Embarrassing threesome - Mini reviews of the Panasonic FZ2500, Sony RX100 V and Canon EOS M5

[Andrew Reid]

I've been considering the Panasonic FZ2500, and have also tried out the long awaited EOS M5 that nobody was particularly waiting for.

Read the full article

[Michael Ma]

The best feature I like on a mirroless camera vs a DSLR, aside from the size is the silent shutter.  And on the GX85, even when it's off to avoid the fluorescent bulb flicker, it's hard to hear outdoors.  I'm pretty sure the M5 doesn't have that.  M5 could have at least that going for it and it would have been a good reason to buy for some people.  Right now, it's mostly pointless.

[jonpais]

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

[mercer]

I had the RX100 V and then I returned it. I don't know if I had a bad camera but the temperature warning popped up while I was using the menu, and the thing was sooo small that navigating the buttons was a chore. But I really liked the image and trying out SLog2 for the first time. I actually enjoyed the image and features so much I ended buying the a6300... of course the 1080p doesn't seem as clean as it is on the RX100V, but as a whole it's a more enjoyable experience. Of course, I am not even sure I am going to keep the a6300, I just am interested in testing it out... but if it works as I hope it should be a nice production cam for some super short films I am writing... we shall see. 

[wolf33d]

13 minutes ago, jonpais said:

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

Not for many more years. 

Canon made great camera until the 5D2-3 

their APSC line is garbage.

the success of canon today is because of their lenses. But this will change. Sony is better and better. If canon does not wake up they will eventually die

[jessekorgemaa]

7 minutes ago, wolf33d said:

Not for many more years. 

Canon made great camera until the 5D2-3 

their APSC line is garbage.

the success of canon today is because of their lenses. But this will change. Sony is better and better. If canon does not wake up they will eventually die

 

I'm not saying you are wrong, and I do largely agree with you....

But people have been saying this since the 5d3 came out and not much has changed. Reception to the 5d3 was no better than what the internet says of the 5div, in fact probably worse. Yet that camera now is viewed as coming from Canon's "glory days" same thing with the C300, it was mocked upon launch next to the red scarlet, but we all know how that turned out.

I really had high hopes for the M5, and i'm actually still going to pick one up. (no eta on shipments to canada yet)
It will likely just be a little family/ walk around camera. 

Andrew what were your thoughts on the touchscreen/ touch and drag focus. I know other companies have implemented it but it seems canon may have finally gotten it right. The touch screen on the a6500 has had the opposite reviews so far.

[Oliver Daniel]

If the Canon had lovely 1080p, I'd get one. But it doesn't. It's 2008 style "720p" from a knackered 550d/T2i. WHY????

I don't like Sony for stills - it's all a bit charmless. This happens more so once you've held a X-T2 or EM1. 

I really don't like anything with a 1" sensor. Boring. My RX10 II had a very early grave. 

Aside this negativity, a friend asked me for a quick tutorial on his 5D mk III. While many enthusiasts are giving Canon a lot of stick, there's still a lovely charm when it comes to using a DSLR. Looking through the optical viewfinder and firing those continuous shots just seems really satisfying, although I thought my hands had shrunk when holding the body. 

Panasonic might have a killer on their hands in the GH5. Looking forward to your G81828384858687 review or whatever it's called. I do like Panasonic. I do. 

[Dustin]

1 hour ago, jonpais said:

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

When I take out my Nikon d5300 to make videos or even take photos, I will hear probably 1 in 5 times, "Oh it's not a Canon" or "What are you shooting with, a Canon?".

[DPC]

Nice review Andrew!

[Cinegain]

Not really cameras to get excited about... luckily the article was a good fun read and spot on!

Would love to see you do a G80 VS E-M1 Mark II face-off next up! Battle of the sensor stabilized MFT cams.

[Henry Gentles]

70D with raw is a great option! What are the file sizes like with 70D Raw? btw I have a friend who shoots with a 550D, has a Ton of work because it looks amazing! 

 

[mercer]

15 hours ago, Henry Gentles said:

70D with raw is a great option! What are the file sizes like with 70D Raw? btw I have a friend who shoots with a 550D, has a Ton of work because it looks amazing! 

