My New Camera, sort of... | The Lumix S5 

A couple of spots for the Patagonia Tour next April have opened up. Follow the link for details. I will be wearing deodorant for the duration :) www.brendansadventures.com/travel-photography-workshops/patagonia-photography-tour-workshop/

Oh James, James, James, you'll be telling us you're buying a new tripod next.....

Just admit you wanted full frame

Fair plays to James, despite being a Lumix ambassador he's still honest in his appraisal of the auto focus system. Better but not quite on a par with Sony or Canons offerings. Someone from Lumix was probably cringing when he said that 🤣 Regardless, thanks for being honest James, a rare commodity nowadays.

Prediction on future videos anyone ? Ok, let me try: 10.2020 - "Why it`s great to have FF and MFT" 11.2020 - "Why I sold MFT" 12.2020 - "I`am happy with FF" 01.2021 - "Why I sold FF, and am going back to MFT"

oh, 10min of james talking non stop. Love it. Want it.

I’m a proud owner of a g9, this camera has all I could want it to offer and even more. I have choosen mft for light weight and compacity when I’m hiking... When I want shallow depth of field or extra resolution I use an old digital medium format 😊 So I don’t need a full frame camera at all... And the best is that my two camera setup have cost me less than a FF camera with 2 or 3 lenses

I switched from my M50 to a G9 today mostly because of this channel, talk about timing!! Tbf you do have 2-3 years worth of videos to go back through to help me slowly master this beast which I'm still very happy to have :). Love the videos always very helpful and easy to follow.

Love your delivery style. Never trying too hard just being yourself and sharing your perspective. Great job with your channel!

Thank you can’t wait for more on this new camera setup.

Honestly, I start every morning with James rambling about things I cant afford, and im so ok with it

Congratulations on the new camera! I'm looking forward to hearing lots more about the side-by-side differences between the cameras. Wales is so beautiful! Looking forward to your images from there.

Congrats with the new system when you get our own camera.Your RU-vid video "Why I'm ditching FULL FRAME" circles often in my RU-vid timeline as suggested videos. M43 lenses are still so much smaller and lighter. And that's why I still use my Oly OM-D 1 M2 while biking and longer hikes. I really like Lumix S5 small size. Have fun, good luck with finding a nice home in Whales.

Yes! I was waiting to hear your thought on the new S5 🙌🏽

Great dry humour as always, not just that though the photography bits are excellent as well. Thanks James.

I'm pretty sure it won't make a scrap of difference. Before you splash the cash on that, you should draw up a short list of lenses covering, say, 16 mm to 300 or 600. Then calculate how much they will weigh, what bags you want, and what sweetener you are going to offer Emily.

Always enjoy watching your videos on Saturday mornings. Glad to see LUMIX is continuing to develop great cameras. I am sticking with Micro 4/3 because of the weight issue and honestly the expense of lenses for full frame. My guess is you will use the G9 more than the S5

Hi James, fantastic, your videos are so good. Hahaha... good to hear you again, my brain just geysired up a lot of micro4thirds + James memories. Your creations are so personal and honest. Should remind us all that changing your mind is part of a creating and learning.

As promised in an earlier comment, I am now having a fit. Not because of your move to full frame but because of my timing in acquiring a G9. All of the reasons for favoring M4/3 are still valid, nothing has changed in the camera-lens combination’s ability to produce stellar photos (and video including 10-bit 4-2-2). But the evil twins of gear lust and fear of missing out are making their presence known. Nattering away in the background. I think it’s time to turn my attention to learning Davinci Resolve. That ought to be enough to push them out of awareness. Quiet, dammit.

James , we are Pissed , this feels like a slap in the face to us Micro 4/3 guys - we quote your lines before we enter all full frame debate battles. We invested in this system because of your words and then now it’s gonna be a camera in your bag..... come on man..... gutted ... never once watched any reviews , we patiently waited to hear you talk it up but as always come back to our system ( Micro 4/3 ) ... I’m going over to Sony this is heartbreaking 🤣

Regardless of which camera brand or what sensor size you use, I find your videos educational and entertaining. Thank you.

Enjoy your new camera!🙏🏾

I saw a number of reviews on the S5 but went straight for James' cos there's just a way his reviews connect with me. And then I realised I have always watched his video but never actually subb'd - how interesting. Done that now :)

Got the G9 and GH5. Think I will wait for the new GH6 before I decide. FF lenses is still expensive and heavy. Love the M43 weight.

