Panasonic LUMIX S5 Full Frame Mirrorless Camera, 4K 60P Video Recording with Flip Screen & WiFi, LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 Lens, L-Mount, 5-Axis Dual I.S., DC-S5KK (Black)
Original price was: $2,099.99.$1,497.99Current price is: $1,497.99.
- A LIGHTWEIGHT, POWERFUL HYBRID CAMERA FOR VIBRANT STILL PHOTOGRAPHY AND CINEMATIC VIDEO: Realize your creative vision with extraordinary 4K 60p, 10-bit video, FHD 180fps Slow Motion option as well as 4:3 Anamorphic support.
- DETAILED PHOTO AND VIDEO THAT WILL DELIGHT ENTHUSIASTS AND EXPERTS ALIKE: Capture content in impressive high quality with 96MP High Resolution mode, Dual Native ISO to minimize noise in high sensitivity and V-Log/V-Gamut with 14-plus stop dynamic range.
- IMPROVED, HIGH-PRECISION AUTOFOCUS AND POWERFUL IMAGE STABILIZATION: Improved autofocus includes detection of the head as well as eyes, face and body, to capture subjects with ease and precision. 5-axis Dual I.S. 2 enables 6.5-stop slower shutter speed.
- EXPANDED FEATURES OFFER NEW LEVELS OF CREATIVITY: Use Live View Composite mode to instantly create a stunning image out of several live shots to capture fireworks or a starry sky
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Ecolometrics –
I have been using this for at least two years. The stand out features of this is the video quality, and IBIS. I primarily use this for video in 10 bit.
The good
I do not have overheating issues when shooting in 10 bit mode, though in 90F heat I do feel it get noticeably warm after an hour. I have not had it shut down on me.
The battery is typically safe for 1:30 of 10 bit footage (1:45 or 1:50 total possibly) when using the LCD. Using 3rd party batteries there is at least 15% less run time on average.
When comparing against the Sony A7, there is the light weight construction (sony is no different) control ergonomics (something sony lacks) and control options (way better than sony).
The video quality is better than my D850. I have at least four video profiles set up on my camera depending on the situation, but you can have more under C3 by going through the menu. I have shot it in (almost) complete darkness and was able to get usable footage after some light cleaning (flat profile).
For sound, the auto limit works and keeps things from clipping.
The 20-60mm lens is pretty good as a kit video lens for most things. It has a sharpness falloff after 35mm or so, but most of my use is at 20mm.
The LCD screen can be customized to your liking with multiple options. There are several profiles to choose from, and you can additionally tweak most of them. I use Cine-D for outside, Natural for indoors, Flat for low light and the last one is the 8 bit mode in 709 for long shooting. Lots of control here.
No issues with Auto-focus when shooting pictures. Having the options to choose either e-shutter or mechanical is an advantage when you want to shoot silently.
Fun with manual focus lenses with focus peaking enabled along with IBIS.
The not so great
Battery life indicator does not have % indication. This makes it difficult to tell if you have 5 more minites of video life left or 30 seconds, when running thr battery down. Though normally getting the battery that low to begin with is bad practice.
The supplied charger is no good. It takes too long, costs too much and takes up more space than needed. I use the XTAR 4 bay charger to charge multiple batteries.
So the auto focus can hunt some times, which typically happens when there is low light (when you’re at iso 12800). This can happen with rapid subject changes too. This isn’t news. It’s typically not an issue most of the time in normal light with subject tracking enabled.
The built in sound pre-amps are good enough, but external recorders will be cleaner. I never use the built-in microphones.
When taking pictures, the D850 is clearly better. The Nikon has a better grip, even if bigger and heavier, for my hands. The grip on the S5 hurts my hand after extensive shooting. Buffer depth is not high enough on the S5 for my liking, though it’s fine once you put a V90 card in. My biggest annoyance is that the Nikon gives me all of the options that I need to tune the Jpeg output where it’s perfect out of the camera, but this isn’t the case with the Panasonic. What the Panasonic is missing is a separate brightness option, that allows me to pull down shadows in a specific way while boosting highlights without clipping everything. In Raw, I more or less can get there – obviously slightly different due to being different brands.
