I just switched a week ago to Nikon after waiting years for a new S1, more s pro primes and +400mm zooms or primes. They just didnt release anything pro in the last 5 years

Any insights on your IBIS settings in Lumix and/or Sigma lens would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't seem to be Dual stabilization, so, how are you approaching image stabilization? Thanks,

All these years with Panasonic to get where they are today, especially with "great Phase detect AF", and you're talking about leaving for another brand! Crazy talk to spending crazy money man! The G9II, GH7, and the S5IIx are BEST in CLASS! Best IBIS, BEST MENUS, BEST PRICED, BEST VIDEO QUALITY (under TEN GRAND), with INTERNAL ProRes RAW/ProRes RAW HQ ... and TONS of other features you don't find in other cameras at these price points. The G9II with a 1.4 teleconverter and the 100-400 lens is the BEST IN CLASS for WILDLIFE BAR-NONE! It's a Nature lovers DREAM CAMERA for size, weight, and cost with a reach over 1100mm! With NEW SOFTWARE in sharpening and grain reduction, it's possible to make your images taken from this combo as good as a large Medium Format Sensor in good light. ONCE you have this combo, WHY would anyone go out and spend more money to carry another camera and gear to carry twice the size and weight, spending even more money foolishly? Why would anyone SWITCH form this? Never have I had a Client say to me... my images weren't sharp, or the footage wasn't excellent. Good luck with that Mate

Valid points but I was hoping to hear a rant about missing wide super telephoto wildlife lenses from the lens lineup.

I have a Z8 and G9 II. The Z8 cost twice as much as the G9 II, so I won't fault the G9 II's AF tracking very much, but I will just say that this is the only thing for me I'd like improved on the G9 II...I mean, if the Sony a6400 can have such nice continuous AF tracking for just $850 today (Nov 2024) with a lens included, surely Panasonic can improve their AF tracking. What am I talking about specifically? Well, on the Z8 for example, the '3D Tracking' box is pretty small and that lets me select a very specific target to lock on to (and I'm not talking about action photos, just focus/recompose), but on the G9 II, the AF tracking box is pretty big, so I can't really pick out a small subject like a specific leave in a group of leaves. It ends up locking on to the wrong target, so I can't really use AF tracking like I prefer to use today (almost always for just focus/recompose). If it weren't for Sony offering such a cheap camera (a6400) with better continuous AF tracking, then I'd be more willing to 'forgive' Panasonic for this one thing I personally would like improved. Again, the Z8 is twice the price of the G9 II, so I shouldn't compare those two, but since I own both, I have to. The Z8 locks on to almost 'contrastless' and very small subjects/specific areas and holds on for dear life (in my basic focus/recompose example I spoke of)...and I just wish Panasonic could improve a little here. At the very least, make the AF tracking box smaller so I can pick smaller targets and confirm it's really focused on what I want. That being said, I really enjoy the G9 II as is and that's the only thing I'd want improved for my own use.

I have the Panasonic S1R with the Panasonic 70-200 2.8 and the sigma 27-70 2.8. I love the high mega pixels with the S1r. I am hoping they come out with a high res camera soon. Im holding off on purchasing the sigma 50mm and 85mm until I see what they are coming out with. If nothing happens soon I will try to sell all of my equipment and go with the canon r5 ( the first one) which is still a good camera.

I own a S1R but af isn’t fast enough anymore. Also I have every s-pro lens. It’s time for Panasonic to deliver a new s1r. I get frustrated to the point that I want to change system.

This video was done amazing. Great editing and voice over work. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you only had 15k subs. Keep up the great work.

If finally you switch, which brand will you go? Nikon?

I have an S5II, and I am interested in macro photography, Lumix 100/2.8 seems to be a great all around macro and mid-tele prime for the weight from my might better but manual focus Laowa 86/5.6, but I am holding for the S1 series body and new sensor too, it is not that I don't like Lumix or I need a high price flagship camera, but I feel a bit uncertain of the Lumix's future, I want them to use the flagship camera as the statement they can stay for at least quite some years. BTW, I really like the concept of S9 as I also appreciate Sony A7C II, but it really doesn't work for me with the cold shoe and no shutter ---- that's impossible for flash light macro shot.

There are just too many "if they could just" for them to really be the brand they could have been.

