Could you put 2 cameras side by side with the screens turned off, say Sony and Canon, so that we can see how Sony has a more glossy screen than Canon. Similar tests with other brands are acceptable for Panasonic!

Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll look into it when we revisit our screen test coverage. To better understand where the need comes from, do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?

Oct 13, 2023 09:51 AM By  Remi Tremblay

Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll look into it when we revisit our screen test coverage. To better understand where the need comes from, do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?

Matte is definitely better! (The easiest way to compare is to place the camera on a table with a tablecloth and take pictures of cameras with the screens turned off. The one who reflects the tablecloth more is worse, simple!)

I’m shocked that the hit rate is lower than the old S5. The new autofocus system is being lauded as on-par with Sony, Nikon, and Canon with the S5 II, so I’m wondering what went wrong for the results to go backwards…

Nov 27, 2023 09:24 AM By dqniel

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I’m shocked that the hit rate is lower than the old S5. The new autofocus system is being lauded as on-par with Sony, Nikon, and Canon with the S5 II, so I’m wondering what went wrong for the results to go backwards…

Hey dqniel! Thanks for taking the time to share you thoughts with us, we were also expecting much better photo autofocus results from this camera. We did notice great improvements in Panasonic’s detection and video AF system though, which shows with the improved video object and face tracking tests scores.
In photo, with the AF-C tracking test, you can see that the camera’s AF system is not able to focus fast enough to match the subject’s speed and sudden movements. The only frames in focus are the ones between the starting point until the jump and the ones the end when the subject slows down and stops moving. We had also tried different AF-C settings but none performed better. Our Photo Continuous Autofocus test setup is quite challenging for camera’s AF systems, and results allows us to easily identify which camera could benefit from further improvements, like Panasonic’s new phase detection system in the S5 II. I hope this clears things up a bit more for you. Rest assured, if Panasonic releases a firmware update affecting their AF system, we’ll go back and test it again!

Dec 07, 2023 03:18 PM By  Sophie Arsenault

Hey dqniel! Rest assured, if Panasonic releases a firmware update affecting their AF system, we’ll go back and test it again!

Panasonic released firmware 3.0 a few months ago and some reviewers are claiming large improvements to AF tracking and image stabilization at shorter focal lengths. Any chance of an update to the testing?

Aug 09, 2024 01:47 AM By dqniel

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Panasonic released firmware 3.0 a few months ago and some reviewers are claiming large improvements to AF tracking and image stabilization at shorter focal lengths. Any chance of an update to the testing?

Hey dqniel!

Thank you for pointing that out. We’re definitely interested in seeing how it affects the camera’s performances. We’ll make sure to retest it with the latest firmware as soon as we can and update our review accordingly.

Stay tuned, and thanks again for bringing this to our attention!

Aug 13, 2024 01:53 PM By  Sophie Arsenault

Hey dqniel! Thank you for pointing that out. We’re definitely interested in seeing how it affects the camera’s performances. We’ll make sure to retest it with the latest firmware as soon as we can and update our review accordingly. Stay tuned, and thanks again for bringing this to our attention!

Great to hear that!

Awesome job! What’s disappointing is that the Lumix S5 II has some aspects to it that are inferior to the S5. For the price that the S5 & S5 II go for, they seem to be a great value, at least compared to most other cameras of their class that are also Full Frame Mirrorless. I truly hope that updates are on the way to make the S5 II better in each aspect than the S5. I may instead wait for the third generation, but am not sure how great an idea that is.