Panasonic announces LUMIX S5II and S5IIX cameras with phase detection autofocus

Panasonic has announced the LUMIX S5II and S5IIX, the company’s new full-frame mirrorless cameras focused on video recording functionality.

These are the company’s first cameras to feature PDAF or phase-detection autofocus, moving away from long-standing contrast-detection-based DFD or depth-defocus technology. . Although usable for photos, this method was often slow and unreliable for video, and produced constant pulses in out-of-focus areas.

The S5II and S5II solve this problem by having a completely redesigned focusing system thanks to a new 24.2MP 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor. The new Phase Hybrid Auto-Focus system uses a combination of PDAF and contrast detection systems with 779 focus points for continuous tracking of humans and animals.

The S5II and S5II are capable of comparable video recording performance 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 directly uploading your LUTs to 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 stills and video. Video also benefits from an Active IS mode, which optimizes horizontal, vertical and rotation correction rates by determining the state of camera shake.

Other features include native dual ISO, 9fps AFS/7fps AFC burst mode with mechanical shutter and 30fps AFS/AFC with electronic shutter, 48kHz/24-bit internal microphone recording and 96kHz/24-bit with external microphone, HDMI port full size, 3680K-dot OLED viewfinder, 3.0-inch fully articulating 1840K-dot touchscreen, USB-C charging, splash 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, as well as 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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