Panasonic Lumix S5 In-depth Review 

It usually take me approximately two weeks to create a review, but this time, I've been actively testing and working on this video for 6 weeks non-stop and shot over 600GB of photos and videos! Just the editing/post production of this video took me almost 40 hours! I hope you enjoy this video and find it informative! Any questions, feedback please feel free to drop a comment! And remember to check out my 3 other Panasonic S5 videos!

I watched four S5 review so far, your review make them all look like a quick unboxing. Super detailed and also fair thank you

This is the longest camera review video I have ever watched, but I watched till the end! Thank you so much for so many details and in depth comparison!!

This is, by far, the more complete review I have seen. Great job Richard.

Ha! I've just been chatting with you on the DPReview forum re customising the function button for AF lock, and then you appear in my recommended videos! How funny! Thanks for the comprehensive review here and your help on the forum.

50 minutes!! Wow! I just remembered to check your channel before I go to sleep. I’ll definitely watch it later when I woke up! Gotta prepare for that 50minute in-depth review! 🔥🔥🔥

Wow this is what I called IN-DEPTH REVIEW!! Great job! and I'm still watching! But it looks like a great camera from Panasonic

This is the greatest Lumix S5 review on the Internet I really appreciate your hard work that was put into this I learned a lot and that’s because I’m an S5 user coming from the S1H thank you so much and keep of the tremendous work

In my opinion, this is the best S5 review I have ever watched. Thank you.

Man, this is THE BEST overview of the S5 I’ve seen yet. Great work here!!

Great super in-depth review.

Man you really did your homework! Thank you for producing this video!

I just got my s5 thank you for the review!

I'vce been looking for such a in- depht review and comparison for so long and I finally found it! Thank you so much!

Fantastic review. Came here after watching your GH6 review. Amazing detai. the only thing I wish is if you perhaps added a little cinematic montage or live demonstrations showing a bit more of what the camera is capable of image quality wise (perhaps at the end of videos)! Aside from that 10/10 c:

Woweeee Richard!!! 50mins! and multiple uploads! Congrats - will dig my teeth into this soon... P.s. I will message you soon about you know what!!! 😉 🎥

Richard, your videos are really well crafted!

Best S5 video out there! Thanks for all of the hard work you do, Richard. 👏🏽

Congratulations, a very nice review!

Excellent review! Thank you very much for your detailed work.

Thanks for the in depth review! Ordered mine yesterday.

Hi Richard! This is probably your best review till date. Despite the length, I truly enjoyed watching it! I'd be interested and really glad if you could do a comparison video between S5, Nikon Z6 & the EOS R6. All the three are within the same price bracket & geared towards video shooters. It would be awesome autofocus, high ISO video & the High Speed recording quality & options test.

Thank you for such an awesome review!

Thank you very much for this in-depth review I had some doubts about this camera especially the burst mode which i could not find even in the official lumix website And now i got a clear information about this canera And i made my decision

Exactly the information I was seeking. Thanks!

wow,....super nice review. watching full with no skipping ads :D. I'm sorry I just subscribed now, even though I often see this channel.

incredible review. very detailed.

Thank you man. I really appreciate the work and information you put in this video. Good job

thanks so much for the depth of the review and comparisons!

Great video Richard. Thank you🙃.

Great video, one thing that people should know is that the S5 cannot be plugged into the ronin and ninjaV at the same time because it will loose signal to the cameras monitor. S5 only has 2 video channel outputs.

Great review video, thanks Richard!

Convinced. Thanks for this video. (GH5 Owner)

Thanks for good review. At least you talk not only about vlogging. Was interesting how this camera as still camera.

In high ISO..the detail high lights are better preserved than Nikon and Sony.great Video.

Thanks a lot for this comprehensive review!!!

Great job! Very informative video

Wonderfull review Richard ! This is a very nice camera indeed, but I am a bit sad about the EVF : why only 2.3Mpx ? Is it the cost ? For marketing reason ?