People seem to forget that Panasonic have a miniscule market share of like 1 to 2 per cent. It's hard to see which is worse, MFT or L-mount. Flagship GH7 is manufactured like 1000 pcs a month (and sales appear to be slow). Likely they are loosing money on every camera body sold. That's why we see a lot of reused components like the G9M2 in a S5M2 body or the GH7 which is basically a G9M2 in a GH6 body with added firmware fluff. Realistically Panasonic need to put out a high end L-mount with PDAF just to survive at all, but financials are probably stretched, thus they can not output 10 new bodies a year like Sony.

Pretty surprising, you make so many videos praising things when it makes no sense. All of your videos about sticking to manual focus for wildlife photography when other brands had way better options, they never made any sense. It’s actually not hard to switch brands. I’ve done many, many times pretty easily on Facebook marketplace. When it comes to m43, the g9ii and native lens options are very good and offer more than Olympus does. Now, the s5ii comes out, it kicks total butt and they stay committed to big firmware updates that have really kept the camera competing at a high level… and you make this video complaining.. for what? KZbin views, clearly. The features you say you’re missing are all very superficial and let’s not act like you haven’t heard about the imminent S1R mkii coming out. I would be that within a month we start seeing confirmation of the specs and then you make another video all eager for Lumix again. Lens wise? That’s the advantage of the L mount. Having just bought a sigma 500 5.6 (in part, because of seeing some of the work you’ve posted with it) I find it kinda wild that you’re speaking as if we’re pressed for lens options. Leica makes the 100-400, or sigma makes this beautiful prime. Canon and Nikon can’t compete with the 500 5.6 and Sony significantly handicaps the lens. Every brand has some major facepalm decisions. I understand the KZbin algorithms, but this is just content farming and I find that disappointing. I’ve appreciated your narrative approach to videos and feel let down with this clickbait. If you’re going to switch brands, (after all of your previous concerns had been addressed) then just switch brands. Don’t make a video complaining about it to get more engagement. For the money and weight, there’s nothing close to an s5ii and 500 5.6 except maybe a z6iii and 400 4.5 and look how long Nikon took to release that body.

I decided to go Sony a few years back. I spent a ton on lenses and a 61MP high end Sony camera. I have since bought 2 more Panasonic cameras and the Sony usually stays at home. It was a huge disappointment. There were many small features Panasonic has that I just assumed a much more expensive Sony would have. I was wrong. I ended up with a Canon camera at work around that same time. Despite many positive reviews, I found the Canon to be lacking also. Sure there are some good things other manufacturers have, and I do have many complaints about Panasonic's lack of offerings in some areas(I really want a new compact travel MFT camera.) But I am not ready to jump ship again. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. Also I believe Panasonic does have a new L mount flagship coming out early next year. Rumors suggest it was going to come out this year, but they decided to make some additional changes instead of releasing it.

Anyone who complains about Panasonic autofocus should first read the Lumix AF Guidebooks. Will it make a CDAF system the exact equivalent of a PDAF system? No, but it will allow one to understand and optimize the use of the Panasonic DFD system. I shoot with GX8s, GX9s and G9 and an S1R. Reading the guide and fine tuning the AF settings for one's use cases makes a big difference.

Did Panasonic ever market their full frame cameras to wildlife photographers? They are fantastic for many things including outdoor landscapes, and the new macro looks like a winner. In all likelihood the S1 replacement will have the same 60mpx sensor as the Leicas and Sony A7R cameras. This is a nice sensor and I’m sure it will be a nice camera, but slow and not optimal for wildlife. Unless Panasonic has been able to source an alternative sensor, time to look elsewhere if wildlife is your focus.

I'm a true hybrid shooter. I shoot both photo and video for the bulk of my clients, and the S5IIX has been a fantastic camera for that purpose. Obviously it's a great video camera, but it also takes great stills. I can probably go another couple years at least and it will get me by. However, I've been wanting to dip my toe into higher resolution photography, and and it would represent a real growth possibility for my business. I've been watching and waiting for Panasonic to make a move and upgrade their photo offerings, not wanting to move out of the Lumix full frame ecosystem. But if even someone like me is getting impatient, it should be a real sign of trouble for Panasonic, and I hope someone there is paying attention to all of this. At the very least, if they're working on something they should communicate that. This video is a confirmation of the number of people having the exact same thoughts as I am. We know exactly the upgrades we'd like to see addressed and if they're listening to their customers, it should happen, at the very least by Q1 2025. If it doesn't, that's a sign that they aren't listening and maybe it will be time to move on from the brand.

I only use full frame as a secondary system for my work, so honestly I would appreciate a higher resolution (35+ Mpx), actually stills-focused camera (as opposed to the very hybrid G9ii). But maybe there are physical reasons why they aren't exactly making leaps in resolution.