Best of luck with your new purchase.

You were the chosen one. Amazing videos still!

The one thing they had to fix, they didn't. The autofocus is horrible AGAIN... I still have the GH5 and G80/G85 but I'm thinking more and more about selling everything off and switching to the Sony A7siii

James, that’s one of the reasons I follow you. You’re an honest guy. Sure wish Canon had a honest Ambassador. They’re all puppets from their marketing department.

Hi James, watching your videos always made me feel good. I am in love with Olympus M4/3 (had a FF Canon EOS5 before that), but am surrounded by FF fans. Not that I think there‘s a big difference in image quality, at least in my opinion. It believe that depends more on the photographer. But now I feel I am hitting a dead end. What a pity thinking about all my beautiful Olympus pro lenses. Very sad day for me. But thank you for all your great wok and humor. And I do understand that with FF, you are reaching a far greater audience.... cheers, Thomas

Happy to see your not ditching MFT completely. Please keep on making MFT video's in the future!

Once the lens selection expands, you'll have access to lighter, more portable lenses. There have been some good, lightweight lenses for E mount now that the super fast, large aperture lens market is saturated. Some 1.8 or 2.8 primes on this bad boy would be a ton of fun! I love adapting older lenses to my Sony too, one of the main reasons I switched from m43 was to be able to keep my focal lengths as they were intended.

I was waiting for this so bad. Yeah, all the other reviewers are great at what they do, but when it comes to using a camera in the real world and putting through its paces, and doing all of that while being entertaining and honest and straight to the point, on that, you're unbeatable. I really wanted to hear your opinion on this camera since I've been considering a change of system for a while and this S5 really seems to be on the sweet spot for me. What do you think of the built quality? Keep up the good work James, really looking forward to seeing what this new chapter of your life in Wales brings. Greetings from Scotland! :)

Yes James, come away from the edge there's a good lad! You're making me very nervous! I find though, that it isn't the heights that are the problem. Neither is the falling...no no.. it's the hitting the ground at a high velocity that I find a teensy weensy bit of a problem! Terminal in fact!

James is 💯 my favourite photography RU-vidr, he's funny, entertaining and more importantly takes really good photos. Has really good tips as well. Great guy!!!

I really like the Lumis s5. The Size of the body + this 20-60mm Kit is amazing for a full frame camera. And the focal range of the lens fits my landscape photography perfectly. Maybe I will upgrade my beloved gx80 one day. But I won't stop using it. Especially for spontaneous and or telephoto shots I will still use Micro Four Third :)

Hi Saw the video on the Panasonic S5. I recently bought it, along with the 45 mm Sigma lens. That lens is small, light, and fast. It makes the S5 seem like you are holding a micro four thirds camera setup. Great camera. Low light capability.

Had to give my loaner back to Panasonic today. LOVE this camera. Might just have to buy one. Great vid dude!

to help with the fear of heights issue: top rope climbing. get used to being up high and fall down from the top (preferably from exhaustion) at least once, in order to feel at ease with your safety gear. one things leads to another and it's gonna get better within a couple of weeks

Awesome!! Looking forward to seeing some photos from this. Also looking to invest along side my G9. Love your channel 💥

Humor on point, also that shot at 1:16 is really stunning!

Yes I’m struggling to say no!

I still remember your video from a couple of years ago about ditching full frame. I thought at the time you’ll be back😉😉

The deal of the camera and Sigma 45mm or the XLR is quite incredible. Nice work Panasonic. The Olympus with the free Pro lens is also mad! Apart from world events, now is a good time to be looking at getting a new camera.

I have a Sony A7iii, Love it but also love the niche camera’s from Lumix. It is just the Price of it all That stops me from switching. There Fore i look forward to your video’s with the new camera.

Really enjoyed this video, james!

Thanks for this James - as good as ever. Re: the deodorant claim, I''ve always wondered how whitening toothpaste will make your teeth shades whiter - there must come a point where this is impossible unless you end up with teeth so white they outshine the sun.

I don't typically watch camera reviews unless they are Canon but I put that bias aside for James and watched the whole thing. He's that entertaining. ;)

Moving to Wales is the best excuse I’ve ever heard for buying a new camera.

