What you said about the lenses is part of the reason I love panasonic as a camera brand: they're extremely thoughtful with their design. Making all of the primes roughly the same weight so you don't have to rebalance a gimbal, making them all focus breathing corrected - you can tell they really had the end user in mind.
As a former LUMIX shooter, I am very happy to see that Panasonic finally listened and delivered. Imagine if PDAF was incorporated in the original S5? Where would they be now? Panasonic has the deep pockets to claw back all of that lost market-share from the past five years, it seems that they now have the will to do so. This is good news.
@@angeloplayforone - Some but not all. I think they have a viable position in the marketplace, but (IMO) there isn’t a compelling argument (yet) to ditch an entire system in favor of LUMIX.
@@kbarrett1844 Obviously, you are talking about photography -- because Lumix has been the only one to buy other than Blackmagic cameras for shooting films on Cameras under $2000.
They do it deliberately I'm fairly sure they're a syndicate. This year will be Panasonic's year, next year Sony, then Canon then Fuji they share the profits and fleece us gear heads making us change systems and fork out money.
Just a heads up, the Boost I.S. setting is primarily meant for stationary shots, like when you want it to look like it's on a tripod. Moving the camera with Boost I.S. on can cause jumps in the image.
I look forward to when the phase update moves to the MFT cameras. Not interested in L-mount, but a GH6 M2, G9 M2, or preferably a GH5 M3. There is going to be lots of Lumix camera updates over the next year or two
I dropped panasonic because of the issues with my GH5 and moved to the R7 and its been great. I would love to find a new use for my MFT lenses but not interested in the OM-1. If panasonic can bring phase detect and animal eye detection to MFT I'd give them another try.
Am I wrong or does this review show that Sony is actually BETTER than the Panasonic and not the other way around as the title says? That's what I'm getting after watching. What it seems to be saying is "Good try Panasonic, but Sony is still a better buy."
What an exciting camera, but it looks huge next to the Sony. As a (Nikon) hobbyist, I'd really like to see this compared with a Z6II, A74, and R6II. Specifically, each with the best F4 mid-zoom, and a separate video with the best 70-300mm option, and then one on the best/fastest/affordable 20mmf1.x option. This is the market that is IMO feeling a little left out in reviews and options. PS Watching Sony's SOOC colors (from every respected reviewer) is just comical, and having tried 4 bodies under $3,000, including the A7IV, their JPG's are even worse amongst the top three. Nikon still has the nicest JPG's that are the closest match to their RAW images.
Congrats to Panasonic, nice update! Re: focus breathing, Nikon Z also addresses this optically, without losing pixels. Although I realize we only highlight Nikon’s “negatives” here…
Well they basically said that with this camera Panasonic caught up to the older Z cameras in terms of AF but yes they neglegted to say that the Z glass is also focus breathing corrected. Tamron is also making focus breathing corrected lenses, probably more lensmakers are going that direction as well.
I'm still hoping that Nikon will have a "Lumix S5 II X moment" and catapult themselves back to their glory days. I hear they are developing new sensors for themselves.
I’ve been Panasonic user for 10 years and I can tell you one thing, their product lasts! My rice cooker still works like a charm! Okay, will try this s5 ii out!
As much as i want to love this camera... it was a HUGE dissapointment hearing about huge crop in 60p.... Autofocus is all great and dendi, but it is not an innovation, they just caught up to aready basic standart technology, nothing special. Aslo as i understand 1080p is not oversampled, it is skipping or binning? Also i cant understand, and i mean REALLY cant understand 5iix model, all this features should have been in s5ii from the start, if i pay panasonic for 200$ upgrade, price will be the same, but i will not get streaming, ssd recording etc??? SO price for s5ii and s5iiX will be identical but with less features even after 200$ upgrade? Also i have to wait for may and couple more month for retail? P.S. in my country i can get a7siii brand new for 500$ more than panasonic s5 mark one... and a7iV cost the same as panasonic s5 mark one... to get first version for 2.000$ i must buy it only second hand... so i am torn apart and little if not largly dissapointed... do not know how to behave, as much as i want to buy s5ii, but i want X model features and i do not want to wait, also for 500$ more i can get a7siii with 4k 120 without so large crop and autofocus in 240 fps... Damn, Panasonic, why!?...
