MrSMW

At present I only have the 20-60mm kit lens. It’s quite impressive actually and will principally be my wide angle for stills. Pretty dreadful in low light at the long end being just f5.6 however! Not that I will ever use it like that... I should have the Sigma 45mm f2.8 but Panasonic are so far refusing to honor the preorder offer. Also refusing to even correspond in regard to it which is totally bizarre as all my communications have been extremely polite... But that aside, my plan is the 35mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 next Spring. Pretty sure that for my needs they will be the sweet spot for size, weight, shallow enough DOF and price, plus being native, play the nicest with the AF!

It looks good but it’s a real struggle outdoors in even moderately bright light. Any option to set light or dark, users preference, like *cough* DPreview?

I might if I did not have an XT3, constant f2.8 zoom, 30 mins recording and an Anker power bank. 95% of my ceremonies are under 30 minutes and it’s very rare for anyone to speak for more than 30 mins speeches and if it’s getting close, I hover, wait for some laughter, hit stop, hit record and we’re good for another 30 mins. Mostly I used the camcorder last year but some super low light stuff, I just dedicated an XT3 and it was faultless.

No, not tried it myself but I do have the Sony AX100 with an equivalent 1" sensor and maybe even a faster aperture (not sure without checking) and in low light...which is around 50% of it's use for my work, it's horrendous quality. Most of my weddings are outdoors and couples think that tealights on tables and a few fairy lights is 'lighting'. Well there's only so much lighting I can bring to a job and set up and they ARE advised (strongly) in regard to lighting, but otherwise we're often talking 12800 ISO territory with a fast full-frame prime. So the camcorder looks like mush, but XT3 @ f2.8 is just about OK still, especially with a bit of spot LED assistance. In good light though, fine. It looks very digital of course as most camcorders do and doesn't match with any 'serious' footage and so I know it has no chance of being mixed in with APSC Fuji or cropped Panny footage. None! Oh and one thing to consider is that with these 'large' sensor camcorders, from bitter experience, I can assure you that you CANNOT rely on the AF because if it wanders off, it WILL lose focus. I had a guest get up in church a few years back on one of my first jobs with it and it locked on to them walking towards the camera and then locked onto the back of the head of a guest for the next 20 minutes with the B&G completely OOF. Oops. Backup camera at a different angle rescued that one...

...and a few days later, I'm keeping it after all. In fact, a pair of them are going to be my main workhorses as I intended. I have been trying to find a workaround and not just a 'kidding myself' fix, but something genuine. I looked at both the HC-X1500 camcorder and the bridge camera (for my static manual and occasional but important AF needs) but just know that based on my current 1" sensor Sony camcorder, the footage is going to be shite. And it's still contrast detect, so nah. Back on to the stage comes a used XT3 body and I already have a Fringer and 17-50mm f2.8 Sigma so for all my static manual focus needs, et voila and for the 1 minute or so on each job when I also need AF, et voila encore. As I may have said before, I love this camera (the S5) in every way except the weird pulsing in AF mode but otherwise there is something just 'right' about it. That combo of size, weight, ergos, dials, buttons, operation and of course quality of both video and stills files. Just need some projects to use the bugger on now...

I really only have one question and that is why did they name it after a Volvo? A used Volvo C70 is also cheaper and less good at video, but the Canon C70 is easier to park.

No mention of it at all...except the 11 page (so far) thread. Apart from that though...

Even as principally a photographer and a pro one at that for 20 years, I sometimes forget Pentax even exists. That may be my bad, but never had one, don't really know anything much about them and I guess because they are not much of a mirrorless player, the baseball cap backwards attired YouTubing world is not much interested in them? I'm all for more camera companies being around as competition is good and also because I tend to like the underdogs and more niche companies rather than the big corporate giants.

Panasonic Lumix G100. Hands down. No contest. Awesome bit of kit. The term 'game-changer' originated here. Otherwise, the Fuji XT3 got quite large so that's something...

Not totally opposed, or to Skillshare... Whoever the sponsor is, they have to start with an S.

Aperture, the other part of the exposure triangle? Everything set to manual or...

The morning after... Well having slept on it, sadly, I’m in the same place as I was yesterday and that is it’s not the AF but the weird background pulsing that is killing it for me. So I will be making arrangements for it to go back today. So close Panasonic, so close...

Yup and I have to say I'm pretty gutted. These are pretty shit times as it is, but it's an even shittier day when your shiny new thing proves not to be quite what you expected... Hey ho, worse things happen at sea as my grandfather is fond of saying!

