Panasonic Lumix DC-S5II

Possibly Panasonic’s most widely appealing full-frame camera to date, the Lumix 5II irons out almost all of the S5’s issues while improving performance and image quality – all for a price that puts it within the reach of young and aspiring content creators.

While popular with vloggers, Panasonic’s mirrorless cameras have been held back from true greatness by the lack of a phase-detect autofocus system. Finally, the company has rectified that problem with the launch of the S5 II. It has a new 24-megapixel sensor with phase-detect pixels that should get rid of the wobble and hunting that have plagued the contrast-detect AF on Panasonic cameras over the years.

Highly Recommended - A sturdy hybrid mirrorless camera with excellent performance and great handling .

The Panasonic S5II is a capable full-frame mid-range camera with the right balance capabilities to serve those who want to shoot both photos and video. It offers outstanding image quality with pleasing colors, the best toolset in its class to support video shooters. The AF system is competitive, though it's not quite as good as the best cameras in its class. It's an excellent all-around camera and is a great option for those who need to do a bit of everything.

The Lumix S5 Mark II is arguably the best value new full-frame camera around at the time of making this review, packing a wealth of features while comfortably undercutting key rivals on price. The long-awaited inclusion of phase-detect autofocus transforms both photo and video, eliminating the distracting pulsing which haunted earlier Lumix cameras. While the core features and specs are roughly similar to its rivals, drilling-down reveals unique benefits to each: Canon’s R6 II enjoyed the best subject detection in my tests, allows uncropped 4k up to 60p, in-camera focus stacking, multiple exposures, a bulb timer, pre-capture mode, 1080 180p slow motion, and the fastest mechanical burst speed of 12fps. Sony’s A7 IV has the highest resolution on a single frame, support for a faster memory card and access to a wealth of lenses including Tamron’s which aren’t yet available for L or RF mount. Meanwhile the S5 II boasts a high-res pixel shift mode, focus bracketing with a mechanical shutter that allows flash, open-gate 6k video, waveform and vector displays, anamorphic modes, real-time LUT previews, and potentially longer recording times under hotter conditions thanks to a built-in fan. And don’t forget Sigma’s growing series of excellent DG DN lenses is available for both e and L-mounts, giving Sony and Panasonic access to affordable third-party lenses that Canon owners can currently only dream of. Oh, and there’s that $500 or pound saving over the R6 II and A7 IV. In fact it still undercuts their body prices when sold in a twin lens kit with the 20-60 and 50 1.8. Of course both Canon and Sony still sell their previous versions at prices closer to the S5 II, but their feature-sets aren’t as complete. If you’re mostly shooting action or wildlife I’d say it’s worth spending the extra on the R6 II, but as an all-round hybrid camera for a general mix of photo and video, the Lumix S5 II is simply hard to beat at the price and comes Highly Recommended.

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