Been saying a long time that it was so weird that Panasonic was so far behind with their AF. Glad to see they are finally getting it! Happy for the Panasonic users out there.
Panasonic will be very uphappy - they own cameras that are goijng to be worth even less now. The discounting has already started on non phase detect models
do you feel it's a fair comparison between a camera just released to a camera that is now almost 5 years old with 5 year old tech? genuine question. I feel like it'd be better to compare to the A7IV and then mention the price difference as a legitimate factor in deciding what to buy.
I believe you said in this video that 85-90% of photographers shoot video? Really? I belong to a photography club of approx. 100 members and hardly anyone shoots video. Don’t know where you got that statistic from. Perhaps you’re referring to RU-vidrs.
Sorry, it’s just not enough of an improvement over it’s predecessor to compete as a true multi-purpose alternative to the best from Canon and Sony. Like it’s predecessor though, it’s still the best in its class for video only.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an agreement Sony and Pany - Pany had so many advantages over Sony but crippled their AF for video - each had a market share - Pany adopting a better AF is like saying all bets are off - Sony knows that Pany cameras are superior and lower price point - the market is so tough - all bets are off now - Everyman for themselves - will Sony pull their sensors from Pany - will Pany have to find another sensor manufacturer ?
I really do not understand why you'd make this comparison instead of with the A7IV. There are plenty of discounts on that, making it just slightly more expensive. The new S5II won't get discounts for a long time, a year at least. So why this comparison? Getting the a7iii will be wayyy cheaper in practice.
Yes hardly a proper comparison to compare to a 4 year old Sony that can be purchased new far cheaper than the Panasonic. The a7iv is more expensive than the Panasonic but not by much and by time you start buying lenses the Sony system will probably be cheaper.
@@TonyAndChelsea So you did it to make the Panasonic look good. That looks like a paid review! You can also compare the new A9III coming out in February with a Canon Analog Camera and tell everybody to buy it. Doesn't make sense. Panasonic has to be keeping up with the recent models of all brands. If they can't, so it is their problem!
A more amazing camera… Panasonic FZ1000. 4K, 20mp, 25-400 2.8-4, optical stabilization, wifi nfc, clean hdmi out. Bought it used 4yrs ago for $360 in excellent shape. Today it’s worth $450-550. Appreciating asset.
The FZ1000 has a 9.1-146mm f/2.8 - f/4 lens. In 35mm equivalent terms it is 25-400mm f/8-f/11. The reason someone would choose a full-frame camera like this is to acheive the bokeh and low-light capabilities you can get with something like a 24mm f/1.4 prime, which is a full 5 stops faster than the FZ1000 25mm f/8 equivalent at that focal length. The difference is really striking. My iPhone is equivalent to 24mm f/6.3, so my smartphone gathers almost a full stop more light and has shallower depth-of-field than the FZ1000 does at 24mm. Certainly the FZ1000 is capable, but please do understand that there is value in these more expensive camera and lens systems. For more information, visit sdp.io/crop.
@@TonyAndChelsea I feel honored that you guys replied. I agree with everything you said (formerly had the old full frame canon 5d mk2). I mention the FZ1000 because it’s such a great all around beater/b-roll cam. From 150mm+ with a close subject, the bokeh isn’t too shabby. PS. Your channel has gotten so good that I swear it’s professional broadcast level - way above the usual RU-vid channels.
I'm one of those "boomer" people talk about now...I guess? I want my camera to take only photos. I'd kill for a camera that did just photography, without video, and a reduced price.
This is a hybrid, but is primarily a video focused camera. That's the point of this camera. Think about this as a video camera that also has a full set of photo features, all for $2k? Not really much to complain about.