Excellent review!

Excellent, detailed review. One thing I hadn't noticed until now is that the S series have been offering 65:24 aspect ratio. This could be fun, but you're throwing away a lot of pixels on a 24mp sensor. Can you compose with a 65:24 evf view whilst using the high res mode? Also, nice to see live Composite view on this camera.

Great review thanks Richard!

You left this out on the AUTOFOCUS section, but the A7iii absolutely dominates with phase detection. I actually prefer Panasonic as a brand, but even with the cheapest Sony kit lens, I've never seen a pulsating issue with AF ON on Sony. Recently shot a continuous 30min standup with the kit lens, and even with other people and cars in the background, the AF remained solid. All this to say: there are a lot of faults and downsides to the A7iii, but it really dominates over any mirrorless when it comes to AF. That and the battery of course.

I feel like the a7s3 made all these cameras redundant. If I didn't know about the existence of a no-crop, 10bit422 4k60p camera with perfect autofocus and 12 bit raw, I would have seriously considered the s5 esp since it's cheaper here than even the a7iii here. But now, it just make more sense to save a little longer to get the a7s3. I'll consider s5 only if there's a possibility of BRAW out, direct to an ssd like the sigma fp. Having to buy a bulky external recorder to get raw seems tacky and you can't even edit Proresraw in Resolve.

Appreciate your effort on this extensive review.. Do you keep S5 for your personal or professional use?

also, thank you for representing bilingual speakers. I'm learning spanish and im working myself up to making content in spanish.

TOP TOP TOP VIDEO

Hi! Awesome Video! :) You mentioned in your accessories bit that it does connect with the xlr 1 adapter, but unlike with the s1 you cannot record the high resolution audio. What do you mean by that precisely? Doesn‘t the xlr 1 work with the s5 to all of its abilities or how should it be understood?

Very good review

thank you great info!!!! i use the Sony 7 R and reNikon D 800.......ready for a new camera.....i do mostly travel photos...is the S 5 for me..? i loved the S1R but too expensive and heavy. Can i use Nikon lenses on the S5? thank you. George

9:15 Nice wedding Photos!

Robin. all very impressive BUT unlike my gh5, it does not allow more than 30 minutes in 4K 30 and 60. I shoot music and they go past 30 minutes in live performances. I need UNLIMITED recording times in 60 and 30. I see on S5, it ok in 24, but not the others. Is there any way to unlock the time limits on 30 and 60 4K? Its a dealbreaker for me. rsvp

Awesome. How did you have the camera setup when you done your battery test? Did you have the external screen opened?

Could you try to test the overheating by powering the camera with a power bank, through USB-C? Thanks!

I have been trying to decide if I should upgrade my GH5... Full Frame sounds cool, but is it really worth it?

Hi again, Richard. A question for you: does the S5 record 1080 60p 422 internally? This is almost my default setting on the GH5 but reading the specs for the S5 it looks like it's only up to 30p... or does that apply only to 4k? Thanks

Fanatstic Review Richard! But how big is the difference between the all i codec in the s1h and the 10bit longgop codec out of he s5 in terms of artifacting, banding, and sharpness? Also can you turn down the sharpness and noise reduction on the s5 in vlog?

great review thx I've never seen like this video with detail before. a7m3 vs s5 for hybrid shooter which one you get???

Thanks for such a deep review, I really appreciate your time and effort in producing. I currently have a G9 and really appreciate the size/weight of not only the body but also the lenses. I'm currently thinking about switching to another system in that the M4/3 has left me a bit wanting more in resolution especially if I have to crop in post. I'm thinking about the Fuji XT4 and this system...would love to know your thoughts. Thanks again.

Thanks Richard for this review, I really enjoyed watching it. The S5 seems to be a really nice camera, not sure if I should start my first full-frame experience with it as I am still happy with my Panasonic MFT equipment. For sure I will take a deeper look. Do you know if the view finder would be comfortable when wearing glasses? Thats one of my biggest complaints on my GX9

thank you for your review. would you be so kind and upload some native v-log 10bit files to play around with?

