S5II vs S5 and SL2s

[LocalHero1953]

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3 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Long press top left button...👺

Ah - I was wondering - I thought this was a touch sensitive screen thing

[Stuart Richardson]

6 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Long press top left button...👺

Need to stop telling all those lies!

[LocalHero1953]

I don't know if this is an advancing age thing, but I found all the customised buttons too much to handle. After initially being irritated by the change in interface from SL to the SL2/SL2S, I found its button cull a bit of a relief. The only buttons I use other than the three on the left are the front double button: bottom for AF focus mode (almost always between face recognition and field), top for focus mode (iAF/MF).

Everything else (other than the wheel and joystick) I manage with user profiles and the graphical menu.

Edited February 1, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[Tailwagger]

Given the current specials here in the US, I was looking at the S5 II this week, but in the end decided to pass for the moment. Like a second body with faster and better low light AF, but given the next SL will be here momentarily, figured I'd at least hold off until its official.   

Personally,  I'd like something with a button/wheel or two more than the current SL. I particularly hate having to use the top dial for EV, but OTOH I do find the control layout of the S5 to be more than a bit much. too much.  That said, at $1800 US with the 50mm 1.8, I probably could learn to live with it. 

[Archiver]

On 2/3/2024 at 9:39 AM, Tailwagger said:

Personally,  I'd like something with a button/wheel or two more than the current SL. I particularly hate having to use the top dial for EV, but OTOH I do find the control layout of the S5 to be more than a bit much. too much.  That said, at $1800 US with the 50mm 1.8, I probably could learn to live with it. 

It just depends on what you're used to, especially if you come from the land of minimalist controls like the M, Q or SL. A person used to Nikon or Canon DSLR's would find the Panasonic control layout fine - I moved from Canon to Panasonic over ten years ago and I enjoy the controls because they put everything at your fingertips. And as always, once you've set up the camera the way you want, you hardly need to touch a thing. I got the original S5 with free 50mm f1.8 and it has been extremely useful over the past couple of years. If you get a S5 II, no doubt you'll get used to it very quickly.

[DirkZ]

I started in L-Mount with SL2-S and used it also with the Sigma 150-600. But the camera had too many issues (shutter defect, electronical issues). I decided to leave Leica but stay within L-Mount and bought an S1-R....after 6 months of usage I sold it for an S5 II and I am happy with it. IBIS is good, built quality is good, weather sealing, operation....everything works well. The S5 II is in terms of price/quality/performance-ratio one of the best cameras right now on the market. I will not go back to Leica anymore and will stay with Lumix.

Edited February 6, 2024 by DirkZ

[jaapv]

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Got the S5II in today. Really impressed They cleaned the ergonomics up quite effectively to be intuitive in operation. Even the on/off switch is reachable now. I don’t think I’ll need a used SL2S after all. Basic OOC colour seems to be improved as well. 

[o2mpx]

Just received the S5ii to replace the S1r/SL2, and thinking of skipping the SL3. 

Any feedback on how it does with wide angle M lenses?

Has anyone updated firmware of Leica L mount lenses with latest Panasonic bodies?

[MindsEye]

12 hours ago, o2mpx said:

Just received the S5ii to replace the S1r/SL2, and thinking of skipping the SL3. 

Any feedback on how it does with wide angle M lenses?

Has anyone updated firmware of Leica L mount lenses with latest Panasonic bodies?

I am in the midst of a bunch of tests right now. It does very well so far. While moving my photo studio I misplaced my resolution targets so some of my tests aren't as controlled as I would like. But using a fence instead of my charts and various distances in field testing my general conclusion is that the S5II/S5IIx does very well. Way better than the Sony a7R III which I also compared (a7R series have a significantly thicker sensor stack.) All that said my lenses are limited. I have a Voigtlander 21mm f1.8 Ultron, VM 75mm f1.9 Ultron, I borrowed a Leica 28mm f2.8, and I've also compared to Lumix 50mm and Lumix 20-60mm lenses that came with the camera. Some of my tests were at the Leica store so not all that controlled but it allowed me to also compare to the SL2 which I don't own personally.

