If not ZR, then Panasonic?

[gethin]

It occurred to me if I flogged my z6 and z6ii I could probably just about get a zr. Then I read that the h.265 has none of the magic of the raw footage and some extra problems and there is no way in hell I will be shooting raw for real estate videos (I shot 8k raw for a recent project and it’s been a pain in the arse for this premiere users)

So then I started thinking about s5ii and whether I could adapt my old f Nikon glass. That 15 stops of DR is tempting… on paper.  If the shadows are a noisy mess then 🤷.  And now I’ve just seen Andrew raving about the G9 (and of course I just gave away my m/43 glass and speed booster 🤦😆)  

I like the sound of iso 4000 and the DR of the s5ii.  I shoot with the z8, and today was in a super contrasty setting, I know the z8 will have bleached out windows and the highlight rolloff is not too good.   But maybe I’m just trying to fend off the yawning chasm of mundanity that is my job.  
 

I’ve not actually seen any real world examples of the s5ii, I need to see what its highlight rolloff is like and whether I’ll gain anything from the extra Dr over the z8.  Has anyone seen any? And is this a terrible idea?  

 

 

 

 

[Chrille]

Why not go for the Z6III?  Seems to be a great option if you do not want the R3D files. 

[gethin]

14 hours ago, Chrille said:

Why not go for the Z6III?  Seems to be a great option if you do not want the R3D files. 

Dynamic range a bit crap. I know the zr has similarly crap DR, but the examples I saw on redraw looked lovely (nice highlight rolloff), that’s what got me interested to start with, but seeing how crap the h.265 was in comparison has put me off

[MrSMW]

Also consider the S1IIE if the budget will stretch.

Sits right between the S5II and the S1II.

Really nice bit of kit and overlooked by many…

I really wanted to like the ZR but for me it has two issues; I love the form factor and screen, but wish it would tilt and not just flip out to the side, plus in order to get the best out of it, you need to shoot the insanely large raw files.

I’d rather have my Lumix spec in that style of ZR/FX3 body for sure and hope it happens sometime.

[Phil A]

I got really excited about the ZR but luckily the issues with h.265 stopped from spontaneously getting one. The more time I spent learning about it, the more I realised it's maybe not for me.

I'm waiting for what the S9 II or A7C III will bring, even though that's probably one to two years down the line at this point.

[zerocool22]

I will wait until nikon fixes the h265 codec on the zr. Then I will buy it, I just can't shoot RAW video all the time.  the ibis I can work around, the AF seems pretty good, the image is gorgeous, not the fastest for photo's but for travel it looks like a dream camera (if they fix the h265 codec). 

[Thpriest]

It depends if you shoot 24/25/30p or 50/60. The S5ii has the crop at 50/60p which might make the wider shots a bit difficult. I believe if you a doing real estate then you are using a lot of wide shots. 
The S1ii is great due to it’s flexibility and I think the GH7 looks very good too.

But…do you really want to change brands and start collecting lenses etc again? Sometimes it is worth it but sometimes it’s just change for change’s sake.

[MrSMW]

On 1/30/2026 at 1:12 PM, Phil A said:

I'm waiting for what the S9 II

I’m not ‘waiting’ for it as such, but based on my S9 experience, it could be something pretty special.

If they get it right.

If they even make one…

I have gone backwards and forwards over what to do with my S9 that has been at times both A cam and B cam but due to me picking up a pair of S1RII’s mid last year, plus certain limitations of the S9 (mainly build), I was going to let it go…

But then too many times I have let stuff go and regretted it so I have repurposed it giving it an XLCS cage, super-lightweight tripod and the dedicated 2 lenses to it, the 18mm or 85mm f1.8.

I am hoping they do an S9II with a bigger screen à la ZR but with the S1I/R/E tilt option. And make it a bit more robust but spec wise, it’s already peak camera for my needs.

So @gethin maybe look at an S9 because straight out of the box, it’s very high spec and really it’s only the body that is a bit weak, but beef it up with a cage and it’s 💪

And used, pretty cheap!