Panasonic S performance with rangefinder lenses (including images){merged}

[Archiver]

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16 minutes ago, Alberti said:

Archiver, you are right.  I downloaded some raw files, and in Lightroom they look awesome. Also Jaap's picture are great.

Yes I think it is great for M-glass; and also some vintage M-39 Jupiters that exhibit typical Sonnar focus shifts on the M-body. I assume the auto-exposure selection also works in the manual mode? The lenses designed for the Leica M5/film-CL should be great, because they have that medium retro-focus build.

Yes, auto exposure (ISO) works in manual mode.

I'm using my S5 with:

• Zeiss Biogon 21mm f2.8 - some corner smearing but centre very sharp
• Zeiss Distagon 35mm f1.4 - sharp and crisp, great colours, lots of 3D pop
• Leica Summicron M 50mm f2 v5 - as above, great colours and sharpness
• Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 - retains the same character as on the M9, which is a huge plus
• Minolta MD W Rokkor X 24mm f2.8 - upgraded version of the original design which was licensed by Leica for their Elmarit R 24mm f2.8. Sharp in the centre, lovely organic rendering, looks amazing for video. Softish corners wide open, but not a problem with the kind of shooting I like.
• Minolta W Rokkor 35mm f2.8 MD III - I love this lens on the S5. Sharp, smooth rendering, quite compact and light as well.
• Minolta MC Rokkor 50mm f1.4 - glowy wide open but really sharp at f2 and higher.
• Panasonic S 50mm f1.8 - a high quality standard lens, surprisingly good 3D look.
• Panasonic S 20-60mm - there's a LOT of distortion in the wide end which is corrected in camera, but not in the raw files. But a light and versatile lens.
• Sigma 24-105mm f4 EF mount with Sigma MC21 adapter - the adapter makes it more front heavy, but image quality is decent.

[BernardC]

On 10/21/2021 at 4:57 AM, Alberti said:

Is it a sign of an impeding end-of-life for this version

It's a sign that the holiday sales period has started. Almost every brand will offer popular items on sale, maybe even Leica!

[jaapv]

🙂 Actually I happened to find a mint demo for 300 Euro. 

 

On 10/22/2021 at 9:20 PM, jdlaing said:

I use one on the CL and like it a lot..

 

[01maciel]

Another experiment with the Summicron-M 1:2/50 Type 4

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S1R + Summicron-M 1:2/50 Type 4

[01maciel]

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S1R + Summicron-M 1:2/50 Type 4

[jaapv]

Summilux 24 Miserable weather, unfortunately Some minor purple fringing removed. Basically no reason not to use, no nasties and the character comes through. Click for best quality.

 

 

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[jaapv]

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SX 24 too. That post was bent, no distortion  

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[Alberti]

I like the results.

And the auto exposure looks great too - I see Jaaps 'pond' was auto-exposed. Nice hues. Exposed as composed? IE. does the camera neglect the sky?

Still there is a thing bothering me:

Joeri: but I’m done with cameras that have more buttons than I need.
DPReview: Today's cameras are computers with lenses, and like computers, they have a plethora of features, far more than any film camera. As with any computer, we need to be able to adjust these many settings. There are menus that allow us to enable, disable, and tweak the many features available, and buttons and dials give us quick access.

The simple Leica user design consistent in all camera's is a grace. So should I wait till this S5 format appears in the Leica line-up as the successor to the CL? [I guess that could well be the direction of development: a small body with a smaller 'handgrip' & compatible with CL and SL, just 5 buttons]

AIDA: awareness, interest, desire - action, das grosse Kaufmoment. Today I feel the desire urging me to . . .

 

[jaapv]

Actually I like the implementation; the buttons are sensibly placed and well marked (as long as you don't change their function). Although it does not approach the clean simplicity of Leica, they are clearly placed by a photographer. The advantage is that many essential controls are pulled out of the menu and controlled manually. It does take some brain power to set the camera up to your taste and save it under one of the user profiles. But after that, for instance, the user profile is called up by the main control wheel, not by delving into the menu like Leica. The same for AF - AFS, AFC and M are a little wheel with a button in the middle to select the pattern, which doubles to  activate magnification in M,, etc. I rather like the idea of using the menu for setting up the camera only and using physical controls when using it; Leica did a mini-implementation with the ISO wheel and Panasonic went all the way. It is much better implemented than previous Panasonics. - On the GX8 I was not able to keep track of the buttons, but no problems on this one.  If you like the "main menu" system of Leica and want to avoid the buttons, there is that too. But as I keep the LCD folded away during shooting, I do not really use it. 

