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thing you like or found very different on your Lumix camera?

Richard Wong

Richard Wong

Well-Known Member
hey guys,
i've been working on a video for my Youtube channel about Lumix cameras for a little while now. The purpose is to help people who is picking up their first Lumix camera (probably using cameras from other brands before) to know some of the unique/unusual/best feature of the Lumix cameras so they would feel right at home very quickly. I've already got a list of 10 things I want to talk about in my video and my script is nearly done as well. But thought maybe I can do a bit of crowdsourcing here and see if you guys got something that is not on my list and I should mention instead.
So can you tell me what are things you like the most or surprised by your Lumix camera? Could be good or bad/weird thing. And yes I will probably steal some of your suggestions for my video if you post it here :)
 
Hi Richard, maybe you can also give a take on how good Lumix camera are as a stills camera. Many stills only shooter don't consider Lumix cameras, because they think Lumix are heavily video orientated and there ability as stills camera get sacrificed for it's sills capabilities. However, I think in Lumix cameras you can see more than in cameras of other manufacturers, that stills shooter can actually benefit from features coming from the video side. As examples you can mention real time LUTs of the S5ii and 6k photo modes of the S5.
 
For Lumix L-Mount:

1. size and weight thanks to the small lens mount compared to i.e. Nikon Z. That was the reason why I sold most of my Nikon Z system and switched to L-Mount.

This is a unique selling point. Fuji X with similar quality glass is not smaller or lighter and only APS-C. A Lumix S5/S5Mkii with Sigma i-series lenses is significant smaller and lighter than comparable Nikon Z and around the same size or sometimes smaller than Fuji X.

2. Usability of the menu system vs. Nikon, Sony, etc.

3. Usability of the knobs and buttons. (i.e. which other brand has a dial for selftimer and switch for different speeds.?) That makes my life a lot easier

4. You will laugh, but DFD focus. I find it just great for my shootings. But I am happy with my S5Mkii too Teufel Grinsend Schwanz

5. L-Mount is "different". Ok, that sounds like a snob, but sometimes I like it to go against the taste of the masses Z04 Photos
 
thank you so much Quentinquirelino and dirk for sharing your thoughts!

Now is there anything that you found unusual/strange when you pick up your first Lumix camera? Something that took you a bit of time to figure out how it works as it is different to other brands?
 
Richard Wong said:
thank you so much Quentinquirelino and dirt for sharing your thoughts!

Now is there anything that you found unusual/strange when you pick up your first Lumix camera? Something that took you a bit of time to figure out how it works as it is different to other brands?
Click to expand...

Weight and size compared to my Love Lumix GM5 (MFT) Z04 9856

panasonic-gm5-03.jpg
 
Richard Wong said:
hey guys,
i've been working on a video for my Youtube channel about Lumix cameras for a little while now. The purpose is to help people who is picking up their first Lumix camera (probably using cameras from other brands before) to know some of the unique/unusual/best feature of the Lumix cameras so they would feel right at home very quickly. I've already got a list of 10 things I want to talk about in my video and my script is nearly done as well. But thought maybe I can do a bit of crowdsourcing here and see if you guys got something that is not on my list and I should mention instead.
So can you tell me what are things you like the most or surprised by your Lumix camera? Could be good or bad/weird thing. And yes I will probably steal some of your suggestions for my video if you post it here :)
Click to expand...
A bit of a low level view, but these are the things I've found "odd" about Lumix S (FF) cameras that threw me when I started using them (S5):

1) Constant preview - I still don't fully understand what this does or why it's needed.

2) Shutter speed preview - this is a really weird feature that causes apparent "freezes" when the exposure time is long. Not sure what use it is really.

3) Zebras - I use zebras a lot; I think they are much better than the histogram. But setting them up wasn't immediately obvious since they are hidden in the video menus.

4) Changing the self timer from 2s to 10s. Is it just me, or is this much harder than it needs to be?

5) Pinpoint AF - this is a great feature for precision SAF. I wish all the manufacturers had it.

6) C modes - mostly clear, but you can't set drive mode (single, multiple etc) or AF type (SAF, CAF, MF) with them. These need to be set using the relevant dial/control.

7) Q menu vs My Menu - which to use and for what?

8) Wifi and Bluetooth and Lumix Sync - there are two Panasonic apps - Lumix Sync and Panasonic Image App. I used the wrong one at first. Then, setting up Wifi and BT isn't really that easy. It's also not clear what can be done on BT vs what needs WiFi.

9) Remote shutter socket - despite using a standard jack plug, it's non-standard in its wiring. You can't use a remote for Canon/Olympus etc.

10) Focus stacking via post-focus. This actually works very well, but since it's based on a video capture, it's quite different to how other manufacturers do it.

