It’s finally here! The Panasonic S5 II has Live Composite, and it’s pretty awesome. As time has gone on, the company has done lots to continually improve what this camera is capable of. And honestly, we’re still really amazed at everything it can do for photographers. We updated our review to reflect how it works with Live Composite and also added a few other findings. Take a look below!
Here’s the added and updated text to our Panasonic S5 II Review. To read the whole thing, check it out at this link:
Update September 2023
Live composite finally came to the Panasonic S5 II! We’re very excited for this and had the chance to test it out while hanging out in Salt Lake City. Of course, it worked, and it worked pretty flawlessly providing that everything goes according to plan in the scene that you’re photographing. Like previous cameras, the Live Composite stitch gives you a RAW image. What’s even better here is that you can apply the Real Time LUT feature to it to make images look like film!
While this is simply awesome, what I’m still really missing here is the multiple exposure mode. Panasonic cameras used to have this, and now it’s gone. Bringing it back would make things really special.
Image stabilization is also really incredible – even better than Sony’s new a7c II. When we did a head to head test, the Panasonic camera seemed to have no problems at all with really slow shutter speeds that would otherwise give many photographers pause when shooting handheld.
Below are the details of the latest firmware update as well as a sample image gallery that we’ve shot.
- New functions and options to be available with the Upgrade Software Key DMW-SFU2
An [Activation] function has been added which enables the use of extended functions using the Upgrade Software Key DMW-SFU2. The following functions will be added by activating the Upgrade Software Key.- [5.9K] / [4.1K] / [Anamorphic (4:3) 3.5K] 12-bit RAW video data can be output over HDMI to Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR and Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 12G HDR, to be recorded as Blackmagic RAW.
- DaVinci Resolve or DaVinci Resolve Studio is required to play back and DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit Blackmagic RAW data.
- Selectable recording mode depends on the firmware version of Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR, Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 12G HDR and DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Please refer to the Blackmagic Design website for the information on the corresponding firmware version of Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR and Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 12G HDR. - All functions may not be available depending on the situation.
- [5.9K] / [4.1K] / [Anamorphic (4:3) 3.5K] 12-bit RAW video data can be output over HDMI to Atomos NINJA V+ and NINJA V, to be recorded as Apple ProRes RAW.
- All functions may not be available depending on the situation.
- Software that supports Apple ProRes RAW is required to edit RAW video recorded with NINJA V+ and NINJA V.
- A LUT (Look-up table) exclusively designed for RAW video recorded on NINJA V+ and NINJA V is available on the following customer support website to make the same color grading as V-Log/V-Gamut.
https://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/lut/s1h_raw_lut/
- Added functions
- [Live View Composite] function has been added.
- [Video Repair] function has been added.
- Others
- Improved image quality when shooting with V-log.
- Improved compatibility with some SD cards.
- Improved operational stability.