Mustafa Dogan

Adobe finally added RAW support for S5 in Camera Raw and PS, LR etc. Just wanted to share. It was an issue here...

You absolutely missed my point. But it's ok, I still understood what your point is and respect it. Just watch Gerald's S5 review video after 23:00 and you will understand why I feel punked as an S1 owner. He says at the end "(S5) has basically rendered the S1 obsolote because the S1's advantages aren't worth $700" and that is exactly how I feel. At least they gave S1 owners a firmware upgrade with the improved AF but this doesn't change how I feel. It even has quite a few extras borrowed from S1H which S1's don't possess. Gerald Undone's S5 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hepPjpE0C8&feature=emb_title

As an S1 owner, I feel punked because of this S5. I mean even the V-log L upgrade which S1 buyers had to pay, is now included for free. S5 has practically every feature of S1 in a lighter and smaller body plus a better full articulation. Only the EVF and LCD is substantially better in S1. Honestly, if I had known that just after a year this S5 was to be announced, I wouldn't have bought my S1. For me, the bigger and way more important announcement is that the 1.8 compact primes are finally coming. I hope they will be smaller than Sony's FE primes. At least not larger. My S1 will most probably going to be listed to be sold next week. If the S5 comes out good, the used market value of S1 will drop significantly this fall.

The mighty FD 1.2 55mm Apsherical was sold right after listing it in my shop. I only had a single day to spent with it. All shots here are with 1.2 to demonstrate its performance. I used Panasonic's Nicest 709 VariCam LUT with basic lumetri corrections. All handheld. The Aspherical version of this lens is indeed quite sharper fully open in comparison to the only S.S.C. 55mm. Sadly, it has also become quite expensive and rare.

Yes, exactly. This is the camera to go for, if you want to most out of this lens on a compact Pana body. And the EVF of GM5 is a joke against this. I had a Sony A7rII coupled with a Samyang 2.8/35 (Sonnar clone) before buying Panasonic S1. After selling it and the moment I unboxed the S1, helding it in my hands, I immediately started of thinking a not so expensive alternative for everyday photography. S1 is simply unusable for that. The lack of a compact 35mm prime lens aside, the body is just too damn heavy and large. This deal is CRAZY!

I have been a Panasonic user for a very long time. Cameras I used a lot are G3, G5, G6, GH3, GH5, GM1, GM5, GX1 and GX80. This new G100 is about the same size as the original G3. Which mirrors the original spirit of the compact micro 4/3's design. Very interestingly, it has many small nice things from G, GX and GM lines but also adds a fresh modern breeze (obviously disputable) to them. This is in a way, a big accomplishment for Panasonic. I hated the G models bloating with every new iteration. I also hated them abandonig the perfect GM5. I hated them designing the otherwise perfect GX80 like a brick and also not putting the better sensor of GX9 in it. And now they somehow responded with this thing which has many features from the cameras I liked in a body I was looking for.

P.S. Originally Leica was never an unattainable and luxus only camera. On the contrary, it allowed many "regular" photgraphers to obtain great photos from everyday life on streets all over the world. That's why I don't consider all those fancy and expensive modern Leica lenses as the real successor of Oscar Barnack inspired Leica legacy. Nearly none of those old, original Summicron lenses are nowadays actually used on the streets. A big majority of them vegetate on fancy-schmancy shelves in rich people's luxury houses or locked in vaults owned by old crazy collectors 🙂

I'm absolutely on the same boat with you guys! This is the perfect camera for me because of nearly the same considerations (compact mini SLR style design, same photo IQ as G9, superb EVF, ...). But for me this is also a decision of complementing Panasonic S1. In this regard, what I'm looking is a compact and capable, "photo only" camera to use with the Leica 1.7/15. Yes, it is ONLY for this lens I will buy the G100. The one of a kind Leica 1,7/15 lens is in my opinion the modern successor of the legendary Summicron 35 on Leica's cameras which originally created the street type, documentary photography in 35mm. There are only a hand full of similarly small but optically perfect lenses (Zeiss SOnnar 2.8/35 for Sony f.e.). But honestly, none of them is as small and light as the 1.7/15 is. Also none of them delivers that kinda unique Leica image fully open at F1.7. I used this lens a lot and in contrary to some, I believe that the 30mm equivalent focal length is absolutely perfect! With a miniscule crop (which is quite oftenly used for that type of photography even by legens like Bresson) you reach 35mm. On a 20mp MFT sensor, these few cropped out pixels are of no concern. Also, if needed, you have nearly a classic 28mm wide angle lens up your sleeve anytime you need. It is also perfect for close up shots of any kind of object with a very nice bokeh. Everybody who holds this beauty of a lens dear and looks for a compact but capable lens body, would and probably should absolutely consider getting a G100. Yes, GX9 and GM5 have both their own unique appeals but I strongly believe that in total, the new G100 outshines them both for the kind of photography mentioned above. You may think that this is a too specific argument but you can apply this logic for many similar situations which all make it a good buy in my opinion. Yes, I too believe that this camera has too many cons but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater :)

