Panasonic S5 - Hands-On Review & Sample Footage

We review out the Panasonic S5, a full frame camera that is smaller than a GH5.
Find out more about the Panasonic S5: https://bit.ly/digiS5

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Intro - 0:00
Body - 0:30
Sensor & Image Quality - 2:40
Hi-Res Mode - 3:04
Burst Shooting - 3:38
Image Stabilisation - 4:01
Autofocus for stills - 4:38
Autofocus for video - 5:16
Video Features - 6:41
Conclusion - 8:46

Today we’re checking out the Panasonic S5, which is a new full frame camera in a very small body.

The small size of this camera is obviously a major point in favour of the S5. Body-only it is only 714 grams compared to the 1020 grams of the S1, and its a fair bit more compact as well. The S5 doesn’t feel TOO small though, as the grip and ergonomics are still quite comfortable. This is a quality build, with a lot of good controls and buttons. It’s a fully weather sealed camera too.

Differences to the S1 is that the EVF is 2.6 million dots, which these days is not super high. The S1 is 5.7million, and even the 3-year old GH5 is 3.6 million dots. That being said, to my eye it was fine, I have no complaints. The S5 has dual SD card slots, one of which, not both, is UHS-II compatible. There’s also a mic and headphone jack, USB-C and a micro HDMI port. Also releasing with the S5 is a new 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.

The S5 has the same 24 MP sensor as the S1, which is a good quality full frame sensor with a medium level of resolution. I was quite pleased with image quality here. Images look great and have a nice colour profile.

There’s also a high-res mode that will combine captures to output a 96 MP image - that can now be delivered in RAW or JPG. We also get a Live Composite mode, which allows you to build up the exposure of an image over multiple captures. It’s very handy for low-light, long exposure shooting. The low light performance is also quite good.

Note that with continuous AF the maximum burst shooting rate is 5 fps, which is on the slower end these days. Without continuous AF that jumps to 7 fps. It does have 6K Photo mode though, which allows you to shoot 18 MP images at 30 fps.

Panasonic’s Dual I.S. system is here in the S5, which is great. This is one of the better systems on the market. It does a great job of stabilising your footage for stills and video, and reduces the need for a fancy gimbal in many situations.

In stills, the AF system does a fine job. The camera is very quick to identify subjects. It also has good face and eye detect AF for humans and animals. You do get a bit of that Panasonic wobble in the background as it’s acquiring focus which can be a bit distracting when shooting, but once you get used to it the actual photos are almost always in focus.

Now looking at video autofocus, the S5 HAS received improvements to it’s video autofocus capabilities. This is Panasonic’s most advanced AF system, and it has upgrades to face recognition, subject tracking, and dealing with small subjects. These improvements are most notable in 4K 60p, where the higher frame rate allows for better performance. At 4K 60, I’m pretty happy with the video AF performance.

However, it’s not all roses, and the camera does have hiccups when we bring it down to 4K 24. At the slower shooting speed it’s not as responsive, and although it is improved over previous versions, it is still behind the competition, notably Canon and Sony. At 4K 24 it can be noticeably slow, taking a second or two to adjust to changing focus conditions, hunting, and it’s just generally not as reliable. It's not crap in 4K 24, but you do see a noticeable performance drop. In 4K 60, I’m happy with the performance. Note you will get a better performance shooting in a more contrasty picture profile vs a flat picture profile.

Finally let’s look at the video features, where as always, Panasonic excels. The camera shoots 4K video at up to 60 fps, including with 10-bit internal recording. There is an APS-C crop in 4K 60, but no crop in 4K 30 or below. For many video modes there is no record limit. The exception here is when shooting 10-bit 4K or 4K 60 at any bit rate, where you will have a 30 minute limit. The camera also has great video tools rarely found in competitors like punch in focus, waveforms, in-camera timelapse, anamorphic modes, dual zebras, the ability to use custom LUTs, and more. I also experienced no overheating issues with the S5, something that can’t be said for the Canon EOS R5 for example. Rolling shutter is pretty well controlled, and you’ll see further improvement here when shooting in 4K 60.

Overall, this camera hits every note except for that video autofocus. Other than that though, this is a well built, compact full frame camera with strong ergonmics that delivers excellent stills performance, exceptional video functionality, and has a great IBIS system, all at an extremely affordable price point compared to it’s competitors.