It's fun to get all caught up in a new camera announcement; especially if it's from a brand you are predisposed to like. I've owned a lot of Panasonic cameras. Had a blast with two G9 cameras in Iceland. Made a couple dozen work videos with G9s and GH5s...and GH4s....and GH3s.... Made $$$ with the S1, S1R and S1H cameras and even had a blast making photographs with the small, light and highly capable, S5.
At least I remember having a great time and making nice pictures with the S5... But with all the hype surrounding the new S1Rii I had to go back and make sure.
The S5 was a shrunken version of the S1. A very good 24 megapixel sensor. Rumored to be BSI but never confirmed (that I know of...). A nice back-up for all the other L cameras, etc.
After reading about the new camera I pulled the S5 out of a drawer and put a lens on it. It's got good "hand feel" and the menus seems pretty simple to me know. The rear screen is nice and bright and the EVF is, at the least, tolerable. I changed out the battery all the while remembering that this was the first full frame, mirrorless camera I worked with that really had decent battery life. Maybe lower res screens and EVFs are a mixed blessing.
So... cheap, small, lightweight, good menus, great sensor, nice lens selection, and straight forward functionality. All for less than a thousand US dollars; new. And that's before I tell you that the camera is capable of recording 4K, 60fps, 10bit video right in the camera. It's nice. Really nice. And a much better value than the S9. Or most of the other "truncated" cameras on the marketing and coming on to the market.
I bought it four years ago and it now works as the almost permanent camera on my film copying rig. Why? Because it's got a killer multi-shot, high res feature and it's easy to make highly detailed copy shots of black and white and color negatives that rock. All available new, right now for < $1K.
The downsides? Few. It doesn't have phase detect AF. You won't be enabling C-AF tracking and making perfect tracking videos of a kid running around in circles. Or fast dogs catching frisbees. Well, I guess the camera itself could do those kinds of shots if you took the time to learn how to manually focus and then applied your learning skillfully...
It doesn't have built-in active cooling like the newer Pana cameras but then again I can't say I ever needed it. Even in bright, hot sun the camera has never shut down on me.
Do I wish the finder was better? Higher res? Sure. But then again would I want to spend an extra $5,0000 for a Leica SL just to get that feature? Assuredly not. The finder works just great as it is.
This is the blue collar camera of the industry. No real "bells and whistles." No product segment leading specs. Just good images onto a full frame sensor with no frills or distractions. Certainly a very worthwhile way to get into making good photos. And videos. Not cutting edge or "state of the art" at this point but a great image maker at a very good (current) price. It's today's camera choice for me. That, and the 28mm Thypoch lens. Time to get out into the sunshine and see what life is gifting us with today.
The S5 is mannequin approved.
The S5 is street photography approved.
The S5 is architecture approved.
And the S5 is capable of rendering delicious skies.
The lure of the new is strong. Makes me wonder how photogs in the 60's, 70's and later ever made memorable photos. S5 is probably all anyone really needs.
ReplyDeleteexactly
DeleteGo ahead get the new one! You know you want it! I am sure your Leica's will regard it as a very near relative.
ReplyDeleteEric
naw. not really that interested. would rather have a q3-43
DeleteTrade your current S for the new one and get a Q3-43. Win win. You can thank me latter.
ReplyDeleteThese frames look great (well, of course they do). What do you think of the S5 versus the Sigma fp with respect to the jpeg and RAW files? Is one obviously better than the other?
ReplyDeleteI remember reading car comparisons in Road&Track years ago, where they'd take 3 or 4 very expensive exotic sports cars to a race track and do some laps at speed. The cars sold for amounts that were several multiples of the price of the average daily driver. The Conclusions section were usually very similar to each other with the phrase "...they were each excellent cars..." appearing in some form or another. I'd think to myself, 'at that price, excellent is the minimum they should be'. We only get incremental improvements in cameras now, but it would only be unusual if that were not the case.
ReplyDelete