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

[mercer]

7 hours ago, mike_tee_vee said:

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. 

Thanks Mike! I am pretty pleased with this camera.

- This video was shot with manual focus and it works great. I did test continuous af today and it is pretty good. I am not really an af guy, but I was pleasantly surprised. It went soft a couple times but it didn't hunt. It would go soft when the actor did a sudden, swift movement with his head. But I am so new to AF that I may not have had the settings correct.

- I haven't shot much with 4K. It obviously isn't as steady as the 1080p with the hybrid IBIS, but I can't say I noticed that it was excessively jittery. It reminded me of the OIS with 12-35mm.

I will post the AF examples and the 4K clips within the next few days... probably after Christmas... so you can be the judge on the focus.

[webrunner5]

Panasonic G7 with a cheap zoom. 30 minute recording, but it keeps on going with a new file.

[mercer]

I had a few minutes this evening to run a handheld test of the FZ2500 in Shutter Priority mode, with +1 stop exposure compensation, auto ND filter, with Single Point Touch AF. This was shot in true 24p with the All-I 200mbps 1080p...

 

[Cinegain]

It's a little nervous on focus/stabilization here and there? Other than that it looks better than I expected and have seen. You seem to pull off some nice results/looks, m43-esque, whereas a lot of these first hands-on videos made it more look like a mweh so-so camcorder. Didn't really check it out that much when I had the chance last month. Did notice how bulky the damn thing seemed. What I really want is a LX200 though, treated in a similar way with all the useful upgrades!

[mercer]

47 minutes ago, Cinegain said:

It's a little nervous on focus/stabilization here and there? Other than that it looks better than I expected and have seen. You seem to pull off some nice results/looks, m43-esque, whereas a lot of these first hands-on videos made it more look like a mweh so-so camcorder. Didn't really check it out that much when I had the chance last month. Did notice how bulky the damn thing seemed. Want I really want is a LX200 though, treated in a similar way with all the useful upgrades!

Well, it was pretty dark and Panasonic hasn't perfected their touch af yet... but it actually handled it better than I thought it would. The stabilization is the hybrid 5-axis so it relies on the lens' OIS mixed with e-stabilizer... of course their manual on stabilization really needs to be rewritten because there is also the option of shooting with "Level Shot" instead of e-stabilizer and the 5-axis symbol shows up with either of those options. It is a clunky camera though, but all in all I am pretty pleased with it. I am heading out again tomorrow to test the Shutter Priority mode with auto nd in better light... so far I am pleasantly surprised with it... but I've never shot anything other than manual... so...

To add... Last spring I briefly owned the FZ300, and although it was a blast to shoot with, the iq was lacking shooting 4K with that small of a sensor. Since I've been looking for a "compact" camera ever since, I was really lured in by the specs of the FZ2500... and so far I am glad I took the plunge. When shooting I usually spend so much time trying to keep my focus on the tech, that the creative element of composition and utilizing the light properly sometimes suffers. With the FZ2500, even when shooting hybrid manual, the camera just gets out of your way. Loads of fun. 

Obviously, these are just tests, so they are a bunch of nothing, but I figured it may be useful to someone. Also, I can only imagine the footage you guys could get with the camera.

[mike_tee_vee]

Thanks for the footage Mercer!  While the AF doesn't seem to be as bulletproof as Canon's Dual Pixel, it does seem like an improvement to past DFD implementations.  I'm on the fence between the FZ2500 and the XC10. 

Does the FZ2500 have Auto ISO with exposure compensation in manual mode?  It seems to be consistently absent from all Panasonic and Olympus cameras, but I was hoping that the addition of ND filters would also introduce Auto ISO.

 

[Arikhan]

@mike_tee_vee

Quote

While the AF doesn't seem to be as bulletproof as Canon's Dual Pixel, it does seem like an improvement to past DFD implementations.

I use the FZ1000 (predecessor of the FZ2500) for 1,5 years now and the AF is a little bit tricky, you have to test it for your needs to get it working when shooting. Face tracking works eg very well, zone AF in some situations too. Other AF modes hunt quite often if background or foreground are more contrasty than subject. There is also some unexpected hunting in decent light, don't rely on it in poor (or even decent) lighting scenarios. Focus transitions and refocusing work mostly well with the Pana APP and smartphone or tablet, as the FZ1000 does NOT have a touch display.

As I have some architecture shots in the pipe, I will give Andrews LUT for Panasonic (though there are no faces/skin) a try. I'm quite curious about results with/without lut. Thanks @Andrew Reid for the work!

BTW: I didn't hold the FZ2500 in my hands, but the predecessor (FZ1000) was all the time a good and reliable workhorse for me. Nice stabilization, nice low light for its 1" sensor and generally a decent point and shoot camera. 1080p quality OK. 
Not an outstanding camera but worth the 800 Euros at the time I've buyed it. AUDIO is miserable (because poor preamps) even used with high quality mics...worst quality I've ever met in a current filming device, much worse eg. than sound in the old 7D...Use Tascam or cheap Saramonic preamp (or record audio separately) to get good audio. 

[mercer]

I

7 hours ago, mike_tee_vee said:

Thanks for the footage Mercer!  While the AF doesn't seem to be as bulletproof as Canon's Dual Pixel, it does seem like an improvement to past DFD implementations.  I'm on the fence between the FZ2500 and the XC10. 

Does the FZ2500 have Auto ISO with exposure compensation in manual mode?  It seems to be consistently absent from all Panasonic and Olympus cameras, but I was hoping that the addition of ND filters would also introduce Auto ISO.

 

I had the XC10 and recently sold it... great camera with great features and awesome color. The C-Log is really nice with the 4:22. My major issue with it was the tremendous price drop they were taking on the used market. I understand taking a hit and that cameras depreciate but for it to lose 35-40% of its value in a couple months is a little too much for me, especially since I am mostly a hobbyist. I also never owned such an expensive camera, so I sometimes didn't want to take it certain places out of fear it would get damaged or stolen.

With that being said, if I had them side by side and could only keep one... I would probably keep the FZ2500 for the reasons stated above. But YMMV.

No Auto ISO or exposure compensation if manual mode. I did another short test today with Shutter Priority and AF and also some shots with all manual. With Shutter Priority, I had the ND Filter set to Auto but it showed no nd on the screen... I have to read the manual about that. But again the Touch AF worked pretty damn good in normal light... it was actually spot on.

The files seem to handle some decent amount of color work... if only I were better at color work...

 

I will be heading out again on Friday, if there is anything specific you would like to see, let me know, and I should be able to test a few things... I will be testing the 4K which I haven't really messed with yet. 

[PannySVHS]

22 hours ago, mercer said:

I will be heading out again on Friday, if there is anything specific you would like to see, let me know, and I should be able to test a few things... I will be testing the 4K which I haven't really messed with yet. 

Hey Merce! Hope you had a great holiday season! I would like you to shoot footage from your screenshots above. Love the two framings! Great footage you´re getting with that little cam. M43esque as cinegain has put it:) Great work! cheers