The main reason for my getting the S5IIx was to use manual focus lenses, primarily M mount. I have a Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN and Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 Nokton arriving soon and I will also test those.

Most of the tests out there are with the more challenging Sony a7 and a7R series cameras. I figure if something can do well on a Sony body it will do at least as well or better on the S5II and better yet on an SL2/S.

Try this link with WA tests by Joey Miller at Lensrentals and this other thread on this topic I started a few weeks ago.

When I finish testing I'll try to post on both threads.

NOTE: In this thread I may have missed it but didn't see anyone mention the 48MP and 96MP pixel shift mode on the S5II/x. It works way better than I expected, especially handheld mode. @jaapv, I don't know if resolution is important to your photography but if so, give it a try on your newly acquired S5II 😃 Obviously not for wildlife but with more static subjects, it works well.

Happy shooting!

Joel

Edited February 27, 2024 by MindsEye
correction

[MindsEye]

On 1/31/2024 at 6:04 AM, helged said:

After using the three incarnations of SL-bodies, plus S5 and after a quick run with S5ii (testing only), these are the factors keeping me away from S5ii:

• The EVF in Six is/feels much better; remember that Leica has put in quite advanced and expensive optics in the view finder. On S5ii, I have a feeling of looking at a screen; on SLx, the view is much less electronic.
• S5/S5ii is too small for my hand; I have a much better hand-hold stability with the SLx-bodies.

Image quality is comparable, although SL2-S has the best colours I have experienced. 

IBIS on SL2/SL2-S and S5/S5ii/S1R is outstanding for them all.

 

I've only used the SL2 briefly when comparing to S5IIx. I agree the EVF on the SL2 is a better experience. But without a direct comparison I think the S5II/x is still good. But I will be happier when 9M dot EVFs are the standard 😉

One of the alleged goals of the L2 partnership between Leica and Panasonic/Lumix (not to be confused with L-mount alliance) is for Leica to share color science. I'm going to do some careful comparisons on that front but my gut reaction was that the S5IIx is much more Leica-esque than any other Japanese camera I've used, sans Fujifilm. Maybe in part because I'm using mostly M mount lenses. And I'm comparing to my Q3 which in turn may be a little different than the SL line (?) I'd be curious to hear feedback for you or other users as to S5IIx color as that model specifically, is supposedly the first camera to benefit from the official L2 partnership. And of course the SL3, will I'm sure, also benefit in some areas. It's hard to discern if L2 means more than the previous partnering with Leica and Lumix as many other Leica cameras have incorporated Panny tech.

[jaapv]

I have seen the 9 fps burst rate slammed in some reviews but in reality it will do 30 fps on electronic shutter and 120 fps in 4K 

[Archiver]

On 2/28/2024 at 11:30 PM, jaapv said:

I have seen the 9 fps burst rate slammed in some reviews but in reality it will do 30 fps on electronic shutter and 120 fps in 4K 

And how many people really need more than 9fps anyway? I shoot combat sports including kickboxing with the original S5 and 50mm f1.8, and after some experimentation, I no longer shoot in burst mode. There are just far too many files to sort through otherwise. The only time I'd use high framerate burst is for a one-shot event like pole vault, discus or the finish line of a sprint.

[jaapv]

I have not fought my way through 837 pages of manual yet and I doubt if I ever will. Fortunately I can skip the Video bits as I am not a professional video maker.

[tom.w.bn]

Went from S1R to S5II 13 months ago mainly because of the AF. Started shooting some mountainbike stuff for fun and the S1R autofocus was not capable to do this. Camera is great, but I miss the 48 MP (occasionally) and the 5 MP viewfinder (all the time). S5II viewfinder is okay, not great. Much better than the 2 MP from the original S5 though, that feels like a technology time trip 10 years back.

