the Oct '25 kit

And so we return to a familiar spot.

An S5 with the 20-60mm lens, several adapted primes and telephotoo zooms, and a GX7 with a good supply of µ43 lenses.

While I'd prefer an AF long zoom, the 70-150 Vivitar f/3.8 available will do for now* until more suitable native teles are available.

I'm covered at 20 to 300mm/e and 1:1 macro in both formats, and 600mm/e with μ43 gear for when that seems like a good idea.

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The S5 can do things I really like, and several other things I've dreamed of but have not yet achieved (nice 4k videos, composite images, super resolution shots). 

Learning these features will occupy more of my time, rather than presuming that another camera would do a better job. I'd decisively proven that by owning almost everything in the past fifteen years.

* Update -

I found an MC-21 adapter for $80. Now that I know what it can and cannot do, the SA-mount Sigmas (28-300 and 70-300mm) are back in play. No autofocus but focal length does reach the camera for properly stabilized shots, and aperture control is on the dials. That's more than my other lenses can do! 

While much of the time the smaller 70-150 Vivitar will serve nicely, on well-lit days the 28-300 is all I'd need, with the 20-60 and 70-300 also being a good pair (as both take 67mm filters). 

A Samyang 60-180 f/2.8 has been announced, but that's all we know.. that and Samyang's very slow rollout of L lenses.

Surveying the battlefield

So what is my camera decision?

A decision has been rendered. At last?

The Lumix S5 feels right overall, but it hurts to see no clear telephoto zoom option today. Its benefits (noted in the past, summarized below) win the day - but not by a huge margin. The Z6 is a worthy camera but planned for a seasoned Nikon user I believe.

The order of my table looks odd, but it reflects my order of importance for each. I may adjust the z6 order and repost at some point.. or perhaps not - I really like Silence! 

Some things may betray my ignorance (e.g. Lumix Club using the cloud may serve as well as the Nx app). And the bottom items are nice, but not Massively Big Deals.

It's those first 3 or 4 on the list that bring me the feeling that I am more likely to enjoy the S5 more than the Z6. 

I shall feel some regret the day that a Z-mount 20-xx lens arrives - and I shall rejoice when i pull a 'Silence' LUT from Lumix Lab!

This has been an exhausting experience. OK not exactly: having surgery to remove my prostate plus correcting a post-op complication while doing this - that made it hard. Timing is important in photography, and in real life.

For now I'll go forward with the following kit until a telezoom arrives that's a good fit for me. None currently qualify, and the announced Samyang 60-180mm f/2.8 is merely words. I see that the Nikkor-Z /Tamron 70-180/2.8 has 1:2 closeup ability and is 'only' 795g, so it weighs the same as the 70-300S.

weight includes L adapter

Several of the primes I would call optional, given the two zooms I've listed. If I carry the 70-150/3.8 the 135/3.5 really isn't as valuable, and the 20-60 can do .43x so a true macro isn't as vital - and I have a lighter Pentax 50/2 if low light is involved. 

For most of my imaging, the two zooms are sufficient* - unless 300mm is needed, of course! Beyond that range, the GX7 can take over to 600mm/e.

In the meantime?

I must find that missing pentax-m 85mm f/2!!!

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Bonus! Just scored an $80 MC-21 adapter, which brings the SA-mount 28-300 and 70-300 into play!

The AF will not function, but EXIF and therefore i-Stab will perform as expected. 

That means fewer manual focal lengths to deal with, which was an S5 drawback. Whew.

* with the 1.5x TC, the 70-150 can become a 105-225mm f/5.3.

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:

1. 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.
2. Focal length input for 'alien' (non-native) lenses. The S5 allows three presets plus the dialed-in setting, the z6 has Twenty presets. Ouch!!

In other words, Nikon's history of accommodating older lens mounts extends to their mirrorless models, while Lumix-S bodies are born expecting L-mount lenses to be attached.

So what do I do about this?

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!

First of course is yet another plow through menus to reset then set my preferences. Where is that option for front-dial exposure compensation.. ah yes, my old S5 menu listing is on the table! Hm, maybe I'm thinking of the Z6 method not the Lumix? Is this why people don't do such battles often?

For so many small reasons, the Lumix is winning. Coming from Pentax and µ43 Lumix-G, the S-series controls and menus are familiar. Nikon does things that are familiar to F-mount people, so things like the lens mount in 'reverse' fashion was an easy choice for that group. The 24-50mm Z lens is not for me, given the 20-60mm Lumix' ideal range and stronger construction; that's a weight price I gladly pay!

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!

is this cheating?

I found a dealer who will swap my S1 for an S5. Maybe not a precise match financially, but close enough to persuade me. So now the battle becomes a tag-team match!

So - what changes?

1. back to a swivel screen.. but
2. the other S1 positives* are here, plus better battery life
3. the high-res S1 viewfinder departs (which explains #3)
4. oops, this table doesn't show the Big One (PD vs CD autofocus) !!
5. the lens problems remain (L tele, Z wide)
6. the weight advantage is gone (well, almost)
7. I regain live-composite capabilities (never used.. but I have plans!!)
8. (theoretically) better low-light AF

I am forced to admit to myself that #1 and #4 were not major factors in the S1/Z6 battle. Also the Z6 (with en-el15b) battery life was a concern, and the S5 opens that gap a bit more. Really though, a 15c battery makes the gap far smaller! And just to show how reviewers think, the 'vastly superior' PDAF of Nikon and others comes with its reputation for 'some banding with pushed shadows' - the No Free Lunch principle in full display.

So - we'll do the swap and run a few more tests before calling this over. The primary driver of the next tests will be the viewfinder with manual-focus lenses. I'm using different ones now with the one-touch zooms in play, and that might be less of a hassle with the S5 than my previous time with it.

I was disappointed that I'm like everyone else who handled the S1 and called it Too Big. After the K-1 you'd presume I can learn from past experience; we'll have none of that, now!

* aspect ratios of all sorts, stronger IS within, 4k/6k, dual memory cards .. and the 20-60mm lens that I apparently cannot quit

Other skirmishes

 By holding both cameras I'm essentially renting, as I'll lose perhaps $100 or more in the transactions. Thing is, it's a rental with no fixed time limit, which is good. As I mentioned it's a hard decision. I will be making larger payments to someone, so I'd prefer to end this before two payments are called for!

I tested an all-manual 35-200mm zoom on both bodies, and tested both stills and video. Both are set to 4k30, but the S1 is stabilizing the  zoom better than the Z6. I was shooting the cloudy sunset at 35mm f/5.6, and the Z6 wasn't solid. Checking the Tamron 70-300z shows much smoother video, so it looks like native lenses use the full 5-axis capabilities as advertised. 

So was it the camera, or me missing a setting?

A menu dive confirmed the Z6' internal stabilizer focal length was indeed mis-set to 200mm - correct when using the lens at telephoto, but awful at the wide end! Tests in our pantry showed much better video with both cameras, and equally lousy results on the S1 when set to 200mm. 

However - it shows me that the Lumix asking my focal length at power up is beneficial to me! I wonder if the z6 can do that? I guess another menu dive is coming up.

On the other hand, the S1 video button placement is truly miserable for me to access. The beginning and end of each video will record my curses and a brief jitter before my right hand resumes its proper position. Better still, I need that function mapped to a different button!!