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Big test

PERFORMANCE: PANASONICLUMIXS20-60MMF/3.5-5.6

£619

Final word

Verdict The Panasonic Lumix S5 has a body price of £1749, or £1999 for the Lumix S5 with the Lumix S 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. That’s a remarkable value, because not only is this a full-frame mirrorless camera, it’s also a very advanced and capable model that will appeal to stills photographers and video makers alike. We see the word ‘hybrid’ bandied around a lot nowadays, but perhaps in the case of the Lumix S5, it’s thoroughly deserved. 24 /25 FEATURES

Panasonic’s latest standard zoom is compact and lightweight and covers an eye-catching focal length range from 20mm ultra-wide to a modest 60mm. And speaking of modest, its maximum aperture is f/5.6 at the 60mm end. It’s nicely priced though at £619, and it combines well with the Lumix S5, making a full-frame combo that’s light, doesn’t take up too much space and, with its silent AF mechanism, works well for stills and video work. Optically, this lens is a decent performer. At 20mm there’s a little vignetting wide open, but sharpness is decent in the centre. This is less good at the edges, but it improved with stopping down to f/8 and f/11. The edges and corners at 35mm wide

Plenty to appeal to the stills shooter, the movie maker and to those keen to exploit both mediums HANDLING Plenty of controls, well laid out and labelled and flexible, too. Yes, very good handling PERFORMANCE Delivers very impressive still and video images without fuss VALUE FOR MONEY You’re getting a highly specified full-frame camera for a great price

open at f/4.5 were a little soft, but again crisped up nicely with stopping down, and look very good at f/11. Central performance at 35mm looked good, again improving with stopping down. Of the focal lengths tested, the 60mm was the least impressive and didn’t reach the heights seen at the

shorter settings, but used at f/8 and f/11, the pictures are good. The S 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 is a creditable rather than outstanding performer, but its price is very reasonable especially if you went for the S5 with this lens – the guide price for the pair is £1999.

23 /25

24 /25

20mm F/3.5

20mm F/5.6

20mm F/11

24 /25

95 /100

OVERALL It’s early days for

35mm F/4.5

35mm F/8

35mm F/16

Panasonic’s S series, but the Lumix S5 is arguably the best yet with its strong hybrid feature set

PROS Image quality, ISO performance, compact body, price, body design CONS A couple of handling negatives but nothing deal-breaking

60mmF/5.6

60mm F/8

60mm F/16

RIGHT Two SD card slots are provided on the Lumix S5. Slot one supports ultra-fast UHS-II cards, while slot two is UHS-I compatible

Lumix S series lenses, you get Dual IS2 and the benefit increases to 6.5EV. I did some handholding tests with the 70-200mm f/2.8 OIS lens. This is a hefty lens – it weighs 1570g – and I tried shooting at 200mm. If we take 1/250sec as a non-IS starting point (which is probably optimistic for a lens of this heft), a 5EV benefit gets us down to 1/4sec. I got two out of five sharp shots at that setting, but that improved to four out of five sharp shots at 1/8sec, 1/15sec and 1/30sec. We’ve focused on the S5’s stills skills so far, but it’s the video credentials that put it firmly into the hybrid camera camp, with features that will appeal to budding and experienced video makers. For exceptional video image quality in poor light, Panasonic has Dual Native ISO sensitivity, a technology

first introduced in the brand’s professional cinema cameras, and it is now available in consumer cameras, including the Lumix S5. The benefit is much lower levels of image-degrading digital noise in poor light levels when high ISO speeds are normally required. The Lumix S5’s dual Native ISO settings are 640 and 4000. The Lumix S5 is a capable of 4K 60p/50p in 8-bit/10-bit in APS-C format and 4K 30p/25p/24p 8-bit/10- bit recording internally. In 4K 30p/25p 10-bit mode, there is a 30-minute recording limit. From a fully charged battery, I got 108 minutes of recordings (3x30mins and 1x18mins) before the battery expired, and while the camera got warm, it didn’t overheat thanks to the camera’s heat dissipation system. Shoot in 4K 30p/25p 8-bit and there

is no time limit on how long you can shoot for internally. There’s a range of professional video assist functions, including slow- and quick-motion video, zebra pattern, time code, recording frame indicator and luminance spot meter. Plus you can use classic and modern anamorphic lenses on the Lumix S5 with anamorphic 4K (4:3) at 50p/29.97p/25p/23.98p. Finally, on the video front, a firmware update is scheduled by the end of 2020 that will enhance the Lumix S5’s skills further, with Cinema 4K recording and Raw video data over HDMI at 5.9K, 4K and anamorphic 3.5K when using the Atomos Ninja V external memory device. In summary, the Lumix S5 is a tempting proposition and the L-Mount is well supported, too. WC

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