 

[jaapv]

The high-resolution mode does work well on subjects that are not moving too fast. It will correct for blurring as long as there are no multiples in the image. 

[Chaemono]

Am 31.1.2024 um 06:22 schrieb PeterBoyadjian:

[…]

I still like my SL2S for photos though, menus are clean and I feel like Panasonic never gives you a flat RAW file to work with. Something is always baked in.

[…]

+1

Am 31.1.2024 um 15:04 schrieb helged:

[…]

Image quality is comparable, although SL2-S has the best colours I have experienced. 

[…]

+1

Everyone has their own criteria, AF, IBIS, etc. I concur with both statements above. It’s the difference between the two cameras that would make me reach for the SL2-S over the S5II. I don’t take many pictures these days because I’m too busy with other things, but I still have both.

[jaapv]

It depends on the raw converter I suppose. When I convert with DXO the results are much closer than with ACR, even if using the dedicated profiles. SL 601 here. 

[LocalHero1953]

5 hours ago, Archiver said:

And how many people really need more than 9fps anyway? I shoot combat sports including kickboxing with the original S5 and 50mm f1.8, and after some experimentation, I no longer shoot in burst mode. There are just far too many files to sort through otherwise. The only time I'd use high framerate burst is for a one-shot event like pole vault, discus or the finish line of a sprint.

Agreed. The only time I use burst mode is when I'v taken posed shots of dancers leaping. 7fps has been enough for capturing the correct stage of the leap. Otherwise burst mode just produces too many images. 

[SrMi]

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

The high-resolution mode does work well on subjects that are not moving too fast. It will correct for blurring as long as there are no multiples in the image. 

Many times, one will not notice the places where motion artifacts were removed, but sometimes you can. Motion artifact removal works by replacing blurs with data from one upscaled single-shot image. In-camera upscaling is typically not that good.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[SrMi]

On 2/27/2024 at 11:19 AM, MindsEye said:

I am in the midst of a bunch of tests right now. It does very well so far. While moving my photo studio I misplaced my resolution targets so some of my tests aren't as controlled as I would like. But using a fence instead of my charts and various distances in field testing my general conclusion is that the S5II/S5IIx does very well. Way better than the Sony a7R III which I also compared (a7R series have a significantly thicker sensor stack.) All that said my lenses are limited. I have a Voigtlander 21mm f1.8 Ultron, VM 75mm f1.9 Ultron, I borrowed a Leica 28mm f2.8, and I've also compared to Lumix 50mm and Lumix 20-60mm lenses that came with the camera. Some of my tests were at the Leica store so not all that controlled but it allowed me to also compare to the SL2 which I don't own personally.

The main reason for my getting the S5IIx was to use manual focus lenses, primarily M mount. I have a Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN and Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 Nokton arriving soon and I will also test those.

Most of the tests out there are with the more challenging Sony a7 and a7R series cameras. I figure if something can do well on a Sony body it will do at least as well or better on the S5II and better yet on an SL2/S.

Try this link with WA tests by Joey Miller at Lensrentals and this other thread on this topic I started a few weeks ago.

When I finish testing I'll try to post on both threads.

NOTE: In this thread I may have missed it but didn't see anyone mention the 48MP and 96MP pixel shift mode on the S5II/x. It works way better than I expected, especially handheld mode. @jaapv, I don't know if resolution is important to your photography but if so, give it a try on your newly acquired S5II 😃 Obviously not for wildlife but with more static subjects, it works well.

Happy shooting!

Joel

Watch out for handheld HR mode when underexposing by more than 3 stops. Admitedly, that is a rare situation, but if you underexpose and lift in post by more than 3 stops you will get strange artifacts. We have been discussing those artifacts with G9II, and others confirmed that the same issues are with S5 II. I do not now S5 II to confirm it.

Edited March 3, 2024 by SrMi