From the LUMIX S9 to the LUMIX S5II: How Your Setup Grows With You

One of the most common questions that I get is what camera should I buy? And honestly it's kind of tough to answer. Not because it's a bad question to ask, in fact it's a pretty good question, it's because there's so many different needs that someone would have for a camera. There's so many different options out there that it's hard to pick just one that works for everybody. So today I'm partnering with Lumix to tell you guys what I think is one of the best camera progression paths available right now and what I recommend to people nine out of ten times when I'm asked that question. Now it'd probably be easiest for me to tell you to do what I did but what I did doesn't make much sense anymore. I started my camera journey with Lumix over 10 years ago with the Lumix GH3 and while it was a great camera and it taught me a lot, it's a little outdated by today's standards. So if I had to start over today I would probably actually start with this. This is the Lumix S9 and the reason is honestly pretty simple. The S9 gives you a lot of room to grow. You see when you're buying your first camera, entering a camera ecosystem for the first time, you're not just buying for your current needs, you also want to factor in how you're going to grow and that's something that I think this camera is perfect for. See under this small sort of consumer body is a seriously capable camera. Inside it has a 24 megapixel full frame sensor. Full frame being kind of the gold standard sensor size for photo and video work. Now on this sensor you can shoot 6k video in open gate, it has 10-bit color, access to v-log for color grading, great in-body image stabilization and autofocus, the ability to shoot raw photos, and it's got access to L-mount lenses which is used across the rest of the Lumix full frame lineup. A lot of these features not too long ago would have been kind of unheard of in the consumer camera space, reserved for much more expensive, much more professional camera setups. Like any working professional could get some amazing proper professional work done on this camera. But at the same time Lumix has done a great job making this camera super approachable and beginner-friendly for folks who might just be getting started. I'll give an example. On the back of the camera here it has a LUT button. This allows you to use the full dynamic range of the camera's v-log mode without having to learn how to color grade and make your footage look good in post. It cuts away the hard complicated work and gives you an easy to access streamlined system that allows you to get professional looking color grades on your camera without having to dive deep into learning how to color grade and whatnot in post. It also works in the photo mode so you don't have to learn how to edit in Lightroom or any other photo editing software before you can start getting some really cool pictures. And that's kind of what I love about this camera. It's so capable yet it's so approachable. You can use all the automatic modes. You can use the built-in LUTs. You can create your own LUTs in the app and all that stuff. But then as you want to learn and grow more you can learn to color grade and shoot in v-log. You can learn how to edit photos and shoot in RAW. You can dive into the manual settings and really take control of your image as you learn. It's not one of those cameras that you outgrow that becomes obsolete. It has all those professional abilities inside of it but it doesn't force you to have to learn how to use them to get started. Now I shoot professional photo and video work on my S9 all the time. Recently I've been using this new 40mm f2 prime lens from Lumix and I've been really loving the shots I've been getting from it. It's a very compact lens and it's very fitting for the little S9 so I can kind of bring it anywhere with me without it being big and in the way. So that's why most of the time when people ask me what camera they should be looking at getting as their starter or beginner camera trying to enter the photo video world this is what I recommend. Now for some people this will be the only camera they ever need but for others you might start to outgrow the S9 and need a few more abilities and that's where we kind of have to step up into the next camera in this progression path. This is the Lumix S5 II. Coming from the S9 it's gonna feel very familiar. It's built around the same 24 megapixel full frame sensor as the S9. It's got the same menu system, the same autofocus, the same RAW photos, the same vlog video, the same LUT support and the same lens mount. In a lot of ways this camera is basically a beefier S9. But the perks of stepping up to this camera is you don't really need to learn a whole lot of new stuff. In fact any lenses you have from your S9 you can bring them along with you and use them in this. You don't need to go buy a whole new kit. So then I guess you're probably wondering well if it's the same camera what's the point of stepping up to the S5 II in the first place? Fair question but there are some differences that make it worth the upgrade for a lot of people. Let's start with the obvious. It's bigger. Big hand grip feels really nice in the hand. On the more technical side of course it has an electronic viewfinder so you can put your eye up to it get a better clearer view of what exactly you're shooting. It also features dual SD card slots, a full-size HDMI port which is much more conveniently placed for rigging up the camera, a lot more buttons and dials for full control of all the camera settings a bit more ergonomically, an internal fan so you can record infinitely without any software constraints or overheating issues, an actual mechanical shutter and a fully weather sealed body. Now all these things might not be particularly important when you're starting out. You can deal with using a micro HDMI port, you can deal with not having a weather sealed body but the real benefit of this camera is confidence. When I'm out shooting in less than ideal conditions, in fact there's a reason I'm in the desert today and it's because the mountains were a bit less than ideal there's a thunderstorm in there right now, I can feel confident shooting the S5 II. I've had my S5 II drenched. I've gone through a rainforest with this thing in a rainstorm it got drenched and it's been fine. That's probably more than it's actually rated for but I've never had to worry about weather or rain or sand or dust or anything with this camera. The S9 doesn't have the same ratings. Now it's never been an issue for me. I've shot in the rain with it plenty of times but you know I just you feel a bit more comfortable having something that you know is rated for it and will take a beating and not have any issues. Don't get me wrong the S9 is built to handle a lot but the S5 II is built to handle a little bit more. Things get even more interesting on the video side if you're looking towards doing more professional video work. Now you have all the same stuff the S9 does open gate 6k v-log 10-bit recordings. You get to keep all that but you get a few more things. You get some higher end video codecs. You get unlimited recording time so you don't have to worry about any time limits because you have that internal fan making sure you don't overheat. You can shoot in ProRes or Blackmagic RAW out of the HDMI port into an external recorder and on the S5 II X you can use that USB-C port on the side here and actually record RAW into an external SSD and overall you just get a camera geared more towards a professional workflow. This makes it perfect for client work like long-form seminars or interviews that the S9 wouldn't be ideal for. So if you're in a place where you need to do that sort of work the S5 II starts making a lot more sense. Now the thing I love about this progression path is that when you upgrade to the S5 II your S9 doesn't become useless. It's still a very capable camera and now congratulations you've unlocked a fantastic B cam. So the S9 can now become your travel camera, your behind the scenes camera, your B angle camera, your backup body. Whatever you need it to be it's still a fully capable full-frame professional camera and because they're part of the same ecosystem everything just works together. The apps all work on both cameras. The lenses work on both cameras. You can interchange the body sensor caps like it's just so convenient having two cameras in the same ecosystem as your main go-to's and to me that's what makes this path so perfect and so valuable. You're not starting over you're simply elevating what you're currently capable of. So that is my recommendation if you're starting out the S9 is the go-to and then from there you have a lot of room to grow both within the S9 and if you decide you want a little bit more. Hopefully this video has been a helpful step for you in entering the camera world and the Lumix ecosystem. Thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions at all or need any other tips feel free to leave them down below. If you like the video leave it a like and don't forget to subscribe because there's more videos and you should watch those too. Take care.