Leaderboard

Ummm.. I think you just named the reasons.

The canon SB reduces the AF coverage to 60% of the frame or something like that.

I don't understand the sarcasm. This was just about every single music video in the early 1980's and it's glorious. Martha Quinn probably introduced this video after an on-set interview with Sue Ross.

There is an R5/R6 user experience thread so I figured it was safe to start a Panasonic S5 user experience thread. I've only shot with it for a few hours, mostly setting up (and learning) the menus and I know there are already endless YouTube reviews, but I thought I'd share my thoughts on my experience so far; completely unbiased, unsponsored and as someone who will use this camera for everything from music videos to weddings and if all goes well I might even use it for photo shoots. Since there is so much that I like about this camera I've decided to just put my dislikes first because it is such a short list. The Grip - This is my biggest dislike. holding the camera is so uncomfortable. The grip is really shallow and the strap mount sticks out and digs into your hand when you are holding it in a landscape configuration. Not so much a problem with video for me since I use the back display, but using the viewfinder for images is very uncomfortable. I'm going to try getting a dual battery grip to see if that improves it. The R6 by comparison feels like it was custom molded for my hands. The Lens Mount - I knew this going into it, but there are so few native Panasonic lenses for this camera that I will have to use an adapter which I hate doing. I know more lenses are coming but they are very expensive and everything I've read says the Sigma versions focus very slowly. I would love a Voigtlander fully manual 35mm lens for gimbal work like I have for the GH5. I have no idea yet what I will do for photography or if I will ever trust this camera for paid photo shoots. The Battery - I don't understand the battery at all. It fits the GH5 and has contacts for the GH5 yet for the S5 the contacts are on the other side? Why didn't they do what Canon did and simply make a higher capacity battery with the same contacts? Not only are spare batteries impossible to find right now, this means all of my GH5 batteries won't work in this camera....so annoying. Ok, short list over now lets get to the stuff I care about that made me realize this was truly the camera for me. I first ordered the R6 and returned it (horrible user experience for my needs) so I am going to kind of compare my experience with the S5 to the R6 since they probably kind of are targeted to the same buyer and since it is hard to ignore the Canon hype machine even when you know about the R6's overheating issues. No Overheating - Ok we all know that but I had to put it out there anyway. This was the number one reason I returned the R6. The S5 on the other hand shoots glorious 4K until the card fills up (some limitations of course for 10 bit and 60FPS but it does have unlimited modes). Even if the R6 didn't overheat you would still hit that 30min limit and every single 4K mode overheated. Dual Slot Video Recording - The S5 gives me every option I could want and even a few I don't care about. The R6 will only record to a single slot. Electronic Level Meter - The S5 has it....of course, and it actually stays on while recording video. For some crazy reason the R6 disables the electronic level from showing on screen while recording video. XLR Audio Module - As annoyed as I am at Panasonic for the battery situation, the XLR module from the GH5 works with the S5 so all is almost forgiven. The R6 of course has nothing for XLR. I tested the module today, the S5 recognized it instantly and the audio was perfect. Free VLOG - Ok "Free" is a very generous term, but it does not cost extra. And this is real VLOG not some flavor that just flattens the profile, unlike the R6 which currently ships with CLOG. Canon said CLOG3 was coming in the future, but who knows if it will actually include the R6 or when "the future" really is. Body Quality - The S5 actually feels slightly lower quality than the body of the GH5, but that could be because it is lighter and smaller. Regardless, the quality feels way better than the R6. Sync/Desync Photo/Video Settings - It took me a long time to find, but it is possible to separate the photo and video settings and you even get to pick which ones stay synced with the other. When running and gunning you want shutter angle, VLOG, etc for video and shutter speed, Natural profile, etc for photos. You can set it so that they are completely separate, not all cameras let you do that and even the R6 did not let me pick which settings to keep in sync (i.e. keep just ISO the same between the two). Dial Position - It is great to have the video mode and Manual photo mode side by side on the dial. The R6 had them at literally opposite ends of the dial....very annoying. Dedicated Buttons - There is