Panasonic Lumix S5: Thoughts After 3 Weddings, 24-105 f4 Macro Lens, Godox V1O flash and Grip 

You'll love it. Great lens at a wonderful price right now. 1697 for the body only. You can't go wrong. The other deals are great, too.

I'm glad you like the video. Thanks for your comment.

Glad I could help. I love mine.

Hi, Rob. Thanks for your thoughts. Cameras and gear are as unique as the people that use them. I agree that there isn't a "do it all" camera, and that something's will work better than others in most situations. I just like to use what works best for me, and after trying a lot of lenses and camera bodies during weddings, I have come to figure that if I could only have one prime lens, it would be a 50 1.8. only one zoom lens, it would be a 24-105 f4. Of course. I am happy to use other appropriate lenses when I have the time. Heck, I will even set up my off camera strobes and light boxes when I can. Sadly, that doesn't often happen. It always comes down to time. So, I work as quickly as I can and use gear that helps me do that. I'm sure it's the same wherever you go. However, as you pointed out. I'm quick to identify a problem and then do something about it. With the Panasonic line of cameras I decided to stick with Panasonic lenses. The Contrast based autofocus doesn't seem to work as well with third party lenses. Strangely, this is even the case with the L-mount alliance lenses. I would generally prefer to use sigma lenses when I have the chance. I have found the Art series to be superior to many first party offerings. Nice talk. Cheers.

I did get a reply from Godox and they said they were unaware of the issue but would look into it. I sent them a video and they further said it looks like it was acting normally. Glad you found the video helpful.

No problem 👍

You're welcome.

Exactly what I’m planning on doing. I have the s5 with the 20-60mm kit lens. Its a great lens that came with the camera, but I definitely need a better lens for the type of photography I plan on doing in the near future.

Thanks.

Glad you liked it.

Thank you for the sub. I'm glad you liked the video. Great camera.

Thanks for your info!

Glad you like. Thanks for the comment.

I'm glad you're enjoying the S5. It's an awesome camera. I have grown very fond of mine . Regarding the Godox V1o (o for Olympus/Panasonic), it works perfectly. You are right about the hot shoe being prone to breaking. It is. Just buy some additional hot shoe replacement parts for about $20 each, watch my video on how to replace a broken hot shoe, and you'll be ok. Replacement is easy. Never replace a hotshoe with the battery in the strobe. If you do you will find out how to break the flash bulb very quickly.. I learned that lesson. I'll never do it again. This issue seems to only be with the design of the V1 series of strobes. I have not experienced any of this issue with ANY of their other strobes. As far as a "bug" in the software.. yes. The V1o will auto zoom the flash head to match the zoom on your lens out to 105mm. The bug is that the screen on the flash will report the m43 reading, not the full frame reading. There i a setting to change in the software to remedy the problem, but it doesn't seem to do anything. It's NOT AN ISSUE, however, because it's just the display reporting the wrong zoom on a full frame camera. The strobe head still zooms all the way. So, it's functionally not an issue. As far as wireless capabilities, the wireless RF flash commander/slave/groups work great from Godox. I've been using them for years. All of my strobes work together and nothing has ever caused an issue with the name brand on the camera. I have Godox strobes with Sony and Panasonic models and when in remote commander mode, a Panasonic master will trigger all Godox label strobes, Sony, Canon, and Nikon included. This works in reverse, too. So don't worry that the manual says to only use official Panasonic strobes. Note: Godox makes products for the Brand Flashpoint. If you buy a flashpoint strobe you will simply be buying a marked up Godox product. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Cheers.

@@RobertHamm since the Lumix S5 has internal wireless flash TX functionality, can you use that to trigger the Godox flash wirelessly when off-camera? The wireless features look to be the same, but can a Lumix S5 wireless communicate with the Godox (specifically looking to get the newer 860iii)? Thank you again for your prompt reply.

