Panasonic S5 viewfinder?

[tom.w.bn]

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Anyone here who has a Pansonic S1/S1R/S1H or Leica SL2 with the wonderful high res viewfinder and additionally the S5 with the low res viewfinder. How is the switch between the cameras? Is manual focussing with the S5 good?

I have the S1R and love the viewfinder. I had a couple of cameras with 2MP and 3.8MP viewfinders over the years, was not so impressed and happy with transition to the S1R. I like the S5 specs and size as 2nd body. Currently I have no option to test the S5 in the field and I'm hesitant mainly because of the viewfinder.

Like to hear your opinion about the viewfinder.

Edited April 7, 2022 by tom.w.bn

[Simone_DF]

The S5 EVF is better compared to the one Sony used on the A7III but inferior to the SL2 viewfinder.

I used a S5 for a while and I'd have no issue using it again. But I don't know what you would consider acceptable.

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[tom.w.bn]

Ok. I think I have to try it myself for a day or two. My experience is, that even the worst EVF looks ok in the shop, you see the difference in the field. 

[Ko.Fe.]

Keep us updated. While I'm interested in SL, S5 is more practical choice for me in terms of local support. But I'm not sure about S5 EVF.

I have similar resolution in Canon RP EVF and it is just OK. Not impressive, but usable for manual focusing. I think, it depends how focus peaking is implemented as well. 

[huwm]

SL2 is way better but S5 ok and until I got the SL2 I was happy with it.

When I switch from SL2 to S5 it's the 'hair trigger' of the S5 I notice and irritates me most though.

[Archiver]

I have the Panasonic S5 and G9, the latter having a larger and higher resolution EVF. The S5's EVF is acceptable but not great. It will work for manual focus in most circumstances, and you can get in the habit of checking focus by punching in anyway. The G9's EVF is quite large and bright, and the resolution is definitely better.

[gotium]

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On 4/11/2022 at 7:52 AM, Ko.Fe. said:

Keep us updated. While I'm interested in SL, S5 is more practical choice for me in terms of local support. But I'm not sure about S5 EVF.

I have similar resolution in Canon RP EVF and it is just OK. Not impressive, but usable for manual focusing. I think, it depends how focus peaking is implemented as well. 

The resolution is not great but I quite like the little finder-within-the-finder thing they do for manual focusing - haven't seen it anywhere else. 

[MrSMW]

Well I use S1R, S1H and S5 and it's night and day between them...

The S1H has the best rear screen, both in operation, resolution and clarity.

The S1R and S1H tie for viewfinder and both are excellent.

The S5 is built to a price and the EVF rivals my old Fuji XT3, but once you have tasted something like the S1 line, it's tough to 'downgrade'.

Ditto the LCD. Even tweaked to it's best setting, it's still a bit dull next to the S1R, never mind the S1H.

I shoot pretty much everything these days, stills and video off the rear screens.

A combo of ageing eyesight (glasses wearer) and practicality as someone who shoots hybrid all day long.

For my video work, the rear screen is the only real option and so I switched to that for stills also.

Bouncing between video and stills for up to 15 hours and between the 3 cameras, it works best for me.

Having said that, the S5 has the same sensor as the S1H and as it does not have an OLPF, produces marginally sharper results, not that anything that comes out of the S1H is soft.

The results from the S1R (for stills) are on another level though.

The S5 in isolation and compared with it's big brothers and sisters is still a great piece of kit and and I'd still choose it over anything else out there at the price or just above.

There's always a compromise somewhere...

I really hope there's a next gen S line that merges the best features of each; the form factor, rear screen, fan, buttons and layout of the S1H (and it's video capability, but 6K 60p full frame), with something around the 50mp S1R resolution (can always switch to crop mode for smaller 24mp equivalent files!) but closer to the size of the S5.

But there is nothing but pretty vague rumour at this time...

Edited April 16, 2022 by MrSMW

[Archiver]

On 4/16/2022 at 3:03 PM, MrSMW said:

Bouncing between video and stills for up to 15 hours and between the 3 cameras, it works best for me.

Having said that, the S5 has the same sensor as the S1H and as it does not have an OLPF, produces marginally sharper results, not that anything that comes out of the S1H is soft.

The results from the S1R (for stills) are on another level though.

The S5 in isolation and compared with it's big brothers and sisters is still a great piece of kit and and I'd still choose it over anything else out there at the price or just above.

