |||
| 12 | FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING | FACE DET. ON · EYE AUTO | Set |
| Face Detection ON within the Zone. When combined with Zone AF, Face Detection prioritises any face detected within the zone rather than simply locking the nearest object. For street portraiture — a face in a crowd, a person mid-conversation, a candid expression — the camera acquires and locks the face within the zone. When no face is present (a scene of hands, shoes, shadows, objects) the Zone AF falls back to nearest-subject behaviour automatically. This is the correct street AF stack: Zone defines the working area, Face Detection prioritises the human element within it when present. Eye Auto selects the near eye without requiring a manual preference. | |||
| 13 | SUBJECT DETECTION SETTING Available categories: Animal · Bird · Automobile · Motorcycle & Bike · Airplane · Train | OFF | Set |
| No Human category exists on this camera. The available Subject Detection categories are not relevant to street or documentary subjects. Leave OFF — Face Detection above carries all the intelligent detection work. Enabling an irrelevant category (Automobile) in a busy urban environment risks the system chasing vehicles rather than maintaining focus on your human subject. | |||
| 14 | AF+MF | OFF | Set |
| AF+MF allows focus ring adjustment after AF-C lock. In street work, any accidental contact with the focus ring while repositioning or shooting from the hip could shift the focus plane mid-sequence. OFF eliminates this risk. If you are shooting pre-focused at a fixed distance (the hyperfocal technique described in the callout below), you are in MF mode directly — AF+MF is irrelevant in that workflow. | |||
| 15 | MF ASSIST | FOCUS PEAK HIGHLIGHT | Set |
| Set Focus Peak Highlight as MF Assist. For low-light street work where AF Illuminator is off and the camera struggles to acquire contrast in very dark conditions, switching to MF with Focus Peak gives you a visual focus reference without the AF system's requirement for contrast. Particularly useful for pre-focused hyperfocal street technique: manually set focus to the hyperfocal distance at your chosen aperture and confirm with peak highlight, then shoot without engaging AF at all. | |||
| 16 | INTERLOCK MF ASSIST & FOCUS RING | — | Skip |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | FOCUS CHECK | OFF | Set |
| Focus Check magnifies the frame after each shot. In street and documentary work it blocks your view of the scene for 1–2 seconds immediately after firing — which is exactly when the next frame is developing in front of you. The moment after the shot is taken is often when the scene continues to resolve into something better. Your eye must stay on the scene, not on a magnified review. OFF for C3, always. Review frames during genuine dead time between moments, not between frames. | |||
| 18 | INTERLOCK SPOT AE & FOCUS AREA | OFF | Confirm |
| 19 | INSTANT AF SETTING | — | Skip |
| 20 | DEPTH-OF-FIELD SCALE | — | Skip |
| 21 | RELEASE / FOCUS PRIORITY (AF-C) Confirm the AF-C row, not AF-S | RELEASE | Critical |
| Release priority for street, always. A missed frame in documentary photography is never recovered. The subject passes, the expression dissolves, the light changes. FOCUS priority withholds the shutter until AF-C confirms lock — in a rapidly moving, low-contrast street scene, that confirmation may take longer than the moment lasts. RELEASE fires regardless. At f/5.6–f/8 with depth of field measured in metres at typical street distances, a slightly uncertain AF lock still produces a usable, sharp frame the overwhelming majority of the time. The one frame withheld by FOCUS priority costs more than the small percentage of frames that RELEASE fires on a marginal lock. | |||
| 22 | AF RANGE LIMITER | OFF | Confirm |
| Full focus range available. Street subjects are at unpredictable distances — someone approaches quickly from distance, or you are shooting a detail at 1m then immediately turn to a scene at 8m. A range limiter that prevents close-focus acquisition would cause missed frames when a subject steps suddenly into close range. OFF keeps the full range available at all times. | |||
| 23 | TOUCH SCREEN MODE | AF | Set |
| Touch AF for discreet targeting. In crowded street environments, pointing at a subject on the tilting LCD and tapping to target them can be more accurate and far less conspicuous than manipulating the focus lever while the camera is held at waist or chest level. This is the low-camera technique: camera held below eye level, LCD tilted toward you, touch to target the face or subject in the frame. The resulting images have a different — often more intimate — perspective than eye-level frames. | |||
The pre-focus hyperfocal technique for C3. At f/8 on the GF 45-100mm at 45mm, the hyperfocal distance is not one fixed number: depending on how strict you are about acceptable sharpness, expect roughly 8-13m, with the near limit roughly 4-6m. Treat 12m as the conservative large-print version, not a universal fact. Set MF mode, rotate the focus ring to your chosen hyperfocal distance, confirm with Focus Peak Highlight, and shoot entirely without AF. No half-press delay, no acquisition lag, no hunting. This is the fastest possible street technique on this system when the scene lives in that distance band. It does not translate cleanly to the GF 100-200mm; use that lens as an AF-C restricted-distance tool, not a hyperfocal street lens. Switch to AF-C Zone when you want subject precision at closer distances.
