Andrew Reid

1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

And not to belabor the R5 II, but...  the R5 II can also do 4kp120 in some sort of line skipped or pixel binned full sensor width mode.

Yep, same as the old R5 from 2020 with the pixel binned 4K/120p, and the quality is quite decent.

The Sony a1 from 2021 has this mode too, and no crop.

The Z8 also.

A used EOS R5 is now around the 2k mark if you want 4K/120p (and quite a bit else) on a camera that used to have a "fake overheating problem" which Canon "fixed" in inverted commas with panicky face-saving firmware updates.

In 2025 uncropped binned 4K/120p at $3500-$3800 is a pretty standard feature.

1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

And for video, it can do 8kp60 raw internally with 15.5ms readout, great dynamic range, and nice colors SOOC

Yeah the R5 II is lovely but the RF mount is an issue for me, I don't have any of the native lenses, they are too big anyway, I sold a lot of my EF stuff as it's also massively heavy, with noisy AF, and in terms of adapters it doesn't have the Leica M mount autofocus adapter I use nearly all the time for stills and some video on the Sony cameras, which is a big pity and there's no way to adapt E-mount lenses to Canon RF unlike with Nikon Z mount.

The lack of Sigma full frame ART lenses in RF mount is another hammer blow.

1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Sure, the S9 could absolutely be better!  But at least Panasonic went out for a segment that really didn't include a lot of cameras and where there's demand.  Tiny full frame 6K camera with a nice sensor for $1,400 brand new?  Fantastic.  And form factor that looks a lot like a Leica M and can use M mount glass?  Also fantastic.

Yes the S9 I have a soft spot for, but Panasonic have always been quite good at value for money cameras.

That's one of the best bang for your buck which makes the £3500 even more difficult to stomach for the S1 II.

It's just a pity how the S9 was marketed and launched, with a bottle cap for a lens in front of a load of people expecting the GH7.

It's also a shame how it is selling.

The used price is now down to just £950 which indicates very low demand and low sales... It does however mean I may pick one up used again and have some fun with it.

1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

I've been really close to buying it a few times and every time, I talk myself out of it by looking at camera size comparisons to my R5 and reminding myself that the S9 isn't so much smaller (and most of what makes the R5 bigger is the EVF which, as you've pointed out, is a really nice thing to have).

Yeah it's no GM1 size wise and build quality feels very cheapo.

When you put a lens on it the size makes no sense unless you're using Leica M mount stuff, or one of Panasonic's tiny zooms.

Unfortunately their cheap 50mm F1.8 is pretty big...

They need a 40mm F2 pancake or something no larger than Nikon's.

Somebody at Panasonic needs to explain the logic to me...

Of small camera, large lenses.

It seems like there's no point having an S9 without small fast prime lenses to go with it.

It's serious fucking money isn't it? wow.

6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

At $3,800, I can't really figure out who is the target market.

$5000 if you want the kit lens don't forget 🙂

6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

If I have $3,800 in my pocket and want a hybrid camera, I'm not buying the S1 II.  If in the Panasonic ecosystem, it'd be the S1R II.  And if not, the R5 II or the Z8.

$3800 and they are not even including ARRI-LOG, it's a separate purchase AFAIK

6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

So... what would be the selling point for a camera that will be apparently in an S5-like body, but cost just about the same as a different higher-resolution camera also in an S5-like body?  I guess it'll have less rolling shutter if it's the Z6 III sensor.  Is "come get a little less rolling shutter" a big selling point in 2025?

One of the rumours said 4K/120p without a crop, but pixel binned.

That would be a neat feature but not a deal-saver.

The S5 II body is just such a pudding.

You put one next to an a7r V and it feels like a child's camera.

6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

I get the S9 - cheap full frame with great image quality.

I get the S9 too but they still missed a trick there by not making it better.

I.e. The one with the EVF and mechanical shutter and new sensor, like everyone else has.

6 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

I get the S1R II - high resolution full frame with 8k video to compete with the other major players.

I could even somewhat get the S1 IIe - if they add "professional" I/O ports like SDI and dedicated timecode, then it's an S5 II that fits better into mid-range shoots.

But the S1 II, if described as above?  I'm boggled.

The cherry on top of all this failing I bet will be an S1H that costs 5 grand and has no EVF.

They'll reposition it as an FX3 competitor, in a new boxy form factor with all the stills features cripple-hammered.

