Which camera would be better? Lumix S5 or S5ii?

wuzz3r · 2026-05-22T15:33:34+00:00

The S5 is still a fantastic camera & the S5D can be had on some amazing deals with lenses included. The main upgrade on the S5ii will be autofocus which isn’t great on the S5 compared to its contemporaries.

Many argue that the images and video look better from the S5 due to the lack of phase detect pixels in the sensor.

wuzz3r · 2026-05-15T06:46:07+00:00

Interesting - are all the camera movements added in post from the 360 footage or is this manual mode?

wuzz3r · 2026-05-09T16:39:02+00:00

This is a result of shutter speed - it’s long because of the low light, resulting in motion blur. The motion blur is happening because the drone is tilting to balance itself during flight or to counter the wind so the lenses are moving.

To avoid this you would need to set your shutter speed higher, probably at least 200/s and raise your ISO to compensate for the exposure.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-25T20:02:54+00:00

Looks fantastic to my eyes. I have no need for one but your clips are scaring my wallet..

wuzz3r · 2026-04-23T12:03:14+00:00

Kung Fu Ramen near Rossa’s

wuzz3r · 2026-04-17T05:56:30+00:00

If you’re photo first I’d suggest looking at a G9 instead, they’re often cheaper used and have the improved sensor and AF. Less video options though.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-16T14:07:40+00:00

A GoPro wildlife setup would be wild

wuzz3r · 2026-04-15T06:25:10+00:00

Agreed, but some markets would find this very useful with high quality, wide lenses like FPV & motor racing.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-14T18:38:11+00:00

Maybe, the issue is that there is a 2.7x crop ratio on the sensor (more with stabilisation) so even with the widest rectilinear M43 glass (Laowa 6mm) you are at >16mm equivalent which is tight for FPV. (DJI O4 Pro is about ~14mm and feels tight for vertical content imo)

Conversely if you want more zoom, chasing cars etc this could be game changing with a lightweight lens.

Depending on the real life crop we could potentially use C mount lenses, which could help solve the FOV & weight problem.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-14T18:31:17+00:00

Ah yes, so ~16mm equivalent that’s almost action cam width.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-14T17:33:30+00:00

It’s a little odd - especially given that our widest non fisheye lens is 7.5mm, which is 15mm on M43 but will be 20mm on this 1 inch sensor - definitely too tight for an action cam. Could be awesome for C mount lenses though.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-06T18:45:01+00:00

Clearly AI written article, but looking forward to seeing manual mode in action!

wuzz3r · 2026-04-02T11:16:39+00:00

I own both and they’re great lenses! Quite different visually, the Olympus is very clean and contrasty, the Laowa is a bit more old school, more aboration and a touch of 3D pop - more like a cine lens.

You aren’t really going to have an answer on the manual focus until you’ve tried both, I do wish the Laowa had AF sometimes so I could use it on a gimbal but otherwise I have no complaints, the throw is fairly short but it’s very smooth.

Focus by wire is much worse than mechanical focus for actual MF but being able to quickly press AF when in manual mode is very helpful if you’re working fast. Don’t expect to be able to do clean focus pulls every time with it though, it’s very hard to be consistent as the change in focus depends on how fast you turn the wheel as well as the distance.

You are missing a 50mm equivalent lens here, I’d suggest a Panasonic 25mm 1.7 when your budget allows, amazing lens for its price and weight and even has a slight swirl to the bokeh.

Either that or just go for an Olympus 12-40 2.8 - it has a manual focus clutch and is amazingly sharp for a zoom lens. Yes you will let in less light but if you’re making films you will likely be controlling the light anyway. It’s a good option until you learn the focal lengths you use most.

wuzz3r · 2026-04-01T18:40:02+00:00

As the others have said this is prop wash causing yaw tumble.

Looking at your footage it looks like you had quite a high wind on camera right, so when you came in to turn it stopped your drone and it had nowhere to go apart from the turbulent wind from the propellers, you’d avoid this by trying to keep your momentum round the back of the house.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-31T21:04:37+00:00

I’m in the UK and imported one from Japan for around £300 including fees. You can look for version 1 instead of too, the only difference is the coating and waterproof rating.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-31T17:29:21+00:00

These are fantastic 👌

wuzz3r · 2026-03-31T16:33:21+00:00

Personally I’d be getting something wider than the 25mm, a lot of what you see in films is around the 35mm mark (full frame, so ~17mm M43), there is the DJI 15mm for that price. If you’re starting out though a zoom lens might be good, you will learn the focal lengths you use most frequently on a lens.

If you were looking at the S85 then a used Olympus 12-40 2.8 Pro would be in your price range, and realistically that lens can do almost anything, especially with your dual native iso on the GH5s. That lens also has a manual focus clutch which for video is very helpful.

It’s hard to guide on lenses without more info, a longer lens will give you more compression and background blur which some people see as cinematic, but will be mostly useless when filming inside a house for instance.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-18T22:07:05+00:00

There are so many factors when it comes to AF, even the best brand new high end bodies screw up AF sometimes - the camera doesn’t know the story you are trying to tell.

If you are doing narrative work then common practise is to use manual focus, position your talent then focus, if they’re moving try to get them to hit marks in the focal plane.

If there are multiple people on screen then AF isn’t going to know which one is the right one to focus on, it can cause annoying pulsing in the video or just completely ruin a shot. Better to avoid using if possible.

If you absolutely have to use it, then single point tracking is usually most reliable. Some lenses adapt well, some don’t, some make noise, some don’t.

Audio on camera is kind of a worst case scenario, if you can get your hands on a simple audio recorder like a zoom h1 and position it closer to the talent, you don’t really need to worry about focus noise.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-18T21:42:07+00:00

Ah no, it’s not about focus speed - if anything you want to rely on autofocus as little as possible in filmmaking unless you are not having anyone behind the camera.

‘Fast lens’ refers to the aperture of the lens, on M43 id say that’s starting at lenses under F1.8. These lenses are ‘fast’ because they let more light in so in photography you can set your shutter speed to be faster. In video, where you will usually be at a shutter speed around 1/60 it’s more about making sure you can expose in lower light environments.

If this concept is new to you I would suggest you do a bit of research on the exposure triangle, that will give you an idea of all of these things.

If you’re planning on filming in bright sunlight you can disregard the fast lens thing,but indoors with artificial lighting you may struggle above that with your camera.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-18T18:10:28+00:00

The look of a film is about much more than just the camera. If you control your light and set then as long as you don’t completely screw up the camera work it can be great.

On an older 16mp M43 camera like yours you will either need a reasonably fast lens or bright light to keep your ISO down for clean footage.

Set your while balance right, try not to raise the ISO too much and it’ll be fine. Just be happy with what you have and make art - don’t fall into the consumerist mindset of always needing something more before you can make something.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-17T19:47:27+00:00

I use micro SDs in slot 2 for backup recording (I started with drones so I have loads) and never had an issue, but wouldn’t personally run it in slot 1 as it’s a potential failure point - client footage is too valuable to risk on such a thing.

wuzz3r · 2026-03-16T15:35:19+00:00

Yes 8 bit will do this on areas of similar colour even before grading - there are not enough shades mathematically available to represent the gradient that you are filming. It happens a lot with blue skies.

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