a dedicated ISO button and a AF/MF switch on the lens. The R6 had neither. I use the AF / MF lens switch all the time, its the fastest way to be 100% certain all of the AF stuff is off, especially if you are switching between photos and video. Video Footage - The footage out of the camera so far to me in with my very limited testing is incredible, I didn't think Panasonic had it in them. The colors are perfect to my eyes, the codecs are super easy to play back in VLC and actually easier to edit in Davinci Resolve than the GH5's footage. Both 4K60FPS and 4K30FPS play smoothly even after color grading. So far the footage grades as easily as the R6 footage with the added benefits of not needing proxies. Codecs - You get to pick H.264 or H.265 and still get to shoot in VLOG and 4:2:2 10bit. For some crazy reason Canon with the R6 forces you to shoot in H.265 if you want to use CLOG. I will happily sacrifice a little storage space to never have to try to edit H.265 again. Manual Focus Features - I hated the focus rings on the Panasonic MFT lenses, they were non linear which made manual focusing nearly impossible. I ended up getting manual Voigtlander lenses instead. Panasonic has fixed that big time; not only can you now pick linear you can even pick how many degrees to go from stop to stop. I think the R6 let me pick linear but not the focus throw. I do miss Canon's 3 little triangles when manually focusing, to me that's still the best MF guide in the industry. On my S5, focus peaking doesn't seem to work; its on but I can't see it so I have to play with that some more. Timelapse Photography - Ok I had to throw this one in there. Maybe other cameras have this, but this is literally the first camera I have ever owned that lets you do a time lapse in body without an intervalometer AND that lets you take more than 99 images. That's always been a pet peeve of mine for most cameras. Wireless Flash Control - Another pet peeve of mine answered by Panasonic, it can wirelessly control up to 4 flashes without needing an additional transmitter. Of course I'll never use this feature since I already have a complete flash system, but for someone starting out this means even less gear to lug around and to buy. Big Red Recording Box - Who hasn't thought they were recording when they weren't? I turned on the big red box right away (as soon as I found it). This is great, and will definitely help in the future. The R6 of course didn't have this. LVF Button - I didn't understand how important this was until I shot with the R6. It was so annoying in the R6 to have to pick view finder or back screen display. If you picked view finder you had to go into the view finder and navigate back to the setting to change it back. If you picked auto, the screen kept shutting off on me when the camera got to close to my hand or body. Maybe you could map a custom button but I like leaving all of them at their defaults. For the S5 if you want to turn off the viewfinder sensor just press the LVF button...switch to just the VF press it again, switch to auto press it again. So easy to disable/enable one or the other. Auto mode is terrible, switches off the screen all the time if anything gets near the sensor. Here is my neutral list, either I don't really have an opinion yet either way, or I haven't tested the camera enough to feel good or bad about it. Photography Capabilities - I'm still kind of neutral on the photography department. All I have is the kit lens and didn't have time to try the photography part. If it comes even close to the R6's photo performance that will be good enough for me. My Sigma adapter gets here Friday so I will be able to test it with my Canon lenses. Auto Focus - I never used it in the GH5 but this time around it is different because I want to try the photography features as well. In my brief testing, the AF worked fine for photography. It still has the hybrid AF option where you half press the shutter button for the initial focus then can fine tune it using the focus ring so that's good enough for me for video. Menu System - It is improved a bit over the GH5 but still nowhere near as intuitive to me as Canon's menus. I think once I set up my Favorites menu it will be fine, but there's so many features I'm having a hard time finding some of them. I never did learn the GH5's menus, I just created a video Favorites list and that's all I use. My 5DIV is a different story. Final Thoughts - This camera makes me wish I was a travel photographer/videographer. It has so many uncompromised features that would be so useful when traveling that you could practically literally bring just this camera, a wireless flash, XLR module, a few lav mics, variable ND filters, a small video light, travel tripod, and shoot just about anything photo or video. I'm already thinking about projects that I want to shoot with this camera vs the R6 where all I could think about was if it would even make it through the shoot.