So as far as a hybrid camera goes the S1 II might be a better deal.

Even though it is really just an S5 III and not a flagship in any way.

8 hours ago, John Matthews said:

The GH2 and the hacking community seemingly launched the GH3 before Panasonic knew which end was up. Times have definitely changed. There's no reason to hack anything on current cameras as they're all great. The urgency has become story, composition, lighting and the edit.

Is this your hot take. LOL.

The GH2 hacking community has nought to do with this topic and the latest cameras, and as far as I know Mr Kiselev the Bolshevik Leninist did not launch the GH3.

I wish you'd go off and do some editing

What if Sony followed The Great Panasonic Strategy handbook?

https://www.eoshd.com/opinion/s1-ii-leaks-what-if-sony-followed-the-panasonic-strategy/

31 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I don't know that they are regressing backwards creatively, as much as they hit the same wall most everyone else has.

There's no wall to good design, or making a body that feels premium and looks like a flagship, Sony for example are not the most creative of the camera companies (that would be Fuji and Sigma), but they managed to produce high-end cameras that are actually high-end with new ergonomics, the a7r V for example and now a1 II. The first a1 is smaller and higher quality than the entry level S5 II body Panasonic thinks is worthy of £3500 flagships.

Sony have not just set out to copy Canon, whereas the worrying thing about all of this is that Panasonic seems perfectly happy to be a Temu Sony now.

Their product strategy is batshit and they are refusing to put proper cutting edge sensors in the flagships.

Then again they are not charging $6000 so bonus points for that.

31 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I do think the design criticism is the most valid, but I also think that too was inevitable. It makes sense that they'd try to unify the camera body designs like Sony has, as I'm sure it's much more profitable for them

I have no problem with unifying the camera body design around a flagship like Sony did starting with the a7 III adopting the same body as the a9, or at least very similar.

Panasonic have done it the wrong way round, they are putting their flagship expensive stuff in a mid-range / entry level body design.

31 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I've never had a problem with the S5ii X's body; I don't necessarily love it it, but I'm pretty indifferent.

I can't tolerate feeling indifferent towards a camera I've just spent 3500 on, I don't know why I should think "meh" every time I pick it up, versus something like a Z8 or a1.

31 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

Where it matters most to me I find it to be pretty good; the buttons are where I'd naturally want them, and I have quick access to pretty much every setting I'd want to have quick access to. It really boils down to personal preference, so if you don't like it then I can see why it'd bother you that they are using it for most of their cameras now. That was a big reason why I didn't like Sony cameras, so I understand it.

Talking about personal preferences, it's not just me - I'd say most people think it's wrong to be releasing the s1r II and s1 II in a mid-range body design that wasn't even very charming at £1300 second hand, let alone £3500.

Just a quick TLDR then...

- No cutting edge sensors in the flagship cameras

- Mid-range at best body designs with no flare or interesting ergonomic features

- Terrible marketing and pricing

- Autofocus still lagging behind (probably)

- Still no internal ND

- Not enough compelling unique aspects to make people switch

- Marginalised lens mount

So the rumoured pricing:

S1 II: 3500 euros. Similar or same sensor as Z6 III (partially stacked) and similar spec?

S1 IIe: 2800 euros for the OLD sensor, same spec as S5 II but updated processor

2800 euros for a 2017 sensor that debuted in the a7 III.

The kit lens is 1000 euros. 24-60 F2.8

Panasonic have taken leave of their senses.

43 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

The GH2 and the hacking community seemingly launched the GH3 before Panasonic knew which end was up. Times have definitely changed. There's no reason to hack anything on current cameras as they're all great. The urgency has become story, composition, lighting and the edit.

You have completely misinterpreted what I said and brought up hacks for some reason

2 hours ago, John Matthews said:

You're very right. Read what people say and Lumix anything is DOA. Nevertheless, people will buy them, actually use them and give their opinions. Also, all the cameras are so good and I'm struggling to find meaningful things that would really improve something. Sure, internal ND's would be great, but I'm sure there are all kinds of technical issues with that. Now, we've got HQ magnetic ones that aren't that bad at all. Rolling shutter performance is the biggest hoax for the vast majority of people buying the cameras. All of the nth degree stuff- just go out and shoot what you have. Better yet, downgrade and make it a challenge.

Maybe try and understand the negativity, after all we're just doing as you just described... buying and using the cameras and giving our opinion.

