* with the 1.5x TC, the 70-150 can become a 105-225mm f/5.3.
Friday, September 26, 2025
Surveying the battlefield
* with the 1.5x TC, the 70-150 can become a 105-225mm f/5.3.
Monday, September 22, 2025
No kidding?
No matter how much you read about a prospective camera purchase, you're bound to miss things that presumably "aren't worth mentioning". That might be true for 98% of those reading - but someone (like me!) will learn things the hard way.
My z6 kit has not been completed sold off, and the screen issue has dropped my price quite a bit. And now I find two hassles that it covers and the S5 drops the ball:
- Focus ring reversal. The Z6 (and S5ii) allow the user to reverse the focus ring direction. The S5 does not: infinity is at the counter clockwise end of rotation, like it or not. Since all my Pentax manual primes are opposite, that's unpleasant. Especially unpleasant with telephoto zooms, where a single lens might need three or four presets to work the imgStab properly! The Tamron 70-300 solves that specific problem nicely, but the L-mount telephoto zooms are massive and spendy.
- Focal length input for 'alien' (non-native) lenses. The S5 allows three presets plus the dialed-in setting, the z6 has Twenty presets. Ouch!!
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Winding up\down
The S5 is here, with 3 batteries and the 20-60mm lens. And hey here's the tripod plate for it - how nice! Adapters for pk, nf and Minolta AF are here also, so I have several adapted telephoto options. It might be easier to just turn iStab off rather than adjusting it constantly for adapted zooms though..
All the operational S1 features are here, with a few bonuses and less mass. With those things the S1 comparisons from before are apt but the convenience of lighter weight is gone. The dual tilt screen and superb EVF were nice but the payload price was too steep. This battle is nearing its end!
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Reflections on the Battle
Reading the comparison websites is frustrating. As mentioned before, very few update their pages with firmware improvements. Both bodies have been updated a few times but the reviews are comparing five year old cameras with 1.0 firmware.
Worse yet are the features not mentioned! The z6 beats the s6 for landscape use on one site, but no mention is made of the s5's hi-res capability (48/96 Mpix). That's pretty valuable for many folks!
Also: internal stabilization is checked off for both bodies, but I've seen the Lumix give very impressive results and comments on most reviews rave specifically about Lumix' stabilizing prowess. And the aspect ratios are much more versatile on Lumix than.. well, Everyone, including Nikon.
Another vague area is lenses. Total lens count is pretty useless between mounts, especially since my preferences are for 20-xx and lightweight telephoto zooms (availability for L and Z is 0-1 and 1-0, respectively). Aarrrgh.
The other issue is resale value. I'm getting a nearly straight trade of s1 and s5 * - but the z6 has some scratches and marks on the big screen. I don't see the marks when the screen is illuminated, but prospective buyers practically demand an unmarked screen. This swings the value factor toward the z6. But can I tolerate the flimsy feeling of the z24-50, videos locked to 16:9 aspect ratio, and stills also with fewer ratio options?
Once the S5 is in hand, that question will presumably be answered. Sure hope so!
* Mostly due to s1 grip and spare batteries!