sgreszcz

Looks like the S5ii is about £1300 with rebates and the S5iix £1800.  Also it is quite hard to find the Sigma 28-70 f2.8 in L-mount in the UK and for some reason the L-mount is more expensive than the Sony...

Is there much value of the newer X version over the original Sii to be worth £500?

I also hate buying stuff before Black Friday, not sure if Panasonic will have better offers by then.  Sadly the next show I have to shoot is almost in production.

Yep, sold on the S5ii looks good enough for low-light photos and handheld video (close up shots).  Thank you all ever so much for your time and advise.  I spent a lot of time on my E-M1ii test photos and realised I needed a proper solution ASAP!

14 hours ago, MrSMW said:

This conversation is spread over 3 threads now 😂

I will stand by my opinion that the S5ii is the better option for low light. In good light, not a lot in it.

I could fool 99% of my clients 99% of the time…at least, but I’d know the truth.

Plus I’d have to work a lot harder in that ‘fooling’ and could I be bothered?

There’s a place for 4/3rds, but it’s not low light theatre photography, not when full frame options exist.

Sorry about spreading this across various threads, I didn't know where the best discussion was and was trying to find out more about the G9ii, (potentially Sony) and learned about the Panasonic S5ii that I hadn't really even thought of as I didn't know it existed.

I think I'm going to go with the Panasonic S5ii with Sigma 2.8 zoom and Panasonic 24-105 to use as my main camera going forward.  Will sell my E-M1ii, O40-150/2.8 and O12-100/4.
 

As for the difference in low-light interior stills, it is night and day.  I can see some of the previous photographers' work with their presumably high-end Canon or Nikon lenses, and the m43, even with primes just doesn't have the same look or sharpness.  I spent a couple hours getting my test shots to look OK with AI denoise and other clarity/sharpening techniques but any shots with motion I had to delete.

For video I'll stay with using my GH5 with dumb battery and PL25/1.4 on one side of the theatre for a wide continuous shot and my GX80 with PL15/1.7 near me (to restart every 30min).  Will use the Panasonic s5ii for handheld close shots with the 24-105/4 and the Sigma 2.8 for photos (replace the olympus).  If it wasn't for the photos I would have just kept my setup as is until the G9ii dropped in price. 

I'll make up for the cost of switching by selling my olympus stuff and for the extra work I'll be getting.  Thanks for your advise everyone!

13 hours ago, Thpriest said:

You can push the S5mk2 to 6400-12800. I had m4/3 before and you just can’t do that.

i agree that the Sigma 28-70 f2.8 is a great option even if i miss 24mm. That being said, I recently had to shoot with the 24-105 f4 for some hand held almost macro shots of a wedding ring being made. The duaL ibis is great and i was shooting at f4 6400 in 6k (downscaled to 4k) with no problem. 

That's awsome.  Thanks for sharing your experiences.  I have heard that the IBIS + OIS is good on the S5ii and the low light sounds good too.  I could use the sigma f2.8 with the higher ISO to get better shutter speeds for the theatre photography too, I hope.  I'm not as concerned about video, because frankly the EM-1ii and GH5 are good enough for theatre video.

14 hours ago, MrSMW said:

If you need any more stable than the IBIS, there is always the dual option with certain lenses such as the 24-105 f4 which is great for outdoors/daytime, but less so in low light.

 

Read some reviews on that lens.  Likely I'll go with the S5ii, the P24-105/4 and the Sigma 24-70/2.8.  That should cover what I do with my Olympus E-M1ii+12-100+40-150/2.8.  Also I hope that the colours more easily match my GH5 and GX80s.

49 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Great and the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 is a compact high performing zoom and this pairing is my go to for ALL run & gun, indoor, outdoor, after dark…

I have had several 4/3 cameras and lenses including the EM5ii and the most recent OM-1 and whilst they may have marginally better stabilisation, performance-wise, beyond that, no contest, the full-frame S5ii is just better everywhere, stills and video.