I have bought every major Panasonic release for 15 years.

I stopped at the S1R II and gave my opinion.

There's no creative or practical and financial reason to buy another L-mount camera from Panasonic.

My next will be the Sigma BF and I'll probably get the Sony a1 again at some point, as I regret selling it.

There's no room in the bag for a £2500 Sony a7 replica with L-mount.

Had Panasonic used the same strategy in the M43 days, they'd have been bringing out 2x crop DSLRs with moire.

10 hours ago, Davide DB said:

I'm with Andrew.

If the leaked specifications are confirmed, I find these two cameras to be completely dull, boring, and uninspired.

I don't work in research and development, nor in the marketing department but I was a loyal customer and so I really don't understand the strategy (if there is a strategy).

You have 5% of the market and you present two absolutely anonymous cameras that don't stand out from the multitude of cameras sold by the market leaders. You can't afford 6 full-frame cameras.

What we all loved about Panasonic was its ability to stand out from the rest. In a market completely dominated by the usual players, it was able to innovate. Now that drive has been completely lost.

Precisely because you are constantly losing market share and are fading into oblivion, for me the motto applies: When in trouble, go big!

You have also absorbed what was once the professional division and you continue to present tired and worn-out concepts.

RIP Panasonic

I loved that about Panasonic as well, the ability to stand out from the others. They have completely lost the plot and are becoming a TEMU Sony.

The cost cutting is clear to see as well, so maybe they had the choice of leave the market or cut back.

Which is just business-speak for a slow death isn't it?

9 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

So if it was re-using the same S5ii body shell then you could legally have walked out of the restaurant and into the nearest police station and announcing to the duty officer “I would like to report a crime”.

On 5/8/2025 at 11:54 PM, Davide DB said:

Latest rumors: two cameras and one is the S1IIE 😑

Introducing the Lumix S1II E – The E stands for everything you didn’t know you needed.

Meet your new creative companion:

The Eeprominator – Built-in memory so loyal, it holds onto your moments like your grandma holds onto your baby photos.

E-Waste Not – Every shot counts. Even that accidental one of your foot? Frame it.

Easter Snap – Hidden features? Secret settings? Surprises await in every menu.

Emoticanon – Shoots in feels-per-second. Guaranteed to hit you right in the heartstrings.

Exploitomatic – It finds the light. It finds the angle. It finds you.

Lumix S1II E – Not just a camera. It’s a character

Who needs an S1H II when you have an S1 Mark ?E?E?E?E?E

E for electronic shutter, to save costs.

E for Exactly the same body as the cheapo camera from 2022 to save costs.

E for enamoured with accountancy.

E for enormous lack of creativity.

E for eeee dear.

E for End, as in the brand, and soon the entire system as well.

E for E-mount which has a 3 year old model that's twice as good.

E for erm, do I want to sign an NDA and go to some fancy Knightsbridge business lunch to see it.

N for no fucking thanks!

Let's continue to talk about millimetres, it's fascinating stuff.

In the old days we had Canon and their leading APS-C sensors, the 60D was class of the field...

Now we have Fuji taking pride of place for best APS-C sensors, 40 megapixels and great image processing.

However there's a new country competing in the field, China.

(Although it is really China + Sony joint collab)

Let's see how close the Xiaomi 14 Ultra main 1" sensor gets to the mighty APS-C Fuji X-T50...

I'll leave you to download the original files and draw own conclusions:

Xiaomi DNG (50 megapixel UltraRAW mode): https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Es4s0RhRK1ZWIQL0vMx4WNv4OP2Rx2l/view?usp=share_link

X-T50 RAW (RAF format): https://drive.google.com/file/d/17y31E6PYpYA2RGLjrhB4oTYbF5BsYWUo/view?usp=share_link

Here's a sneak preview crop...

14 Ultra

X-T50

On 5/2/2025 at 7:49 PM, EduPortas said:

100% agreed.

The tendency is clear though: Chinese camera and videocamera manufacturers are growing more competent and we better get ready for a considerable change in the status quo.

I'm looking forward to it!

Turned down my invite and refused the NDA.

I'll follow it online and the rumours, with the rest.

19 hours ago, maxJ4380 said:

Sounds fair. Lot of peoples first forays into video begin with an action camera of some kind. 

I just think action-cam stuff belongs on a different website, and a different forum.

