Panasonic S5 viewfinder?

[George Derugin]

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I can only compare my S1R to a 2.36m EVF of the a6500, I have 20/20 vision, and even on my S1R I wish I could crop in further to nail manual focus. So I could still use more pixels! The 2.36m EVF of the Sony is... well, lets say "limiting" to put it politely. But so is the S1Rs, and both are heaps better than optical view finders when it comes to manual focus in my experience. 

I handled the S5 and it felt too small in my hands for comfort, in fact the S1R felt a tad small for my hands initially, though I was used to shooting on gripped DSLRs before I took the plunge.  I can't speak to the EVF but I know its about 2.4m dots as well. 

For me a nice big body allows for less hand fatigue as I am not scrunching my hand as much to conform to the smaller grip. And the EVF is key for manual focus which I prefer when shooting indoors. I'm sure I would have fewer keepers with an inferior EVF, and good focus is critical at 47mp. Also, a good EVF does help trick you into thinking you are looking through an OVF, my brother's a6500 looks much more "digital" than my S1R.

[Stuart Richardson]

I was not a big fan of EVF's before the SL2. To be honest, I still don't love them, though they can be useful. An OVF is still so much nicer to use, in my opinion, but you give up a lot of the certainty of output that you get from a good EVF. I am not sure it is really the resolution that is lacking...more dynamic range and color response. The biggest areas they let me down are in shooting at night (in real darkness, not dim rooms). Once it gets truly dark, all they give you is noise. In those circumstances an OVF is so much nicer, as it will brighten up as much as your night vision will allow, and there is no noise or refresh rate reduction. Same goes for high contrast situations, where the shadows might go black or the highlights white with an EVF, whereas the OVF will look fine. In this context, I think the better EVF like the ones in the S1 series and SL2 really make a difference. They do get good enough at times for me to somewhat forget about them, but I wish they could do it as perfectly as a mirror. Maybe I can just hope that I will live to see the day that they do?

Edited May 10, 2022 by Stuart Richardson

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[MrSMW]

On 5/8/2022 at 9:30 PM, jaapv said:

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.

And that's fine, but I am comparing it with an S1R and S1H and it's no contest, - the latter two are damped and the S5 isn't.

I don't get many people/clients commenting on the gear I use but the one comment I do hear more than any other is, "your cameras are really quiet!"

Same as when I was a Fuji user and had an XH1. Once experienced, it's hard to accept anything that isn't damped. For me that is. YMMV!

I just had a couple of weeks with a TL2. Really liked using it and although the shutter sound was not majorly intrusive, it was definitely more S5 than S1.

It's had to go back though as the LCD began to fail (badly and rapidly) on my second outing with it.

I do need another body for stills and it has to be L Mount as all my glass for one thing is L and familiarity between bodies for workflow, never mind output, is important to me.

Considered the FP and FP-L as I have done on and off since the things came out but too many flaws/compromises, one of them being that electronic only shutter.

Could have gone the Leica route again, but this body only has one single job to do and that is be a mount for a wide angle that covers maybe 10% of my output so can't bust the bank.

In the end I decided on the obvious (to me) and went for a second S1R.

There's only 2 things I don't like about it and that is the position of the on/off switch and the orange lighting for the top LCD. It's a bit 1990's Casio digital watch...

OK, ideally, it would be S5 size but the S5 is just not as nice a camera for me in any regard except size & weight.

I like the S5 but don't love it. It has a purpose and I use it on every job, but only as a static video unit.

Horses for courses and all that...

Edited May 13, 2022 by MrSMW

[jaapv]

I hear you but for me the size and weight are the deal makers, provided the rest is what I would expect it to be -  which makes the S5 an ideal SLR replacement. In the film times it was the R5/7.

[tom.w.bn]

Finally decided that I don't need a 2nd body for my upcoming project. Additionally the want-to-have factor of the S5 is limited because of the viewfinder.

Spent two weeks in the Alps with the S1R only (I even left the Leica M and film stuff at home). Size and wight was not an issue at all, no benefit for a smaller S5 here. Used the EVF for at least 80% of the images and really enjoyed the high-res viewfinder in all situations.   

 

[Archiver]

On 6/7/2022 at 10:50 PM, tom.w.bn said:

Finally decided that I don't need a 2nd body for my upcoming project. Additionally the want-to-have factor of the S5 is limited because of the viewfinder.

Spent two weeks in the Alps with the S1R only (I even left the Leica M and film stuff at home). Size and wight was not an issue at all, no benefit for a smaller S5 here. Used the EVF for at least 80% of the images and really enjoyed the high-res viewfinder in all situations.   

 

Good to read a follow up, and interesting to know you didn't need a second body at all. If I only shot stills, the S1R would be my camera, but since both stills and video are essential, it's the S5 for me. What lenses did you use with the S1R?

[hofo100]

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Am 7.6.2022 um 14:50 schrieb tom.w.bn:

Size and wight was not an issue at all, no benefit for a smaller S5 here.    

 

Got the S5 about a good month ago as 2nd body, together with the Sigma 2,8/28-70mm. Size & weight was THE criteria for me as I was looking for an alternative for my Q to take with me when going hiking, and having the camera then on the backpack belt with the PeakDesign clip. My SL2 with a VE 24-90mm was (my personal view) too big and heavy for this. Happy with the image quality of the Pano/Sigma combo and I must say referring to the topic of this thread - the S5 viewfinder is definitely not best in class and cannot compare with the SL2 viewfinder, but in real life it is (a) fit for purpose and (b) I do not recognize the difference as I am not using both cameras in parallel.

Edited June 17, 2022 by hofo100

[huwm]

It was the vastly superior EVF and improved ease of use/naturalness(for me) that drove me to the SL2 and has led to my S5 living a quiet life at home.

I can live with the size and weight of the SL2 for the above reasons.