I got the C70 last week as part of CVP’s first batch. Even though I have the A7SIII, I bought it because Canon obviously read a post on this forum about what my “perfect camera” looks like. So I just had to. I sold my EVA1. I put it in the deep end straight away on 2 professional shoots for fitness brands. The videos aren’t finished so can’t share any footage yet! My impressions: 1. Body design is fantastic. Lovely in the hand and a joy to operate. Feels cheaper than other C-series for sure but still premium. Well built and easy to use. Very light too! 2. The screen is flimsy and should be more robust. 3. The joystick is drunk. You want to go left, but it goes up etc. Not sure if this is a “getting used to it” kinda thing, but it’s unusually tricky to get the hang of. 4. Record button is also a bit stubborn. You have to press that thing very well to get it to record or stop. 5. Quick touch screen menu is amazing. There’s no need to reboot the camera to change frame rates and codec like I did on the EVA1. 6. DIS is decent! Doesn’t feel overly robotic like other IBIS systems. But there’s a slight crop. 7. DPAF with the Sigma 18-35mm is pretty good. My Sigma 50mm hunted quite a bit though. 8. It has no tracking like the A7S3, only for faces. Seems the face tracking is disabled in 4k100fps. 9. Footage in all modes is crisp and clean. Not overly sharp, but detailed. It looks a bit more organic than the A7S3, which is clinical without a Promist. Noticed the A7S3 is a bit more contrasty in SLOG3 than CLOG3. The C70 has an edge in the shadows. 10. You can use a V60 in 4k100fps but comes up with a warning that it won’t work. It does, but sometimes cuts off due to a full buffer. Not often though. I’d still get a V90. 11. H265 footage plays back better than the A7S3 on my 2025 iMac. Still a sludge though. 12. Footage can be easily matched to the A7S3. Took me about a minute. Amazing how much Sony have improved it. In conclusion, I had a good first experience and I’m looking forward to the next shoot. I currently prefer the A7S3 but it’s too early to decide that really. Both are great and can be used together very seamlessly due to the Sony’s improved colour and codecs.

I'd add better battery life for the C70 if you consider that as part of form factor

eh I think I'll just wait for Tupp to show up and say that it cannot have a dense image as long as it wasn't shot on Kodachrome(tm), seeing how that has been this thread for the last month or so.

What makes the C70 form factor better, other than the internal VND, mimi xlrs and more buttons, if anything?

I have a music video to show soon in the A7SIII, and some brand work on C70. I can tell you now, the C70 is a much better form factor to shoot with, but, the A7SIII is a monster. That camera is insane.

The only place it does make sense is using the speedbooster. Pretty amazing you can spend around $700-$800, get the EF 24-70mm f4 IS and get stabilization, a true 24-70mm field of view, and a f2.8 aperture. Whereas the RF version will cost you $2300 and give you a 36-105mm (or so). Much prefer thee FoV of a true 24-70mm. OR get the Sigma EF 24-70mm f2.8 for $1100 and get a 24-70mm f2.0 with stabilization. Love the C70 and excited for it, but I'll probably wait for a full-frame C90 before transferring all my EF glass to RF glass (which I am excited to do...).

Y'all need to watch some Journey videos if you find this amusing.

Ryzen still offer near 3x performance over M1, could change once native app coming out for M1. https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Apple-M1-MacBook-vs-PC-Desktop-Workstation-for-Adobe-Creative-Cloud-1975/

You are correct, I rarely go below 2.8 with it so I forget sometimes just how fast that lens is.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your footage with the C70 and hearing more about how it handles and compares/contrasts the A7SIII. I'd love to know if it would run well on an EasyRig style setup, paired with a 5-inch monitor for fast moving doc-style work. I'm sure it works well on a gimbal, but I personally found I prefer the hand-held look and style of shooting. I'm looking to add stability and all-day back comfort for the style and it seems like backpack-crane stabilizer style is the way to go.

