Panasonic has announced the LUMIX S5II and S5IIX, the company’s latest full-frame mirrorless hybrid cameras with a focus on video recording functionality.
These are the company’s first cameras to feature PDAF or phase-detection autofocus, moving away from long-standing contrast-detect-based DFD or depth-blur technology. While usable for stills, this method was often slow and unreliable for video, producing constant pulsations within out-of-focus areas.
The S5II and S5II solve this problem with a completely revamped focusing system featuring a new 24.2MP 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor. The new Phase Hybrid Auto-Focus system uses a combination of PDAF and contrast-detect systems with 779 AF points for continuous tracking of people and animals.
The S5II and S5II are able to offer video recording performance comparable to the S1H. You can choose between 6K 10-bit 4:2:0 or 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 recording options. A new heat dispersion method with built-in fan and heat sink can enable non-stop 4K recording without overheating.
The cameras have a claimed dynamic range of over 14 stops with V-Log/V-Gamut and support real-time LUTs for in-camera color grading by loading your own LUTs directly into the camera.
The S5II and S5II have a new image stabilization system, consisting of 5-axis Body IS and 2-axis lens-based OIS, which works for both stills and video. Video also gets an active IS mode, which optimizes horizontal, vertical, and rotational correction ratios by determining the state of camera shake.
Other features include dual native ISO, burst mode AFS 9 fps/7 fps AFC with mechanical shutter and AFS/AFC 30 fps with electronic shutter, recording with internal microphone at 48 kHz/24 bit and 96 kHz/24 bit with external microphone , full-size HDMI port, 3680K-dot OLED viewfinder, 3.0-inch fully articulating 1840K-dot touchscreen, USB-C charging, spill- and dust-resistant magnesium alloy die-cast body, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The difference between the S5II and the S5IIX is that the latter is capable of RAW video output over HDMI and all-intra and ProRes recording to SSD, along with wired and wireless streaming for live streaming and USB tethering.
The Panasonic LUMIX S5II is priced at $2000 and will be available this month. The S5IIX is priced at $2200 and will be available in May 2023.
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