Panasonic S5 User Experience

[Mark Romero 2]

15 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Ditto, no restrictions whatsoever in my country either. 
(except recently a requirement was brought in for mask wearing on public transport)

Sure, but your country actually DID SOMETHING at the start of the outbreak, basically nipping it in the bud. By the third week of April 2020, the number of daily new cases in New Zealand was in the single digits.

So hats off to the good people of New Zealand, whether it was government imposed restrictions at the outset, or just vigilance and diligence by the common people, or whether they have discovered that a passion for beer and rugby makes a perfect vaccine.

[IronFilm]

There are many downsides to living in the world's most remote city, on an island in the ocean. But just occasionally there are benefits too, such as the ease of just lifting the drawbridge and ignoring the rest of the world when the sh*t hits the fan.

[MrSMW]

Today's AF test, posted below, but otherwise I ain't saying nothing at this time other than...pretty much SOOC, lockdown scruffy beard, mostly making a muppet of myself.

We are only interested in the actual AF and whether there is any pulsing and not the colour or if it's 'cinematic as fuck' etc.

Password = EOSHD

 

[MrSMW]

Oh and PS: after the AF video, there are the 3 most recent mini-commercial/promo pieces I shot on the S5 for various local artisans just prior to Lockdown 2 here in France if you are interested.

[MrSMW]

Feel free to comment whether it's, "wow, amazeballs!" or "compared with my Sony, it sucks balls".

[Video Hummus]

6 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Feel free to comment whether it's, "wow, amazeballs!" or "compared with my Sony, it sucks balls".

I'm going to go with...pleasantly surprised.

But since I'm now a Canon user: It sucked balls bro compared to my rig.

[herein2020]

8 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Feel free to comment whether it's, "wow, amazeballs!" or "compared with my Sony, it sucks balls".

I will be the first to say that I was impressed. Was that with the 85mm and shooting at F1.8?  Its a shame buying L mount lenses would completely disrupt my current setup, maybe one day I'll try the free Sigma 45mm that I have laying around. The Sigma EF 50mm F1.4 is quickly becoming my favorite low light and portrait lens, especially when shooting at 60FPS so the 45mm isn't too far off from that focal length.

[Mark Romero 2]

18 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Oh and PS: after the AF video, there are the 3 most recent mini-commercial/promo pieces I shot on the S5 for various local artisans just prior to Lockdown 2 here in France if you are interested.

I was pretty impressed with the autofocus. Were you shooting at 50fps??? 

Unfortunately I can't seem to watch the three other videos afterwards. Don't know why but when I click on the links to them, nothing happens in my browser (Opera).

[MrSMW]

Right, well I got so pissed off with both the eye/face detect and the tracking option, I wondered if there was anything else I could do.

I tried everything from trying to create a timelapse of motion instead. I could. It was awful.

I tried 6k mode and that kind of worked, but when it lost focus, it never regained it.

So before finally biting the bullet and moving to Sony for my video (AF) needs, I thought I'd just try all the options that are not supposed to work.

Such as 225-area AF. And it pretty much worked. At least good enough for my needs based on this one test.

The kit and settings were:

S5 + 20-60mm @60mm and f5.6, 4k 50p, 1/100th, variable ND, Natural profile (individual settings such as contrast & sharpness turned down mainly), 225-area, speed -1, sensitivity -1.

Unless I happen to have hit upon the best all round settings for this kind of capture...which I doubt, I think there is still room for slight improvement...

Really, the only area I have to play with now is the speed & sensitivity settings which I have played with extensively using pretty much every combination of pluses and minuses available, but only in the face/eye and tracking mode.

I could test with the 85mm f1.8 and will when I get some more sunshine so I can back or sidelight as on a wedding day I can't control any of that such as if the bride is walking down the aisle at an outdoor ceremony with the sun behind her, that's what I have to work with, so my kit has to pass worst case scenarios.

But the latter is not critical, ie, the 85mm f1.8 not working 100% in this kind of scenario would be a bonus rather than a need because as long as I can get a few seconds of it locked on...which I can, in any scene, it's enough.

So AF summary based on my experience/testing and needs:

A. For stills, it's not in question. It's not the fastest but it's reliable/accurate. That's an easy pass.

B. For static video, ie, the subject is people doing things such as; hair, makeup, eating, drinking, talking, wedding ceremony etc, which is 95% of my coverage, it's again, an easy pass ie, this camera does not have a problem with anything like that other than in very rare situations, ie, is pretty much as reliable as anything out there for this kind of thing.

C. For tracking AF, based on my above test, it's not 100%, but it's good enough for my needs for those 5-10 sequences on a wedding day (bride entrance, couple exit, confetti walk, couple walking shots, entrance to meal) provided I can replicate (and maybe even improve upon) what I managed in the video.

I have been quite desperate to make this thing work, just as I once was moving from the Nikon D3s to Fuji X Pro1 with it's garbage AF.

Why? Partly sheer bloody-mindedness, but also because the camera and sytem very much is just right.

Top of the list are video quality and stills quality and it's as good as anything and better than most.

The size & ergos and build are just perfect with the Smallrig L bracket to just bring the size and weight up a little.

The lens options that are beginning to appear and more so in '21 are excellent.

I'm still waiting on the complimentary Sigma 45mm f2.8 (I have been battling with Panasonic but it appears I have now won, probably just to make me go away) and that will be my next major test.