I may not get your point. But I do not understand why you compare Panasonic S5ii to Sony A7iii which is very old model. You should compare it to Sony A7IV or Canon R6ii.
no mention of the s5iix in the future with more video options? seems misleading to recommend this to 'video' leaning hybrid shooters with a better option for only $200(US) more in a few months coming out
Are you all drunk? My main concern is the fact it's still 24mp like their mk1. This mk2 is basically a videocentric camera with better af. It's great if you are video focused but I'm more of photography guy. This and the lack of native lenses makes it a non-starter for me. I don't get why they did not up the mp for the mk2 version of this. Weird. Isn't panny aware of sony a7iv? Even sony upped the sensor size by almost 30% to 33mp. ps. isn't it true that panny 4k60 is cropped. huh.
Ah...... That title should have had a question mark instead of an exclamation point. I think that the correct comparison should have been the A7IV, but I understand why you did the A7III, due to the price, but it's an unfair comparison because we are comparing Panasonic's latest tech to Sony's very, very old technology. The question is how this Panasonic would have compared overall to the A7IV, that's what should have been tested if you are comparing from video to stills. I think this is huge for Panasonic and it's customers and it shows that they are committed to their customers and this is very impressive considering that the fought PDAF for so long. I think this is the right move for them and their customers. Panasonic offers so many more features for video than anyone at this price point and that means anyone. Put the fine tune touches on these models with autofocus, which they will, and Panasonic will have an absolute beast on their hands. The comparison to the A7IV, needed to be made as this would have given the viewers a fair sense of where Panasonic stands now and how far they need to go to get there. So based off of your test, this camera isn't there yet and Canon and Sony have nothing to fear at this immediate point, but the S5IIX with its ability to allow for USB C hard drive recording and it's other video features, now that's game changer for this model and I see that model being fully rigged out. brand-new
Agreed, the S5 ii should've been compared to the A7IV, XH2S, and R6ii. It's really squaring up to be a great camera and will probably take many customers that have been contemplating the A7IV away from Sony and over to Panasonic.
They should test it with A7IV, not A7III. I know the price is different but comparing it to a 5-6 year old camera is just bad and make S5II look better in AF than it really should be.
Tony and Chelsea, thank you for an amazing review! Your summary was very useful. And for a camera priced sub 2k this is definitely a first time buyer's pick. Ok so there are a couple nit picking things that turn me down on this camera but thats ok. I personally like stills for fast moving objects. Is there any word on the Nikon Z8 or the Z7iii?
@@bbasleigh6149 The fact that anyone has access to 3rd party lens is a big +. However I'm a little hesitant about their "all new phase detect AF." The question for me is does one go for the new s5ii or should one settle for the Canon R6 for the same price? Or you could spend five hundred more for the R6ii. I guess people should wait a month or two and wait for what Nikon will announce. Supposedly Nikon has the Z8 and Z6iii hiding.Being that I am more of a stills kinda guy I think I'll wait and see until spring.
Tony my man, we about the same age so I'm sorry to tell you that at our age we can't actually run, in our heads we are but only our arms are moving faster...I'm sorry bud, Chelsea should have told you this but I'm sure she didn't out of love. My wife did the same thing, someone else had to break the news to me as well...sorry bud.
Most amazing is, that Sony still sells the 5-year-old product with the same price as then! Which also means that every model is more expensive than the one before. And they are gaining market from left to right. Well done, Sony!
@@tokelahti Sony is only gaining market share because Canon has been making a bunch of garbage lately. Sony has great autofocus, the best out there actually. But the rest of their cameras are crippled compared to what you can get from Blackmagic or Lumix.
The right price for any product is where supply and demand meet, nothing else. Also, there’s a lot more to a product than age and some isolated specs. Having switched brands before, I’m aware of the hassle and how expensive it gets. Thus, when choosing my next camera, I’m considering how likely is it that I’m going to be happy with that brand for decades to come.
Excellent ++++ video ya'll. As always, ( from south tejas ) keep up the good work and keep'em flying... From the little red planet... 👽👽👽👽👽😂 After our recording breaking heat heat wave in the south, we have become the little red planet...🤣
It’s important to note that Panasonic has remained consistently dialed in to cinematic video rather than sports or nature. That can be looked at as negative or positive, depending on the buyer. However, it is nice to see that they are moving forward. I still have much admiration for my Lumix S1, originally had no interest in the S5 series but maybe now I do.