You talk like a spoiled teenage chick.

I hear you but I truly believe wildlife photographer is on the brink of extinction. All brands will turn VDO oriented soon.

Both OM Systems and Panasonic have the same problem actually in MFT because al that they have done is big camera bodies and completely ignored doing something modern in the compact/semi pro camera space- the reason many got in to MFT in the first place- small and light.

Stick around with LUMIX until April 6 2025. I think you will be super supprised and glad that you did. It's not far away.

Respect bro. You make excellent, very valid points. I am a Panasonic shooter (and Leica) as well. I have been waiting since the Leica SL3 dropped for Panasonic's high res full frame offering. I thought it would have took just a few mos after the Leica release. But nope...Still nothing. Not even a hint or announcement "something is coming" Just the typical corporate line of "I can't talk about future products" from the Lumix live youtube dude. L mount rumors said something would be coming in either June, September, or November and it turns out that was wrong. Having a 2019 contrast detect only flagship camera in almost 2025 is ridiculous. I mostly use my S5IIx for video, and my S1R for stills. I really want a higher than 24mp hybrid camera I can use for both. I like the video capabilities of Panasonic, but like you are frustrated Lumix is very laser focused on the video market customer. Not to mention when I'm out shooting stills with it, other photographers treat Lumix like a step below Sony, Nikon, or Canon. Moving on, I am considering dumping all my Lumix gear for the Nikon Z system which has come a long way since the S1R came out. The Z8 seems to have very robust features for video and is great for stills and has good AF. I don't care about open gate or shutter angle for video. I don't use it. Nikon now owning RED is promising too for video being top notch with them. I will be listing my Panasonic Lumix full frame gear for sale later this month if no announcement for a S1 series flagship is made soon. Thanks for making this video.

go canon! I went fuji, sony, canon, sony and landed at Hasselblad and s5IIx. Depends on what's important! good luck. Canon should be killer for AF tracking if that's your game which is it :) and resolution.

Completely and utterly agree. Panasonic MUST release a flagship camera in 2025. We need the S1RII asap.

I think at this point it’s obvious that they’ll release S1 successors. Leica releasing multiple 60mp bodies with PDAF and “L2 technology” (aka Pana tech in Leica clothes) is one clear sign. G9ii and GH7 another. Two flagships for M43. FF to come. My hope is that it takes a bit longer because getting the new sensor plus new processor and new AF updates together takes some time :)

This ten-minute video is a valid commentary with really good points. Some of us that were using the m43 bodies as a secondary system to our Canon EF systems made the switch to the S1/S1R when they were released and also got the S pro glass, but the focus was on the MC-21 from Sigma and adapting DSLR lenses. The MC-21 turned out to be a fail with the DFD system, but in keeping with the message of expense in changing systems, has remained a central component of the L mount cameras given the uniqueness/value of legacy EF glass. I would say the S1R is still my primary camera after four years of use, and with the S Pro 70-200 and both teleconverters, offers high quality wildlife images and video up to 400 at 5.6, but it is far from ideal in lower light with smaller subjects. I also use an S1, and agree that I am primarily manually focusing using using adapted telephoto lenses from the EF mount (400 2.8/500 4) as well as the Sigma ART lenses for EF. I think the S1R is nearly a perfect camera, but the viewfinder experience shooting with CAF, particularly in low light, is the weakest part of the camera using either native or adapted lenses. I will keep using my two S1R bodies and my S1 until they break, but severely doubt I will invest in any Panasonic gear in the future. One other issue has been the treatment of 'Platinum' tier users in Canada for service and repair, and while I own all the pro L Lumix glass, three of the premium L mount bodies, two pro m43 bodies, and three premium m43 Lumix lenses Panasonic cancelled our memberships in Canada for service but kept billing us the 'Platinum' rates, and this is pretty hard to forgive especially when you have been purchasing at full retail and are one of the first members in the North American program, loyalty counts for nothing with Panasonic. Aside from the two S1R bodies and the S1, I still use a legacy Canon 1DX in low-light for sports/action, and shifted from the G9 and GH6 to using the older Olympus E-M1X with my Lumix m43 glass and the Zuiko 300mm. I Would say that there is nothing limiting about the S1/S1R generally speaking, but unless there is a significant upgrade to the usefulness of the Sigma MC-21 adapter with the PDAF S1R replacement body, I can't see any point in further investment in Panasonic and will likely go back to Canon simply because of the adapter compatibility with my 'old' EF super-telephoto lenses. Having the 400/2.8 and 500/4 already is my bias, and I realize that Sigma/Panasonic will not make money selling me just a body that will fully integrate with legacy glass, but they are so close already I would only ask 'why not' to get the remaining Canon shooters that have not gone to mirrorless yet to go Lumix.