Hope that helps!
 
Hi, Richard! You don't know me but I sure know you from your videos :) Glad to "see" you!

As for L mount (S1R in particular), I can tell the following:

1) It is the most comfortable and satisfactory camera I've ever used (and I used a lot of cameras since 2004, when I switched to digital from film).

2) I like VERY MUCH it's size and weight - this camera is JUST RIGHT! Not too large and heavy so I am able to shoot with it for hours and hours in a row and not too small and light to have to sacrifice ANYTHING ergonomically. It is PERFECT! I've used Nikon Z7 for example, which is a good camera, but it's small size required some disadvantages in it's ergonomics to be made, so it's only a good camera ergonomically, where S1R is perfect!

3) I like the overall IQ given by the sensor and CPU. I wandered from camera to camera for quite a long time and everywhere (Sony A7II, Nikon D5600, Nikon D7500, Nikon Z50, Fuji X-S10, Nikon Z7) it was something that made me to move forward, some nuances in IQ that made me a bit unhappy. And finally, I've bought an S1R. And this camera makes me happy with it's IQ.

4) Especially I would like to notice color reproduction of S1R. It is something subtle, even something that is not clearly visible, yet it IS there. Pictures from S1R look extremely pleasant where pics from other cameras require corrections and often still cannot get to these perfect results...

What is so-so:

Of course, it is AF system. Yet I must say that it does EVERYTHING (!) that I need and never failed me, even when I shot flying birds! BUT I've seen like AF-C AF can wobble and that is an unpleasant sight. I even thought that my camera was malfunctioning. Anyway, I do not shoot sports or dynamic street scenes. For shooting people in temples it's more then enough.

What I'd really like to see in S1R's update:

1) Longer battery life. For such a large battery, S1R drains it awfully fast.

2) Colder CPU. Camera's CPU is VERY hot and it heats camera significantly. When it is +34 in the street, it is a problem.

As for the lenses, I would like to have an Ultrazoom lens, something like 24-240 or (one can dream, right?) a 20-200 :)
 
Hi Richard, I agree 100% with all that dirk, paul and snowcat said.

I just wanted to add a feature that I really like and use all the time (is already in my C1):

The 65:24 "X-Pan" aspect ratio in camera.

Looking forward to see your video.
 
I forgot to mention another feature in which Lumix cameras are probably the best on the market: the ease of setting up and editing the TIME LAPSES in camera.

I have compared it with the Nikon Z, Sony and Ricoh cameras and in the Lumix it is really easier to make, configure and edit in the camera itself.

There is a photographer specialized in time lapses -Matthew Vandeputte- and on his youtube channel he explains how to make time-lapses with the Lumix S5:

 
1) The 3 buttons for ISO, WB, Exp Comp direct access make the camera very fast to use. the fact that each has a different feel so you can get an index of where your fingers are without looking.

2) the AF selector switch for similar reasons to 1

3) The user interface and AF indicator boxes, I prefer the face box and crosshair indicator to the little green eye squares of other brands because its more prominent, easier to tell its detecting an eye
 
I find the AF joystick in the S5MKii a lot better than in the original S5 by the way. But I still prefer the AF joystick in Fuji cameras.
 
We have to pay attention not to add too many points, otherwise Richard will never ask again because of the workload he has in fullfilling our expectation on the next video Z04 Pc2
 
Two things I like a lot and never can find on other brand bodies:

  • quickly change max ISO (press ISO button, turn front wheel)
  • Relatively quickly change min shutter speed (can be added to the quick menu)
Might seem odd but it makes a lot of sense to me and is insanely useful. Especially when using aperture priority mode:

  • With min SS I can make sure that the subject isn’t blurry. I often keep 1/320 as the floor
  • Max iso ensures it doesn’t get too noisy. I usually set 3200
  • Being in A mode, I control DOF via aperture
Obviously this constraints the shooting envelope. But now if the camera cannot expose properly given the constraints, I can make a quick conscious choice about what variable is ok in the current context. More noise? Less DOF? Risk blur? And I can change it on the fly while looking through the EVF and not having to dig around menus!

I find this very handy.
 
Excellent points, Jan. I also change the max ISO via this method when shooting. I hadn't thought about using quick menu to set minimum shutter speed. Will add that now!
 
There is a hidden feature on the S5II I really like. Of course this camera picked up the fantastic four channel audio brought over from the GH6. But where is the button to bring up the full audio control screen? There is an added button on top of the GH6, but no such button on the S5II. This screen is available, but you need to program a button to bring it up. I programmed the fn2 button for this; now my S5II operates almost exactly like my GH6, with quick control of sound.
 
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