Panasonic S5 II (What does Panasonic have up their sleeve?)

[SRV1981]

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

One shoots slightly higher res stills and the other shoots ‘arguably’ nicer video.

Real world, not that much difference.

Folks tend to prefer one brand over another for any number of reasons.

Personal needs and choice in the end.

I have looked at; Olympus, Fuji, Sony and Nikon at one time or another (usually too many times!) in the last few years, but the combo of Panasonic bodies and Sigma lenses works best for me, all factors considered and the S5iix is going to be my workhorse for the foreseeable future, for photo and video.

yes makes sense!  What I've noticed, and could be perceiving it wrongly, is that Fuji SOOC just looks more like stylized film both for photo and video.  There is something about the footage that just makes me want to watch more.  I like Sony/Canon/Panny but it feels... different?  I'd be really intrigued if Fuji released a C70 style cinema camera with their current firmware version of AF.  

I danced with the a7iv this weekend and it just was just too big and clunky for a non-pro like me looking to walk the streets of a local city, travel, family gatherins/vacations, work documentaries, etc.  I liked my XT4 but the AF was rubbish.

[ac6000cw]

1 hour ago, SRV1981 said:

I danced with the a7iv this weekend and it just was just too big and clunky for a non-pro like me looking to walk the streets of a local city, travel, family gatherins/vacations, work documentaries, etc.  I liked my XT4 but the AF was rubbish.

Have you tried using https://camerasize.com/compact/ to compare the size and weight of various camera and lens combinations?

It's a great tool for quick visual size comparisons of the top, front and back views (and hovering the mouse pointer over a camera or lens picture will pop up dimensions and weight info).

For example, this is a comparison of A7c, FX30, A7 IV, R8 and X-T4 - https://camerasize.com/compact/#858,895,883,903,841,ha,b

[MrSMW]

Well if you don't like the size of the A7iv which is I believe the smallest and lightest of that type of FF hybrid, then an OM Systems camera is probably what you are looking for. Something like the OM-1?

I had one in to test and thought it was a fantastic thing, but just wasn't blown away with the video quality compared with FF Lumix, but otherwise, great camera, if a tad over-priced.

[SRV1981]

17 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Well if you don't like the size of the A7iv which is I believe the smallest and lightest of that type of FF hybrid, then an OM Systems camera is probably what you are looking for. Something like the OM-1?

I had one in to test and thought it was a fantastic thing, but just wasn't blown away with the video quality compared with FF Lumix, but otherwise, great camera, if a tad over-priced.

thanks! will check - but video is quite important for me here

35 minutes ago, ac6000cw said:

Have you tried using https://camerasize.com/compact/ to compare the size and weight of various camera and lens combinations?

It's a great tool for quick visual size comparisons of the top, front and back views (and hovering the mouse pointer over a camera or lens picture will pop up dimensions and weight info).

For example, this is a comparison of A7c, FX30, A7 IV, R8 and X-T4 - https://camerasize.com/compact/#858,895,883,903,841,ha,b

right - well done.  that said, the lenses is what can make or break - the 24-105 of the a7iv was beheamoth for my tastes where a small lens on an xt4 was compact enough.

[newfoundmass]

4 minutes ago, SRV1981 said:

thanks! will check - but video is quite important for me here

Honestly almost any camera released these days will have good video, especially for the kind of work you mentioned. In the grand scheme of things, when someone says they prefer the video quality of one camera over another the difference isn't THAT huge. Not trying to speak for @MrSMW, obviously, he might disagree, but just as a general rule any camera you get today will be more than enough when it comes to image. I mean a hacked GH2 or a GH3 both can give you lovely 1080p images and those cameras are well over 10 years old.

[ac6000cw]

34 minutes ago, SRV1981 said:

that said, the lenses is what can make or break - the 24-105 of the a7iv was beheamoth for my tastes where a small lens on an xt4 was compact enough.

Yes, I very well know that - it's the main reason I use micro-4/3 cameras and long telephoto lenses for wildlife video and stills. Full-frame lenses of equivalent 'reach' are far to large and heavy for me to want to carry around, so I accept some picture quality compromises instead e.g. low-light performance.

If you want to keep the lenses small, then use 'cropped' sensors e.g. APS-C or micro-4/3 (or maybe use 'APS-C' lenses on full-frame sensor cameras - I think Sony and Panasonic support that at least, maybe Canon and Nikon too).

You just have to decide which set of compromises you can live with...

18 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

Honestly almost any camera released these days will have good video, especially for the kind of work you mentioned.

18 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I mean a hacked GH2 or a GH3 both can give you lovely 1080p images and those cameras are well over 10 years old

I agree.

Whenever I look back at video I shot in the past on VHS-C, DV and HDV tape, plus a variety of small-sensor cameras (like HX9V and FZ100), and compare it to 1080p let alone 4k from my Pana G9, I'm reminded how much video consumer/prosumer quality has dramatically improved over time...(as have camera stabilisation and the displays we view it on).

[newfoundmass]

17 minutes ago, ac6000cw said:

I agree.

Whenever I look back at video I shot in the past on VHS-C, DV and HDV tape, plus a variety of small-sensor cameras (like HX9V and FZ100), and compare it to 1080p let alone 4k from my Pana G9, I'm reminded how much video consumer/prosumer quality has dramatically improved over time...(as have camera stabilisation and the displays we view it on).

It's funny, because I see so many people who won't even consider cameras for one reason or another, when I could do virtually everything I do with my S5 bodies with a couple GH3 bodies and still be very pleased with the results. I'd obviously have to overcome the limitations when it came to autofocus and stabilization, but from a pure image stand point they'd still be more than enough. Upscaled to 4K for streaming it'd be nearly indistinguishable from real 4K (see: Nigel Barros going back to the GH3 for the millionth time.) I have the luxury of having "better" cameras but I don't NEED better cameras. Most of us don't.