Another excellent review, Richard . Thank you very much. I have some questions re ( using) the EVF . I appreciated that that you considered the EVF as a subject worthy of analysis and comment. You point out that the VF resolution is less than that of some other bodies such as the Nikon Z5 , another camera and system that I am also considering. But you judge it to be a good viewfinder , despite the lower resolution. How was the implementation of focus magnification and how was the manual focussing experience ? I ask from the point of view of someone who takes stills including macro or the near macro . Can you comment on the eye point and comfort? I ask because I wear spectacles. Cheers.

Thank you for the review.

an excellent review does it have exposure leveling in timelapse mode?

What's your opinion regarding the lower quality slow motion video above 60fps, particularly 1080 120/fps at 8bit, 4:2:0, 20-28 Mbs? I've recently seen negative comments about the visual quality.

thank you

38:21 is this update going to be available for the S1 too?

Hi Richard! Thanks for this great video. I shoot mostly stills, but also some video where the AF is quite important because it is mostly me in front of the camera. Should I go for the S5 or Nikon Z6 II? Thank you

Hi Ma Mann, thx so much for the tests. My question is that, how could you recommend the S5 after 2 yrs? Because this camera is in good price now. I have an X-H1 and thinking on the change. Mainly would be using for landscape.

Great job! Thank you very much!

いつも詳しい説明有り難うございます。　Ｓ５キット予約します。　S1・S1Rも 欲しかったのですが、大きさと、オートフォーカスで断念いたしました。S5は良いですね。

Richard I shoot mainly in 1080p is the S5 1080p as good compared to the other cameras. Plus on my Nikon the photo/video switch saves my last settings automatically, does the S5 have the same feature.

Thanks for this excelent review. Now I have a big problem. Last month I've decided to choose X-T4, because, even being APS, this camera has a good lens kit, good filters and excelent controls. Now I have a doubt about wich one I will choose, Fuji X-T4 or this Panasonic S5 (with a short range lens, no FN Key, lower continuous shotting, but with a very useful high res. mode). Do you know which one has better Dynamic Range? Thank You very much

Great review, how did you convert the RW2 so you could edit them? Just got the camera and used it for a job but cant edit the RW2's with Adobe :(

Hi what is the setting I have to use for the Autofocus tracks the eye while filming. I mean if I want the camera to follow the model's eye when I move backward forward and the picture will not be out of focus? I cannot seem to get that. I have set AFC and human detect, but it does not focus automatically only if I press the shutter button halfway down. What am I doing wrong?

@Richard Wong, what is this timecode output feature? Can I jam sync this with my S1H?

Wow, I had no idea the Z6 was only 60hz EVF. I was just assuming anything with a newer 3.7k EVF or higher are all 120hz. I was about to buy a Z6, I'm so glad I didn't. I bet Nikon is just trying to conserve battery life, the evf will be capable of 120hz as it's the same Sony unit everyone uses, but weird choice to just lock us out of the option for 120hz. And thanks for going over things in detail, I've watched dozens of reviews and they all failed to mention this.

Richard Wong, could you tell me what software do I need to work with those raw RW2 picture files from the S5? The only thing I own at home is an iMac 2009 and Lightroom 6 - V6.9 .... :-( What do I need? Thank you

Smallrig has a tophandle with a record trigger button, but i’m not sure where I should need to plug in the cable in the S5. Do you know?

what are your opinions about whether the Z6 is better than the S5, as I am considering moving up from a M43 camera to FF? the z6 and s5 are the top 2 cameras I am looking at right now

Question: In High Resolution mode it is reported that the time to take the 8 images (96 MP) AND COMBINE them in camera is 8 seconds. The actual images are taken in rapid succession using the Electronic Shutter. Assuming a high shutter speed, what is the time it takes to CAPTURE the 8 images alone. Thank You.

