Yes it looks marvellous. Yes, everything is better. Yes, it does everything we wished the original Lumix S5 did, notably phase-detect autofocus. But how come it can still only record 4K 60p in a Super35 crop? Why are we still putting up with this in 2023 in an apparently semi-pro video camera?
Not everyone needs to shoot 4K 60p, I get that. And of those that do, many won’t mind switching to a Super35 crop mode. My complaint is that hybrid cameras are full of niggly little restrictions like this that make it much harder to work out which camera will be best for your work and worse, might trip you up on a shoot when you hit a limitation you didn’t realize your camera had. And full frame hybrid cameras are the worst offenders.
The Lumix S5 II is by no means alone. The Sony A7 IV, the company’s best do-it-all hybrid shooter, also can’t shoot full width 4K 60p. The new Canon EOS R6 II can, but that’s an even more expensive camera.
I blame sensor greed
We all want full frame sensors because they’re just ‘better’ and more ‘professional’. They are better in low light, they have a more ‘cinematic’ look with shallower depth of field… they cost more, so they must be better, right?
I say that while holding a Panasonic Lumix G9, a Micro Four Thirds Panasonic that’s now years old and originally designed more for high-speed stills photography than video. And yet the G9 CAN shoot full-width 4K 60p. Yes, it’s a smaller sensor, yes, everyone who’s never shot with MFT thinks it’s terrible. But it’s not terrible, and with this old G9 I can swap between 4K 30p and 4K 60p without having too change my position or my lens.
It’s not as if the cinematic movie industry holds full frame in high regard. It’s largely built around the Super35 (APS-C) format and still regards that as a perfectly valid professional video standard. Many full frame hybrid cameras offer Super35 modes, often with better sampling options and frame rates.
How much do you actually NEED full frame sensors for video and cinema, and how much it costing you in flexibility, portability and price?
It’s a pity Sony has committed to full frame at the expense of APS-C/Super35, it’s significant that Canon still supports both and Panasonic’s MFT line has practical (and some technical) advantages that its Lumix S cameras don’t, which explains why it keeps both.
So what’s the story with they Lumix S5 II’s 4K 60p crop – which it seems that Lumix S5 II X will have too? Is it sensor readout speed, processing power, careful market segmentation? Whatever it is, it’s annoying.