ac6000cw

For anyone with an E-M1 ii, someone has managed to modify the v3.4 firmware to remove the 30 minute video record limit and allow focus-stacking (for stills) with any lens - https://www.mu-43.com/threads/modified-firmware-looking-for-users.99804/post-1449131 I've loaded it on my E-M1 ii and the focus-stacking certainly works with Panasonic lenses. Not yet tested > 30 minute video recording, but the display certainly shows more than 30 minutes available. (There are also modified firmware versions for some other Oly cameras at the beginning of that thread e.g. for the E-M10 iii and E-PL9, plus earlier E-M1 ii firmware versions - see https://www.mu-43.com/threads/modified-firmware-looking-for-users.99804/post-1184700 ) I dipped a toe in the Olympus pool by getting a used E-M1 ii about a year ago (I own several Panasonic cameras as well). It's grown on me over time - relatively small, great colours, IBIS and build quality, but the differences/restrictions in how it operates in video versus stills mode get frustrating at times (like no 5x5 focus areas in video, and the single centre focus area is larger). The audio pre-amps are noisy too. It feels like there is a better video camera lurking in there but Oly have never really been interested/committed enough to video to let it out...

The GH5s and G9 have more recent, faster processing than the GH5 - hence there have been more performance upgrades via firmware updates for those two versus the GH5. I guess the new GH5 ii probably has (at least) the processing and IBIS from the G9 combined with the better thermal management of the GH5 to allow unlimited recording times.

My guess is that (to record internal compressed raw) either RED want an exorbitant licence fee or they won't licence it all - unless, like the deal with Canon where they get the RF mount licence, they get something useful for their own cameras in return i.e. it's a cross-licence deal (quite common in terms of patent licencing). Re. today's other Panasonic announcements, as a G9 user I'm quite pleased it's getting a firmware upgrade to add the latest AF algorithms and the 'red frame' recording indicator from the S5. The GH5s is getting the same update plus raw video output to Atomos (for ProRes RAW).

Just a quick thought - have you tried setting 'i.Dynamic Range' to off (or low)? (in the 'Photo' -> 'Image Quality' menu, but also applies to video - see page 353 of the user guide) It's disabled automatically in the V-Log/Like709/HLG etc. modes. I'm not an S5 user, but I know from experience with the G series Lumix cameras that 'i.Dynamic Range' can make low-light video look a bit noisy/flickery (so the usual recommendation is to set it to off or low).

AFAIK, some S5 10-bit modes have a 30 minute limit per clip, but 8-bit doesn't.

Not surprised - as an owner of a G85, I know it's a great camera for the money (and size/weight) but when I bought a G9 I realised what I'd been missing...

(Speaking as an electronics engineer) the turn-on problems sound like the extra 'startup' current drawn by the phantom power circuitry on power-up (if it's on when the XLR module powers up) is 'tripping' some protection system - which then cuts off the power to the XLR module because it thinks it's faulty. 'Staging' the power up by first turning on the module (with phantom power off), then turning on the phantom power probably keeps the peak 'startup' current draw low enough to stop the protection tripping. Unfortunately I think the only way to find out if it's the XLR module or the S5 having a problem is by trying another XLR module or S5.

S1/S1R/S5 updates officially released now - https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index4.html

I own both a G9 and an EM1 II and honestly I'm not convinced that (overall) the Oly autofocus is much better than the G9 - and IMHO the G9 is a much better overall video camera than the EM1 II. The G9 1080p leaves the Oly 1080p in the (soft) dust, then add 4k50/60p and 10-bit video modes which the Oly hasn't got at all... On the other side, the Oly is nice to use, has great IBIS and battery life, and is smaller and lighter than the G9.

There is always '4k photo' mode on the GX800, which allows PASM modes - 30p only though, and I think all 4k is limited to 5 minutes max per clip.

Nikon has officially announced the development of the Z9 - https://www.dpreview.com/news/7215673224/nikon-announces-development-of-flagship-mirrorless-z-9 From the dpreview news item:

...where he says it's HEVC (H.265), 4:2:0, 10-bit at 200 Mbps, which is the same as on the G9 (and I assume the GH5). So 10-bit 18 Mpixel stills... 🙂

If it's like the '6K photo' mode on my G9, the files are H.265, 10-bit, 4:2:0 at 200 Mbps (info below - from the VideoRedo editor - for 3:2, 30 fps capture), with AAC audio. It uses 'long-GOP' encoding, but the GOP is quite short, only 16 frames, with only has IDR and P frames (no B frames) according to VideoRedo. If you want to upload a short clip from the S5 (a few seconds is enough) I'll check the parameters for you.