Unfortunately you've got the "wireless flash technology" part wrong. There are several different systems RF and Optical. RF is radio waves controlling the flash trigger for groups and banks of other wireless flash that use RF transmission. No brands use the same standard as other brands. So a Sony RF strobe will not trigger a Godox RF strobe. In this example, the camera body is transmitting the exposure information (if using TTL flash) to the strobe, and the strobe is sending that information via RF to other strobes/groups/banks of flash on the same channel. This means that the wireless technology used is RF transmission. That happens in the strobe, not from inside the body. You can always trigger a strobe in s1/s2 mode optically because those modes are optical modes. More on optical modes in a moment. RF transmission is the standard for professional wireless flash systems for many reasons, but the most important reason is that a strobe with a RF system does not need line of sight to an optical pre flash. Therefore an RF strobe will trigger a flash pop in another room because the RF will go through walls. The wireless flash capabilities of the S5 you are asking about relate to wireless optical flash triggering. These systems require line of sight from the commander flash, the one on top of the camera, to the slave/remote flash, the ones being used off camera. The off camera strobes will need to be oriented with the flash head facing the subject and the optical sensor facing the commander flash. Since the sensor is always on the opposite side of the LCD screen of the flash, you would need to swivel the sensor toward the commander flash. This generally puts the operating screen of the flash pointing away from the commander flash. It also requires line of sight and can not be too close to the commander flash or too far away from the commander flash. Generally 5 to 7 meters away for best results. This means that an optical strobe will not fire unless it has direct line of sight to the commander flash. An RF strobe will not trigger a flash pop if it is around the corner, in another room, or obscured from the commander flash unit. This is because the commander flash unit must emit a specific sequence of strobes to alert the remote flash that they should be ready to flash when the camera button is pressed. These are known as pre-flash or TTL pre flash, and are noticable on most cases. Without that heads up from the commander flash, the remote strobes won't fire. The S5 does allow for different channels to be used so that it can connect up to 3 separate off camera strobes for use triggering at different output powers and flash head zoom ranges. In any event, this would not be an optimal way of using the strobe. In order to use panasonics optical wireless triggering, you would need to buy Panasonic's strobes. That would be folly because they cost more and use a second class system when compared to third party RF strobes and triggers. Read about this on page 236 of the complete Panasonic S5 manual. The complete manual is over 500 pages long. So if you get the 200 page manual download, you've got the short manual. There is a lot more to talk about, but in general, this should be enough to get you pointed in the right direction.

No. The issue hasn't been fixed through any firmware update. It's likely that God does not think there is an issue becuse the strobe works perfectly fine- only the zoom numbers tont match.

Thanks.

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, my A7iii compressed raws are around 24 mb. My a7rii uncompressed are about 85 if I remember, and the compressed raw are about 44. I don't remember exactly, but they are in that range. I emailed Panasonic asking about the rules and never got a response. Cheers.

Thanks.

No really. This is because I don't often use AWB in mixed lighting environments. For the majority of my photography, I use manual white balance, set the kelvin and R/B alignment based on what area I am working in. Outdoor bright day 5800k. Indoor under florescent ight with mixed windowight, bias to the window, and use something in-between. None of it is an issue with raw, just adjust as needed. But it can be an issue if you to have it as close as possible.

the S5 is absolutely worth it. Check this out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-37L4p0VbfYs.html

Thanks!

I appreciate your input here! Thank you.

Try flickr and search panasonic 24-105 f4. It's always about choices. I stand by my statements in the video for why I like it. After a year, it is still my go to lens on the system.

You can get that from Panasonic and SIgma. f1.8 or better is good in low light on the S5 for photos. You mayu need to change from face detect to an area mode depending on how dark the venue is. Video AF will suck in low light. I switch to manual or use a video light with AF. It's all good either way. Different tools for the job. The Sony cameras have the besta AF all around. Panasonic wont beat them. But AF isn't all of what a camera is about. Its up to you and your dollar. Good luck.