I'm hoping the Sigma(s) will work for me in the hybrid role. I'm sticking with the Pan 20-60mm for all tracking pieces regardless and it's also my wide-angle stills lens so retains a place in my bag regardless.

But I am really interested in the 35mm f2, the 65mm f2 and the 105mm f2.8 macro as these mirrorless designed lenses would complete a perfect line up for me.

Various tests have shown however that within L Mount, native works best but we'll see and if the Sigma route doesn't work out, I'd be disappointed but more than happy with Panasonic's own new f1.8 lineup.

[herein2020]

@MrSMW I'll be most interested in that 85mm F1.8 test.  I feel like at F5.6 it didn't have to work very hard, F1.8 at 1.8 will determine if you have hit on a gold mine.  I have a few projects coming up that are all about details and I'm going to need to shoot razor thin, knowing the AF can handle 1.8 might convince me to get a native Panasonic lens.

[MrSMW]

Well I had a go with the 85 yesterday and tried it at both f1.8 and at f2.8.

I really should have given it a go at f5.6 but didn’t think of it.

Anyway, f1.8 gave pretty much the same result as f2.8 and it was OK.

If the 20-60mm the other day at the long end and f5.6 was maybe 80-85% in focus for 2+ minutes, then the 85mm managed about 50%.

At times, it stayed in focus for an entire sequence and then the second time, wandered off like a distracted child for no apparent reason.

My single biggest issue is not getting the camera to lock on, it’s why it has to wander off?!

I’ve seen a few reports that the 24-105mm f4 is the stickiest of the lenses available but don’t have one to try.

I will repeat the test next time and alternate between the 20-60 and the 85 and see what happens.

Oh and I ran a battery of + and - settings and couldn’t improve upon -1 and -1.

The two wedding specialists I know of use respectively;

Russell Kent-Wotsits (UK) -1 and -3

White in Revery (Merica) +1 and +1

...according to what they have stated on YouTube, but may of course changed since.

I suspect the Sigmas are not going to do as well but if any stand a chance, it will be the newer dg dn designated models designed for mirrorless and not adapted for mirrorless from DSLR designs as the rest are.

Having said that, the APSC 56mm f1.4 I tested was utter shite so doesn’t bode well...

No way am I buying a Sigma until I have tested my free 45mm...whenever it shows up...

[MrSMW]

Oh and @herein2020 re. the 85, it can lock on and remain locked on unless being asked to track forward or backwards motion.

What specifically do you need it to do?

[herein2020]

12 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Oh and @herein2020 re. the 85, it can lock on and remain locked on unless being asked to track forward or backwards motion.

What specifically do you need it to do?

I don't really know yet...I just need it to work when I point it at something. I feel like locking on and remaining locked on I can already do with MF as long as the subject does not move forward or backwards.  I have a Canon Rebel that I use for time lapses, even it can stay locked on to just about anything if I make sure the subject is fully in the white box. So that's all I want from the S5...give me a little box in the middle and whatever I point it at, keep it in focus,

I don't need eye or face or body tracking, I just need a box or cross hairs and reliable AF when they are aimed at something. I feel like it can probably already do what I am thinking it should be able to do, but I haven't used the native lenses since my EF adapter showed up. My biggest problem is on a gimbal, when I am approaching or moving away from the talent AF would be great if it worked. 

I truly know nothing about the AF in the S5. Is there a mode where it just has a box or a focus point and anything you place on that focus point it will keep in focus? From there I can manually keep the focus point on the talent as they move closer or farther away, I used to do that with my 5DIV all the time when shooting event b-roll. It doesn't work for fast moving objects, but for events where I was able to move the camera to ensure the box was placed on the talent, it worked better than MF.

[MrSMW]

In regard to the focus options, basically the same as any other equivalent camera.

In regard to anything relatively static, it was is fine. More than fine...as long as it’s set up as best it can be, ie, speed and sensitivity tweaked or at least 0 and 0.

Tracking, in non-tracking modes. Well as demonstrated by my test, it can be quite decent if optimised but it was only one test (albeit 2+ continuous minutes) and how it would work in 24/25 fps or log is another matter. Plus which lens.

On a gimbal... I’ve seen plenty of decent gimbal stuff, but it is usually limited to a couple of seconds of slow mo so even shorter capture. The other thing about gimbal is if you keep the same distance to subject it should keep focus.

It’s just tracking where it’s weak and only tracking.

With the S5 there is only one way you are going to know if it will work for you and that is try one, test it and then take it on a real job and the latter is the only real test.

[ntblowz]

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc

 

[zerocool22]

14 hours ago, ntblowz said:

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc

 

How are you liking the focus module? Does it also work on the ronin s 1?

[ac6000cw]

Panasonic have released a minor firmware (bug fix) update for the S-series cameras - https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index4.html

Description of changes:

Quote

There were cases the position touched by Touch AF was out of focus. This bug has been fixed.

 

[David V]

On 10/7/2020 at 5:31 AM, MrSMW said:

Well here's my first use of the S5.

Neutral profile, no tweaks to any in camera settings, SOOC, 4k 50p shot in shutter priority 1/100 with the 20-60mm kit lens.

Clips imported into Premiere and only adjustments have been to the speed which is 50% for the visuals.

Password = Woodworker

 

Very very nice short man. 

[Mark Romero 2]

Just came across this video. He suggests setting AF Sensitivity to +3 and setting AF Speed to 0 or less to avoid pulsing.

 

[MrSMW]

One of the better/best ones out there...and most are awful. 

I’m going to give the -2 +3 a go next chance I get and see how that works out.