[ac6000cw]

25 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I have the luxury of having "better" cameras but I don't NEED better cameras. Most of us don't.

Yep!

(...still enjoy reading about the 'better' cameras though - GAS addiction? 😉🙂)

[MrSMW]

3 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

Not trying to speak for @MrSMW, obviously, he might disagree, but just as a general rule any camera you get today will be more than enough when it comes to image.

I agree.

My only comment re. OM-1 video is I did not like it as much as full frame Panasonic, otherwise it was and is very good.

I don’t remember his name, but Chris Something is an OM Systems ambassador and shoots some amazing stuff on the system so it is 100% doable.

[Kisaha]

I have 4 Samsung NX cameras, 1 Pocket 4K and 1 R7. Only 1 Olympus 12-100mm, a few EF and EF-S lenses, a bag of 5 Samyang EF vDSL (the old ones, I don't remember how they called) and a few RF lenses..

June, I would like to go to full frame for some reasons, I am between S5IIX and R8, for different reasons each choice.

R8 will be complementary to the R7, but Panasonic S5IIX can take the part of the Pocket+R8+R7 I guess..(I certainly need 2 cameras though to have at all times, and the S5IIX doesn't have a clear candidate for a lesser and cheaper second body..).

What do you guys think? Is the Sigma EF adapter worth it? Is the X a better option for video or the (much, at this point with some reductions I see) cheaper S5ii is enough?

I am just bored to sell things, I could easily sell the Pocket and the Olympus lens and replace it with an R8 and a new RF lens (maybe an ultra wide of some kind), or else I could go the S5II way, and sell everything else (which is a lot of hustle and hurdle because so much stuff, and newly bought have to go..). The thing is, that both R7 and R8 are NOT hardcore video tools like the S5IIX seems to be, and the Pocket 4K is..or else I would have gone the R8 way already..

..and the thing is that S5 doesn't have a lesser, smaller, cheaper crop alternative that I like to have at all times (and various reasons)..

I am open to all suggestions, if you will.

Cheers.

[MrSMW]

54 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I am open to all suggestions, if you will.

Well, can't comment on anything Canon as I have never owned one but did consider the R7 along with various other Canon offerings.

Usual caveats of YMMV plus your own individual needs plus most things are 'good enough' these days so comes back to the individual needs bit in the end, but...

S5ii vs S5iix is quite a simple one:

S5ii = cheaper vs S5iix = pricier, better for rigging out, for fans of The Batman.

I don't need to and won't be rigging out, but I am a fan of The Batman, so went that route for that reason alone.

Love the look of the Leica SL2-S and the Lumix S5iix is essentially going to be my 'SL2-S', except better. And cheaper. As in I can get nearly 2 of the things for the same price. No contest when it's purely business, Lumix wins. It doesn't have any kind of tilting screen (the Leica) so a bit of a negative for me.

From what I understand, the Sigma ef adapter works of course, but is not great if good AF is a priority. It's not something I'm going to be using as between Sigma and Panny, they have all the lenses I want and need.

OK, hoping for a more compact I series 70-200 zoom, or better yet, an equivalent of the Tamron 35-150 but more compact, such as say 40-120, just as long as it's constant f2.8. But going off on a tangent now...

[hyalinejim]

53 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

I am a fan of The Batman, so went that route for that reason alone.

LOL!

I know what you mean. I don't think I would ever use All-I but I do like that all black look!

[hyalinejim]

54 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

the Sigma ef adapter works of course, but is not great if good AF is a priority

I would say the AF is "good" with the adapter.

[MrSMW]

25 minutes ago, hyalinejim said:

LOL!

I know what you mean. I don't think I would ever use All-I but I do like that all black look!

Got to add 200% grain to all finished productions for true authenticity!

Ditto, I don’t need the file sizes of All-I as I’m quite happy with 200 mpbsbpssbps and never going to shoot raw UNLESS it’s 6k or 8k 50p, at limited times and to pull stills off of it. And the S5iix can’t do that either so not a problem!

I could have got a pair of regular S5ii’s for 4000, but instead, a pair of X’s at 4750 including 2x 2TB portable Sandisk SSD that they are giving away and as I work off those things and they cost about 300 each, not really paying much to go full Batman 🦇 

[Kisaha]

I am certainly a Batman fun! Isn't the X in pre-order status still?

Does anyone knows the differences between X and simple S5ii?

[MrSMW]

‘Influencers’ received theirs the evening before last but the embargo re. commenting or reviewing is still in place.

Differences re. spec are all over the net.

Not being disingenuous, but it’s quicker and easier to point you there 😉

[hyalinejim]

I assumed it was the same as regular model but with All-I and black exterior.

But maybe they have been taking S5II feedback on board and will implement some of it in the X.

[ntblowz]

11 minutes ago, hyalinejim said:

I assumed it was the same as regular model but with All-I and black exterior.

But maybe they have been taking S5II feedback on board and will implement some of it in the X.

Yeah, I hope they fix the CDAF on FHD 50P/60P mode, cause that is ridiculous.

[Kisaha]

1 hour ago, ntblowz said:

Yeah, I hope they fix the CDAF on FHD 50P/60P mode, cause that is ridiculous.

really..I still use 1080p on most jobs..and what is exactly the situation with the 4K/50p? what is the crop that implements?

[Kisaha]

What about battery life on the S5ii. Can anyone comment on that?