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SELF-TIMER | OFF | Confirm |
| Self-timer in a saved bank state is a silent disaster waiting. If the timer is saved to C3, every time you press the shutter in a decisive street moment, the camera waits 2 or 10 seconds and fires into an empty frame. Confirm it is OFF and saved to the bank. Verify this before every session. | |||
| 2 | SAVE SELF-TIMER SETTING | — | Skip |
| 3 | SELF-TIMER LAMP | — | Skip |
| 4 | INTERVAL TIMER SHOOTING | OFF | Confirm |
| 5 | INTERVAL TIMER SHOOTING EXPOSURE SMOOTHING | — | Skip |
| 6 | INTERVAL PRIORITY MODE | — | Skip |
| 7 | AE BKT SETTING | — | Skip |
| 8 | FILM SIMULATION BKT | — | Skip |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | FOCUS BKT SETTING | — | Skip |
| 10 | PHOTOMETRY | MULTI | Set |
| Multi metering for street's unpredictable light. In A mode (Aperture Priority) with Auto ISO, the metering system determines exposure continuously as you move through changing light conditions. Multi metering reads the entire scene and produces a balanced exposure across the full frame — the most appropriate and reliable choice for reactive street shooting where you cannot evaluate the histogram before every frame. It handles backlit scenes, mixed light sources, and high-contrast street environments better than Centre-Weighted for general use. When shooting directly into a strong backlight (a sun-lit doorway, a street lamp at night): apply −1 to −2 EV exposure compensation via the front dial to prevent the bright background from silhouetting the subject. | |||
| 11 | SHUTTER TYPE | ELECTRONIC | Critical |
| The single most important setting for documentary ethics — and C3's defining characteristic. The Electronic Shutter is completely silent. In documentary and street contexts, silence is the difference between recording what is happening and intruding on it. The mechanical shutter at close range announces your presence with unmistakeable authority. The Electronic Shutter allows you to photograph at conversational distance without the mechanical intrusion of a shutter release. Critical caveat: at high shutter speeds (1/1000s+) with rapidly moving subjects in artificial light, check for rolling shutter banding on the first session at any new location. If banding appears, switch to Mechanical via Fn3. In daylight with static or slowly moving subjects, Electronic Shutter is entirely safe at all speeds. | |||
| 12 | FLICKER REDUCTION | OFF (with Electronic Shutter) | Confirm |
| Electronic Shutter and Flicker Reduction do not stack on the GFX 100S II. Fujifilm's manual states that when Electronic Shutter is in use, the camera selects Flicker Reduction OFF. That means the honest C3 saved state is OFF, not because flicker risk disappears, but because this menu item is unavailable in silent mode. If you enter a LED- or fluorescent-lit space and see banding, switch SHUTTER TYPE to Mechanical or E-Front first and then use Flicker Reduction as needed. In other words: silent C3 prioritises discretion; flicker-controlled C3 requires a shutter-type change. | |||
| 13 | FLICKERLESS S.S. SETTING | — | Skip |
| 14 | ISO Three sub-settings: ISO value · Auto ISO max · min shutter speed | AUTO · Max 6400 · Min 1/400s | Set |