Exposure drift on static objects. When using auto-iso in video on a static scene the camera will sometimes start to overexpose by two stops for some reason. Switching to manual iso drops you all the way to the base, which ruins the footage. Dialing in exposure compensation while this starts to happen is an experience of chasing your own tail. This is with the latest firmware.
The USB-C port on my camera does not work off external power when recording. I verified this with a USB power meter. I use a dummy battery with a USB-C connector in to a battery. This runs without issue except when the battery gets depleted, which causes an abrupt end to the video corrupting it – Panasonic provides a software tool to rescue your footage and it does work.
Battery grip tax. Some brands charge obscene amounts of money for battery grips, which is mainly plastic and some wires, and Panasonic is no different.
Other
The electronic image stabilization can introduce artifacts in to your footage, but this is expected behavior. While the IBIS does work, it’s not magic and shaky footage will still be ruined.
I like controls to be lockable against accidental changes, this is a feature of typically expensive DSLRs for pro’s. One thing that can happen is that the switches might move. The focus switch might get changed, or your burst mode selector type (leftmost dial) might switch to a different burst mode without realizing it. This is typically a risk when you have the camera hanging off while you walk around – from repeated brushing up against clothes.
Versus the S5 II and X
Looking at the specifications, the main stand out feature for me is the ability to record 10 bit without a time limit. I have lost some moments because I was not paying enough attention, granted that is ultimately my fault.
The second attractive feature is the larger buffer for taking images. With this I would not need to keep V90 cards just for pictures and keep the large capacity V30 cards for video in the camera.
The better auto focus comes with a cost, mainly reduced ability to pull up shadows due to banding. This S5 does not have banding. But I suspect for most this will be the main desired feature.
Matthew Zilic –
If you want a mirrorless camera, I think the lens selection makes this the one to buy. I know the complaint with l-mount cameras has been that the lenses aren’t there. In 2021, that’s no longer a factor. On top of that, the fact that this has first party support from Sigma means that there are fantastic, fully supported lenses for this camera at half the price of what you get from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fuji.
The only other mirrorless system that has extensive third-party lenses is Sony and I considered the A7III. The Lumix won out because of its better menu system, jpeg colors, build quality, ergonomics, IBIS, and hi-res shot mode.
I’m primarily a stills photographer and I’ve found the autofocus to be fantastic. It’s great at grabbing onto eyes and faces. When subjects turn, it’s still able to track their head movements. I’ve experimented with old manual focus Canon FD lenses and it has a great interface for focusing accurately with those as well.
I highly recommend this camera. It makes photography fun and a broad lens selection affordable.
anonymous coward –
El mejor diseño de las tres marcas que comparten la montura “L” (Leica, Panasonic y Sigma). El mejor precio también.
No le doy 5 estrellas por que el manual es incomprensible; hay ajustes que no se explican y se necesita guía para poder hacerlos. Tuve que preguntar en foros de usuarios en Internet.
El peor manual de cámara que he tenido. Todavía hay dos ajustes que no entiendo.
Por lo demás la cámara es buena, enfoca rápido y tiene buen sensor. No me gusta su ergonomía y distribución de los controles.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Edición a casi cuatro meses de tener la cámara.
Por fin me he acostumbrado al paradigma de ergonomía y diseño; me costó muchas horas de estudio de la cámara pero debo decir que los controles están muy bien posicionados y permiten hacer ajustes “al vuelo” sin necesidad de quitar el ojo del visor.
Tiene muchas características difíciles de encontrar pero, si es uno persistente, a fin de cuentas se encuentran esos pequeños tesoros escondidos. Uno que cuando lo pude manejar sin tener que mirar los menús es la posibilidad de hacer una serie de tomas con un compás de exposición que lleva solo un segundo y puede uno ajustarlo con facilidad desde 3 hasta 7 exposiciones y con separación a 1/3, 2/3 o 1 “stop” sin despegar el ojo del visor. Una gema!
Entre los “huevos de pascua” escondidos hay otro que es un indicador de estabilidad que nos permite saber como anda nuestro pulso y si los estabilizadores de la cámara y el lente lo pueden corregir. Como esto hay docenas de “monerías” con las que puede uno configurar una cámara que nos quede como un guante.
