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

[MrSMW]

5 hours ago, Beritar said:

It was really too much for Panasonic to make a S1 with the AF of the S5II ? 

I believe they will, or will at least be surprised if they do not.

My ‘prediction’ is they will skip the direct S1 replacement and go for a twin pairing of next gen S1R and S1H with the S5ii fulfilling the place of the S1.

I have zero idea re. their figures but the sales of the S1R especially cannot have been great? That camera is criminally under-regarded.

Ditto the S1H. My second one turned up today and is charging. 1800 euros, condition ‘excellent’. When the S5iix comes out, prices of used S1H’s will drop even further but IMO, it may be 4 years old, but it’s a better camera in every regard except the obvious AF.

I would like to see and almost certainly would upgrade to ‘S2H’s at some point, but part of me also doesn’t really care because there is nothing more I actually need, just would like.

[Andrew Reid]

On 3/14/2023 at 6:37 AM, MrSMW said:

Pros: I prefer (love) the form factor of the S1H. It is my favourite, almost perfect camera though I would prefer it to be about 10% smaller and lighter ideally.

The S1H if it were just a bit bigger than the S5 II, and with lovely huge top LCD info panel intact, would be quite lovely.

I'd rather it wouldn't drain the battery when it's switched off too.

S5 II is on my list. It seems Panasonic now have the basis for a perfect camera.

S1 II should be a blast.

The only thing I don't like about the S5 II is the small EVF and slightly uninspired Sony-style ergonomics.

Imagine a Leica version of that, would be fantastic.

[MrSMW]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Imagine a Leica version of that, would be fantastic.

I came close to pushing the button on a SL2-S. Used of course, but still, almost 4k euros when my ‘new’ S1H was 1850.

Why an SL2-S? As a 20+ year career photographer, I have always wanted to scratch that Leica itch and to my eye, the SL2-S is a stunning looking camera and the perfect size and form.

The only camera I like and want more is the most recent Hasselblad and thought I could probably just about swing a single body and lens, as a system, which I need, no chance. Sadly. But then I can’t afford a Porsche either so drive a Skoda Octavia 🤪

Except it (SL2-S) doesn’t have a tilt screen and at that point, it came back out of the shopping basket and the S1H went back in.

I don’t ‘need’ anything more now from a camera body. 

I ‘want’ of course, but the want now has almost no need and my next purchase will ideally be a fusion of S5ii, S1H and SL2-S and if it has the Leica styling, finish and brand, great. And I will take 3 of them and it will be a min 5 year investment.

Or Sigma might throw a curve ball into the mix with an FP that actually works in the real world 😉

Providing they do bring out an S1 replacement which I am pretty sure they will and providing Leica pop out an SL3 which I believe is on the cards, then the future of L Mount is very rosy indeed and an extremely strong system of options and output.

[MrSMW]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

The S1H if it were just a bit bigger than the S5 II, and with lovely huge top LCD info panel intact, would be quite lovely.

Yes, that as well.

As I was packing up my S1R’s yesterday, I had the new S1H sitting bare body next to an S1R and it’s no contest body-wise.

The S1H just feels better in the hand, has a better LCD, button positioning including on/off which is perfect on the S1H and just wrong on the S1R and then that top LCD just finishes it off.

Some people class the S1, S1R and S1H as basically the same camera but with the S1R just having more megapixels and the S1H being the video-orientated one but I think the S1H just sits in a class above the R and the vanilla S1.

I just think it’s one of those cameras that after the initial hype has died down, is actually a far stronger contender than most other stuff out there.

I have watched over the last 4 years quite a few hop on the S1H only to drift away to either Sony or more recently the S5ii and now pretty much all those ‘Content Creators’ have moved on. 

But the S1H did not stop being great. In fact, at under 2k, it became even more fabulous.

S1H fan boy? Yup, 100%. The S5, S5ii and S1R have all been or are just tools for my needs and I don’t feel any connection with them. The S1H though… 🥰

[j_one]

I'm not attached to the S5ii just yet. I view it as a proof of concept of what Panny has in store for the other models' refresh. I needed a mirrorless that can do all the things my Ursa can't: PDAF for gimbal and long focal length interview shots, stills for occasional studio shoots, smaller form factor when situation calls for it etc. IBIS is a plus but not a big factor.

I'm mostly a happy camper because the camera is stellar. The trouble for me is that while I love V-log for video, I'm just not married to Panny's color for stills in comparison to Canikon, shoot me. Perhaps I need more practice? S5ii stills are alright I guess. But having owned 5D3, 5D4, D810 and coming to Panny I do miss those colors, and the S1R samples I've seen haven't won me over either. I almost went the R6ii route, but I favor V-log DR over Clog3.

