M lenses on Lumix S5

[Chaemono]

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As one would expect with a Sony BSI sensor, loss of sharpness in the sides/corners with the APO Summicron-M

Less compressed JPEG here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 50 Summicron-M @f/2

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[Chaemono]

Less compressed JPEG here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 50 Summicron-M @f/2.8

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[Chaemono]

 

Less compressed JPEG here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 50 Summicron-M @f/4

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[Archiver]

Ah, this isn't very promising. Thank you for these tests. I like the way you angled the camera to show corner sharpness/smearing/blurring.

[Chaemono]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Archiver:

Ah, this isn't very promising. Thank you for these tests. I like the way you angled the camera to show corner sharpness/smearing/blurring.

I have the same shots at the same apertures with the APO 50 Summicron-SL that I didn’t post. The SL lens looks a lot better on the S5 in the corners. 

[Chaemono]

One would think that the 75 Summicron-M works well on the S5, at least in the center. Indeed, in the center it's acceptably sharp wide open, but the 75 Summicron-SL is much sharper and the difference gets more pronounced as one moves away from the center. Is there vignetting with the 75 M lens? Of course, which can be corrected in LR. However, the real issue is what looks to me material color-shift in the corners. It's not a WB thing. Look at the lower left and right hand corners of the less compressed JPEGs - they can be downloaded for better viewing.

Less compressed JPEGs here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-M processed to match (+40 Sharpening in LR)

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ISO 100 f/2 @1/500 sec. 

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-SL processed to match (+40 Sharpening in LR)ISO 100 f/2 @1/800 sec.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Chaemono

[Chaemono]

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How about the 75 Summicron-M with the subject a bit off-center? Everyone has to decide for themselves. I don't like it. Note, I inadvertently shot the M lens at ISO 250.

Less compressed JPEGs here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-M processed to match (+40 Sharpening in LR)

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ISO 250 f/2 @1/800 sec.

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-SL processed to match (+40 Sharpening in LR)ISO 100 f/2 @1/500 sec.

[Chaemono]

Now the crops.

Less compressed JPEGs here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-M

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S5 + APO 75 Summicron-SL

[Boojay]

Hmmm, having played a little more with our son's S5, I also wasn't that impressed with M lens performance on the body.  I tried 35/50/75/90, not in depth tests and not in comparison as you have done above.  Other than I did shoot S5 with 90 M APO and then 90 SL.  When using exactly the same shooting parameters I noticed that the 90SL image was quite a bit brighter.  Although I should say I found the autofocus slow with the 90SL compared to a couple of Panasonic Lumix lenses I have used with the S5.  Using the focus aids of the S5 focussing the 90M super quick and easy, as with CL/SL2.

Having said all of that, there are features the S5 that really interest me.  Certainly the flippy screen, so useful, but I tried a bit of wildlife (Deer) action shooting with the Sigma 100-400 and 6K burst photo mode, that was fun and I will be borrowing the S5 again to explore more.

 

 

 

[Chaemono]

The SL primes are slow to focus on the S5. Focusing manually makes the camera feel snappier and the shutter sound more bareable.

[Simone_DF]

7 hours ago, Chaemono said:

The SL primes are slow to focus on the S5.

Are they faster on the SL2?

[helged]

10 hours ago, Chaemono said:

Now the crops.

Less compressed JPEGs here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-GChFpc/

S5 + APO 75 Summicron-M

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S5 + APO 75 Summicron-SL

In this case, isn't the focus on the M-75 a little further away than that of the SL-75; look e.g. at the single leaf to the right of the flowers - it's sharp(ish) on the M-75 image but somewhat blurred on the SL-75 image. I guess this explains part of the blurriness of the roses in the M-75 image.

[Chaemono]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Simone_DF:

Are they faster on the SL2?

Yes, very much. On the S5, it feels like AF in slow motion by comparison. 

[Chaemono]

vor 58 Minuten schrieb helged:

In this case, isn't the focus on the M-75 a little further away than that of the SL-75; look e.g. at the single leaf to the right of the flowers - it's sharp(ish) on the M-75 image but somewhat blurred on the SL-75 image. I guess this explains part of the blurriness of the roses in the M-75 image.

Yes, I wasn’t too careful because I felt that the M lens performed poorly anyway. It was a bit of a letdown. 

[Simone_DF]

13 hours ago, Chaemono said:

Yes, very much. On the S5, it feels like AF in slow motion by comparison. 

I'm very surprised to hear that. What's the point of the L alliance if lenses of other brands perform so badly? Is AF performance of SL lenses the same with the other Panasonic cameras or is this specific to the S5?

[Chaemono]

vor 8 Minuten schrieb Simone_DF:

I'm very surprised to hear that. What's the point of the L alliance if lenses of other brands perform so badly? Is AF performance of SL lenses the same with the other Panasonic cameras or is this specific to the S5?

The 50 Summicron-SL focuses more quickly  and precisely on the S1 in lowlight. I remember that. I have two copies of the lens. I’ll try both cameras side by side, again, in different situations and report back. Won’t get to it in the next couple of days, though. 

[Simone_DF]

4 hours ago, Chaemono said:

The 50 Summicron-SL focuses more quickly  and precisely on the S1 in lowlight. I remember that. I have two copies of the lens. I’ll try both cameras side by side, again, in different situations and report back. Won’t get to it in the next couple of days, though. 

Thank you. I was looking forward getting a S5 but I think I'll wait your results. 

[Boojay]

8 hours ago, Simone_DF said:

I'm very surprised to hear that. What's the point of the L alliance if lenses of other brands perform so badly? Is AF performance of SL lenses the same with the other Panasonic cameras or is this specific to the S5?

I'd be surprised if it was just the S5.  Have noticed that the 50SL on the S5 has much quicker AF than the 90SL, maybe the 90 needs a lens firmware update.   I quite agree, for the L mount alliance to make sense there shouldn't be these discrepancies, especially when you are looking at the highest priced lenses possibly struggling the most.

 

[BernardC]

On 10/12/2020 at 1:39 PM, Boojay said:

maybe the 90 needs a lens firmware update

I also suspect that it's a firmware issue. Unlike phase-detect systems, L-Mount cameras use a very sophisticated algorithm to determine the required direction and amount of focus, which is based on each lens' imaging characteristics. I doubt that Panasonic would have held-up the release of their entry-level camera  just because they haven't finished optimizing the software for some lenses. That will come later, the important thing is that the camera should be available on Black Friday! I'm sure they prioritized their own lenses first, and then the most popular lenses. The down-side is that some (very rare) lenses have slightly slower AF in the short term.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[Archiver]

If I let go of the idea of using M lenses with a L mount camera, apart from the SL, that helps me choose the S5 with confidence. Expensive Summicron L's aside, native lenses should work well with the S5, and I can always adapt my Pentax and Minolta manual focus lenses for that vintage look.