I know the exact vibe you mean. It's rampant in highly sentimental low to medium budget pieces with docu- type (but still an artistic piece) video portraits of human subjects. I can already see the examples I recall in my head, a person standing there (not speaking) in their house or other environment of theirs, with their "sleeves rolled up", the camera gently swaying. All very "candid" and ~authentic~. There's a strange sense of 'canned vulnerability' about it at this point, but I suppose there's a reason for everything, its only guilty of being a bit overused really. Often shot at 60fps and conformed to 24/25p for a subtle slowmo look but not full blown overcooked slowmo. Wouldn't discount certain (other) types of contrived camera sway being added in post, btw. Seen plenty of examples where it was obvious

I'm pretty sure the setup from Sony's video is just that, the initial setup for choosing framerate. (the same thing you have to do on a mirrorless camera) Once you have that loaded all you have to do is push the S&Q mode then the record button to be shooting your high frame rate. I don't see the clunkiness here but maybe I'm missing something. Seems to be about the same as most mirrorless cameras, maybe faster since they actually have a dedicated S&Q mode. To do that on my GH5 would take a dive into the menus to select basically those same options as on the FX6, only I have slow motion assigned to a custom function, basically like the S&Q mode. I do really really wish manufacturers would start giving us built in NDs on mirrorless cameras though, seems to simple to do comparatively and so incredibly helpful.

@Walter H Thanks man! These particular shots were with Zeiss ZE lenses, with a 35mm Distagon on the RED for the wide shot and an 85mm Planar ZE on on the S1. @TomTheDP Honestly not nearly as much of a DR difference between the RED and S1 as I would expect, at least in the limited comparisons I have made between the two cameras. I'm sure in a very high DR situation, especially with the red raw, that it would win out, but I have always been really impressed with the DR of the S1. @Robert Patts I know that "motion cadence" is a big thing for some people, I mean for me personally, the S1 more than suits my needs and is a whole lot of bang for the buck, and with it I have gotten some of the most pleasing images of my career. In my experience, I think the biggest factors that contribute to a "video" look vs a more cinematic, filmic one -- and not just on the S1, but on any camera -- is usually a combination of not respecting the 180 degree shutter rule, and using glass without character. Super sharp, clinical, modern glass, such as Sigma's art series or Panny's L-mount glass is always crazy detailed edge-to-edge, but throw something with more character and imperfections like a helios 44-2 or something like that, adding diffusion filters, etc. and keeping. a nice, filmic shutter speed, for me that gross video feeling goes away really fast. Purely subjective, of course. For me the S1 delivers cinematic mojo in spades.

There seems to be a lot of negativity about this camera. As with everything, to each his own. I am a current Z Cam E2-F6 owner. It is a fantastic camera. I have built it up to be a beast, and I absolutely love the codecs in it. However, I am also a Sony stills shooter, with a wide variety of their lenses. It seems like people hating on this camera are already massively entrenched in what they know works for them. That is totally fine. For me, my business partner and I actually started a production company during the pandemic, which seems like a crazy move. However, we have gotten a massive amount of work during this time, as I'm learning that business is mostly about relationships. For our new company, we were using two separate cameras, the F6 and the S1H. These are both amazing cameras, but our workflow has been a pain trying to match up the colors, even though they are actually using the same sensor. We were considering investing in RED, but honestly the FX6 made much more sense for us. We actually bought two of them. Having the ability to shoot in low light, get a beautiful image, use my existing lineup of around 10 lenses, as well as take advantage of auto focus again are really going to actually speed up our workflow. We can also record XLR audio directly into camera while doing interviews, which massively speeds up our workflow in post production. So yes, this camera isn't a massive upgrade, but then again, for other people like us, it is much more bang for our buck compared to buying 2 RED Komodos, with have to be rigged up, don't have great AF, and come out to like 8-$9000 after rigging. Again, different strokes for different folds.

Thanks Seb, I always used a FF sensor also on baby hypergonar and agfa moller 19/1.5X , the stills attached are from the baby hypergonar with helios on 5D3. it's an internal clamp system made for me by a smart french guy Guillaume!

Don't fret about the fan, as it's really ingenius how they did it. The fan intake does not go into the body, but just draws air over the radiator fins that are completely sealed from the body internals. You will struggle to hear the S1H fan in most any case. I first though my fan was broken until I literally rested my ear on the camera!

That really did not look good to me. Pretty scenery sure, but the image itself didn't blow me away. Overly sharpened with a high shutter speed, surprised he didn't use an ND on it.

I guess the camera does actually matter! 😬

Can't wait to bring this on set... 😄

I think chivo earned a pretty penny for this one.