Initially turn on the audible focus lock confirmation option. This will help you learn the AF system.
Set the AF mode to area. This is most useful for focus and recompose operation. With older firmware, reducing the AF region box to a very small size helped in some situations. With the newest firmware I would not start out with the smallest focus region box. When time permits, confirm focus using the electronic zoom. This will eliminate mis-focus when the system locks on a higher contrast area behind the intended subject. In manual focus mode using the AFL/AEL button works well. At 3X zoom, turning the lens barrel is practical. While there is no focus peaking, there is a visual effect at high contrast edges when focus is right.
The OVF is my first choice. But the camera has EVF mode for a reason... don't hesitate to use the EVF. There is more AF focus control in EVF mode. When the aperture is set for thin DOF, EVF increases the odds of the AF finding proper focus. We are all aware of parallax error, but it's important to keep this in mind when using AF in OVF mode. As the subject distances decreases, the need to switch to EVF increases.
Avoid lens filters when possible. The sensor is extremely close to the rear lens element and even the highest quality filters can cause flare artifacts. Inexpensive filters will always cause trouble sooner or later.
You will get essentially no shutter lag from a shutter half press. The lag without a using a half press depends on many variables. Typically the lag is not a problem even without a half press. The way to avoid lag in use MF mode and set the aperture with a half press.
The batteries do not have sophisticated electronics and they will expire more suddenly than the meter indicates. Always carry a spare, charged battery. It is not excessive to have two charged spares for a day long outing. The batteries charge slowly, so plan ahead.
If any custom finder display options seem to disappear, press the display button and they should return.
When you shoot in raw, make sure DR=100. Other values intentionally decrease the exposure and the image will be under exposed. In jpeg mode the exposure is automatically increased digitally if DR is > 100 when the jpeg is rendered in-camera.
Initially avoid auto-ISO. Auto-ISO can behave unexpectedly compared to other cameras. I would also avoid the finder histogram display in the beginning. The multi-meter mode is very good. In aperture and shutter priority the exposure compensation dial is a big help for backlit scenes. In manual exposure mode the exposure compensation dial does nothing. While the lens has 1/3 stop adjustments, the shutter speed only changes in one stop increments manual exposure mode. The multifunction buttons will change the shutter in 1/3 increments (but you have to be careful not to accidentally hit the top button that selects macro mode).
The Trans-X sensor requires different sharpening parameters in post-processing compared to sensors with AA filters. For raw, start with no sharpening at first and avoid the typical default sharpening parameters found in post processing software. I apply a User Preset in Lightroom for default sharpening parameters. I automatically apply color correction too. I find the perceived image sharpness benefits from a low de-fringe value (10-20). Small changes in color temperature parameters can make a big difference in skin tones. I know nothing about jpegs as I have never used the camera in jpeg mode.
Finally, always format the card in-camera. Never just delete data from the card and pop it in the camera if you use a Mac