I'm wondering if its wise to just split these needs into two bodies vs fight to find the right hybrid body under $3k. One high MP DSLR used, one S1H (or future S2H with PDAF?) and adapt the lenses to it..

Or submit to Canon with an R7/R5/R5C and call it a day.

I don't like overthinking this stuff. I claim the purchase to be a good business decision, so I shouldn't let my subjective feels about the stills make me ungrateful for what is a really great camera right? There's always going to be compromises.

[Al Dolega]

I really hope there's an S1 replacement that's still around $2500, instead of just the S5II/S5IIX and then an S1H-type model at $3500-4000ish.

[TomTheDP]

1 hour ago, j_one said:

I'm not attached to the S5ii just yet. I view it as a proof of concept of what Panny has in store for the other models' refresh. I needed a mirrorless that can do all the things my Ursa can't: PDAF for gimbal and long focal length interview shots, stills for occasional studio shoots, smaller form factor when situation calls for it etc. IBIS is a plus but not a big factor.

I'm mostly a happy camper because the camera is stellar. The trouble for me is that while I love V-log for video, I'm just not married to Panny's color for stills in comparison to Canikon, shoot me. Perhaps I need more practice? S5ii stills are alright I guess. But having owned 5D3, 5D4, D810 and coming to Panny I do miss those colors, and the S1R samples I've seen haven't won me over either. I almost went the R6ii route, but I favor V-log DR over Clog3.

I'm wondering if its wise to just split these needs into two bodies vs fight to find the right hybrid body under $3k. One high MP DSLR used, one S1H (or future S2H with PDAF?) and adapt the lenses to it..

Or submit to Canon with an R7/R5/R5C and call it a day.

I don't like overthinking this stuff. I claim the purchase to be a good business decision, so I shouldn't let my subjective feels about the stills make me ungrateful for what is a really great camera right? There's always going to be compromises.

Yeah I am happier shooting Canon, Fuji or Nikon for stills. Why bother using a system you don't like unless its absolutely necessary to do so.

I think two bodies isn't a terrible idea if you can use EF lenses on the pana body with no problem. To me for stills an EOS R would do just fine. Even a Canon DSLR, 5D or 6d, have a great look out of camera, though they are lacking in lowlight against the newer options.

[hyalinejim]

12 hours ago, j_one said:

I'm just not married to Panny's color for stills in comparison to Canikon

Are you talking about the default Adobe Color profile in Camera RAW / Lightroom?

If so, then I think all new cameras suffer from a slightly desaturated palette.

If you use a ColorChecker to create a custom profile for the S5ii you should get results that are a lot closer to the Adobe profile for 5D3.

If you're comparing Canon's own profiles (Standard, Neutral etc) versus Panasonic's - or Adobe's reverse engineered ones - then, yes, they are a lot nicer I think.

[MrSMW]

Lumix fan boy hat off, nah, shoot raw and the file is as good as anything else full frame.

Came from Fuji and before that Nikon and before that film.

SOOC might be different, I don’t know, probably/almost certainly differences but I never shoot SOOC.

[newfoundmass]

I've found Panasonic's colors SOOC to be very good since the S5. I used to really love Canon's color science, but I've come to dislike how unnatural they can be. These days I prefer accurate colors more than anything. I'll be labeled a fanboy, but I prefer Panny colors to Canon at this point because I know that when I take a picture (or video) the colors are going to look closer to what I saw with my eyes than what Canon will give me. Everyone is really catching up to Canon, and in some ways surpassing them. Even Sony, which is still my least favorite, has improved dramatically.

[TomTheDP]

2 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

I've found Panasonic's colors SOOC to be very good since the S5. I used to really love Canon's color science, but I've come to dislike how unnatural they can be. These days I prefer accurate colors more than anything. I'll be labeled a fanboy, but I prefer Panny colors to Canon at this point because I know that when I take a picture (or video) the colors are going to look closer to what I saw with my eyes than what Canon will give me. Everyone is really catching up to Canon, and in some ways surpassing them. Even Sony, which is still my least favorite, has improved dramatically.

I kind of still like the old Canon color look. Not accurate but super nice. After comparing the C70, P4K, and Panasonic S1 I definitely like the C70 clog3 with the manufacturer lut applied the best.

It is all personal preference at some point.

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

Everyone is really catching up to Canon, and in some ways surpassing them. Even Sony, which is still my least favorite, has improved dramatically.

Depends on; the camera, the lens, the photographer, the location, light, familiarity/skill with the specific camera, processing/grading, yada yada yada.

Leica can look great or it can look shit.

Ditto; Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji and even old Pannyboy 😉

SOOC, Panasonic can be a little bit towards the magenta, but it’s such a simple fix, it just isn’t remotely an issue.