| Set ISO to AUTO. Then configure all three sub-settings: — MAX SENSITIVITY: ISO 6400. The GFX 100S II at ISO 6400, processed with LRC AI Denoise, produces usable documentary files at reasonable print sizes. More importantly: at medium format scale, noise at ISO 6400 reads as film-like grain rather than digital artefact. In a documentary context, this is not a flaw. Push to 6400 rather than underexpose and get motion blur — motion blur at 1/60s is not recoverable in post, but grain at ISO 6400 is manageable. Save ISO 6400 as the default; push to 12800 on a per-session basis in genuinely very dark environments. — MIN SHUTTER SPEED: 1/400s. This is the C3 doctrine's most critical Auto ISO sub-setting. The GF 45-100mm at 100mm with a moving street subject at 102 MP requires 1/400s minimum to prevent subject motion blur at the pixel level. At the 45mm end, 1/250s would suffice — but the bank must be calibrated for the worst case (100mm end with moving subjects). 1/400s is the practical floor. The Auto ISO ceiling of 6400 provides enough headroom that 1/400s is achievable in most urban environments including dim interiors. If the GF 100-200mm F5.6 is used for restricted-distance documentary or stage-side work, treat 1/800s at the 200mm end as the practical moving-subject floor and watch the ISO ceiling accordingly. | |||
| 15 | IS MODE | CONTINUOUS | Set |
| Continuous IBIS for handheld street shooting. The street is entirely handheld — no tripod, no monopod, no support. At 100mm with 1/400s minimum, IBIS in Continuous mode provides meaningful additional stability for the camera movement component of any blur. Equally important: with the tilting LCD for waist-level shooting, the camera is often held at arm's length — positions where IBIS is working harder than at eye level. CONTINUOUS is the correct mode for sustained handheld street work. If the GF 100-200mm F5.6 is mounted for distant documentary coverage, leave both camera IS and the lens OIS switch ON for handheld work. | |||
| 16 | 35mm FORMAT MODE | OFF | Confirm |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | WIRELESS COMMUNICATION | — | Skip |
Drive Mode is on the DRIVE button, not in the menu. Press DRIVE and choose deliberately. If you keep C3 in its silent Electronic Shutter state, Fujifilm's published burst rate is approximately 3 fps in burst mode (about 4.1 fps only if 35mm Format Mode is ON). Fujifilm rates CONTINUOUS (Low) at 2 fps. For most street work, Single Frame is the cleaner default; switch to burst only when you want a short sequence to cover a peak moment. Whatever you choose here is saved when you run EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING.
Shooting mode A is set on the mode dial. Rotate to A. Set aperture to f/5.6 or f/8 — deep enough depth of field to accommodate minor focus errors at Zone AF distances, wide enough for adequate light at high ISO in dim environments. Save this aperture in the bank state. In practice, f/5.6 is your default; close to f/8 in brighter conditions where the additional DoF is useful.
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FLASH FUNCTION SETTING | OFF / DISABLED | Confirm |
| No flash for C3. Flash in documentary and street work is the most disruptive possible intrusion — it announces every frame, destroys the candid relationship with the subject, and eliminates the atmospheric quality of available light that defines the genre. Electronic Shutter is already selected for silence; flash would undermine the entire purpose. Confirm OFF and save to the bank. Note also: the Electronic Shutter does not support flash synchronisation — if flash were accidentally enabled in C3, it would not fire anyway due to the shutter type conflict. Confirm OFF regardless. | |||
| 2 | RED EYE REMOVAL | — | Skip |
| 3 | TTL-LOCK MODE | — | Skip |
| 4 | LED LIGHT SETTING | — | Skip |
| 5 | COMMANDER SETTING | — | Skip |
| 6 | CH SETTING | — | Skip |
These settings are global — they apply across all banks. They cannot be saved per-bank. The two most consequential for C3 are: Electronic Shutter sound (must be completely silenced — any simulated click undermines the discretion the Electronic Shutter provides) and Performance (Normal is correct for C3, not High Performance which drains battery on long street sessions).
