Full sensor recording or “Open Gate” as camera manufacturers seem intent on calling it, is perfect for when you have to shoot content for multiple formats and aspect ratios. With such a large frame, you can comfortably crop a square, 4:5, or 9x16 frame for social media from videos shot this way. It can also now record up to 4 channels of 96kHz/24-bit audio when attaching a 3.5mm microphone or optional DMW-XLR1 adapter. Panasonic Lumix S5 II Build and Handling

Lumix S5 II review | Cameralabs Panasonic Lumix S5 II review | Cameralabs

The fan means the S5 II can record for unlimited periods in most of its video modes, as tested by Panasonic at temperatures of 40°C (104°F). Panasonic points The benefit of DFD is no banding from the masked-off pixels. That's it. PDAF systems will require less lens movement and produce more 'stable' continous AF by actually knowing the distance of a subject. I’ll show you some bursts with the mechanical shutter at 7fps first before switching to some with the electronic shutter at 30fps. Shooting alongside the R6 II, Canon’s recognition felt more confident, identifying birds from a longer distance when they were smaller on the frame, not to mention concentrating on their eyes when closer, but the bottom line is I still managed to get a decent number of keepers with the S5 II. Above: Moving onto image quality at higher sensitivities, I shot a still-life image with the S5 at every ISO value from 100 to 51200 ISO, using the Lumix S 20-60mm at 50mm f11. I shot in JPEG and RAW, but in the absence of RAW support from Adobe at the time I made this review, I’m comparing the JPEGs here. In my video review I’ll show you a closer look at each value, starting at 100 ISO and ending at 51200 ISO, but just now here’s a cropped view of the 3200 ISO sample above. Panasonic says the S5 has dual native ISO like the S1H which means at a certain point the noise levels and dynamic range should improve. Unlike the S1H though, the switch happens automatically on the S5 and Panasonic isn’t officially saying where it happens, so you tell me if you can see it here. Either way, I’d say the images look very clean and detailed up to 3200 ISO, remain very respectable at 6400 and 12800 ISO, and only really begin to suffer at 25600 and 51200 ISO, but even then still retain a good level of detail. It has good video quality for static objects and if there is no panning. Once you have action and movement a camera like A7Siii with its much faster readout will have significantly better video.I'm baffled to understand how the 8bit only + weak FHD A7III scored higher for video as well as the R6 which is altough good on paper, close to useless in real life (only weak quality option won't cause overheating). Like all Lumix S bodies, the S5 II employs the L-mount, allowing it to use a growing system of native lenses from Panasonic, Sigma and Leica. Highlights include a series of f1.8 prime lenses from Panasonic, along with Sigma’s entire range of DG DN lenses designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras. I’ve also successfully adapted Canon EF lenses. This camera can't be touched at this price point. For video, the only better solutions are the much more expensive S1H and the A7SIII. Just because Panasonic has shrunk the camera, it doesn't mean you don't get a good array of direct access control buttons and dials. The largest of these is the exposure mode dial, which sits just to the right of the electronic viewfinder (EVF). Here you’ve got all the usual range of modes (including P/A/S/M) as well as a trio of customizable slots, which are likely to appeal to those shooting either stills or video in certain scenarios reasonably often.

Panasonic LUMIX DC-S5 II Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Body

Image quality is in line with other current-generation 24MP full-frame models. I compared photos of our test scene from the S5 II with those from the EOS R6 Mark II and, aside from slight differences in noise patterns, the results look very similar. Image quality holds up strongly through ISO 6400, and you can still get decent results through ISO 51200. So you commented on (implicitly all) Panasonic camera menus without even having ever touched any camera of the S series which this article is all about? The S5 II's images exhibit very similar levels of noise to those from the EOS R6 II, though images from the Z6 II are marginally cleaner across the tested sensitivity range. Perhaps inevitably, the extra megapixels crammed onto the Sony's sensor means it's images contain a little more noise than those from the arguably more light-sensitive 24MP cameras on test. Panasonic Lumix S5 II Verdict The image quality options appear to be inherited from the original S5, so you get three photo resolutions for JPEG files, at 24, 12 or 6 Megapixels, and the choice of two JPEG compression levels. You can also shoot in RAW, but unlike its latest rivals, there’s no RAW compression options, nor any chance to swap JPEG for HEIF. That said, with typical RAW files varying between 30 and 40MB in my tests, I’m guessing there’s some kind of compression taking place, presumably lossless. Panasonic has always been a key player in the video camera space, and the S5 is clearly hoping to attract vloggers or anyone looking for a hybrid video-stills camera that's not as big and bulky as something like the S1, or especially the S1H.To compare noise levels, I photographed this bunch of flowers again with each of the three bodies fitted with the same adapted Sigma 40mm f1.4 Art lens. I’m going to zoom-in for a closer look, before running through the full range of ISO sensitivities. Note the S5 II sensor employs dual native ISO, now with manual as well as auto switching for photo or video. The S5 shares many video features with the S1H, adds some creative photo modes for stills shooters and gets an updated DFD autofocus system.