Brilliant review...👍👍.Thanks.

Richard, in low light condition, M mode, S5 have rterrible lag of view via evf so that it is nearly usable, even I set mode 1 for Liveboost , I feel worrying for my next shooting in Studio, could you please share your solution to fix this matter

But can you tell us, what is your opinion about image quality, colour, sharpness for this S5 compare to Nikon z6 and Sony?

I wonder if they will add the Live Composite to the other S cameras in the update? How good is Panny at that?

Very good review, thank you! Do you know if the S5 has Focus Transition like the GH5?

Panasonic's color rendering is better than Sony and canon

Would you use the 10 bit 4-2-2 @24/25/30p or the 10 bit 4-2-0 @50/60p?

I am an Olympus camera shooter doing a lot of video equally mostly 4k. I have many of the Olympus pro lenses - will they work on the s5? Had been thinking of one day changing to Fuji - never considered Sony an option. Found the gh5 and 5s too heavy and bulky after oly (m1 mkii). Any thoughts. Also concerned about how the autofocus and ibis compare to oly.

mister, for video and pictures witch one you prefer? z6 or S5m

Камера ОГОНЬ!!!

Sir 20-60 lens wedding photography usag

I would buy this camera for video, but the L-mount lenses are so expensive

Would you recommend S5 for RU-vid one man army setup for product reviews/vlogs?

Which one has the best value for money g100, GH5 or S5?

Does the Panasonic S5 have illuminated buttons like the S1?

I have shot extensively in a pro hybrid sense on the GH5 and it is hands down the best handling camera I've ever used. The S5 body is a clear step down unfortunately. The body is too small and the buttons are very mushy and not enough of them. The lens release is poorly placed for 1 handed lens swaps and the shutter button is also pretty bad in my opinion with no tactile feedback. There's a cheapness to it all which was disappointing for me. Other than that the features are great. Thanks for the video.

Dear Richard again an excellent video as always 👍👍👍 I need some of your expertise for buying a new camera. I still have a GX8 but my Lumix G9 was stolen last year 😥 The good thing is My Wife will start doing Photography too📸😄 I have my Eyes set b on a Lumix S5 and a G9... My consideration is that M43 is compact and easy to carry around in the mountains (I still have my beloved GX8) For telephotography etc The S5 for low light and indoor Sofar for theory... I am having a little doubts about M43 I do not want to believe the Motions on. internet pronouncing M43 dead years ago I believe M43 still is an excellent format next to FF I think it is s superior to most APS-C camera latter being neither as high performing as FF not being as compact and enhanced as most Lumix of r Olympus cameras 📸 With the exception of Fujifilm for most Camera manufacturers APS-c is just a minority Side show with not too many lenses🤔 Then make the comparison with M43 It has a vast array of excellent (in it's class) lenses which. Are very affordable too (Few amateurs can afford the FF equivalent of let's say a leica 50-200 2.8 or Olympus 300 f4) I really love the system M43 📸❤️ What's worries me is that Olympus is being sold and JIP tool now be only has been making vague promises On the Lumix side there has been no promising new technologies for a few year now and it seems that the GH is still not Coming (only a re-cooked GH5 mk2) I simply love Lumix the GX8 is my favourite though being less advanced than the G9 which I also love and miss😥 What is wisdom❓ I guess I will buy the S5 withe the 20-60 and the 85 1.8 But what to do with the G9 replacement I love that 📷😍 But is it wise to invest in M43? Or are Oly and Lumix letting the system die slowly? I would love to hear your expert thoughts on this and I am open for your suggestions... Peter

Hope the s1 gets the video enhancements (vectorscope, raw out), punishing early adopters seems like a bad idea.

Do you think an auto focus Lumix S5 can be faster or better than Sony A7 III/Canon R6/Nikon Z6? Because many claims about Lumix auto focus perfomance which is not so good & fast.

I see that one of your S5 pics are hacked RAW file. What does this mean?