Seemed to be on par with sony a7iii/iv, in video it was snappier than r6ii. Ef lenses with sigma mc-21 adapter seemed to work great in af-c (they didn't work at all before), and af speed was insane with the adapter compared to cdaf. Personally I own S1 with mc-21 and it has the absolutely shittiest and slowest af ever. Very good if ef lenses finally work great with the new pdaf system.
The design of the S cameras does appeal to me. I always like the G9 ergonomics. If the PDAF trickles into a more stills centric S body I could be tempted...
molson wrote:
I will probably hold out for an S1R II.
Now that I have enough resolution in lenses I might consider it too. When I bought the S1 I had only manual focus nikon lenses from the 70's and 80's. Now I have a full setup of Sigma DG DN lenses and the 50/1.4 Lumix, so they should resolve nicely even with S1R II or similar. We'll see if they end up refreshing the S1 lineup too. I like my S1's interface for stills a lot more than any Canon, Sony or Fuji camera.
I loved Panasonic m4/3 cameras but never cared for their L-Mount offerings and this camera doesn't change that either. Though I'm hopeful that some of this tech will trickle to m4/3 and they can come up with a photography focused G9 successor.
Ihmemies2 wrote:
Now that I have enough resolution in lenses I might consider it too. When I bought the S1 I had only manual focus nikon lenses from the 70's and 80's. Now I have a full setup of Sigma DG DN lenses and the 50/1.4 Lumix, so they should resolve nicely even with S1R II or similar. We'll see if they end up refreshing the S1 lineup too. I like my S1's interface for stills a lot more than any Canon, Sony or Fuji camera.
I just hope they refresh the price downwards if they do a refresh on the S1R...
I love the S5 for video, and it's an underrated photo camera as well. The AF was really my only issue, though I definitely prefer the G9 ergonomics by a significant margin. I too hope that the next S1R starts at a lower price point. If it did, I would consider going FF Panasonic and getting a combo of the S5ii and the S2R/S1Rii. The S1R is also a great camera, albeit a bit too big for my purposes and expensive.
It should be noted, this is video AF. Stills is not the same from seeing other reviews (and the fact that my own experience with Sony and Canon is that Canon’s AF at this price point is slightly better than Sony’s).
molson wrote:
One of the more intelligent reviews...
He feels the new autofocus has leapfrogged Fuji, Nikon, and even Canon, and is rubbing shoulders with Sony...
jeffbuzz wrote:
If the PDAF trickles into a more stills centric S body I could be tempted...
I am not sure whether you will see more stills-oriented bodies than this in the future, Panasonic already confirmed that video is their main focus for the future.
SlowDriver wrote:
I am not sure whether you will see more stills-oriented bodies than this in the future, Panasonic already confirmed that video is their main focus for the future.
This is true, but I don't think this necessarily means there won't be a body well-suited for stills. The S1 and S1R were both more stills-oriented than the S5. I think what Panasonic really needs to compete with Canon and Sony is a higher-MP, stacked sensor camera like an updated S1. The S1/S5 strategy never made sense to me, so they should turn the S1 into a true hybrid flagship, slightly bigger body with a better grip, a top LCD screen, higher burst rate and better rolling shutter, etc.
I think where Panasonic focuses on video is in their implementation of features and UI, such as adding things like waveform, shutter angle, etc. and focusing their lenses on video by making them breathing corrected. I think they can make cameras that *appeal* to video shooters but without sacrificing photo quality. Indeed, the S5 was and still is a great photo camera, as were the S1 and S1R.
novalaker wrote:
The S1/S5 strategy never made sense to me, so they should turn the S1 into a true hybrid flagship, slightly bigger body with a better grip, a top LCD screen, higher burst rate and better rolling shutter, etc.
SlowDriver wrote:
I am not sure whether you will see more stills-oriented bodies than this in the future, Panasonic already confirmed that video is their main focus for the future.
The S5 II is clearly aimed at vloggers who like to work hand-held filming themselves; the few stills-oriented features it has are just a little bonus.
A lot of people seem to think that is the greenest pasture for the camera industry right now - everyone wants to get rich creating content for YouTube. I suspect a lot of them are the same people who thought they were going to get rich by giving away photos to iStock a decade ago...
I don't see how that makes any sense. I understand getting rid of the S1 itself, but the specialized S1R and S1H have clear purposes that the S5ii cameras do not serve. The S5 series is simply Panasonic's entry-level full-frame prosumer body, like the Canon R6ii and the Sony A7iv. But a flagship full-frame camera that costs $2k with below-average rolling shutter performance, slow mechanical burst, cropped 4k60, and relatively average LCD and EVFs would be a poor business strategy.
The S5ii gets people to buy into the system, but you have to offer bodies to upgrade to. That would be the S1 series. Now, how they go about that is a different question. Sony offers multiple pro options, one for speed (A9), one for resolution (A7R), one for video (A7s), and one for everything (A1), plus cinema options. Canon offers the R5 and R5C, plus cinema options. Panasonic surely has a plan for how to compete with these higher-end bodies, the question is how.
Additionally, the same site that leaked the S5ii and 14-28 details has said there will be an S1ii in Q3, so I think it's safe to say it's coming. I just hope it's a real flagship and not a slightly bigger and more feature-rich version of the S5.
novalaker wrote:
This is true, but I don't think this necessarily means there won't be a body well-suited for stills. The S1 and S1R were both more stills-oriented than the S5. I think what Panasonic really needs to compete with Canon and Sony is a higher-MP, stacked sensor camera like an updated S1. The S1/S5 strategy never made sense to me, so they should turn the S1 into a true hybrid flagship, slightly bigger body with a better grip, a top LCD screen, higher burst rate and better rolling shutter, etc.
I think where Panasonic focuses on video is in their implementation of features and UI, such as adding things like waveform, shutter angle, etc. and focusing their lenses on video by making them breathing corrected. I think they can make cameras that *appeal* to video shooters but without sacrificing photo quality. Indeed, the S5 was and still is a great photo camera, as were the S1 and S1R. ...Show more →
Slightly bigger body? The S1 is already big and heavy (1,021g) as is, that is why Panasonic released the S5 and from what I can see it has worked out for them.
I tend to agree with what was said above, i.e. that the S5 is the flagship model now as it is outselling the other models.