Panasonic LUMIX S5 Full Frame Mirrorless Camera, 4K 60P Video Recording with Flip Screen & WiFi, LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 Lens, L-Mount, 5-Axis Dual I.S., DC-S5KK (Black)

I love my Gh5. It's made a lot of great videos and it's made me a LOT of money over the years. My only gripe was the M4/3 format for several reasons. This camera does everything the Gh5 did so well and so much more. Although I have many cameras for various situations, if you can only afford one camera, this would be a great choice for video and photo. PROS: -Full Frame + APS-C modes -96MP still images -24MP video images give you great image resolving -easy to use menu just like the Gh5 -in-camera time-lapse video creation is so great and builds on the Gh5 -the sigma EF adapter is perfect for all of my EF lenses -auto focus is greatly improved over other Panasonic cameras -Log film mode built-in -resolves clean blacks even at ISO 20,000 (can be cleaned up in post if ISO exceeds 20,000 -the lens it comes with is perfect for gimbal use although it's aperture-situation isn't ideal -6K recording coming soon -dual SD card slots -great battery life -uses XLR-1 -great dials -heavy duty construction -no moire filter, so it resolves the every last MP of imaging power while still adequately reducing moire CONS: -auto focus still lags behind Sony (but I almost never use it, so not a concern for me) - as many will be upgrading from Gh5 its a bummer it uses a different battery -viewfinder should have been upgraded, it's quality is now outdated -slow motion is in APS-C mode -10 bit mode is hard for editing software to process -no all intra

I remember the days when D3 was top of the line for $3000 body only. This is a beast for less than $1500 with kit lens on black Friday. Build quality is SUPER. I like the self timer design. I do a lot of selfies on tripod. Auto works fine, but needs some auto coloring in most cases. That's not a con since it grabs enough details even in low light. I also bought Sony ZV 10, it's smaller APS-C, same 24 mp. On Sony self timer takes 3 shots continuously, fast. S5, just like my good old FZ200 gives you a second or two between shots. Smart. I see minor difference on shots during daytime. At night time frankly too, but it depends. Sony is noisier in low light sometimes. I am not a pro. I am impressed. I wish Panasonic will make smaller full frame with same build quality. Sure I would get one.

Doing multicam work, and find this camera to be the best in decades of shooting. 4K 10bit in 3840 or C4K/DCI on fairly standard SDXC cards, not exotic memory cards that A7SIII would need. Glad to finally move on from Sony ecosystem, especially in the IOS stabilization department. Happy with the image quality, and the lightweight 20-60mm lens. I'm a SOC (Society Of Camera Ops member), and enjoy using it for handheld work also. Good viewfinder, and ability to place the LCD screen implements well also. Connectivity and ports are ample. Pair it with a fast lens for very low light shooting. Typical night lighting, it images fine. Basically like I mentioned, it can record 4K 10bit onto pretty standard SDXC cards. Yes you can go down the higher bitrate road to wherever with the Sony and others, but this one can go there too, externally to a Ninja V, in 6K. Personally if I need 6K in 12 bit, I would rather buy regular useable recording memory, ie SDXC cards and SSD drives, instead of proprietary or expensive memory. The power options are excellent, the single battery last a long time, and it can take external power through USB-C. So I started this whole rig with building it with Sony A7SIII's. I quickly changed that when looking at a side by side sequence shot with both cameras (A7SIII and S5). The test was at night. To me the S5 had much better motion interpretation, and again way way better stabilization. The S5 to me was a clearly better choice for my work. One last thing, the video shows 8 S5 cameras in full record sync, I love that multicam record beep sound.

If you want a mirrorless camera, I think the lens selection makes this the one to buy. I know the complaint with l-mount cameras has been that the lenses aren't there. In 2021, that's no longer a factor. On top of that, the fact that this has first party support from Sigma means that there are fantastic, fully supported lenses for this camera at half the price of what you get from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fuji. The only other mirrorless system that has extensive third-party lenses is Sony and I considered the A7III. The Lumix won out because of its better menu system, jpeg colors, build quality, ergonomics, IBIS, and hi-res shot mode. I'm primarily a stills photographer and I've found the autofocus to be fantastic. It's great at grabbing onto eyes and faces. When subjects turn, it's still able to track their head movements. I've experimented with old manual focus Canon FD lenses and it has a great interface for focusing accurately with those as well. I highly recommend this camera. It makes photography fun and a broad lens selection affordable.

I really love this camera, and at the 2-2.5k USD price point I think it is the best out there. I usually jump between Nikon and Sony, so this felt like an awesome blend of the two (with the autofocus being the only quality that's worse than both of the others). Overall, for narrative filmmaking, travel filmmaking, vlogging that doesn't challenge the autofocus with fast-changing lighting or subjects, general photography (except for maybe sports unless you're okay with 6K Photo burst) this is an amazing all-rounder. The kit lens is also super versatile. The 20mm is awesome for vlogging, architecture, and some landscape work, while 60mm is decent enough for some light portraiture and compression. I paired this with the newer 85mm 1.8 to satisfy some low-light, bokeh and telephoto gaps that the kit lens leaves. I think an S5 + 20-60mm, 85mm 1.8 (and/or 35/50mm 1.8), and 70-300mm would be a perfect combo for most hybrid shooters that don't require faster zooms for sports/weddings/other high-pressure and non-repeatable moments. This issue: I thought I purchased a new camera, but the package doesn't come with sealing so there's no way to really tell, but I found that my 20-60mm Lens came with the wrong model lens cap and the rear lens cap has some subtle scratches on it. It seems like the optics are pristine and the camera looked and worked equally fantastic, but when you pay for a new product (even if it was on sale at the time) you expect to have an unused product. I'm fine with dinged up, scratched and beat gear, but I'd much prefer to be the one to run it through the mud and to at least not pay a "new" price for someone else's mistakes. Still a wonderful camera and I will either re-order or wait for a successor, because this is really something special.

This is a very cool gadget for sure! I love the images and videos captured with this camera. The kit lens 20-60 is perfectly fine for everyday use. If you want, you can get more expensive lenses but kit lens works well. Very pleased with the purchase. Compared to some other full frame cameras, this is very reasonably priced for features and technology included. Highly recommended.

Professional grade

So for the ones that know all the technical details about photography and cameras, I’m sorry to say I won’t be much help. I’m a beginner photographer and model (king_tweet on Instagram) but the camera is basically movie quality. When you zoom in on the photos everything is still clear as day. The autofocus feature is GREAT for starters but there are also other great settings for the more advanced ones out there. It has a flash attachment but you don’t need it, you can take a photo in the pitch black and still see what’s in the photo.. Can’t wait to study more!

This is my first ever camera I've ever purchased and so far this camera has been an amazing experience from the first week of owning it!

Initial review was rejected and resubmitted with revised review