Well done Panasonic, you're back in the game and at a great price point giving your competitors a run for their money. Huge thanks to Chelsea and Tony, fab video!
Nikon cameras are a nightmare to use. Terrible UI/UX, awful button tactility, etc. I tried a Z6 II and had to return it because it was so bad. I tried the Z9 later and it was a little better (at least they finally made it so center pressing the joystick in the menus act as an OK button click, which the earlier Z cameras inexplicably cannot do even if you set the joystick center press to emulate the OK button) but ultimately I sold it because it was just so annoying to use.
Ek, I brought a very discounted S5 November.. I thought Pana was unhappy with the S5 vs S1 etc should have checked rumor websites.. Anyway I got it as a backup to my Sigma fp and fp/L ie L mount camera.. took it out after 2am on a snowy night to get scenic shots and it's ibis worked well down to between 1/5 to 1/4 second compared to my my Oly M1. So if Ibis is improved there should be no complaints. Also high ISO stills were good, again if the newer camera is improved even better. I know they were lent gear by Panasonic, but they still tested a Canon lens, it's a shame they didn't test any Sigma lens (other than 150-600?). My S5 shines with the Sigma primes on contrast focus, I hope the new camera PD focus works well with Sigma lens too, if so people should consider the full range of lens available.
My prediction is after this camera is released, at some point Panasonic might bring out a firmware update in future to improve the AF. It is much better than Panasonic has had, but since this is the first time Panasonic has used PDAF, I could tell they might be behind in how good it is compared to Sony and Canon and it will take time for Panasonic to catch up. I am thinking of upgrading my GH6 to one of these. I like the features of the GH6, but I need better low light and better 4K video quality than I am getting with the GH6. I also want to take more photos, mostly of static subjects like buildings, plants, landscapes etc... so super accurate AF isn't a priority for me at the moment.
>Panasonic might bring out a firmware update in future to improve the AF. I'm pretty sure they will come up a firmware update at the end of this year for improved AF performance.
You have a GH6 and... You need better 4k video quality? What is better? And better low light? The GH6 does really well in low light. Sure it's not a SONY in low light, but I can crank up the ISO pretty high and still have superb results.
@@davidrehm9681 I found the image quality from the GH6 looks a bit soft, like its in camera noise reduction that can't be lowered below 0, is smoothing out fine details too much. I use 3 lenses a Panasonic 9mm f/1.7, Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO and Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro and never noticed any issues with softness on them before with the Olympus lenses until I put them on my GH6 but I know the 12-40 is an older lens and can suffer diffraction sooner at narrower apertures. My GH5 has sharper video, but it does not have as color and dynamic range compared to GH6. Even exposed properly (42 IRE midtone grey on V-Log) with dynamic range boost on, you get more highlight detail but more noise. Photo quality is sharper but I can't get consistently low noise photos like I can with my GH5.
Take a look at Richard Wong's "Who is the New King of Autofocus?" review. I would say that the new S5II AF is behind Sony, but slightly ahead of Canon. You should also check out Richard Wong's "Gimbal like IBIS?" review. S5II is the front-runner with walking movement and "tripod like" stability. ( beats everything )
Looks like a great all-rounder! I wonder if it falls back to contrast AF over certain ISOs (or under certain lux levels of light). Might explain the high-ISO bokeh pulsing.
I think you made a good point. I noticed there wasn't really noticeable pulsing until 12,800 ISO. Which, as a filmmaker, I would rarely if ever shoot at such a high ISO. The S5ii is looking like a game changer. Especially for the price point and for Panasonic in general.
@@AllThingsFilm1 ... And if you ARE a filmmaker, Panasonic will introduce the S5 IIx in a few months that has even more video features and is only about $200 more than the S5II.
It seems to be a mixture of both but is using more the DFD in darker situations, I guest because dfd is rated at lower EV compared to PDAF since pdaf uses a metric of how light touches the sensor to know if things are in focus or not.
i understand this is not a fair comparison, but you mentioned how when recording video, and then playing it back--that sony doesn't do that-- i still keep my sony RX10ii for that reason. i feel the video out of the RX10ii is much more useful than my a7ii and my a7iii. thank you
Looks like they took the fight to Sony. I loved my Lumix but the autofocus was crap so I sold it. This looks very good, hopefully the few niggles such as the focus breathing and exposure can be sorted in firmware.