 

I'm unsure of the file sizes but I have seen a couple really nice videos done with the 70D and ml raw...

And this one looks really good too...

I've been keeping an eye open for a refurbished 70D but Canon never has them in stock. 

[Michael Ma]

On 12/16/2016 at 2:09 AM, jonpais said:

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

I have an 80D.  I love the colors.  Somehow, the Canon hides the dark circles on people's faces.  Panasonic accentuates it.  It's hard to color grade it out when the dark circles are very similar to the color of that person's lips.  How Canon achieves this is really a mystery.  But it's so much more camera to carry around.  The GX85 has spoiled me.

[Brian Williams]

I'm biased, because I love my Sony cameras, but I don't know if the RX100v should be in the same "embarrassing" class as these other two... you kind of trash the other two for their crappy qualities, while just point out that the new Sony doesn't really bring that much to the table vs it's previous version. More of a letdown than an embarrassment, considering how good it still is in general.

[sudopera]

On 12/16/2016 at 5:30 PM, Andrew Reid said:

Sigma have released a range of heavily breathing not quite par-focal cinema lenses.

Matt Allard had both zooms professionaly tested, 18-35 breathing was minimal but 50-100 showed heavy breathing. For parfocal issue read below.

Quote

Sigma have told us that because the optics for the cine zooms were originally designed for stills cameras, they were never designed to be completely parfocal. For them to be 100% parfocal would require a new optical design. No amount of subsequent tuning of the lens setup will magically make them 100% parfocal. Despite Sigmas claims I had both the 18-35mm T2 and 50-100mm T2 put on a collimator and independently evaluated to see if the lenses truly were parfocal. The lens technician examined both lenses thoroughly and concluded to me that in his professional opinion they were both parfocal. Sigma may well be using the statement “near parfocal” because scientifically it may not be 100% parfocal, but for all intents and purposes it is so close that even an experienced lens technician could not tell the difference – certainly on the copies that we evaluated.

http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/12/14/sigma-18-35mm-t2-0-and-50-100mm-t2-0-cine-zoom-review-part-1-a-technical-evaluation/

[Diego Avendaño]

There is a SpeedBooster for the M-Series. I have one and works like a charm:

http://www.ebay.es/itm/EOS-EOSM-Focal-reducer-Auto-focus-adapter-EF-EFM-EF-to-EFM-EOS-to-EOSM-Booster/302171367352

Custom made in Korea EF to M. I'm attaching some sample pictures with a Canon 50mm 1.8.

The pics of the buildings are taken with the normal adaptor and with the speed booster

[mercer]

So, I have been looking for a compact for a while now. Last year I tried the FZ300, and this year the RX100V. Both cool little cameras but not exactly what I was looking for. After reading Andrew's scathing review, and finding a pile of BH Gift Cards, I decided to give the FZ2500 a test run. This was shot with the 200mbps 1080p with cinelikeD profile using Noam Kroll's settings...

 

[mike_tee_vee]

Mercer, nice video!  A couple questions:

- Was this shot with auto or manual focus?  How do you find the reliability of the continuous auto focus? 

- How is the stabilization in 4K?  I found the FZ1000 to be a bit skittish and jittery, similar to the Panasonic 35-100 2.8 lens. 

[hk908]

I have a fairly unique question (I think) about the RX100.

My dad lives in a highrise on the beach and wants a camera he can place on his deck and connect to his tv for a live stream. Normally I'd say get a decent security cam, but for a couple snags: he has a 4k tv (and would prefer 4k) and there are two other buildings in his fov of the beach. Gopro at 4k is too wide. He wants to shoot straight through the buildings toward the water, so he'll need something that can zoom--and I don't think security cameras really can with any length or quality. He'd also just like to just skip another box and go straight to hdmi. His limit is around $800 but likely flexible.

The RX100 has 4k and zoom, it has hdmi output but it has that 5 min recording limit--will the camera shut off even if he's merely viewing the live stream to the tv--but not recording? I do something similar with my NX1 and I've never noticed it turn off after the 30 min recording time, or for it to overheat. But it's a camera he wants to plain leave on as often as possible with it plugged into power.

Is there $800 or so camera anywhere that can do those things?

[Cinegain]

Z Cam E1 perhaps.