I hate to threadjack, but I have a S5 and have been thinking about a S1H and/or S1R as a secondary/complementary camera. My purposes would be for a second full frame hybrid that will either emphasize stills or video, stills being of fast paced combat sports like boxing and kickboxing. I am very happy with the video quality of the S5 at 10bit 4k 50p, but am wondering if the S1H is better quality at the same codecs/bitrates/resolutions. I know that the S1H does much higher bitrate and bit depth VFR slow motion than the S5, which is a consideration.

Also, how much better are the stills of the S1R than the S5? Is it just a jump in resolution, or is there something else in the dynamic range, tonal variation or colour rendition which is noticeably better? My current thinking is to either get a S1H and switch to that as the A cam for video and use the S5 more for stills, or get a S1R and use that more for stills and leave the S5 as primary video camera, with the S1R taking up some limited b-cam duties. At the moment, the S5 is my primary video camera and I use the Panasonic G9 for b-cam and stills, or the Leica M9 for stills only.

[tom.w.bn]

Someone gave me an S5 for a testrun. The handling is as expected, but I noticed that the mechanical shutter is noticeably louder compared to the S1R and the buttons and dials feel cheaper.

The viewfinder is a bit disappointing. I thought that a brand new 2MP viewfinder might be better than a 6 year old 2MP viewfinder, but it isn't. With a high-res finder like in the S1R, I sometimes even forget that I look through an EVF. With the 2MP it doesn't look so smooth and in uniform areas like the blue sky I can even see the pixel pattern, which can be distracting. You can do everything with it (incl. manually focus lenses) but it feels outdated. 

I probably would not recommend the camera for someone who shoots 100% viewfinder and wants to use manual focus lenses mostly. For hybrid use (screen and EVF) I don't see a problem.  

 

[jaapv]

I cannot compare, but to me the viewfinder is plenty good enough. Better than the CL at any rate.

[MrSMW]

On 4/18/2022 at 4:34 AM, Archiver said:

I hate to threadjack, but I have a S5 and have been thinking about a S1H and/or S1R as a secondary/complementary camera. My purposes would be for a second full frame hybrid that will either emphasize stills or video, stills being of fast paced combat sports like boxing and kickboxing. I am very happy with the video quality of the S5 at 10bit 4k 50p, but am wondering if the S1H is better quality at the same codecs/bitrates/resolutions. I know that the S1H does much higher bitrate and bit depth VFR slow motion than the S5, which is a consideration.

Also, how much better are the stills of the S1R than the S5? Is it just a jump in resolution, or is there something else in the dynamic range, tonal variation or colour rendition which is noticeably better? My current thinking is to either get a S1H and switch to that as the A cam for video and use the S5 more for stills, or get a S1R and use that more for stills and leave the S5 as primary video camera, with the S1R taking up some limited b-cam duties. At the moment, the S5 is my primary video camera and I use the Panasonic G9 for b-cam and stills, or the Leica M9 for stills only.

In my opinion, everything about the S1H is better than what the S5 offers, except size & weight and even then, the latter makes for a more stable platform for handheld work.

How much of a real world step up is the S1H over the S5 for video? Marginal and comes down to whether you, I or anyone else cares to use or needs the options.

I don't and 4k 50p in camera is all I need and want.

I'd pick the S1H every time. For me.

As Tom also mentioned, everything about the S5 is built down to a price. And so it should be, - it costs 50% of an S1H.

In isolation, it would be less noticeable but since owning and using an S1R and S1H, there's no comparison really.

For stills, IMO, the S1R comfortably beats the S5. Different sensor and 47mp vs 24mp. So it should!

I can see a clear difference, even without too much pixel peeping.

Would my clients? Probably not so the extra pixels are more for my own quality control.

I would describe the output as utterly superb.

And the shutter sound as also mentioned above on the S1R and S1H (S1 also?) is damped but with the S5 it isn't and just sounds loud and cheap to me.

However, if the S5 had 3 things, I'd pick use 3 of them instead of my combo and these 3 things would be:

1: S1H style tilt screen and not the side flip out it has. I really cannot stand it not being in line with the lens...

2: Higher res screen such as again, what the S1H has because that's how I shoot video and stills and especially for critical manual focus, neither the LCD or EVF is quite good enough on the S5 for me.

3: Damped shutter.