Panasonic, wake up

Wow really touching. thanks for sharing this man.

panasonic make great cameras and now they have that phase detect their marketing has turned really egregious. Instead of old fashioned marketing and selling product on its strengths , they have recruited a bunch of smooth brained youtubers to shill the brand hard. The S9 was a camerta that was marketed towards tiktokers, then shifted to the dad cam, now being shilled as an everyday carry.... and being sold on the "fun"factor , which is subjective and only done when you have nothing left in the tank - its a parts bin camera to use up the older sensors they have been using since 2018 The gh7 was an incremental upgrade and a bit meh. they need more lenses , the s9 was launched with phase detect autofocus and was bundled with a manual lens ... they missed the mark hard. I have a feeling that the s1hii is going to be much the same incremental upgrade that underwhelms everyone. We want the brand to do well , but they have jumped the shark and are too busy recruiting social media influencers to focus on the hardware and market scuffed cameras as fun. small pancake primes and a telephoto fast 300-600 is needed quick. Get the marketing team to sell the hardware without the cr5ap theyu have been doing this last year and ditch all the yoputube shills, its a bad look.

S5 refresh was because it's still in production/part of the lineup and EU power requirements for electronics in its class forced the update. Great points!

nice

Panasonic hat keinAufstieg.Der Mft bereich und auch Vollformat werden konsequent vernachlässigt. Mft Kompakte wertige Kameras gibt es gar nicht mehr.Das ist ein Zeichen das Mft bald stirbt. Und im Vollformatsekment wird die S1 S1R nicht ersetzt. Es muß nicht alle zwei Jahre eine neue Kamera kommen,aber von Zeit zu Zeit muß Modellpflege betrieben werden damit die Verbraucher sehen das es weiter geht und auch in Objektive investieren. Passiert dies nicht steigen die Verbraucher auf andere zuverlässigere Hersteller um. Es ist einfach zu teuer in ein unsicheres System zu investieren. Daran scheint Panasonic nicht zu denken. Im Mft System hätte man mit einer durchdachten Kompakten GX9 II mehr Geld verdienen können als mit einer aufgewerteten GH7. Die Verbraucher sehnen sich nach einer Komakten Mft und Panasonic reagiert nicht. Somit erklären sich die Wahnsinnigen Gewinne von Fujifilm.Die wissen wie man Kameras verkauft. Gruß

I agree. Was reeeeally hoping Panasonic stepped up with an updated higher resolution FF. Ended up trying Sony A7IV (sold) and Nikon Z8 (returned) and even Z6iii (rented). Compared to my G9, ergonomics were terrible on Sony and not great on Z8. Z6iii was decent but I wasn’t very happy with image results. Finally landed on Canon R52 with its (IMO) Goldilocks level form factor and handling. Not happy with Canons lens pricing, but that’s the trade off. Z8 probably had best IQ of the bunch, but lenses were literally falling off the body and the replacement body never felt secure compared to others. I wish LUMIX would release a FF in the GH body, but like Jeremy I really got tired of waiting on Panasonic to catch up.

I can understand your frustrations. I have been really happy with Sony until recently, promised an update for the A1 that went live then they removed it because of bugs. The update didn't even bring anything worth while considering it's a flagship camera. It's clear they are protecting their A1 II that is announced in a few days instead of actually helping out customers who purchased their flagship camera.

I think the S5II + sigma 500mm f5.6 + 1.4X TC is a good combo,

IMO (big disclaimer 😂) , Panasonic doesn’t do budget super telephotos for wildlife because that is what m4/3 is for. I imagine at their spot in the market they can’t get away with making a 15k 600mm f4, and they may make a 100-500, but it won’t be much cheaper than the canon rf one. I don’t think it’s easy to compete with canon/nikon/sony market, I doubt anybody that is spending 20k usd on camera and lens, or 10k (for just photography) , even thinks about panasonic FF. They may get curious with m4/3 as a format because of the size and price, the few people that I know that have switched do it because of that.

Really well-explained points. It’s disappointing that Panasonic can’t (or is choosing not to) keep up with the big three. Like Jeremy said, they have so much potential as a brand. I love my Panasonic G95… it’s nearly perfect for amateurs like me who do wildlife photography as a hobby, and it has a lot of great features for the price.

