Panasonic introduces compact Lumix S5 camera with full-frame sensor

Panasonic has introduced the Lumix S5, a system camera with which the manufacturer targets both photography and video enthusiasts. An eye-catching feature of the camera is that a full-frame sensor is combined with a relatively compact housing.

The Lumix S5, like the existing and larger S1, S1R and S1H camera, uses the L-mount and also has a full-frame sensor, but the body of the new S5 is a lot smaller than those cameras. The S5 measures 133x97x82mm, while the S1 measures 149x110x97mm and the GH5 measures 138.5×98.1×87.4mm. This GH5 is a camera for film lovers and has a considerably smaller sensor of the micro four thirds format.

The S5 has the same 24.2-megapixel sensor as that of the S1, which includes a standard range of 100 to 51,000 ISO. The necessary other specifications also correspond, such as the possibility to create raw or jpeg images with a resolution of 96 megapixels. This is done by shifting the sensor eight times by half a pixel, creating multiple images that the software combines. The S5 has a stabilized sensor that should give a gain of 5 stops, or 6.5 stops if a compatible lens is used.

According to Panasonic, the autofocus system of the S5 has been adjusted, so that in the continuous autofocus mode there should be less of the short wobbles that can be seen in both the photographed object / subject and the background during focusing. These wobbles are inherent to the contrast detection autofocus system used by Panasonic for years called depth from defocus. This makes the autofocus very fast and fairly precise, at least for photography, but it leads to a somewhat restless image and sometimes the uncertainty where the camera focuses exactly. A first impression of DPReview shows that Panasonic seems to have largely eliminated this disadvantage of the dfd contrast detection auto focus.

Photographing is done at a maximum of seven frames per second and with continuous autofocus mode that drops to 5fps. The camera seems to be aimed a little more at movie buffs and has quite a bit of the capabilities of the S1H. Without crop from the sensor, the S5 can record images in 4k at 30fps, which is accompanied by 4: 2: 2 subsampling with 10bit colors. Via the Super35 crop, which amounts to an aps-c format, 4k60 recordings are possible, but then 4: 2: 0 at 10bit colors is the maximum. All this is the case with internal withdrawals; 4k and 60fps with 4: 2: 2 and 10bit colors are possible via an external recording device connected via HDMI. Some of the highest video settings have a recording limit of thirty minutes.

Compared to the larger S1, the S5 lacks the screen at the top to quickly check the recording settings. Furthermore, the resolution of the EVF is also somewhat lower with 2.36 million subpixels, and a magnification of 0.74x. The full flip-out LCD on the back is a 3 “model with a resolution of 1.84 million dots. Like the S1 and the S1R, the S5 has two memory card slots, but the new camera does not support it. for an SD card and an XCD card; the S5 only offers space for two SD cards.

The Lumix S5 will soon be available for 1999 euros as a body and 2299 euros for a kit with the 20-60 mm f / 3.5-5.6 lens. Panasonic also comes with a firmware update program for the S1R, S1H and S1 with which these cameras can record images in 5k resolution. This update should be released by the end of this year. During the video presentation of the S5, Panasonic also announced the arrival of several primes for the L-mount: 24 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm and 85 mm, all with an aperture of f / 1.8. In addition, there will be a 70-300 mm f / 4.5-5.6 telephoto zoom.