Any time a big or expensive body or lens comes out for m43rds people comment about what a waste it is and that 'You might as well upgrade to Full Frame for the money'. I think what most Full Frame advocates fail to realize is that there is much more expense, sacrifice and commitment involved changing formats than simply purchasing a full frame camera body and lens. First off in general everything is bigger, heavier and more expensive. Full Frame can be almost as compact as m43rds but you are sacrificing the quality advantage of bigger glass to get it. In order to get that 2 stop advantage at the same aperture, you must use glass that is more or less twice as large and heavy. Having a compact FF body doesn't offer much of a quality advantage when you have to use similar sized glass as m43. You often also have to purchase new more expensive memory cards like dual XQD which can run several hundred extra dollars to get fast read/write speeds. If you use ND/Polarizing filters, you then must purchase them all over again for every single lens you choose to buy for the new system. New flashes, microphones, and basically any other accessory that will no longer be compatible with the new format. You have to learn an entirely new menu system which can take several months to adapt to and learn all the different features. FF cameras often only specialize in Photos and are weak in video options. Panasonic is starting to break that mold. But in general m43rds is a better hybrid system with a wide range of glass to choose from. If you add an extra m43rds body into the mix you can have a small travel camera system AND a larger professional system. I use the GX85 with a 20mm f1.7 and I can carry it with me in cargo pants or jackets everywhere. Then I can use the G9 body with the 10-25mm f1.7 along with a 35-100 f2.8 Zoom, flash and Mic in a shoulder bag to have a really powerful full range photo and video system getting most of the quality and range that FF cameras offer. I can always add a speedbooster with FF glass if I get desperate for extreme shallow depth of field and extra light. I was tempted with the S1 and the S5 also looks like a nice camera but after adding up expense and time investment VS. potential gains, I personally do not find it worth it if you already are in the m43rds system.

Ah James stop this, I’ve been really tempted for the S5 since I saw how compact it is. Seems the perfect landscape camera.

Low light / night sky is what tempts me to full frame. Pricing and lens weight keep me with m4/3. If I ever get more serious about astro photography, that might tempt me into a used full frame body and a wide angle lens. Eager to see more s5 content from you. Maybe you could try wringing maximum low light performance out of the G9 and see how it compares.

Good luck with the move, James :)

As a G9 shooter, this video was great. Had to have a opinon from a G9 owner if this camera is the right upgrade!

At first glance I was interested when I saw that the S5 actually has a pixel-shift hires mode. But for one, changing systems would be much too expensive (as I already have all I need for m43), and then there's the size, weight and price of FF lenses for this system. Alternatives are good, but this one would not fit the bill for me. Nice to see that it does for you, and let's see how this goes …

everytime I watch your video, I enjoy so much. haha Keep it up!

regarding the height issue mate - join the Army. Loved the first photo at the beach mate - loved it.

If I could afford two camera systems this would be top of my list. As it is, I'll stick to my Olympus Em1 MkII and the two lenses I own which do almost everything I need (I still need to save for the long telephoto lens). Enjoy the new camera James and good luck on the move to Wales.

As.always brilliant James. I'm certain you could.make a video on a bag of rocks totally entertaining. Throw in photography stuff and you hit one outta the park... !

To keep the weight down and achieve similar noise levels you could try the Voigtländer(COSINA) : NOKTON 10.5mm F0.95 on the G9. You would have to be comfortable with manual focus but it has a very similar exit pupil so a similar signal on the sensor.

I'm going to Wales next week - I'll take a head torch...

I was just thinking that 20-60 lens would be perfect for you. Covers everything alongside a 70-200 f4, and the fact it's "just" 2k for the kit of camera and lens is honestly amazing. Now if they come out with some more pocketable primes like what Canon has with their 35 1.8 or Sony with their 85 1.8 or the Tamron and Samyang offerings, that's a real winner even for an everyday setup.

It's pretty clear to me that new isn't always better, I've stuck with the G85 for a lot of professional work (even in low light) and still performs quite good. I thought about getting the G9, but I get the feeling that now with the S5 is really the time to make a change 🤔 shame about the lenses size/weight, that may be the only thing keeping me from jumping into it.

Not an m43 user but James' videos helped me not get caught up with the FF madness shooting a smaller sensor (Fuji APS-C). Crucial stretch coming up for m43 with Olympus gone and Lumix seemingly prioritizing their FF offerings more over m43 the past couple of years. Heck Lumix sent James 2 Lumix S series cameras in 14 months, you can't really blame the guy for seeing where this is headed. Will still watch cuz actually curious on how Panasonic FF fares for photography since up til now the prominent influencers are mostly using the cameras for video.

Best 'review' of s5 so far :) now I want chocolate!

The video wanted and the video we needed.

