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Panasonic S5 Mark II

Panasonic S5 IIx boasts the best stabilisation on the market

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When Panasonic introduced the Panasonic S5 II (buy here) in January, a big deal was made about its autofocus system. And for a good reason. The S5 II marked Panasonic’s entry into the world of phase-detect autofocus, finally putting them on par with just about all of the mirrorless competition. Announced alongside the photography-focused S5 II was the S5 IIx (buy here), a more video-centric offering, but how exactly is it different?

At NAB 2023, we headed to the Panasonic booth to check out the S5 IIx in person and find out what makes it so special. In doing so, we discovered that it holds some unique features, including open-gate video, also introduced with the Panasonic GH6 (buy here), and what Panasonic says is the best video stabilisation in the mirrorless camera market.

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Panasonic releasing firmware to fix live view lag on S5 II

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Panasonic has announced that a new firmware is coming to the Panasonic S5 II in late March. The firmware adds a new live view display speed switching function. This function lets you change the live view frame rate when shooting in AFC autofocus mode. Users report the speed had been dropping down to 30fps making it feel somewhat laggy and difficult to track their subjects.

New firmware is also coming for several S-series lenses in April 2023 to improve AF performance during zoom tracking. The lenses affected are the Panasonic Lumix S PRO 24-70mm f/2.8, Panasonic Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 Macro O.I.S. and Panasonic Lumix S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. lenses.

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How to fix laggy HDMI output latency in Panasonic Lumix mirrorless cameras

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Richard Wong has been taking a bit of a deep dive into the HDMI output latency of his shiny new Panasonic S5 Mark II. HDMI latency is a big thing when using a field monitor, especially if a focus puller is watching that monitor to do their job. The problem with the S5 Mark II – and quite a few of Panasonic’s other cameras – is that the HDMI output latency is pretty high. The lower the latency, the easier it is to monitor exactly what your camera’s seeing to plan movements and focus adjustments.

Richard thinks he’s found a way to solve the latency issue, though. It doesn’t eliminate it completely, but it massively reduces it, making the HDMI output much more responsive. And while his solution might not suit everybody’s needs, it’ll be perfect for many.

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Panasonic says the reason PDAF took so long was to not compromise image quality

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In an interview between Gizmomo Freaks and Panasonic during the launch of the recently announced Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II and S5 Mark IIx, the obvious focus of attention was the addition of Phase Detect Autofocus into the new camera. Sure, PDAF isn’t the only thing the S5 Mark II holds over its predecessor, but this is the first Panasonic interchangeable lens mirrorless camera ever to have PDAF. So, it’s kind of a big deal.

Why did it take so long for Panasonic to implement it, though, while all of the competition had been using it for years? Well, in short, the official answer was that they didn’t want to compromise on image quality, and they felt that the technical limitations of how phase detection autofocus works would do exactly that. Now, though, technology appears to have come to a point where all that’s changed.

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What does Phase Detect autofocus mean for Panasonic’s future?

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The Panasonic S5 Mark II announcement brought with it a big change of direction for Panasonic. One that Panasonic shooters (including myself) had been wanting for years. Finally, Panasonic has a mirrorless camera with Phase Detect autofocus. It seems that Panasonic has finally gotten around to addressing all of the complaints and issues users had with their DFD autofocus system, especially when shooting video.

But what does this mean for the future of Panasonic’s full-frame and Micro Four Thirds mirrorless lineup? This interesting video from Chris and Jordan at DPReview TV takes a look at this exact topic, discussing the benefits that PDAF brings to the S5 Mark II and what it could mean going forward.

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Panasonic finally goes Phase Detect Autofocus with the new Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II

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Panasonic shooters have only been begging for it for about a decade, and Panasonic finally seems to have delivered. Panasonic has today announced the new Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II (and S5 Mark IIX), and this finally marks Panasonic’s entry into the world of Phase Detect Autofocus. And no, it’s not just when shooting stills, either. Panasonic shooters finally have good autofocus when shooting video.

The Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II replaces the Panasonic Lumix S5, launched only just over two years ago in September 2020. The full-frame L mount mirrorless camera has been one of Panasonic’s most popular over the last couple of years, thanks to its good balance of price vs performance. As with all Panasonic cameras, though, video autofocus performance was always an issue.

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Leaked spec sheet for upcoming Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II says phase detect AF is definitely coming

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Well, it looks like the announcement is going to be coming quite soon. After the recent photo leak, a complete set of specs for the Panasonic Lumix S5 Mark II has also been leaked. Also, we now know what the differences will be between the S5 Mark II and the S5 Mark II X. The big news though is that, yes, Panasonic finally seems to be putting Phase Detect Autofocus into a mirrorless camera.

This is good news for the future of Panasonic shooters, who’ve often complained about Panasonic’s proprietary DFD tech that only works with Panasonic lenses – and it not really working at all, really, when shooting video. The addition of phase detection autofocus appears to be the single biggest difference between this and the original Panasonic Lumix S5, but there are a couple of others.

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Photo leaks of upcoming Panasonic S5 Mark II ahead of February release

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Panasonic is getting ready to announce a new S5 Mark II L mount mirrorless camera. Building on the popularity of the original S5, the new camera might actually come with a whole new autofocus system. Panasonic recently introduced Phase Detect autofocus for the first time in their AW-UE160W/K PTZ camera. The big hope right now is that we’ll start to see PDAF also coming to Panasonic’s L mount range.

Not only is there supposed to be a new Panasonic S5 Mark II, but it’s also being reported that we’ll see an S5 Mark II X, too. Exactly what the differences will be between the two models is unknown, as no specs for either have really leaked yet, but what has leaked is a photo of what is reported to be the upcoming S5 Mark II.

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