Even with the f1.7 lenses. Nah, weight and IBIS aside, the S5ii kicks any and all 4/3 backsides.

GH6 and G9ii users may disagree. Get in a ring with the S5ii though and we would see who the real champ is 😉

My other choice would be the S1H which are now available at very decent prices on the used market, below new S5ii’s I think and you essentially trade a more compact, lighter, better AF frame for a better built (tank) unit with far better rear LCD, beautifully damped shutter and sound (for stills and important in theatres I reckon without resorting to electronic?) and a more ‘filmic’ image.

Funnily enough, I have and use both…

Gone over to Nikon for stills but can’t give up my Lumix for video…

Thanks so much for that.  Will look at S5ii / S1H and the sigma zoom.  I'm not worried about the shutter as usually the photos are done during rehearsals andI video the actual performances.  Just curious how stability with run-and-gun will go, but can always eventually get the G9ii for that when it drops in price for next year outdoor events.

46 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

If you go Sony, I'd price out those lenses first. I think most people who switched to Sony now 

 Low-light is possible on M43- just buy the 1.7/1.8 primes for dirt cheap. Sony lenses often cost an arm and a leg and they're rather bulky IMO.

Thank you, just considering the Panasonic s5ii to replace the em1ii.  Just not convinced m4/3 can do decent indoor photography with movement.
 

 I need a zoom so thinking of g9ii with p10-25/1.7 and p35-100/2.8 or keep o40-150/2.8.  not sure I can be switching primes as can’t miss live action and can’t easily move around.  The s5ii with something like 24-100/f4 could be handy but then would lose the goodies like ibis and good AF on the em1ii.

On 7/11/2023 at 8:34 AM, seanzzxx said:

Just to share a little personal story - the S5 II really restored my fun in shooting little personal video's. I shoot almost daily for work and I always swore by large cinema camera's. I'm one of those crazy people that thinks an Ursa mini is the perfect body shape. (part of this is copied from a Reddit comment I made earlier but I thought it would be interesting to share here).

For the longest time I was really torn up between having a kit that is able to capture what I consider to be professional quality and something that I actually would WANT to bring with me on a walk or a day out. I carried a little Pocket 4k (GREAT camera) with me, but by the time you rig that out to shoot comfortably with a monitor/filter holder/NDs/mic, you’re still carrying something that takes up most of your bag and it just sucked the fun out of it for me. On a job, no problem, for home video’s it just wasn’t worth it for me. I was really looking for something I could just pull out of a bag pack and shoot.

So then I bought a Canon R6, and honestly that camera’s video quality was such a massive step back from even the Pocket 4k that it just wasn’t worth it for me (esp. dynamic range but also the out of camera colors). Also just awful awful video assist tools on that camera.

The S5 II kinda hits all the marks for me: very small, good enough dynamic range, good colors, good monitoring tools and good AF (better than the R6 in my opinion) on my EF lenses. That last thing (combined with it being newer, so longer firmware support) pushed me over the edge when compared to the S1H by the way. I don’t mind pulling manual focus at all, but if I’m shooting on a 3 inch screen, the AF is really nice to have. Never felt like I could really trust it with the R6 but the S5 II has really really good autofocus.

Here's somethign small I shot with it:

 

Wow, this is great.  I'm thinking of switching my EM-1ii which I mostly use for outside run-and-gun to something that I can shoot indoor theatre photography and video with.  My m4/3 is great for video indoors, but for photography, not so much.

Was looking at replacing my E-M1ii an 12-100/4 with either a G9ii or a S5ii.  Just not sure the S5ii would be up for the outdoor run-and-gun with AF and stabilisation which are excellent on the E-M1ii.  

How is the S5ii for low-light photograpy and what would be a great utility zoom?  I'm not looking for filmic stuff (your film is great!) just utility.

On 10/23/2023 at 4:33 PM, John Matthews said:

An old, beaten up, hacked GH2 for live streaming (I make money with that). For daily usage, a hacked E-M1 ii.

