Panasonic Lumix S5 II Review: BETTER THAN SONY!

Chelsea & Tony Northrup review the new Panasonic S5 II camera, a full-frame mirrorless camera with 24 megapixels, 2 SD card slots, and full-width 4k video at 30 frames per second! It has a phase detect autofocus system (PDAF), which is Panasonic's first... but is it good enough to keep up with Sony, Canon, and Nikon cameras? YES!! At least in some circumstances. Panasonic's PDAF system definitely let us down in other circumstances.

0:00 Introduction
1:11 L-Mount Lens Selection
1:43 Video Autofocus
2:51 Adapting Canon Lenses to L-Mount
4:11 Subject & Focus Tracking
4:46 6K Video for Horizontal & Vertical Crops
5:42 Reviewing/Scrubbing Video
5:57 Low-Light Video
7:01 Rolling Shutter
7:40 Stabilization
8:45 Sports
9:55 Wildlife
13:27 Portraits
14:51 96 Megapixel High-Res Mode
15:42 Summary

[brynocerouss]

What you said about the lenses is part of the reason I love panasonic as a camera brand: they're extremely thoughtful with their design. Making all of the primes roughly the same weight so you don't have to rebalance a gimbal, making them all focus breathing corrected - you can tell they really had the end user in mind.

[kbarrett]

As a former LUMIX shooter, I am very happy to see that Panasonic finally listened and delivered. Imagine if PDAF was incorporated in the original S5? Where would they be now?
Panasonic has the deep pockets to claw back all of that lost market-share from the past five years, it seems that they now have the will to do so. This is good news.

[CodyStoner]

Just a heads up, the Boost I.S. setting is primarily meant for stationary shots, like when you want it to look like it's on a tripod. Moving the camera with Boost I.S. on can cause jumps in the image.

[tbfam]

I’ve been Panasonic user for 10 years and I can tell you one thing, their product lasts! My rice cooker still works like a charm! Okay, will try this s5 ii out!

[kevindiaz]

Been saying a long time that it was so weird that Panasonic was so far behind with their AF. Glad to see they are finally getting it! Happy for the Panasonic users out there.

[artistjoh]

I look forward to when the phase update moves to the MFT cameras. Not interested in L-mount, but a GH6 M2, G9 M2, or preferably a GH5 M3. There is going to be lots of Lumix camera updates over the next year or two

[phillipmaguire]

As a mostly video shooter, I have been using Panasonic for quite a while now, and have always liked them. Reliable.

[MrRlaureano]

Just to clarify, the Sony A7iii will only crop in 4K 30fps but not in 4K 24fps.

[adiapte]

Tony, why A7iii is being compared with S5… shouldn’t this comparison be A74 vs S5 .. latest tech ? A7iii is almost 4 year old camera

[skyrunr]

What an exciting camera, but it looks huge next to the Sony. As a (Nikon) hobbyist, I'd really like to see this compared with a Z6II, A74, and R6II. Specifically, each with the best F4 mid-zoom, and a separate video with the best 70-300mm option, and then one on the best/fastest/affordable 20mmf1.x option. This is the market that is IMO feeling a little left out in reviews and options.

PS Watching Sony's SOOC colors (from every respected reviewer) is just comical, and having tried 4 bodies under $3, 000, including the A7IV, their JPG's are even worse amongst the top three. Nikon still has the nicest JPG's that are the closest match to their RAW images.

[CINENIMUS]

Why they comparing it to a73 - a74 is the equivalent camera. Weird

[LanceNotHiding]

Can I say, i love that you B/W the out of focus shots, that makes it so much easier to watch through.

[EternalMedia]

I'm still hoping that Nikon will have a "Lumix S5 II X moment" and catapult themselves back to their glory days. I hear they are developing new sensors for themselves.

[calincharles]

do you feel it's a fair comparison between a camera just released to a camera that is now almost 5 years old with 5 year old tech?
genuine question. I feel like it'd be better to compare to the A7IV and then mention the price difference as a legitimate factor in deciding what to buy.

[ChrisTopheRaz]

It’s important to note that Panasonic has remained consistently dialed in to cinematic video rather than sports or nature. That can be looked at as negative or positive, depending on the buyer. However, it is nice to see that they are moving forward. I still have much admiration for my Lumix S1, originally had no interest in the S5 series but maybe now I do.

[adds]

Well done Panasonic, you're back in the game and at a great price point giving your competitors a run for their money. Huge thanks to Chelsea and Tony, fab video!

[MrJapanforce]

YES. Perfect. Proud Lumix user since 2008. Never looked back. Panasonic re the leaders on video.

[marcel]

A warning at 7:10 would have been nice. Also, your audio levels seem to go up and down during te video.

[FloridaKchannel]

Why compare a 2018 Sony with the 2023 s5ii? You should compare it with the Sony a7cii.

[itsGAMiE]

I'm a lumix shooter and I've been using the GH5S for years now. I think this camera is definitely a step up although I feel this is an unfair comparison especially when there's a more recent camera in this category from Sony. I guess we just wanted to keep our new camera in the spotlight. Anyway great video as usual