I am hoping to pick up a Lumix S5ii in the new year; I have been around the houses in my latest quest to try and find a camera to suit and I think the Lumix hopefully is the one. I'm not really into the videography side of things much other than a bit of vlogging so it will be mainly for photography. I'm looking forward to trying our the m43 smarts as I am a m43 shooter.
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Hello All
- Thread starter cedge
- Start date
pdk42
Moderator
I’m also am ex (and current) m43 shooter and found that the S5 (and S1R and S5ii) are about the best FF cameras to adapt to. Panasonic’s heritage in mirrorless shows through. By contrast, Nikon and Canon have DSLR baggage in their UIs and Sony‘s UI is just very different and hard to use IMHO.
RuleOfThirds
Well-Known Member
Welcome Cedge, good camera choice! Used m43 also, but took the Nikon dx - m43 - Fujifilm XT4 - S5ii route 
Mainly photography for me as well…
Mainly photography for me as well…
Thanks, I'm still slightly swayed by the Nikon ZF but for the reasons stated in my first post and the lack of custom modes, I'm still fairly sure that I will opt for the S5ii next.Welcome Cedge, good camera choice! Used m43 also, but took the Nikon dx - m43 - Fujifilm XT4 - S5ii route
Mainly photography for me as well…
pdk42
Moderator
Worth also noting that Nikon don’t support zebras or over/under exposure indicators in the live view when shooting stills. Personally, that’s almost a deal breaker for me.
RuleOfThirds
Well-Known Member
Well we can change your welcome thread to a buying advice thread
at lmf most of the users are very flexible.I have not had the Z f in my hands, but the lack of grip would be a concern for me. S5Ii can be a very good hybrid camera, the video functionality is better, anything else being virtual identical. I guess S5ii has the better AF.
But most important factor is does the system you chooses have the lenses you want ? Z 24-120 is same size/weight as lumix 24-105, but the Nikon lacks VR. Lumix 28-200 is very small and lightweight, but the Nikon starts at 24. Etc. The Lumix 20-60 is also very good!
I had the Fuji X-T4 coming from X-S10. So from small pasm dslr-style body to a retro body. I thought it was cool, in the end I hardly used the dials and I am glad being back to dslr style with deep grip of the S5ii and no useless dials.
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Nikon has good 0.39x macro but Lumix has 0.5x and as an owner it is superbly sharp in minimum focus... Peeping and cropping is fine well beyond 'true' 1x reproduction/2x crop and again the dual I.S/O.I.S helps here with fine detail. It's fooking great
As for the stability the Nikon is truly beaten, with S5ii a tripod is never necessary as long as you're not blasted by the wind 1sec is doable with good technique at 24mm region, obviously less at longer focal lengths but it's often a forgotten asset when choosing systems, Lumix has the premium I.S system for both photo/video. Here is a video at 630mm eq 2.1x crop APSC mode, high stability with Boost (tripod mode where you are not meant to move but I did to test the stickiness of the AF tracking) with Lumix 70-300...
Almost a year ago I chose the S5ii over the Nikon Z6ii as the salesman tried to sell the Nikon as he said it suited me better for photography but I disagreed and would never buy a £15k 600mm f4 regardless. I'll probably buy the Sigma 60-600 for the S5ii someday soon as the dual I.S seems great on that also for 1260mm reach in 2.1x crop.
I'm also expecting the hybrid photo zoom from Lumix S9 in a firmware update sometime.
The I.S is something you quickly get used to, I came from Pentax DSLR which had IBIS but not real-time EVF image stability obviously. I know it would be pretty horrendous to use a DSLR again with long lenses...
I tried my 8x42 binos again lately and despite being a steady eddy
OMG it was horrendous and now I want IS binos if buying again... It is a necessity after looking through an S5ii with 24-105 and 70-300 for less than a year. One's expectations cannot be reversed!
Welcome! I like the Zf. I find very good the option to focus with manual lenses, with the green square in the eyes of the person that you are photographing. I like that it is a beautiful camera, like the Nikon Df, which I own. Maybe one day I'll get one, when the price of the Zf is a bit lower...
I would say that the S5II is better for video. Much better indeed. Is more a hybrid camera than the Zf. And the high res shot is better implemented in the S5II, because you can use it hand held.
Yes, the Zf appeals because of it's Manual Focus functionality and the electrical contacts of some Manual lenses i.e. native voigtlanders.
I've been around the houses over the last 12 months hunting down a camera that will give me a better hit rate for my small black dog running towards me and have tried a Sony A9 MK1 and a Canon R8 but both were not as good as expected especially when the dog comes closer to the camera. I've now decided that I just want a FF camera that suits all my needs rather than one that might be upto job the respect to dog tracking. I struggled with both the A9 and R8 in getting sharp static shots hence now I'm looking for a camera with IBIS.
I've come to the conclusion, that most modern cameras are great at tracking but that doesn't necessarily in my experience translate into an equal hit rate accuracy.
I'm led to believe from watching some videos that the Nikon ZF with it's 3D tracking might be better than the S5ii for running dogs but I have seen some good results with the S5ii. The only thing that gives me pause is it's rolling shutter with the e shutter but from a clip I've seen it doesn't look that bad. Also, I don't really want to get a 70-200 f2.8 so hoping the 85mm f1.8 or the 100mm macro might be enough.
I've been around the houses over the last 12 months hunting down a camera that will give me a better hit rate for my small black dog running towards me and have tried a Sony A9 MK1 and a Canon R8 but both were not as good as expected especially when the dog comes closer to the camera. I've now decided that I just want a FF camera that suits all my needs rather than one that might be upto job the respect to dog tracking. I struggled with both the A9 and R8 in getting sharp static shots hence now I'm looking for a camera with IBIS.
I've come to the conclusion, that most modern cameras are great at tracking but that doesn't necessarily in my experience translate into an equal hit rate accuracy.
I'm led to believe from watching some videos that the Nikon ZF with it's 3D tracking might be better than the S5ii for running dogs but I have seen some good results with the S5ii. The only thing that gives me pause is it's rolling shutter with the e shutter but from a clip I've seen it doesn't look that bad. Also, I don't really want to get a 70-200 f2.8 so hoping the 85mm f1.8 or the 100mm macro might be enough.
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RuleOfThirds
Well-Known Member
I can do 24-105@105 1 sec sharp hand held, 8x42 is perfect doable without IS too..and despite being a steady eddy
RuleOfThirds
Well-Known Member
I can confirm that the dual IS of the 24-105 and the 70-300 are VERY stable. But the ibis by it self is also very good when I use my other lenses.