One of the top people at Panny was interviewed a few months back and mentioned that one of the things they were going to focus on for the next gen was smaller and lighter so maybe...just maybe, they will merge the 2 lines.

The SL2 sits right between them in size more or less and would be an ideal size...

 

[Archiver]

On 4/27/2022 at 4:25 AM, MrSMW said:

In my opinion, everything about the S1H is better than what the S5 offers, except size & weight and even then, the latter makes for a more stable platform for handheld work.

How much of a real world step up is the S1H over the S5 for video? Marginal and comes down to whether you, I or anyone else cares to use or needs the options.

I don't and 4k 50p in camera is all I need and want.

I'd pick the S1H every time. For me.

As Tom also mentioned, everything about the S5 is built down to a price. And so it should be, - it costs 50% of an S1H.

In isolation, it would be less noticeable but since owning and using an S1R and S1H, there's no comparison really.

For stills, IMO, the S1R comfortably beats the S5. Different sensor and 47mp vs 24mp. So it should!

I can see a clear difference, even without too much pixel peeping.

Would my clients? Probably not so the extra pixels are more for my own quality control.

I would describe the output as utterly superb.

And the shutter sound as also mentioned above on the S1R and S1H (S1 also?) is damped but with the S5 it isn't and just sounds loud and cheap to me.

However, if the S5 had 3 things, I'd pick use 3 of them instead of my combo and these 3 things would be:

1: S1H style tilt screen and not the side flip out it has. I really cannot stand it not being in line with the lens...

2: Higher res screen such as again, what the S1H has because that's how I shoot video and stills and especially for critical manual focus, neither the LCD or EVF is quite good enough on the S5 for me.

3: Damped shutter.

One of the top people at Panny was interviewed a few months back and mentioned that one of the things they were going to focus on for the next gen was smaller and lighter so maybe...just maybe, they will merge the 2 lines.

The SL2 sits right between them in size more or less and would be an ideal size...

 

Thank you for the reply, you've given me much to think about. Perhaps in time, I'll move to the S1H (or GH6, as I have abundant m43 lenses) as well as the S1R. If Panasonic makes future S1 models smaller and lighter, this will really pique my interest, as I prefer smaller and lighter cameras. Having said that, I've handled the S1H and S1, and the S1H felt like I'd pulled Excalibur out of the stone, it felt that good in the hand.

The SL2 and SL2-S are in for consideration, but the lack of even tilting screens, plus the issues with rapid burst shooting that many have encountered give me a lot of pause.

[jaapv]

On 4/28/2022 at 6:19 AM, Archiver said:

If Panasonic makes future S1 models smaller and lighter

Actually, this is precisely what they did with the S5.

[jdlaing]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

Actually, this is precisely what they did with the S5.

Not even close. It’s a test drive for size but the quality and features aren’t there.

Edited May 7, 2022 by jdlaing

[jaapv]

I find it a pretty solid and well-built camera. Good ergonomics too. Decent EVF, in fact a few Nikon guys I met birding were blown away by it. I’m in the process of ordering an S1, so I’ll be able to compare in due course. 

[Stuart Richardson]

Have not handled the S5, but the S1 is a very solid and well made camera. I use it primarily for video and backup (and the SL2 for the main camera). It does not have the solidity and design of the SL2, but it has a very professional feel on par with high end Canon and Nikon cameras. The sensor is superb…very sharp and wide DR. If the SL2 did not exist, I would happily (though not QUITE as happily) use an S1R. 

[jaapv]

On 5/7/2022 at 11:35 PM, jdlaing said:

Not even close. It’s a test drive for size but the quality and features aren’t there.

With all due respect, I have one and you are just plain wrong. What features do you miss, for instance?  If anything, it is overfeatured. The quality is on par with any prosumer grade Canikosony. Better actually.

[jaapv]

21 hours ago, jdlaing said:

Not even close. It’s a test drive for size but the quality and features aren’t there.

To me it doesn't. I use it mainly on electronic shutter and as it is 24 MP with excellent IBIS there are very few distortion problems. Only very fast subjects need the standard shutter - which sounds better than the M9 BTW.

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[jaapv]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:25 PM, MrSMW said:

with the S5 it isn't and just sounds loud and cheap to me.

To me it doesn't. I use it mainly on electronic shutter and as it is 24 MP with excellent IBIS there are very few distortion problems. Only very fast subjects need the standard shutter - which sounds better and is better damped than the M9 BTW.