What does the E-M1ii hack give you?  I love the E-M1ii that I got used for peanuts.  With the 12-100/4 and dual IBIS it is a dream run-and-gun for outdoor events.

Problem is I now have some indoor theatre work, and my m4/3 setup works great for video (E-M1ii handheld and GH5/GX80 on tripods with primes), I have been asked to shoot photos too for promotional print/online and the low-light + 2.8 zooms don't cut it with high-iso and motion blur.

I already sold my 75mm and 45mm 1.8 a long time ago.  I'm really debating getting the G9ii and Panasonic 12-60/2.8-4 and 10-25/1.7 to replace my EM1-ii + 12-100.  Or switching to Sony FF.  Hard as I've been in m43 since the original EM-5 in 2010.

Hi there,

I've been doing mostly outdoor event video shooting as well as some indoor event streaming so have been happy with a basic kit of Olympus EM-1ii with 12-100 f/4 (which I use handheld), a GH5, and a couple of GX80 which I use with fixed prime lenses (P25 f/1.4 and P15 f/1.7) for multicam.  I also have the Olympus 40-150 f/2.8.  The Olympus IBIS, colours, AF, size and images are great.

I've recently been asked to do indoor theatre video (which this m4/3 system works good enough for) but now they want me to do some photography too.  I've done some test shots, but between the low-light grain (I can fix with AI denoise) and movement blur, I just can't do the photography with what I have.

I love the m4/3 dual-stabilisation for events, so I'm thinking if it would be better to get the Panasonic G9ii to replace the Olympus and get the 12-60/2.8-4 to replace the o12-100/f4 and maybe a used Panasonic 10-25/f1.7 zoom.

Or would it be better to switch to the Sony system with a A7siii (or similar, recommendations welcome!) with some decent 24-105/4 zoom.  I know I will gain on the low-light but will likely lose the run-and-gun stabilisation that I get in the Olympus system.  Also, I would not like to do heavy colour correction, as I'd prefer right out of camera.

Thank you so much in advance for any suggestions as it has been a few years since I've been looking at camera gear.

On 9/10/2020 at 9:20 AM, kye said:

Yes, there are small pockets of uniqueness right at the edges of what is possible that maybe can only be achieved with one camera system or other.  I experience that when I am shooting 120p on my GH5 and I enable ETC mode on the 70-210mm + 2x TC to get a FF equivalent focal length of 2100mm, which isn't something many camera systems can do.

Having shot some Olympic snowboarding from the stands with a GH5+PL100-400 and some sailing from shore with the same camera and also the Olympus E-m5iii + 12-100 the results are actually quite good hand-held with their dual IS systems.  It's just a shame they never got together to have dual IS compatible across systems.  The Panasonic digital teleconverter (true crop) seems better than the Olympus implementation which seems like some resampling.  On the other hand, the Olympus PDAF autofocus makes stable shooting and focusing at 800mm+ FF equivalent much easier.

On 9/6/2020 at 12:58 AM, fuzzynormal said:

I was going to buy a used Gx7 for $100 more than I got my waranteed/refurbished EM10iii. 

Its a good value for $300, yes. 

I second what Fuzzy says.  I sold my GH5 + PL12-60 combo for a E-M5iii+O12-100/f4.  The Olympus colours are great out of the box, the IS with that lens is gimbal-like, and the C4k is lovely.  The camera is not as rugged as the E-M1 series, but I can attest the to weather proofing as have filmed for hours in the pouring rain.  Just miss zebras as the histogram is not really accurate (although good enough not to clip highlights, and I think that my LCD needs the exposure lowering as it is always brighter than the scene.

@fuzzynormal what colour profile do you generally use and does anyone have experience with the best C-AF settings especially for face-detect focusing?

As Fuzzy says, the E-M10iii is a steal and the C4k images is the same as the other more expensive Olympus cameras.  I've seen them for less than £200 on e-bay.  I'm considering selling my two GH5 for a pair of E-M10iii to use as B-cam and timelapse cams. 