| Sub-menu | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | ELECTRONIC SHUTTER VOLUME | OFF | Critical |
| Sound | ELECTRONIC SHUTTER SOUND | OFF | Critical |
| Both Electronic Shutter sound settings must be completely OFF. The entire purpose of the Electronic Shutter in C3 is silence — a simulated click sound defeats this entirely. There are two separate settings: the volume level and the sound on/off toggle. Both must be OFF. Confirm both are saved in this state. If you photograph in a context where the camera makes any sound at all, the Electronic Shutter's discretion advantage is lost. This is not a minor preference — it is the ethical foundation of candid documentary practice. | |||
| Sound | AF BEEP VOLUME | OFF or minimum | Set |
| The AF confirmation beep announces focus lock with an audible signal. In street and documentary work, any camera sound draws attention. Set to OFF or to the minimum level. If you rely on the beep for confirmation in low-contrast conditions, accept that you are trading discretion for focus feedback — but for most street work the EVF AF confirmation indicator is sufficient without sound. | |||
| Sub-menu | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | PERFORMANCE | NORMAL | Set |
| Normal Performance for street — not High. High Performance mode (mandatory in C4) maximises AF speed and EVF refresh rate at the cost of battery life. Fujifilm's official CIPA figure for the NP-W235 in Normal Mode is approximately 530 frames; heavy EVF use, AF-C, image review, and cold weather will pull real street-session numbers down from that baseline. The AF-C Zone tracking in C3 performs adequately in Normal mode for street subject speeds — there is no scenario in street work that requires the maximum AF response speed that High Performance provides. Carry a fully charged spare NP-W235 regardless, but Normal mode extends the primary battery's effective session length. | |||
| Sub-menu | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | LIVE VIEW HIGHLIGHT ALERTInside DISP. CUSTOM SETTING | ON (blinkies) | Confirm |
| Screen | HISTOGRAM DISPLAY (RGB)Inside DISP. CUSTOM SETTING | RGB HISTOGRAM | Confirm |
| Universal confirms. The RGB histogram is particularly important in urban mixed-light environments — sodium streetlights and coloured neon can clip individual colour channels while luminance appears safe. The histogram in C3 is your rapid calibration tool when you move between light zones during a session. In A mode with Auto ISO, you cannot control every exposure variable — but you can verify via the histogram whether the exposure is landing where you intend and apply exposure compensation accordingly. | |||
No C3-specific network settings. For street sessions, consider Airplane Mode to eliminate background wireless activity and preserve battery — critical on a 6-hour street session where every percentage of battery matters. Bluetooth to the smartphone app for remote viewfinder use can be useful for waist-level shooting when you want a larger reference than the tilting LCD. But for the session itself: wireless activity costs battery and provides nothing. Enable on demand, disable as default.
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CREATE/EDIT CONNECTION SETTING | — | Skip |
| 2 | SELECT CONNECTION SETTING | — | Skip |
| 3 | AIRPLANE MODE | Consider ON | Check |
| 4 | BLUETOOTH / SMARTPHONE SETTING | — | Skip |
| 5 | instax PRINTER CONNECTION SETTING | — | Skip |
| 6 | Frame.io Camera to Cloud | — | Skip |
| 7 | FTP OPTIONAL SETTING | — | Skip |
| 8 | USB POWER SUPPLY / COMM SETTING | — | Skip |
| # | Setting | C3 Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | INFORMATION | — | Skip |
| 10 | RESET NETWORK/USB SETTING | Do not reset | Skip |
Writing C3 to the camera
Confirm you are in A mode on the dial with f/5.6 set. Confirm SHUTTER TYPE = ELECTRONIC. Choose your preferred DRIVE mode before saving — Single Frame for the most disciplined default, or the available electronic burst mode if you want approximately 3 fps silent coverage. Then navigate to H IMAGE QUALITY SETTING → Page 3/4 → EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING. Select C3. Select SAVE CURRENT SETTINGS.
Then: EDIT CUSTOM NAME → C3 → STREET / DOC.
To verify: EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING → C3 → EDIT/CHECK. Confirm: AUTO UPDATE CUSTOM SETTING = DISABLE · SHUTTER TYPE = ELECTRONIC · SELF-TIMER = OFF · AF MODE = ZONE · AF-C CUSTOM = SET 1 · RELEASE/FOCUS PRIORITY (AF-C) = RELEASE · IS MODE = CONTINUOUS · FLICKER REDUCTION = OFF (Electronic Shutter state).
The pre-session checklist for C3 — five physical confirmations. Before any street or documentary session: (1) SELF-TIMER is OFF — press the shutter once as a test before approaching subjects; (2) AF ILLUMINATOR is OFF — check the menu; (3) Electronic Shutter SOUND is OFF — fire a frame and listen; (4) if you are staying in Electronic Shutter, remember Flicker Reduction is unavailable, so any indoor LED/fluorescent banding means you must change shutter type before trying to correct it; (5) Battery is charged and a spare NP-W235 is in the bag. These five checks take 60 seconds and prevent the most common C3 field failures.
The C3 field discipline: rotate the dial to C3 before lifting the camera. In street work the difference between C3 and any other bank is the Electronic Shutter — once you are in C3 the camera is silent and you are invisible in a way that no other mode allows. That invisibility is earned by the discipline of using the bank correctly. If you find yourself adjusting settings mid-session, adjust and then do not save. The bank should be the same every time you return to it.
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