Sony used to be green 🤢 and I still see some awful output, but also some great stuff so…

[j_one]

I'm going to keep practicing for a better workflow in the grade. It most likely is going to be a matter of tinkering with RAW profiles or even creating/loading up some custom luts that get me the commercial ready "pop" I'm used to in the curves of other mentioned camera profiles. I'm seeing more magenta in skintones, (and even more green in shadows than original S5) but as @MrSMW and @hyalinejim stated, these are fixes I can get the hang of over time.

As I said before I'm honestly happy as is; I bought this video first in mind. Not expecting magic, but besides my old LX100 I never took the time to learn how their RAW files work because I only used their cameras for video. S5ii is the first Lumix camera I'm determined to use as a true hybrid in the field, I'm optimistic!

(Watch, two weeks from now I'll come back raving about Panny color)

[Kisaha]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:33 PM, TomTheDP said:

Yeah I am happier shooting Canon, Fuji or Nikon for stills. Why bother using a system you don't like unless its absolutely necessary to do so.

I think two bodies isn't a terrible idea if you can use EF lenses on the pana body with no problem. To me for stills an EOS R would do just fine. Even a Canon DSLR, 5D or 6d, have a great look out of camera, though they are lacking in lowlight against the newer options.

As I said before, I just decided this summer to go the painful and full of compromises RF way.

Image is just like my 3rd job in the industry at the moment (I like to switch from time to time! mainly doing sound and assistant director for a few years for TV drama now), but I would like to come back to do smaller and more personal projects, because TV life gets tiring and stressful and I am not getting any younger!

I noticed the young generation are embracing just all these new technological advances, so I decided to experience this kind of attitude (though I haven't on a project yet, but I hope soon) and decided to invest on an R7 camera.

SOOC, IBIS and AF is what most shoot for most "low budget" (or not that low!) projects and even in their movies and I have seen TV shows even use some of that (specifically,  AF on new Sony/Canon "cine" cameras).

I am of that generation Y that uses always full manual everything and considers"amateurish" any Auto mode on any camera (except maybe the Auto ISO!), but I am willing to explore more of the other side now.

I feel like a combo of an R8 and R7, especially for those that already own a good deal of AF EF lenses, is a very cheap and good way to cover a huge amount of the most basic and lower, but huge, market base of the industry, and still have some abilities for more moderately upper jobs if you know your tools well.

That is my impression of the now, at least..

[Evgeniy85]

 

[SRV1981]

I liked the a7iv in this

[ntblowz]

11 hours ago, Evgeniy85 said:

 

 

The default profile on Sony is quite greenish and yellow, I thought they would have fixed it by IV..

[hyalinejim]

A Facebook user reported that phase AF works fine with a Viltrox adapter.

I'd be interested in the Fotodiox one with ND or any adapter with ND. Does anyone have any experiences of them in general? Aside from AF, that is, how is usability, compatibility, ND quality (colour cast, X pattern)

[Tim Sewell]

On 3/16/2023 at 5:38 AM, MrSMW said:

I came close to pushing the button on a SL2-S. Used of course, but still, almost 4k euros when my ‘new’ S1H was 1850.

Why an SL2-S? As a 20+ year career photographer, I have always wanted to scratch that Leica itch and to my eye, the SL2-S is a stunning looking camera and the perfect size and form.

The only camera I like and want more is the most recent Hasselblad and thought I could probably just about swing a single body and lens, as a system, which I need, no chance. Sadly. But then I can’t afford a Porsche either so drive a Skoda Octavia 🤪

Except it (SL2-S) doesn’t have a tilt screen and at that point, it came back out of the shopping basket and the S1H went back in.

I don’t ‘need’ anything more now from a camera body. 

I ‘want’ of course, but the want now has almost no need and my next purchase will ideally be a fusion of S5ii, S1H and SL2-S and if it has the Leica styling, finish and brand, great. And I will take 3 of them and it will be a min 5 year investment.

Or Sigma might throw a curve ball into the mix with an FP that actually works in the real world 😉

Providing they do bring out an S1 replacement which I am pretty sure they will and providing Leica pop out an SL3 which I believe is on the cards, then the future of L Mount is very rosy indeed and an extremely strong system of options and output.

I must confess I'm always a little mystified that people are willing to pay the Leica premium for digital cameras.

One of the most compelling aspects of a Leica film camera is that it's 'the camera you pass on to your grandchildren' - but how does that stand up for digital, given that the sensor etc in even the best of Leica's offerings will be obsolete in 10 years?

[deezid]

18 hours ago, SRV1981 said:

I liked the a7iv in this

Same, color looks better and the shadows aren't green (no banding either).
Panasonic has to fix their issues with the S5II.