On 9/8/2020 at 7:07 PM, tupp said:

Oops!  You're correct!  I linked the wrong dummy battery!

Here is the dummy battery (and USB boost converter/adapter) for the E-M10 models.

Thanks for that, they were sold out on Amazon, but I managed to find them on Ali Express: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32918185600.html

On 9/8/2020 at 2:57 PM, Marcio Kabke Pinheiro said:

It is even sadder with the GX9 / G90, with the additional crop. Have a GX9 and, except fot the extra crop, is a much better camera than the GX85 - speed, color, tilting EVF (amazing for tripod work), even the AF is much better (and useful in video in some scenarios).

Yeah, I loved my GX80s, and I still have them (use them as small timelapse cameras, even have the USB dummy batteries).  Unfortunately the IBIS and viewfinder let them down.

On 9/11/2020 at 5:15 AM, leslie said:

I'm bucking the trend, i have my eye on low shutter count mark two, e-m10. Mostly for the remote port so i can wire up a remote shutter, The mark 3 e-m10 is tempting but no remote shutter port, Wifi or bluetooth shutter control isn't good enough / suitable for me or my project.

I've seen E-M10iii for less than £200.  Looking for a steal as a B-Cam to my E-m5iii.  Same image, just no PDAF.

On 9/9/2020 at 6:44 PM, John Matthews said:

That doesn't really register on my "common sense" radar. They apparently say they'll keep the Olympus name, but just make surveillance cameras? I have nothing against surveillance cameras sporting Olympus optics as that would make sense in some ways, but I imagine there would be better avenues for enriching JIP... speaking only on speculation, of course.

Would love to see them open source the code.  That could be revolutionary like Magic Lantern or the GH2!  Imagine what people could squeeze out of that hardware.  Olympus has the best IBIS hardware and PDAF sensor, they just need more software features like zebras and better codecs beyond the C4k which is quite nice.

1 hour ago, rdouthit said:

Great! Though I'd prefer 40/60p and 10bit internal. (EM1X and EM1 Mk III owner.)

I'm sure they can do all this and more.  I find it strange though that they are finally upping their video game _after_ being sold.  Also, I'd like them to have similar firmware for all their cameras like the continuous bounding-boxes for face-detect focus while recording.  That feature is not on the E-M5iii.

I was thinking today, that those Olympus cameras could do so much more.  They should open-source the firmware - ha ha.

On 6/24/2020 at 8:12 PM, Márcio Kabke Pinheiro said:

I will probably always have some m43 gear, even when the format ends. For travel, it is an almost perfect format.
But have a lot of stuff to offload (most kit lenses and old bodies), the financial hit is somewhat significant.

I totally agree.  For the stuff that I do, the Olympus E-M5iii and 12-100 f/4 is a fantastic combination.  Small, light, weatherproof - the PDAF is a bonus although I often use the manual clutch on the 12-100.  That pair shoots a very nice, extremely stable (gimbal-like) cinema 4k image with good colours that I don't even need to grade.  The 12-100 f/4 with the extra 2x punch-in crop gives me 24-400mm full-frame equivalent range in 4k.  Also it allows for macro-like close focusing. 

I throw that combo, the Panasonic 25 f/1.4 for interviews, a couple of Instamics, a Rode video micro, a small tripod, and my Mavic Air drone in a little backpack and I'm good to go for the day.  No, I'm not going to be on Netflix or win any awards, but for the outdoors/environmental and event/community video that I do, Olympus is more than great.

As far as excess gear, I probably should sell off my GH5 as I'm not using it as much now I have the E-M5iii.  I also am thinking of selling my 17 and 45mm Voigtlanders which I love, but don't get a lot of indoors or low light work, especially after COVID.  I still keep a Panasonic GX80 with dummy USB battery as it is so handy for timelapses and useful as a backup camera.  Maybe I should look at a cheap E-M10ii as a B-cam to match my other Olympus.