My lumix cameras have focusing issues but overtime I got used to it and developed work arounds and for the last 5 years I've been using mainly Lumix primarily.Always reliable.
85-90 procent is doin video content ? Where did he get that nummer from . Morr like 25-30 is my guess .. anyway well Done panasonic not perfect or as goood as say r6 ii but big step up
"Pin point accuracy" What happened to stopping down? You can always blur the background in "post". And by the way, Topaz Photo AI can raise the stakes considerably. But the fun of simply shooting single frames and looking at each to figure out why you missed the shot is still the way to go. And that means for me, 1/500th of a sec. minimum in hand held even with IBIS. To start. And try vintage glass in manual mode and don't be afraid of high ISO grain. That's another thing Topaz can fix. But "grain" can add character to certain subjects.
The best news of all is the hint that Panasonic are still thinking about the lower end user and considering getting cheap stuff out. This is the first sign after a long bleak time with no new issues that there may be hope for people who do not have endless money to throw at the hobby. These are by the way usually called beginner's cameras and often the sole perfectly adequate equipment for people who were using cameras before a lot of high end users were even born.
I'm a lumix shooter and I've been using the GH5S for years now. I think this camera is definitely a step up although I feel this is an unfair comparison especially when there's a more recent camera in this category from Sony. I guess we just wanted to keep our new camera in the spotlight. Anyway great video as usual
I discussed this, but the newer cameras are 25% more, so it's really not a fair comparison. But yeah, those more expensive cameras are solidly better, which we say in the video.
@@TonyAndChelsea True you touched on it towards the end of the video. Would you recommend the S5 mk ii for product videos. I currently use my GH5s and I’m thinking of an upgrade
FWIW, Panasonic has a "AF ON-NEAR" function that can be assigned to a button (including one of the buttons on the Sigma 150-600) that will force the camera to choose the subject in the foreground (i.e., the eagle instead of the trees). Of course, it's better if the camera would just track the eagle using generic AF-ON, but there is a work-around.
Exciting but the fact A7III has the cheap and lightweight Tamron 2.8 lenses, it makes a much more affordable option. It's not about the body but the entire system, you can get Sony with two tamrons for 4000 eur (3000 when used) where the Panasonic version with similar equivalents would cost 6000e. And because today for video DSLRs, autofocus is the only relevant feature, Panasonic probably has to use native lenses. If you don't need autofocus, get used GH, viltrox and used EF lenses (2500e)...
I’d be very happy for all the Panasonic shooters I know, but I literally don’t know a single person that uses the system. Based on what Tony and Chelsea took great pains not to say, I kinda get it. Oh well, gold star for effort.
This is a great review. I am going to make a video today hopefully it is OK to reference your video for folks to come back to as there is some great information about the Panasonic achievements they have actually showcased in this new body.
Thanks for the review. Happy to hear that you do not earn your money by accepting free gear, money, plane fare, hotels, junkets, wine-soaked dinners, and the like. The more you maintain your professional distance from manufacturers, retailers, marketers, etc., the less beholden you are to them, and the higher the likelihood that you will deliver thorough and honest reviews.
I was hoping you could help me decide between the Lumix S5 and the new S5 II. For context, I’m starting out with photography and I’ll be going to film school soon, so I want to buy a hybrid camera that performs great for both stills and video, that will also grow with me as I develop. I’ve found the S5 with a lens for £1400 and the new S5 II is about £2300 once you factor the lens in. The S5 has almost all the functionality I think I’ll need and at this price it’s a great deal but I’m unsure if I should save up a bit longer and get the newer version with all the updates (i.e. better autofocus and unlimited video recording at 4k etc). Which camera would you recommend buying in my situation? Is the S5 at £1400 too good to pass up or should I hold out for the S5 II? Loved the review and thanks in advance!