EOSHD is about mirrorless cameras, cinema cameras and occasionally the odd smartphone.

It's not about extreme sports shooting.

As there are too many separate threads and topics about cameras that have fisheye lenses and small sensors, i.e. anything that goes on the end of a selfie stick, I will combine them all here and anything that gets posted separately will be moved to this post.

3 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

There's been some discussion on this here today.  The main takeaway is that nobody even understands what it means.  How in the fuck can you put a tariff on a film?  It doesn't even make sense.  And what is a "foreign import?"  If I drive across the border to Canada, shoot 3 minutes of footage, and add it to a 90-minute film that was otherwise shot and edited in the US, what's taxed?

FWIW, it also would be a torpedo to the Canadian industry - and I suspect the tariffs were partly driven by spite at Canada for voting so strongly against his agenda.

Anyway, the major studios are going to hate this.  Aside from reducing costs by producing abroad, if other countries retaliate in kind, International returns on films are going to crater - and that's a huge percentage of their profits.

It's absolutely unhinged isn't it?

100% tariffs on American films which aren't all shot in the US.

100% tariffs on all foreign imports and Netflix production.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz01kx3yrmvo

https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-announces-100-tariff-on-non-us-movies-as-film-industry-dying-13362069

Proper details sketchy but looks bad.

But all par for the course when your public votes for a thuggish fascist dictator.

Nice shots.

With the telephoto modules on the 14 Ultra they benefit from 3 things:

- Computational side

- Fast apertures

- Very close minimum focus distances

As a result, especially at the closer focus distances the small sensor look disappears.

The apertures are fast at F1.8 and F2.4 which for long lenses is impressive especially as they are the size of postage stamps in your pocket.

The computation side has also taken a huge leap.

On the main sensor there's so much more depth information and a shallower DOF to begin with which helps the bokeh simulation to be much more convincing.

On this shot of the car it has just embellished a bit the background separation which was already there at 1", F1.63.

It really is an extraordinary shot getter in every way.

Fast, tiny, wide range of Leica modes and you can create so many different styles of shot in a couple of seconds with a few swipes.

It is the moment for me when I realise that traditional mirrorless cameras and especially the lenses aren't long for this world.

I have one on the way after looking at the image samples here:

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_14_ultra-review-2683p5.php

The 75mm F1.8 lens in particular...

Like some of the famous Zeiss Distagons it has a floating element to get close.

With such a fast aperture in combination with the close-focussing abilities make it look incredible.

The 14 Ultra in fact has two such lenses, a 75mm and 120mm.

And the main imager is 1"

Which also in the close-to-mid focus range has a very shallow DOF.

I have lighted tweaked that last one in Pixelmator Pro, the JPEGs have a surprising amount of chonkiness to play with.

Then there's the RAW capabilities...

With Motion Cam Pro there's the RAW Cinema DNG recording.

Within Xiaomi's own camera app is the expert RAW mode for stills, with Leica's colour tuning.

This allows you to completely turn off any noise reduction and sharpening... one of the main caveats of modern smartphones.

I think at £600 used this is the real deal.

The 15 Ultra doesn't change things very much, indeed to go any better would require a big leap.

We're talking at least Micro Four Thirds size sensor instead of 1", and F1.4 maximum aperture.

And to make this pocketable is going to require a lot of physics bending.

There are some other options like the Oppo Find 7 Ultra, and Vivo X100 Pro which have a large 1/1.4" sensor on the telephoto lens, 200MP.

But the lens quality itself is a bit compromised as a result.

The Vivo X100 Pro has the Zeiss modes, Zeiss lens simulations, even RAW video built into the main camera app I believe.

But I find Xiaomi's image processing with Leica to be the best of the bunch.

Looking forward to when it turns up from CEX this weekend with the photography kit which gives it ability to use filters and a proper shutter release button!

I think for street photography requiring stealth, 3 lenses in one pocket and very high speed, this is a better choice than a proper camera, X100 VI or Leica Q. The ultimate shot getter?

TikTarrif

Yep, great tech. An area where China leads Japan (and everyone else) by far.

Makes me want to get a Panasonic LX15 and do a parody TikTok channel.

By the way a quick look at the shots on this page... https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_14_ultra-review-2683p5.php

Should give people pause for thought spending a grand on a compact!

That 3.2x lens in particular at close focus distances is a gem.