[mike3996]

35 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Actually I like the implementation; the buttons are sensibly placed and well marked (as long as you don't change their function). Although it does not approach the clean simplicity of Leica, they are clearly placed by a photographer.

This is my impression of Panasonic products as well. Laden with buttons and computers, yes, but at least they do a good job with that aspect unlike some other computer-camera companies on the market.

 

I am considering a Panasonic S1 for largely this reason.* Because how well they handle, button-wise and all.

 

*the main reason: can't afford a SL2S.

[01maciel]

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S1R + Summicron-M 1:2/50 Type 4

[bags27]

With the S1R now discontinued (at least I read it somewhere), it is crazy cheap used. So this is a very welcomed thread!

[jdlaing]

1 hour ago, bags27 said:

With the S1R now discontinued (at least I read it somewhere), it is crazy cheap used. So this is a very welcomed thread!

I can’t understand why it keeps being said it’s discontinued. Panasonic doesn’t show that. They still direct you to a number of retailers. Certain stores have discontinued carrying it.

[jaapv]

It is  on the sites of our major camera stores as "in stock" 

 

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[BernardC]

42 minutes ago, jaapv said:

It is  on the sites of our major camera stores as "in stock" 

Same thing with major North American retailers.

It will be discontinued at some point, so people can just keep saying it is until it's true.

I'm sure we'll see a replacement soon enough, the camera is almost 3 years old.

 

[bags27]

Thanks! I did read it somewhere, but could have been a rumor....But it's remarkably inexpensive used. Without question, the SL2 is a better camera (UI and compatibility with wide M glass, just to name two advantages). But it's hard to get a used SL2 for under USD 5000, while, if you're patient, you can get a nice used S1R for under USD 2000.

Edited October 26, 2021 by bags27

[01maciel]

2799€ and cashback of 300€ is a bargain for the S1R. When discontinued anytime in the future the camera won't be a bad camera suddenly. The only disadvantage then is a lack of firmware updates. Anyway, I got the latest Leica M10 feature update around 2 years ago. I guess Leica treats the M10 as scrap metal. Welcome to the digital world.

[jaapv]

The camera has one quirk: The shutter is a hair-trigger You only have to think "shoot" and the image has  been taken. I checked with the dealer, and this seems to be normal Actually, I like it, but if you want to prefocus  half-press is near-impossible. The solution is to set the camera to release on focus and use the button AF-on under your thumb, which actually works quite well. With manual lenses the camera is made extremely responsive with this

[jdlaing]

12 minutes ago, jaapv said:

The camera has one quirk: The shutter is a hair-trigger You only have to think "shoot" and the image has  been taken. I checked with the dealer, and this seems to be normal Actually, I like it, but if you want to prefocus  half-press is near-impossible. The solution is to set the camera to release on focus and use the button AF-on under your thumb, which actually works quite well. With manual lenses the camera is made extremely responsive with this

Took me a while to get used to Panasonic’s shutter button pressure too. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by jdlaing

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[BernardC]

1 hour ago, 01maciel said:

2799€ and cashback of 300€ is a bargain for the S1R. When discontinued anytime in the future the camera won't be a bad camera suddenly. The only disadvantage then is a lack of firmware updates. Anyway, I got the latest Leica M10 feature update around 2 years ago. I guess Leica treats the M10 as scrap metal. Welcome to the digital world.

That sounds a bit harsh! Wasn't there an M firmware update earlier this year, with perspective correction? I remember that headline, but I don't have a digital M.

The SL received a firmware update last month, nearly six years after release. As you would expect after so long, it didn't include many bug fixes (if any at all), but it did improve L-Log in video and add support for new lenses.