It was only a matter of time before they built a FF that suited you. Rock on!

Loved your little review and the way you tried to convince yourself that you need it hahaha! Subbed ;)

Will be very interested in the f1.8 primes added to this nice looking body.

Ugh I've been pressing refresh for like 3 days, finally!

Just got an Olympus pro 12-100 lens, awesome 1 lens kit! I pity you but we all have the madness to get stuff...

Another good video. I’m a Lumix lover too and faced a little bit of the same dilemma. I too have the excellent G9. But being both impatient and a bit skint I jumped a little while ago and bought a second hand A7rii - probably the first of the really useful A7s. Bags of resolution (although of course I can still get very high res by using the G9s high res mode if I want to carry a tripod or balance it on a wall). Nowhere near as effective IS, but low-light capability is better. The kicker though is the thing you don’t mention - and that’s the bit of extra dynamic range you can pull out of RAWs. So just a lovely really wide but natural tonality I can’t quite match with the G9. And of course the build and ergonomics. I’ve used lots of marques and lots of different cameras and the G9 is the best I’ve owned for each of those things. I won’t be abandoning MfT any time soon.

The problem of heavy lenses for full frame may be resolved by Panasonic. They are introducing relatively small primes to go with the L-mount cameras. The first is the new 85mm. It's also cheap, some $600.

Some questions I have right now are how you're dealing with the lens selection at the moment and the there from resulting less effective telephoto (because no crop and reach from the MFT). Not saying there are no lenses featured and avaible, but certainly interesting to see how you will handle the features and advantages of each system if you actually will focus on the S5 more and more with future. Also noticed that the S5 AF Update comes to the other FF cameras. Now we can just hope it also is brought to the MFT system.

Funny when I think back on the number of times I re-watched your video on switching from your Nikon full frame to the micro 4/3 system, and although you made so much sense, I just stuck with full frame thinking that since I can only afford one, I concluded ff is just gonna be best at the photography styles I want to try (loads of emphasis on try)..... so I just switched from Nikon to Sony mirrorless ...... and yeah, lenses still big & heavy and too bloody expensive........ looking forward to see you enjoying the s5, it does look like Lumix are on to a winner - but obviously, we love your vids no matter what you’re shooting with 👍😎 - Mike

The S5 is a great camera and the budle with the 20-60 and free 45mm prime is also very fair priced. Dealbreaker for me would be the crazy expensive F4 wide angle zoom and the weight of the 70-200 F4.

Cool. I like it.

Oh no!!! You're dumping M43! You have knocked the last nail on the coffin of this beautiful system! Hahaha.

Good luck with that. The heavy, expensive lenses are still an issue for me. Also, I'm concerned about how dark you think Wales is...& that with that thought, you still want to move there! 😳 😆 It's amazing the dubious arguments one can invent to justify a new gadget! 😆

Hi James, you using the m43-system was your unique selling point, at least for me. Learning what's possible with the small sensor was the one reason for me to subscribe to your channel. How are you going to differenciate yourself from all the countless photography channels now?

James - I really enjoy your (I'm going to say cynical) nature when it comes to gear. I get sooooooo bored listening to people that just got sent stuff (bikes, coffee, cameras... pretty much insert sponsored thing here) raving on and on about how MORE IS SO MUCH BETTER YOU NEED MORE AND NEW! IT MUST BE NEW! AND NEW AND MORE! WHOA. Lovely to hear an extremely talented photographer talk about having a single body and being more thoughtful about things. (Granted, there are times more than one body is appropriate, but I don't think that's the discussion here).

I will be very interested to hear about lenses, particularly how you feel about the weight of the L-mount glass. Like you, I went to mft for the weight savings. And most of that weight is lenses.

You can get a Konica 40mm 1.8 and a AR-L mount adapter. And it’s absolutely tiny.

I appreciate your practical advice on what gear to use with the emphasis someone has to be the pack mule for the gear. As far as reviews and specs, I have believe any of the cameras from any of the major manufacturers are solid options. The choice should be guided by what one does with a camera and one's budget and not so heavily on the specs particularly on features one rarely uses. Too often reviewers will either oversell the camera or find a feature they do not like rip the camera over it. Lumix is known for having a weak autofocus system compared to others, but is it really that bad (never shot Lumix so I cannot say) or is it a case of mediocre being bested by better. Sony is reputed to have the worst menu system for a camera, again no experience, and is it a case of mediocre being bested by better. Nikon gets criticism on the Z series for # of slots, articulation of the screen, video capabilities, etc. but having a Z50 (single slot, partially articulated screen) I would say most of the Internet bile is not based on a fair assessment of the camera but on bashing Nikon, definitely a case of mediocre being bested by better. Many reviews do not try to identify the target niche of the camera and whether the design choices make sense for the market niche, e.g. does the Z50 fit the needs of its target niche well or not and thus is a good value for that niche.

