Panasonic S5

[NorBro]

You don't need AF for the entire day/wedding...or for almost any production for that matter.

Continuous AF should only used for people's movements and on a gimbal and for creative tracking shots - or shooting extremely shallow - and you can cover many other parts of the event/day by just using push AF for b-roll and static shots when people are just standing around.

That's how it should be used anyway for those very simple shots because you don't want to risk AF 100% of the time just in case it's messing up here and there and you're not noticing.

Push AF should always be used first if possible.

[Gary T]

Plus IBIS and full-frame and stills.

Yeah, those are great reason to consider this camera vs the offerings from the upstarts. I also like that Panasonic has a ProRes RAW implementation that allows for greater manipulation in post instead of burning everything into the footage. With exception of it's sibling the S1H, the S5 is cheapest full frame, RAW capable, 6K resolution camera that allows for full editing of color temperature, ISO, and exposure offset in post from a major manufacturer by a wide margin. It isn't something I would use all the time but for something special it would nice to have the option.

[Brandon Rice]

I agree. From your previous post it sounded like you were not going to use it the AF and use primes. That's all well and good if you carefully plan shots. I would say a wedding is a different matter. You are going to need AF. I wouldn't use BM for wedding and agree this is far more versatile, just not convinced the AF is good enough for that type of work either.

I have shot hundreds of weddings without auto-focus... check out some of my work www.brandonricefilms.com

[Tom Roper]

I've learned from my weddings not to have complete faith in IBIS either.

[Brandon Rice]

I've learned from my weddings not to have complete faith in IBIS either.

No one should have complete faith in anything... ever.

[Peter C.]

I have shot hundreds of weddings without auto-focus... check out some of my work www.brandonricefilms.com

Nice work. Doesn't look like you're filming full frame so you have a greater latitude to set the focus for a particular shot and if the subject isn't moving you'll be ok. I looked for shots like the walking down the aisle and I don't see much of those shots in a few your demos. That's a key shot I would use facial tracking for. I'm well aware you don't need AF and face tracking, I don't use it most of the time but when you do need it its nice to have. Its a subjective thing that comes down to shooting style. If you want the camera then go for it. I'm not here to talk you out of it. Like I said before the features at that price point is amazing.

No one should have complete faith in anything... ever.

What about God? :p

[ahalpert]

I shoot 3-camera weddings with one full-frame camera on gimbal pulling shallow focus manually with the DJI focus motor. It's not that it cant be done or that I'm unhappy with my results. It's that AF has gotten so good that it will allow me to do more. I could do more challenging shots, pull off b-roll shots with fewer takes, devote more brainpower to framing instead of focusing. Of course, this is all assuming that it works well. Plus, once or twice a year, I miss focus on the b&g coming down the aisle for the recessional, either because I bump the wheel or it's chaotic and the screen is hard to see. That's the type of shot (face in center of frame coming towards you as you walk backwards) that AF should own.

It's like shooting high ISOs. Maybe you had a system to get good results without pushing the camera past ISO 1600. But then you get a camera that is equally noisy at ISO 12800 and all of a sudden you have options. You can close down the aperture, bring your shutter speed back up where it should be, shoot in darker corners of the location, or work with ambient light instead of artificial.

People got around fine in horse-drawn carriages

[Peter C.]

Weddings are so hard. If you can buy something that makes your life easier why not? With these short reels you can hide a lot and only include the shots that were in focus. I always provide the client the complete edit of the ceremony. That means they get to see everyone walking down the aisle. If your camera AF is hunting or you've set up with a narrow fixed range where they walk into focus you'll be struggling to put together something that doesn't make you look like an amateur. Of course there are ways around everything. Some will only film in a particular way that will work for a highlight and not allow the client to see the full edit. Or provide them with the full edit and not care it looks bad. Or choose not to film what would be difficult.

[ahalpert]

I work for a variety of wedding companies and typically they edit a highlight reel and also give the couple all the raw footage. sometimes they also do a longer "documentary" edit but it's rare. at any rate, the AF doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to perform at least as well as I do and also not miss crucial moments. we shall see

[Brandon Rice]

Weddings are so hard. If you can buy something that makes your life easier why not? With these short reels you can hide a lot and only include the shots that were in focus. I always provide the client the complete edit of the ceremony. That means they get to see everyone walking down the aisle. If your camera AF is hunting or you've set up with a narrow fixed range where they walk into focus you'll be struggling to put together something that doesn't make you look like an amateur. Of course there are ways around everything. Some will only film in a particular way that will work for a highlight and not allow the client to see the full edit. Or provide them with the full edit and not care it looks bad. Or choose not to film what would be difficult.

I regularly provide a full edit of the ceremony as well. I shoot on 4-5 cameras solo most of the time, I shoot with deep focus to avoid this issue. Also, most people realize that part of a live event is focus pulling, even in television you see this often. So....