I've been considering other systems (fuji, sony, canon) but they all have limitations (size, stability, cost) compared to m4/3 and especially Olympus that has a little bit more "magic" to me over Panasonic.  There must be a market for small, good quality video, stabilisation for vloggers or people like me.  @fuzzynormal seems to be in the same camp as well as people like Chris Eyre-Walker.

Too bad Olympus didn't capitalise here and Panasonic is making similar mistakes.  Olympus should have thrown in every trick they had including better video-assist tools into two cameras - a small EM10 and a larger "pro" EM1.  Panasonic needs a GH5 in a GX80 body and similar tech in an LX100 body with fixed, high-quality zoom lens and IBIS.

Hey there, 

I'm trying to edit GH5 HLG/HVEV video in FCPX 10.4.8 on OSX Catalina 10.15.5.  This is a new computer and I could have sworn that I was able to see and edit that codec in my old Mac.  Also, when I export prores 422 with other footage, for some reason I can't playback that output in Quicktime.  I tried seeing if I had the proapps codecs installed and googled a bit last night, but couldn't find what I had done wrong...  Any ideas?

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions, I'm putting together the proposal now, so this helps me get my thoughts together, especially for the "risks/expectations" section.

43 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

Make sure your not responsible if the client is upset with the quality of product you receive. Get them all good microphones like you said. Pray after that, make sure your getting paid well.

Are you editing it?

Yes, the client gets this - it is far from for cinema release (ha, ha).  I will also be doing most of the key events and interviews, and they've worked with me before so they know what to expect.  I will be editing it, so yeah I guess praying that what I get back from the remote parties is OK.  I'm going to have them upload the video as they complete sessions and events so I can give feedback and if needed, pivot...

Thanks for the response, it is appreciated!

I've been asked to work on a documentary project, and due to the various events being geographically distributed and budget restrictions one of the suggestions was to use crowd-sourced mobile video.  In this case I would video the key events and interviews for the narrative, but would need to rely on amateur mobile video for b-roll and possibly event video/audio.  

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for tackling this?  I'm going to put together a document and video of simple  "top tips" for recording better video and audio and perhaps including in the budget a mobile phone tripod/gimbal and an inexpensive hand audio recorder to get close to any speakers or for local the local teams to use.

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

1 minute ago, Video Hummus said:

No weather sealing is a no buy for me for the XT4. I like to shoot in harsh conditions. The recording limits are also kind of a deal breaker as well. Are they a hard limit or are they they based on actually temperature readings?

Oops, I didn't see this limitation?  I was using my E-M5iii in the pouring rain/mud last week with a lens-hood and not a problem with it and the 12-100/4 lens.  For the stuff I shoot in the UK weather, sealing is a must.

25 minutes ago, Oliver Daniel said:

What's the crop in 4k 60p? Can't seem to find out anywhere. 

Also can the fujis do a 1.6x or 2x digital zoom at full 4k resolution like the GH5 and Olympus cameras?

6 hours ago, Yurolov said:

Ibis in video looks pretty jerky when walking.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing - some weird wobbles  and shudders in the corners.  In comparison the latest Olympus with IBIS and sync-IS lenses + Electronic Image Stabilisation (slight crop) is almost as good as a handheld gimbal.

On 2/24/2020 at 11:14 PM, OliKMIA said:

https://enlaps.io/produit/tikee-pro2/?lang=en

I'm testing it at the moment but so far I'm pleased with this product and it seems to be a good value. It's been running for 2 weeks on my balcony day and night taking a fair amount of rain already. The battery is still very high thanks to the solar panel. The next step will be to  check the app and marge the pano pictures from the two cameras.

That looks cool, but very $$$.  I found an open-box Afidus ATL-200 which I'm going to test now.

On 2/25/2020 at 1:54 AM, buggz said:

Anyone use these?

https://timelapseplus.com/

I think I want one for upcoming beach vacation.  This and the Syrup Mini Genie II in tilt and pan.

I've got one, but not had great day-to-night or night-to-day weather to try it with.  Might attempt through a window.