I search once in a day or two for Panasonic S1 in youtube to watch every recently uploaded video. It is always nice to watch others works with same camera as yours. I feel inspired by videos like above which also in my opinion shows what an incredibly "easy to start rolling and delivering big time" camera the Pana S1 is. Especially with vintage glass! That was my main convincing strong point to choose it. You can throw anything on this beast and it handles colors, flair and color casts always perfectly! I bought a Canon EF camera last week with an attached 1.2 55mm where I couldn't see the front ring in the photo because it was closed with a cap. Very fortunately, when I opened the package, it came out to be one of the rare Aspherical beasts! I will make a video with it but just wanted to share a few images shot at F1.2 with Raw and edited in PS. Added contrast and some saturation but colors are AWB without any tweaking. It manages this old elusive beauty perfectly.

This camera obviously sucks for the marketed purpose of Vlogging. Still I feel very attracted by the mini Sony A7 like, compact and lightweigt design. Basically a GX9 with better and articulated screen and OVF, but lacking IBIS. It can easily be considered as the best street photography camera from Panasonic. If the price will drop, I'm certainly gonna try it out with the perfect Leica 1.7/15.

Raw with Sony A7rII. Slightly added some contrast and color. They are becoming quite scarce and the prices skyrocketed. But if you are lucky, you can still find one. Most people still don't know this lens.

I have been using Panasonic cameras for 10 years and this is the only one which I regularly have the fear of low battery. I'm not used to this. Man, my GH4 was able to record 3 hour long 4K videos and still wouldn't hit the wall! I never thought that Pana would disappoint me in this regard.

Yes, I know that yours is 2.5-3.5 and that is exactly why I recommended it. Most of the fast 35-70 lenses share a similar and good quality optical formula. I'm laying the emphasis on the aperture speed, not the brands. Special to 35-70 lenses, my personal experience is that nearly all "slow" aperture versions are mediocre. And nearly all 2.8 or below version are good. This definitely has to do with the formula of this focal range. You can't generally say "faster is better" for 28mm, 50mm or 135mm for example. 2.5 version are quite rare to find nowadays. Very nice lens, especially if you enjoy this focal range.

I'd stay away from slow 35-70's made by Hanimex, Maginon, Cosina and etc. The ones with 2.8 starting aperture are optically better in almost every regard. Nikon, Vivitar and Tokina have such good lenses. There is also the rare Zeiss Vario-Pancolar 35-70mm 2.7-3.5 which is my personal favorite. It has a prime-like character with superb central sharpness and awesome bokeh. Here is a sample: Only slow but good 35-70 is Leica's and Minolta's fixed 3.5 or 4.0 versions. I want to also add the very rare Konica AR 2.8/35-100 varifocal lens to this list. I was able to find one but it needed a repair first. I can't wait to have it back. The only similar lens I can find is Zeiss's Vario Sonnar 2.8/40-120 for Contarex.

Andrew... with this, you finally made me sign up and send my first post! After nearly a decade of only reading, I read this and couldn't resist the strong urge to reply your thoughts about Panasonic S1. After months of meticulous comparing, I reached the same conclusions as you highlighted here and bought an S1 with 24-105. As a reseller in ebay, I'm lucky to always have a closet full of interesting lenses. No other camera is better than Panasonic S1 at breathing life into those lenses. It is an extremely convenient camera, which can deliver a stunning image with absolutely minimal effort at post video editing. The superb EVF makes it a dream to manually focus. IBIS so good that you never need a tripod. Auto ISO and auto WB always work perfect. The list goes on and on. It is not the perfect allrounder like A7III. But as you say, if your priority is to make videos with manual focus, this camera is a no-brainer! Of course, I'd be very happy if it were less clumsier, if AF were better and if it had a wider lens selection (I especially miss a Sonnar 2.8/35 type compact lens). But for the price, this is complaining on a high level. Here are some shots with 4 nice old gems: