I just sold my A74...glad of it. The Panasonic is far better for film making, but it equal for AF, with better color, and Stabilization. You're forgetting a LOT of advantages for video the S5 gives you. It is so much more usable than the A74. What the A74 does is good, but much, much more limited than the S5. And it's much less expensive. Did I say the Panasonic color is much better?!?
lol. comparing a 1 year old hybrid camera to a brand new video focused camera? okay. =) And as far as autofocus, it is definitely NOT equal... just look at the reviews from sponsored people and then wait for actual samples to come out. The Panasonic is definitely a GREAT value... but AF is not as good, no CF Express options, cannot do 4:2:2 ProRes internally (as there are no CF Express cards) and when you record to an SSD, you cannot have redundant recording. And well, let's be honest... If you REALLY care about all the extra video centric features of the Panasonic... then wouldn't you be grading footage to begin with. =P In any case, yes, the Panasonic certainly is more feature packed from the video perspective, but the Sony A7IV is still a far better HYBRID camera.
IMO, if you have the A74 there is no reason to switch. If you are buying one new then there are a few things to consider. Are you in a tropical location? If so s5ii. Sony has a much better lens selection, if you need real telephoto then it isn't even a question you go sony. Sony has better low light performance. From dealers in my area the cameras are selling for within a couple hundred of each other so the price is not an issue. Every camera made in the last 5 years has had phenomenal photo capabilities, If you aren't getting results already work on your lighting and composure. Realistically color, sound, don't matter as if you are using it professionally you are using offboard audio and color grading.
Sony have better autofocus, better photo capabilities and lens. Especially those GMs. The only benefits of getting Panasonic is better ibis(most people will buy a gimbal though), a better screen, more video features and a better price. I went with the Sony A7IV last week.
Panasonic has better ergonomics, better IBIS, better screen resolution, better SOOC colors. New cooling fan. Some reviewers say the Sonys af may be better but the finding vary depending on the reviewer. Some say it is right on. Also early reviews are saying EF glass is very good when adapted. Better than using the MC-11 when going from canon to sony.
@@Princeton_James We are talking about small differences at this point. Both cameras are great and it might just be small features that lean people one way or another.
Why has the Sony better photo capabilities? As I see it, the Panasonic has HighRes, more bracketing Options (including focus bracketing), better colors, custom real time luts, better ibis.... All for photography Sony offers a view more megapixels, and?
@@JonathanPalfrey I would agree with you. At this point they are all good. For me I love the look and feel and find Panasonic to be overall easier to use. More intuitive. I've been waiting for PDAF so this is very exciting.
The 5 things you mentioned and more are the reasons I am selling the a7iv and getting the S5ii x. The A7iv has heated on several occasions while shooting. No problem with the a7siii.
@@GoneFishin247 I have a plan. Shoot manually at times with the Panny (if the hype does live up) and use the a7siii when fast focus is critical. I would have sold the A7iv anyway.
Yes I’m going to buy it as soon as the X version is released. I shoot sony now, I’m just going to add it. I do travel vids misty, the stabilization is just too attractive and the cooling system
1: It's not cheaper - take a look at Panamoz or Efinty. 28/01/23 2: open gate is over hyped. If you need your subject or object to be totally in frame for vertical and horizontal content then you need it to be within your horizontal frame markers and also within your vertical frame markers, at this point you may as well shoot 16:9 with vertical frame markers. Also you don't have 50p in opengate so this makes it awkward and also if say your head is towards the top of your open gate frame you'll get distortion. There is a video somewhere explaining the actual practicality of using open gate. 3: stabalisation - sonys e-stabalisaion is not that different to me (see the hybrid shooter) plus gyro stabalisation from sony is very useful - Ive used it a couple of times and its like Ive got a gimbal. The only reason I don't like the A74 - and it's not a minor issue, is the rear screen.
Yeah I’ve always been disappointed that MFT cameras haven’t pushed slow motion much further. It’s a bit better for the price but only a generation ahead.
I have serious regrets about my a7iv purchase I should have waited for the s5ii. My s5 gen 1 still beats my a7iv by a mile in all departments except autofocus.
Don’t worry about it the A7iv is still a wonderful camera that is more than capable for the vast majority of hybrid shooting. Out of all the cameras I’ve owned and used it’s still my favourite.
I sold the A7 IV for the S5 II just 10 days ago, after the initial happiness I am now very perplexed. I let myself be fooled by the many reviews, as usual. Video side I'm not the best person to express an opinion, but photo side, the A7 IV has a breathtaking AF and tons of customizable keys and superb quality. However I'm still in the learning phase, I will see later what to do. I don't think you have the A7 IV if you say the first series S5 is a mile ahead.
@@percloroy sorry miles ahead in features, colour science, stabilization and low light. I own and shoot with both cameras daily. When I bought the a7iv I honestly thought the stabilization was broken on the camera, that’s how much better it is on the Lumix. Vlog is just stunning and the low light is better on the s5. The Sony has it beat in dynamic range and auto focus. The s5 is so loaded feature loaded that I’m starting to wonder if you’ve used either of the cameras.
Let’s hope more do it. In fact wouldn’t it be cool to see square full frame sensors being made. Seems a bit of a shame we don’t use the top and bottom of the image circle. There would be no need to turn cameras sideways for portrait shots than for either video or photography.
The one thing a MFT camera like the GH6 must have is state of the art peaking. Panasonic has been historically poor, not as poor as Sony, but poor none the less. They need peaking the level of Fuji, which, IMO, sets the standard.
S5ii body is better for video, but I have already invested in sony lenses so I will stick with sony, but if it doesn't catch up with panasonic I will have to consider switching.
Great review and comparison ! I’m starting from scratch and was going with Sony but now I’m leaning towards Panasonic. My question is on additional lens purchases. Are the other companies that make lenses that fit Panasonic ? Overall, would the entire “eco system” be less expensive with Panasonic ? Thank you.
Just lumix and sigma, and maybe the odd nisi/laowa. Lens selection is probably sony's biggest advantage over panasonic. Plus autofocus, i'm not convinced pana has caught up.
@@joec33 Lens choice is Sonys biggest plus right now. I'm not sure if L mount will ever catch up because of how much smaller Panasonic are compared to Sony. I think if you do more photography then Sony is probably a better way to go, it really does both excellently well.
A7iii could be better choice for photos > video + it’s cheaper and better in low light situations. Lenses are expensive, tho sigmas zooms are great quality to price ratio.
I sold my a7IV and picking up my S5II on release date. In addition to what you mentioned my other reasons: -overall shooting experience, I,ve had 2 Sonys and they really never “inspired” me as a tool, they produce excellent image, but user experience is “meh”. -Timelapse video in camera, couldn’t ever get around this limitation in all Sony, Interval photo shooting is a tedious process, and S&Q is a joke when sony users call it “Timelapse” -Shutter angle: I shoot events and constantly switch between frame rates is annoying to fiddle with the shutter speed. -V-LOG, I’ve never felt like I mastered SLOG3, really challenging to get consistent exposure shooting run & gun, specially without exposure tools in camera.
Ah cool, yeah in terms of features Panasonic are hard to beat. Annoying how Sony could add a lot of these features but don’t, at least their not as bad as Canon for that. I’ve been really happy with slog3 ever since this latest generation of cameras. Resolve helps a lot too
Good point, if you are already invested in other system as Sony, there is no need to switch as you have more choice of lenses, bodies in different price which match each other’s and availability of gimbals.
To me the S5 II is the most overrated camera in recent memory. Sure Panasonic FINALLY caught up with every other camera company and got working AF (though still has issues as DSLR Videoshooter pointed out) but there are so many shortcomings... all the high speed modes are cropped and crippled... the rolling shutter is really bad, battery life it "so so" and it falls well behind in photo AF and burst rates ( and lenses). The R6 II is definitely best in class followed by the A7IV, then the R6, then the S5 II. But I can see how after not having working AF for decades, anything would seem like the ubermench that can take over the world! It's a great step for Panasonic but nothing at all compelling to switch from better brands like Sony or Canon.
USB-C recording is an awesome feature that all modern cameras should be able to do, or even better transfer from SD to SSD would be cool for no computer back ups in the field. That said I'm not so bothered by Pro Res internally. It's impressive they've added it but with M1 & M2 Macs now days there's no reason to shoot in a huge file size format like ProRes at this price bracket.
