a shock to the kit|iverse!

I could not afford anything in the L-mount when the S5 came out, having barely scraped up funds for an α7r². That was the best sensor I could afford, and despite the expensive E lenses I felt I could manage it with a few adapted lenses to plug any gaps.

I liked the Lumix S concept at first sight, but the S1/1r was not simply a brick - more like two bricks glued together compared to other mirrorless offerings. 

The S5 made some compromises, added a swivel screen to torment me, and showed me photos that left me amazed. Dual-gain ISO is amazing! Also, the S5 sensor (dxo) rating was a near match ..and won out in dynamic range by a nose. Better yet, it was no longer the new kid: the S5² was out with winning specs that put more S5 bodies in the used bins.

The Lumix S 20-60mm was introduced with the S5 - and I was impressed. It was the first 'normal zoom' to start at 20mm, and it sacrificed f/2.8 for smaller size and lower price. For future backpacking, a zoom beyond the old Pentax 24-50 at both ends, with wx protection and capable of decent closeups, sounds really nice!

I began reading old S5 reviews, most of which compare it to the newer, better featured S5² - and I found several points that were left unsaid about the original yet spoke to me nevertheless:

• The S5 can shoot 96Mpx super images.. but reviewers consistently skip mentioning the 48Mpx option, which I'm more likely to try. 
• The S5² can shoot 3:2 video, something I've been seeking for almost 10 years - but 4k and 6k Photo modes use the same process to do their work. It's not a Video Mode in the original but similar results can be managed 
• The original S5 sucks at video autofocus in continuous-AF mide .. which I hardly ever use. I prefer touch-AF refocus in video.
• The S5 viewfinder was noted as 'dated tech' and down-rated, but I knew that fewer evf pixels = better battery life! The s5² fixed many of the S5 'issues' and gets ~50 fewer shots per charge.

And then I counted the S5 features that Sony did not know in the Jurassic age of the α7r², like 

• 4:3 and 1:1 image ratios (like Pentax)! 
• Both 4k and 6k video>still captures! 
• A touchscreen! 
• Half again as much battery life!
•  USB3 charging! 
• It comes in red!! - oops no, that's the S9. 
• Less resolution to fill your hard drives, but with hi-res modes for times when that sounds like "fun".

So I explored the internet for a bit. Some S5 deals were visible but not quite at α7r² prices. However I found that if I dumped all my α gear I could get an S5 + the 20-60 with a few $$ to spare! In case it took a while to afford an L-mount telezoom, I kept my Minolta 100-200/4.5, ordered adapters for Minolta and Pentax, and I was set.

  On October 1st, the S5 era begins!