This depends on the aperture of your lens. All in all it's ok, not great, in low light (like a wedding reception). In those instances I use an f1.8 lens or brighter and switch from face and eye detect continuous focus to area single focus. This helps a lot. I also use flash, with an appropriate shitter speed for dancing and get good results. The Sony a73 does not have this issue. Has it been a problem? No. Did I have to figure out how to use this camera in that situation? Yes. Does it make me dislike the camera? Not at all. Understanding how your gear works, and the differences between one piece of kit and another is all part of being a competent photographer. But then again I feel just as happy using my Olympus OM4T and a manual focus lens and flash as I do using the S5. The difference is speed. Digital cameras allow me to work faster. If I need to switch to manual focus in low light because the camera is struggling, that's not a problem. It's just another skill to learn and tool in the toolkit.

There is so much more to a lens than aperture. Yes, in general, I would prefer the longer reach of the 24-105 f4 than the shorter range of the 24-70 f2.8. Your question frames the subject of my statement wrong. You ask if I would prefer an f4 over an f2.8. It does not mention the focal length advantage I was discussing between the Panasonic 24-105 f4 compared to the Sigma 24-70 f2.8. If I were comparing two lenses of the same focal length, and everything was identical except for the aperture, then I would prefer the wider aperture. But that is not what I was stating as my preference. I was specifically stating that after hundreds of weddings and hundreds of thousands of images over more than a decade, I have tended to prefer a 24-105 f4 over a 24-70 f2.8 because of the extended reach that the 105 end of the lens provides. 24-105 f4 lenses tend to be better for portraits, they get close from afar because of the added zoom, and usually have better macro capabilities than 24-70 f2.8. Many people would say, incorrectly in my thought, that you get better bokeh with an f2.8. While that may be true in a technical sense, I would argue that it doesn't make much of a difference in practical terms. It's a difference of one stop of light. If a photographer hangs his hat on one aperture value as the determining factor on image creation, then I would question how much that person really understands the craft. For example, how often do I photograph portraits at f 2.8? How often do most photographers use f2.8? I regularly choose an aperture that best suits my subject. 2.8 isn't always the go to. In fact. It's often between f4-8. I do use lower apertures when necessary. Specifically considering individual portraits in side profile. What I'm saying here is that there is mich more to a lens than aperture alone. Focal length plays a larger part in my portrait making process than aperture. If I want to get some shallow depth of field with the F4 lens I just use the 105 end of the lens. When I need better low light I just up the iso by a stop. If I'm in a situation where I need more than one stop of light, then an f2.8 wouldn't be my go to. I would get a 1.8 or 1.4 prime in those situations. If you prefer the sigma 24-70 f2.8, that's ok, too. My statement between that and the Panasonic 24-105 f4 still holds up. The Panasonic has a longer focal length and better macro. It has better bokeh for portraits at the Tele end because of the longer zoom, even at f4. That's 3 checks for the Panasonic (not to mention that the distortion at the wide angle is way less than the sigma because the Panasonic is an f4). The sigma only has a widee aperture between the two. So, by my count, it's 3 to 1 in favor of the Panasonic. Everything else is similar between the two and they both produce beautiful images. What do you think? Where does your photographic perspective take you on this topic? Thanks for the question. Cheers.

Good call, but not me, lol. Cheers.

That has not been my experience, especially with wide lenses. The ibis works very well. Do you own one? Maybe you can make a video of the issue you're talking about an I can see if I can replicate it as well. Cheers.

@@RobertHamm yes, i have one, and a g85 and the g85 ibis is useable with or without ois lenses. I never felt i needed a gimbal for it. I guess it's easier to stabilize a small sensor. Im considering getting rid of the non-ois lenses and getting the slower 24-105 /4 lens to try to get back the usability of the g85. Or getting a gimbal. G85 is a great little camera really, but the s5 does things it can't compete with obviously.

Literally a wide tracking area. Sony has a wide auto focus area which just lets the sensor choose from all the AF points. I was saying that Panasonic has a similar area when set to human/animal AF. It chooses from the entire area, like Sony's wide AF area. The two are similar.

The flash can. Not the grip.

@@RobertHamm awesome thank you so much for the fast response! You rock 🤘🏻🙏🏼🍻