sgreszcz

I totally agree, I just upgraded my Panasonic S5ii to the latest firmware, and in IBIS "tripod mode" with the 24-105/4 OIS I was able to handhold a 2-hour theatre production for the zoom close-ups and it is as steady as my wide tripod shots. I'm going to shoot my first live event (carnival, moving around) with my S5ii and 24-105/4. I've shot it for every year on just about every Panasonic and Olympus camera since the summer the GX80 came out. I'm curious how the S5ii will compare. The best so far was my E-M1ii with the Olympus 12-100/4 OIS. That was an amazingly stable setup. I only switched to the S5ii as I needed better low-light for theatre photography and use the Sigma 14-70/2.8. Actually high iso might not matter much anymore even for photography as the AI noise reduction in Lightroom is amazing.

Yeah, I have made a few cheet sheets to at least have all the cameras set to the same, especially for a fixed generic 3300k WB, ISO/aperture, picture profile so no matter what theatre lighting they use I'm not going to get blowouts. I usually ask them to set the lighting as per the brightest scene, but they usually don't get it right, or set the spots higher than when I take my waveform readings. The great thing about Panasonic is the custom settings, and also I've found that the "lock" settings on the S5ii is great for not having things change. I've also switched the rec start/stop off the shutter button as it is too sensitive and stops/starts by accident. The red box around the screen when record is on is another lifesaver. I also just keep the camera recording to not forget to turn it back on. Another feature that is nice is to change the setting where the camera doesn't reset focus after turning back on. That caught me out once... The face/person detection still bothers me, I wish there was a better way to tell the camera to only focus on a certain person and not to jump around when it feels like. If anyone knows if this is possible, I'd love to know.

OK, I shot a bit of theatre with the new firmware, and have found the most reliable to be C-AF 1-Area+ Human Eye/Face/Body with the smaller area setting. I have AF Speed set to 0, and AF Sensitivity on -2 (set more to "Locked") which made the camera want to say more on an individual person. The camera did still have a problem with multiple people in a shot to "stick" or say on the original person when they were in the frame. If someone had a clearer face than the person you were selecting it would jump over. Also the camera seems to prefer people/bodies without hats. I'm not sure if there are any better ways to improve the stickiness of the AF. I've not tried tracking, but I've heard it is poor on the Panasonic cameras still. I would try manual focus, but it is vary difficult in a faster-moving play. Maybe there is a way to use manual focus override or quickly switch between manual/s-AF and c-af?

Does anyone have experience with camera settings to avoid banding waves from a mix of 50Hz lighting and 60Hz computer projectors? I've been filming theatre that uses a mix of Halogen and LED lighting at 50Hz and am shooting 25p, 50fps shutter speed. The problem is more and more theatre is adding digital projection which seems to run by default at 60Hz and sometimes causes annoying pulsing waves on the projected material, or worse, interacting with the general lighting. I'm also not sure if it is possible to fix any of this in post. I use FCPX and have access to Digital Anarchy's Flicker Free, that I guess I will try after the edit. Thanks in advance...

I'm an idiot, I do have the S5ii, and got it at a great deal with the 12-105/4 last November. Sorry, I need to update the firmware and see how it goes.

I'm an idiot, I do have the S5ii, and got it at a great deal with the 12-105/4 last November. Sorry, I need to update the firmware and see how it goes.

Thanks for the replies, but I'm a complete idiot. I actually have the S5ii with PDAF. I will update the firmware ASAP and see how it goes. Any suggestions on best Sii autofocus settings would be appreciated. I need to check out some online tutorials and do some testing.

Hi there, I recently switched from the Olympus EM-1ii to the Panasonic S5, mostly for lower-light photography which I also needed to do for some work. I'm having trouble getting the autofocus to "stick" on people once it finds them and focuses on them. If they move or there are other people in the frame it often jumps or just "forgets" about the person and tries to focus on something else. I've tried different settings, and I think the best is area+1 or oval, but I'm not sure if people have something that is tried and true? I saw that Panasonic just released another firmware for the S5ii that improves focus and IBIS, but I'm not really able to afford to upgrade right now. Thanks in advance...

Looks like the S5ii is about £1300 with rebates and the S5iix £1800. Also it is quite hard to find the Sigma 28-70 f2.8 in L-mount in the UK and for some reason the L-mount is more expensive than the Sony... Is there much value of the newer X version over the original Sii to be worth £500? I also hate buying stuff before Black Friday, not sure if Panasonic will have better offers by then. Sadly the next show I have to shoot is almost in production.

Yep, sold on the S5ii looks good enough for low-light photos and handheld video (close up shots). Thank you all ever so much for your time and advise. I spent a lot of time on my E-M1ii test photos and realised I needed a proper solution ASAP!

Sorry about spreading this across various threads, I didn't know where the best discussion was and was trying to find out more about the G9ii, (potentially Sony) and learned about the Panasonic S5ii that I hadn't really even thought of as I didn't know it existed. I think I'm going to go with the Panasonic S5ii with Sigma 2.8 zoom and Panasonic 24-105 to use as my main camera going forward. Will sell my E-M1ii, O40-150/2.8 and O12-100/4. As for the difference in low-light interior stills, it is night and day. I can see some of the previous photographers' work with their presumably high-end Canon or Nikon lenses, and the m43, even with primes just doesn't have the same look or sharpness. I spent a couple hours getting my test shots to look OK with AI denoise and other clarity/sharpening techniques but any shots with motion I had to delete. For video I'll stay with using my GH5 with dumb battery and PL25/1.4 on one side of the theatre for a wide continuous shot and my GX80 with PL15/1.7 near me (to restart every 30min). Will use the Panasonic s5ii for handheld close shots with the 24-105/4 and the Sigma 2.8 for photos (replace the olympus). If it wasn't for the photos I would have just kept my setup as is until the G9ii dropped in price. I'll make up for the cost of switching by selling my olympus stuff and for the extra work I'll be getting. Thanks for your advise everyone!

That's awsome. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have heard that the IBIS + OIS is good on the S5ii and the low light sounds good too. I could use the sigma f2.8 with the higher ISO to get better shutter speeds for the theatre photography too, I hope. I'm not as concerned about video, because frankly the EM-1ii and GH5 are good enough for theatre video.

Read some reviews on that lens. Likely I'll go with the S5ii, the P24-105/4 and the Sigma 24-70/2.8. That should cover what I do with my Olympus E-M1ii+12-100+40-150/2.8. Also I hope that the colours more easily match my GH5 and GX80s.

Thanks so much for that. Will look at S5ii / S1H and the sigma zoom. I'm not worried about the shutter as usually the photos are done during rehearsals andI video the actual performances. Just curious how stability with run-and-gun will go, but can always eventually get the G9ii for that when it drops in price for next year outdoor events.

Thank you, just considering the Panasonic s5ii to replace the em1ii. Just not convinced m4/3 can do decent indoor photography with movement. I need a zoom so thinking of g9ii with p10-25/1.7 and p35-100/2.8 or keep o40-150/2.8. not sure I can be switching primes as can’t miss live action and can’t easily move around. The s5ii with something like 24-100/f4 could be handy but then would lose the goodies like ibis and good AF on the em1ii.