New from Panasonic!

By Aston Moss LPSNZ

Panasonic has recently released the LUMIX S5II and S5IIX, the beginning of a new phase for LUMIX. These versatile hybrid full-frame mirrorless cameras will take your creativity to the next level. Pitched at ambitious creators, they are the latest additions to its LUMIX S Series line-up.

Feature-packed, these exciting new additions to the Lumix S Series include the new Phase Hybrid AF and Panasonic's powerful image stabilisation system. They bring together outstanding photo and video performance while still offering incredible portability.

Some of the other features and benefits to be enjoyed by users of the LUMIX S5II and S5IIX:

• Its new Hybrid Phase Autofocus system makes it competitive, accurate and reliable for both video and stills.

• The Realtime LUT gives users the ability to import LUTs (Lookup Table) for custom in-camera stills and video.

• It offers advanced in-camera photo performance with 30 frames per second shooting with rolling shutter correction, high res mode. Live composite mode is also coming via firmware update soon.

• If you are a videographer, not just a photographer, the Lumix S5II/S5IIX provides advanced video performance with unlimited 4k video and 6k full sensor mode, meaning you can shoot vertical and horizontal video simultaneously.

• All this with advanced stabilisation due to in-body and dial IS modes for accurate camera shake compensation.

• The S5IIX also features wired/wireless IP streaming function, USB tethering and RAW HDMI Video output. This all sits comfortably in the photographer's hands, due to refined ergonomics, including improved EVF, 8-way joystick and revised button placement. The S5IIX is packaged in a striking black matte body ̶. they look as good as they perform.

CameraTalk had the opportunity to catch up with Richard Wong, to hear about his first-hand experience with these striking new cameras.

Richard is based in Auckland. He has been shooting weddings, portraits and events for more than ten years. He enjoys doing street photography in his spare time and he has also been reviewing camera gear for various websites and magazines for more than a decade, and recently on his own YouTube channel as well. You can connect with Richard via his website www.photobyrichard.com and his YouTube channel @ TheRealRichardWong.

Q: You’ve had the opportunity to try out the Lumix S5II alongside your experience shooting with other camera brands and models. What is it about the new Lumix S5II that you find most appealing?

A. Often, when I try a new camera, I will be impressed by one or two of its new features, but with the Lumix S5II, it’s quite different. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certainly new features that impressed me, but what I really like about the S5II is the fact that it can appeal to a very wide range of users. Usually, a camera is either primarily designed for photographers or for videographers, but with the S5II, if you are a photographer, whether you shoot weddings, landsacpes, street photography or products, you will love this camera. If you are a videographer, you’ll love it too. And, if you are a hybrid shooter and shoot a bit of both, you’ll definitely love it. It is easily one of the best all-round cameras I’ve ever used.

Q: There are many new features in the LUMIX S5II. Which one do you see as most valuable in your work as a wedding photographer?

A: The “Real Time LUT” is probably the most valuable new feature when I work as a wedding photographer. Pretty much every wedding photographer, including myself, will apply our own “presets” to colour grade our photos to give them that special cinematic look. However, to apply the preset we would need to first copy the photos to our computer and import them to our editing software. Then we could apply the preset to colour grade the photos, with some editing and adjustment as well. When I get home after a wedding, I will usually copy all the photos to my computer and import them to Lightroom immediately. Since that process could take easily an hour in total, I will wait until the next day before I start to have a look and play with the photos.

These days, more and more of my clients will want me to give them a few of their wedding photos on the same day, so they can share them on social media immediately. For me to do that, I would either need to bring my laptop to the wedding venue and try do that when I have some spare time, or I would need to stay up for another hour or two after I get home, as I need to wait for all the copy and import process to complete, then select a few of my favourites, do some quick adjustments and apply my colour grading and then email a few photos to my client.

With the S5II, I can load my favourite LUT (Lookup Table) files onto the S5II and pick one for the Real Time LUT feature. When I take a photo, the camera will then use that particular LUT to generate a JPG that is already colour-graded to my taste. I can then transfer the colour-graded JPG to my phone wirelessly, using the Lumix Sync app, and email it to my client within seconds after I’ve captured the photo.

Imagine I’m shooting a wedding. Right after shooting the group photo with all the guests in it, I can immediately email that photo to everyone, and the photo is already colour graded!

Another very cool thing. If I find the LUT doesn’t give me the look I want, I can go into the camera menu and select a different LUT and the camera can re-render a new JPG from the RAW file. At the same time, I can do some quick adjustments like brightness, highlight/shadow curve, saturation etc, all using the S5II’s in-camera RAW editing feature. I can edit and create a beautiful JPG with my own secret colour grading LUT, without using a computer. It is just such a cool feature that would also make my clients very happy.

Q Panasonic markets the Lumix S5II as a hybrid camera (for photo and video). What does that mean to you as a wedding photographer?

Video is something Panasonic always considers as one of their core focus rather than as an afterthought feature added just to tick some boxes. Look at the five Lumix S f/1.8 prime lenses currently available they all have very minimal focus breathing which makes them suitable for video shooting. But it’s not just that. All the f/1.8 lenses are the same size, similar weight and have the same filter thread size. Videographers who shoot with a gimbal can swap the lens very quickly without having to rebalance the gimbal.