Tengo que corregir mi calificación a 4.5 (que no me permite el sistema) quedándome unicamente e4l resabio de que el auto-enfoque podría ser mucho mejor, ya que tiende a titubear pero aún me queda mucho por explorar en el sentido de los ajustes para encontrar personas o mascotas.
Corolario: una ganga y una gran cámara para casi cualquier aplicación. Puede ser grande en el estudio haciendo retratos o fotografía de producto, ya que EMHO 24mp es más que suficiente para necesidades profesionales; al mismo tiempo puede ser una gran tomadora de fotos cándidas en la calle (aunque su tamaño puede intimidar a los sujetos) y también una herramienta perfecta para paisajes o foto urbana. Para lo único que no la recomiendo es para viajar, es enorme y pesada; para eso hay una pléyade de cámaras en formatos de sensor pequeños pero capaces como es el Micro 4/3 o el APS-C o iclusive una Leica full frame que mide y pesa una fracción de esta.
Stratos –
El autoenfoque deja mucho que desear eso sí, pero en general es muy buena cámara tiene muchos modos q te facilitarán la vida, aunque debes tener en mente para q la utilizarás por q puede que para tomas de acción no te ayude mucho
Xorsh –
I often use the Lumix S5 as a B-camera to the Blackmagic 6k Pro. Shoot in V-Log and colour transform to Blackmagic Gen 5 in DaVinci Resolve. The colours match pretty well with the 6K Pro in good lighting scenarios. I don’t rely on auto focus, but what I can say is that the S5 doesn’t perform well. But, then again, I don’t use AF. In good lighting situations set the f-stop appropriately and keep the subject in place. For photos, it’s great. One reason why I didn’t buy another Blackmagic camera as a b-cam is because I wanted to do photos as well. The S5 has a great price under $1,950 CAD NEW. If you find the camera more than that that the seller is scamming you.
Xorsh –
La uso para video, debo decir que lumix mejoró bastante en enfoque continuo en video no es su fuerte pero va bien ojala siga mejorando, tiene tremendo iso en algunas ocasiones 8000 mil – 10000 mil de ISO con muy poco ruido, el menú me parece increíble, los colores, su autonomia en bateria es bastante buena, además que se puede cargar con un power bank, mi cámara favorita sin duda del 2022
Matthew Zilic –
I used an S5 for a published shoot a couple years ago.
And while my main workhorse camera for pro photo and video gigs has become my Fuji XH2, this camera was always a great camera to use. Great results etc.
so when prime had a deal (I think it was one day) to get an s5 body for under $1,000 new… I jumped on the deal. I was looking for a basic, less expensive travel camera so I could leave my Fuji for work.
If you’re a photographer/videographer that relies on the best auto focus or ai tools… this isn’t the camera for you.
But for anyone who has used DSLRs and wants an updated camera for a very good price… this is great.
It beats the z5 in lowlight and autofocus (based on my experience). And the video capabilities are fantastic.
If you rely on the most advanced autofocus and ai tools, the Sony a7iv and a6700 are fantastic for those, and offer great video capabilities.
If your looking for an 8k output from internal recording that from my experience outclasses the a7iv, and want amazing color and overall performance… grab an XH2 from Fuji.
But if you’re looking for a great travel camera, or even pro camera and want to save a bit of money… the S5 is a great option. While Sony and Fuji beat it in continuous tracking autofocus, I’ve never had an issue get tack sharp focus on subjects at weddings, studio work, or just basic travel or vacation shots. In fact I have found it on par with Nikon z6ii and noticeably better than the Nikon z5.
Brian –
Receives the camera as I Wanted, the seller had particularly noticed the box, I highly recommend him
The camera is amazing!
Stratos –
This is my first ever camera I’ve ever purchased and so far this camera has been an amazing experience from the first week of owning it!
Brian –
This is a very cool gadget for sure! I love the images and videos captured with this camera. The kit lens 20-60 is perfectly fine for everyday use. If you want, you can get more expensive lenses but kit lens works well. Very pleased with the purchase. Compared to some other full frame cameras, this is very reasonably priced for features and technology included. Highly recommended.