I'm going to tell you 100% truth about Panasonic. The reason they did not want to add phase detection is because older Sony sensors had really bad artifacts with back light when the light is low. Search Sony A7ii striping issue. It's the Sony A7iii the poster made a mistake. The Nikon Z6 had striping issues. Fuji and Olympus have a grid problem. I've gotten the grid artifacts with my Olympus OMD E-M1ii on wedding photos. The Sony A7R5 was also reported with striping issue. But it seems the older sensors it was really bad. Panasonic did not want to add phase detection when so many people used their cameras for filmmaking. Canon has no artifacts with dual pixel technology their version of phase detection. Also the Olympus OMD E-M1ii had preburst before the Panasonic Lumix G9. I think Panasonic will have more newer full frame cameras in 2025.

A G9 II and a Leica 200mm f2.8 is a dream combo for nature photography imho

BTW... DRBoost doesn't work in SH modes I guess

I am a bit surprised. S5 II shoots 30fps, with good enough lens it is said to have incredible AF, very good IBIS, best resolving power of all 24Mpix cameras on the market, veru good DR and very detailed 6k video. Granted, it has bad rolling shutter and lacks slow motion. But for the lenses...? You always praised Sigma 60-600mm DG DN, Sigma 135mm 1.8. Frankly speaking Sigma lenses alone (some DSLR and most mirrorless come with L-mount) have you covered for most application. But I get it. L-mount lack big telephoto primes. This is a market where they have no chance biting any of the big three. That would be a waste of their R&D. If only Sigma redo their 500mm f4 S for L-mount and make it work more reliably with their TCs, that would be wonderfull.

Come over to Nikon

I switched to the Panasonic system for wildlife photography from the Canon system. In general, I regularly change my main camera system. I bought the S5 II and the Sigma 150-600 DG DN thanks to this channel. This is a good combination, but I notice that Panasonic's autofocus is still lagging behind Sony, Canon, and Nikon in photos. That's why I am waiting for new cameras from Sony, Canon or Nikon before leaving Panasonic. Previously, I had an S1 from Panasonic, and it really lacked good autofocus, especially in video. The autofocus of the S5 II is much better, but it still falls short of market leaders. Thank you for your honest opinion. Panasonic is sorely lacking in native wildlife lenses for full-frame cameras. I also had Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras in the past, and when the G9 II came out, I wanted to buy one. But Panasonic does not have a decent lens for micro 4 /3, so the only option is the Panasonic 100 -400, which lags far behind in image quality even with its updated version.

A very honest review of Panasonic as a camera company. I’ve shot with the G9 for the past 5 years, I’ve enjoyed using it. The focusing has always been a bugbear, it was adequate for landscapes but now I do wildlife I needs something better and more accurate. I’m looking at FF cameras the s5ii would be great but is let down by a totally inadequate lens selection. I am looking at canon and Nikon now, probably going for the z6iii in January. Thanks.

The reason they "rereleased" the S5 was to comply with European regulations banning the sale of chargers with the device. The wait is frustrating, but honestly a lot of the fuel to the recent fire were people's own faults for buying into random online rumors and then getting disappointed with the announcement. Panasonic has real problems but it's disappointing to see Panasonic fans fall into that trap. I think this video shows a couple things. 1) people's brand loyalties often play in as a major factor to their gear decisions, 2) you can go a long time with the same gear and still do amazing work, 3) different companies have stagnated in different ways in the past (Panasonic with PDAF, Canon with overheating and entering mirrorless, Nikon with AF performance, video features, and entering mirrorless), causing people to stick around waiting or jump ship. Panasonic is where Nikon is a couple years ago: they severely need to release an update to stay relevant. At the end of the day, Panasonic is a large electronics company, and if a unit isn't profitable, it will be terminated. The combination of Panasonic's tiny market share and necessity in providing bargain prices is a formula for non-profitability (saying that you stick with a brand because you can get competitive gear for 75% the cost of competing brands is a massive red flag). I would love to see an S1R successor in a lighter, faster body akin to the R5 II, but the reality is the Panasonic may not be justifying the R&D for the few units that it would sell for a niche market like wildlife photographers. Even if they released an awesome camera, how many would jump from Canon or Sony? Hardly anyone. How many wildlife photographers use Panasonic now? Hardly anyone. My advice is to stop waiting and switch systems now. Wildlife photographers is not Panasonic's market.

I started with Panasonic Digital Cameras but have now ended up in the Sony System 👍