I'm going to sleep on it but I think it's my only real course of action. My only real issue with Fuji was the lack of IBIS in the XT3. But they fixed that with the XT4. Still not keen on these fully articulating screens over tilts, but I can live with that more than I can pulsating backgrounds! We'll see tomorrow but as you say, it's kind of sad. It's the ONLY thing stopping me from loving this camera, but it's driving me nuts.

Right well, hit a 'snag'... Stills mode, great. AF never missed. Video mode AF, played around and for my kind of use, mostly OK. Video mode AF, background pulsing... err, unacceptable. Now I can manage 95% of my shooting day (weddings) with manual focus for video, but there are times when I need AF so I can mount one camera on my freestanding monopod and let 'it' shoot the video whilst I shoot stills. Entrances, exits, first kiss, confetti, cake cutting. Total capture time not much more than a minute in total and end up being maybe 30 seconds or so of the final production, but KEY parts of the final production. Struggling to get my head around a workaround now as the camera ticks boxes everywhere else. Maybe I should have gone with the Sony A7Siii after all... Maybe I should see what the Z6S is going to be... Hmmm... This background pulsing issue. Other than manual focus, there's no fix is there. Could I live with and continue to invest in a system with this potential pulsing if it's only for 5 parts of the day if I switched to AF just for those 5 parts? Dilemma... I was happy with my XT3's except for lack of IBIS so maybe XT4 is the answer?

This, but I shoot much higher frame rates and don't bother with an ND, mostly because I'm shooting hybrid and the ND has a benefit for the video side, but at the same time, a negative on the stills side. 1/1000th + quite often and never noticed anything that bothers me with the resulting footage.

Well if it exists for the Panny S5, I can't work out how. Stills I'm there now, though not having the crop in raw means I'll probably just buy the longer lens. Might be useful for video, but then pretty happy with the standard focal lengths with the lens I have.

Hmmm, I think 9/10 is stretching it a bit!! From my testing yesterday shooting about 10 clips, it was a bit hit & miss. I was shooting at default settings and am now going to try his -3 +2 and some of the alternative AF options. I shoot 4k 50p so have to shoot crop mode and that is supposed to be better with this AF system and one thing is for sure (from my very brief testing), the tighter the lens crop, the more sticky that AF is. I only have the 20-60 lens at this point and it's least sticky at 20mm and so far pretty good at 60mm in some of my tests. I'd go with 10/10 when it's working and 0/10 when it's not.

OK, that worked. If set to M on a function button, the S5 essentially becomes a Jpeg version of the Sony A7Siii 😉

My project for today actually with my new S5. I have been shooting video in cropped APSC format for years so continuing to do so on this FF body is ‘normal’ to me and something I like because I generally prefer a tighter crop and the medium wide zooms and primes have been perfect in that regard. But for stills, I sometimes need a bit longer reach but at the same time would rather not use zooms and would prefer not to switch lenses. Enter shooting FF but with the ability to switch to a crop such as making an 85mm become like a 125/130mm at times. Never had a FF camera before so testing this today...

I’m only interested if it’s going to be sponsored by Sony and Squarespace.

OK, will have a play with that. I don't know why they don't just have a simple 'crop' mode you can assign to a function button?!

I wonder if this is because virtually all, if not all, of the initial reviews were with pre-production models? Though folks only had their units for a few weeks prior to 2nd Sep and production units started arriving 20th I believe. Still setting mine up as a hybrid and it’s a bit of a transition from Fuji in that regard! Menu is very good, muscle memory terrible, but that will come with familiarity and making use of custom modes that I have never used before for one switch hybrid use. I have discovered...or at least cannot find, a way to switch from FF to crop mode for stills with a FF lens which is something other cameras can do. Is it even possible with FF Panasonic?

Indeed. They all seem intent on crippling their product in at least one area and not achieving global domination. It makes no sense to me, but what do I know...

Kaboom, it's arrived! Sorry, no YouTube unboxing video or reading of spec list, just an initial impression whilst the battery is charging. I've come from 8-9 years of Fuji as my main cameras with some dabbling in 1" Sony and M4/3 Panasonic but have otherwise never owned a full frame mirrorless before. I had Nikon DSLR prior to Fuji for stills with a D7000 for filming...but things have moved on since 2010! First of all, it feels superb in the hand. In terms of size for handling and my use, just about perfect. Weight, perfect and I currently have the 20-60mm 'kit' lens attached I bought it with which will become my personal travel lens and my stills work wide angle. Build quality. Well all my old gear has now been sold but I'd say it's all a step up from Fuji and I had no complaints about that, but the build and finish are superb and the way the dials click and operate etc. Next up, some stills and video tests to get a feel for how it all works etc and that all important AF test..., but so far, it's all looking good!