I love that James is upfront about being a Lumix ambassador . Yes, he has always been upfront about it but I know a lot of other youtubers who are brand ambassadors where you have to damn near slow the video down to 1/4 speed to catch the part where they mention they are brand ambassadors. Oh, and James is pretty entertaining too. So there's that. Well done.

Incredible reasoning!! I need full frame as Wales has more cloud 😂😂👍🏼

Nice! I was waiting for this video :) I LOVE m43. Lens selection, sizes, IBIS, image quality- m43 delivers all of IT! But :) S5 is game changer. Compact, well designed, L-Mount, looks like it has superb ergonomics, thanks to G9 DNA :) Only one thing what stops me - lenses :) Give me super compact f/4 or superb lightweight primes, not like monstrous Panasonic 50/1.4 or impossible to use wide open Sigma 45/2.8 and my soul is sold :) until that - m43.

Full frame just needs more high quality slower lenses. You can get slow ff lenses which are sharper than m43 lenses and have the same weight, and the big sensor makes up for lower f stops, but theyre rarely very rugged (compared to like pro olympus lenses). Samyang make great light pancake primes for the fe system - hopefully they will bring some over to L mount.

All I kept thinking throughout the video James is that you've finally come to your senses. You were always going to move back up to full frame. Micro four thirds never had a chance. Not sure what took so long...we ve had small full frame mirorless cameras for years. Peak District, Wales weather and light...pretty much the same so not too sure about that argument. I think it's the "spend some money" bug.

Hi James, i’ve still got my tandem paragliding license (although i’m predominantly in Bassano del Grappa now) but i’m sure a little flight will help with the height thing :), deodorant application prior is preferred

Once you move to Wales, take your G9 and a tele-lens to the "Mach Loop". (Maybe bring ear plugs too.)

Apart from the AF the G9 is a near perfect camera. The S5 is basically a Fullframe G9 with better AF. I think it’s going to do well. That being said, lenses are still a bit pricey.

Don’t care if you are sponsored just enjoy the show. Also maybe if they provided a 4/3 booster adapter so you can use your smaller glass. If lumix came out with their own name brand one...like Nikon canon and now SONY has done , then you could potentially use the smaller lenses still. But if you watch all your old videos it’s all about the lens size not so much the body size..but you can change your mind 🤪

Wow feels a bit unreal to be hearing such big news. :D

It's my view that the wider the lens, the larger the sensor (or film format) should be. But the longer the lens, the smaller the sensorl should be. So perhaps the S5 would be used up until, say, 100mm (25⁰), and the G9 from 100mm (12⁰) up. My reasoning: larger sensors can have wide primes which aren't excessively large. But for longer lenses it's a much different story. As you no doubt have experience with.

As an S1H owner myself, welcome to Panasonic full-frame!

We can watch all the other millions of S5 reviews out there...well, six anyway! Enjoy the Welsh weather James :-)

The heights thing - spend more time around them, I was a bouldering only climber for about a year before I decided to brave roped climbing but now I wonder why I even held back

Have you tested the auto focus - face and eye detect - in low light scenarios, for photography? I am a GH5 user and I would really hate to switch to Sony just for low light and auto focus for photography.

I was patiently awaiting this video ever since I saw your insta story that you have a new camera and my initial reaction was "nooooooo". I must say, I've watched different reviews, different points of view and opinions about the S5 and I do think it's a fantastic piece of hardware especially considering the size of it, so that reaction was probably purely from a bit of jealousy in me, sorry. I very much liked and respected how you moved from FF to MFT for weight and size reasons. I only recently acquired G80, partly also due to your channel, and love it a lot. Would I choose S5 if I could afford it? Probably. However, looking on my budget and price/value ratio I get from my G80, I'm more than happy. Thanks for the video. One more thing, as I only shortly back started following your channel, I must have seen all the videos in something like a week or 10 days or so. You move an awful lot I'd say 😂 haven't you only recently bought the house in PD? Take care mate.

yeah, a review from you would be like a cannon (e)mbassador reviewing the r5 without saying a word about overheating and stuff.