From a earlier post in this thread (for video AF-C):

If you can live with M43, then add the Panasonic G9 to the list - 10 bit video support and excellent IBIS, with 1080p and 4k video quality comparable to the GH5 (albeit without All-I codecs and limited to 30 minutes - 10 min for 4k60 - record time). It's a bargain for what you get...around £700 used, £900 new in the UK at the moment.

I think a lot depends on your 'use case' - personally I don't need to focus-track people/faces or use shallow depth of field very often, and I find the G9 video C-AF to be perfectly usable for the sort of outdoors run-and-gun handheld filming that I do (as an amateur). It helps that I almost always shoot at 50p/60p which definitely makes DFD work better.

No - that's one of the main differences between the G9 and the GH5. There is a hack to temporarily remove the limit in this YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qzBWdaY634 - but I've not tried it as I've never found the 30 minute video limit a problem (or the 10 minute 4k60p limit). I usually film hand-held, and 10 minutes is a long time to hold a camera still anyway 🙂

That would be my suggestion too - better build and video quality than the G85, although if the budget is really tight the G85 is perfectly good camera (I own both of them, so can directly compare). ....Then the G9 is probably a better choice than the G85 due to better weather sealing & build quality. As a slightly 'off the wall' suggestion for harsh conditions, what about a used Olympus E-M1 mk 2 with one of the Oly 'pro' lenses e.g. the 12-40mm F2.8. Smaller and lighter than the G9, with excellent IBIS and 4k video capability (including 237Mbps DCI 4k at 24 fps), and phase-detect autofocus. The G9 has overall better video quality though (especially at 1080p).

....also if you need longer continuous recording (up to 30min) the 1080/60p is excellent quality - much better than the lower-end G-series cameras. I've used my G9 in the southern California desert sun, recording 4k/50p with no overheating issues or warnings at all.

Also note what omega1978 said upthread:

Have you got 'Continuous AF' enabled for video (this is separate from the stills AF setting) ? - see the 'Using AF (Video)' section in the S5 User Guide - it's on page 256 in the pdf I have.

Panasonic have released a minor firmware (bug fix) update for the S-series cameras - https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index4.html Description of changes:

...or a Panasonic G5 for very little more money (if we're going 'bargain basement' cameras). It has better on-board audio, better controls, a viewfinder, a tilt-swivel LCD, better battery life and is nicer to hold. I've owned both in the past. The only advantage the GF5 has over the G5 is the smaller size and the 130g lighter weight.

I own a G6, G80 (a Euro spec G85) and G9. Never used a G7 or GH5. Re. the G85 - it's a very good hybrid camera, but compared to the GH5 (and the G9) it uses the older 16MP sensor, has cropped 4k and noticeably inferior 1080p. It's a smaller, lighter and cheaper camera though, and I think it might make an excellent 'serious' but maybe less intimidating camera for your son. Also Panasonic have changed their colour science - for the better - over time, so it's probably going to be harder to match something older like a G7 to the S1. If you can live with the 30 minute (10 mins for 4k 60p) record limit, a G9 is cheaper than a GH5 and has better IBIS and autofocus, plus 10-bit video capability. The V-log L update can also be added to it.

There is an in-depth analysis of the M1 on Anandtech here - https://www.anandtech.com/show/16226/apple-silicon-m1-a14-deep-dive It confirms what the Apple presentation suggests (if you look very carefully at the diagrams/images) - the DRAM is not part of the M1 SoC itself, it's alongside it, with the M1 and DRAM placed very close together inside a single multi-chip package. Given the chips they've been designing for years (for iPhones & iPads), I assume that Apple have an (expensive) ARM 'architecture license' so they can design their own CPU cores that conform to ARM's architecture and instruction set standards. Some of the other big ARM-based chip suppliers do the same - it means they can design and produce chips that lower-level ARM licensees don't have access to, thus potentially gaining a competitive advantage.