Category: Camera Gear

  • SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs vs 95MBs Speed Test

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs vs 95MBs Speed Test

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs in Kingston MobileLite Plus SD Card Reader speed test. Fastest third-party card reader speed tested. Reaches 150MB/s write speed and 185MB/s read speed.

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs in Kingston MobileLite Plus SD Card Reader Speed Test

    Sandisk extreme pro 200mb vs 95mb speed test in third-party reader. 

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs 256GB Speed Test
    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs 256GB Speed Test

    Compare Sandisk Extreme Pro200MB/S with Extreme Pro 95MB/S SD card fake or original text printed on SD card looks fake but not sure.

    This is the unboxing of the SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/S

    Sandisk Extreme Pro 95MB/S Unboxing

    Unboxing of Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/S.

    Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/S unboxing

    Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/s vs 95MB/s speed test.

    Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/s vs 95MB/s

    The reader is Transcend and it does not reach anywhere near the 200mb/s speed.

    Speed tesf of Sandisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s SD card.

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MBs 64GB Speed Test
    SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MBs 64GB Speed Test

    Speed tesf of Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/s SD card.

    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs 256GB Speed
    SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MBs 256GB Speed

    Sandisk Extreme Pro SD card speed of 200MB/S is achieved on the Sandisk Exteme Professional SD and MicroSD card reader.

    Third party card readers can reach 140MB/S and not sure in the camera what will be the writig speed but on Panasonic Lumix S5 I was able to use an old Extreme Ultra SD card without problems but I only use the 72MB/s bitrate codec HEVC 10 bit HLG2100.

    When filming with higher bitrate codecs, a faster card is needed.

    The cards tested in rhe video are Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-I v30 SD cards.

    A Sandisk Extreme Pro 300MB/S would need a professional SD card reader.

    The Lumix S5 has 2 SD card slots and slot 1 sulports UHS-I and UHS-II SD cards while slot 2 only supports UHS-1 cards.

    With Panasonic Lumix S5 you don’t need to use an expensive Uhs-ii card.

    A Sandisk Extreme Pro 170MB/S or Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB/S will work great!

    You can even use Sandisk Extreme.Pro 95MB/S.

  • Do it Yourself headphones holder stand

    Do it Yourself headphones holder stand

    Do it Yourself headphones holder stand.
    Keep headphones organized on your desk at home or at work.

    Headphones holder stand

    You can make a DIY headphone stand for $1 or even for free if you have a DIY clamp sitting around unused.

    This life hack trick is very simple, use a  DIY clamp to hold the headphones.

    Attach rhe DIY clamp to your desk or to a shelf near your desk. you can mount it horizontally or vertically rhen place your headphones on the clamp using a clamp as a headphone holder.

    You can easily move it around or remove it if needed.

    Any type of clamp can work but the best type of clamp to use is as seen in rhe viseo. This clamp is easy to fit to multiple surfaces and the holding power is more than enough to hold a few pairs of headphones at the same time.

    If you prefer sometimg that looks nicer you can use wooden or decorative items that have a headphone stand function aswell.

    The clamp is a quick and cheap alternative.

  • What’s in my bag YouTuber essential gear

    What’s in my bag YouTuber essential gear

    What’s in my bag YouTuber essential gear for making videos on YouTube.

    What’s in my bag YouTuber essential gear

    As an important note, you can use your phone for everything except audio. In some cases even your phone is great to record sound.

    We used our phones for a long time to record many of the videos on our channels.

    The most popular video on this channel was recorded with an old pocket Canon Ixus camera and a tripod acting as a stabilizer.
    Some videos were recorded with the Nikon D810 but 1080p was the limit for that.

    Since we started uploading in 4K we used phones exclusively and a digital recorder, Sony PCM-A10 paired with a diy Primo em172 or another set made with Primo em258 microphone electret capsules.

    Now we use the Panasonic Lumix S5 with the 20-60 kit lens or the 50mm f1.8 for low light outdoors.
    Microphone is a diy Primo em172 stereo mounted on diy stereo arms with wind protection.
    The microphone plugs in directly into the Lumix S5 camera.

    Voiceovers were recorded a long time with the cheap chinese BM-800 and a phantom power box going strainght into the PC sound card.

    Now voiceovers are recorded exclusively with the Rode NT1 microphone and the Rode Ai-1 audio interface.

    Software for editing color and audio: Davinci Resolve but you can use any editing software you have. Even movie maker works fine!

  • Panasonic Lumix S5 Autofocus Tests

    Panasonic Lumix S5 Autofocus Tests

    Panasonic Lumix S5 Autofocus tests using object area AF area and people autofocus.

    Tests bellow were performed using the Lumix S5 camera and with the kit lens S 20-60 f3.5-5.6.

    Autofocus set to AFC continuous.

    Autofocus with object area autofocus.

    Object detection autofocus and vlogging

    Testing Lumix S5 autofocus object area AF.

    Lumix S5 autofocus test object detection

    Face and body autofocus with area af

    Testing Lumix S5 person autofocus on faces using area af.

    Panasonic Lumix S5 face autofocus using focus area AF

    Lumix S5 Autofocus in Low Light

    Panasonic Lumix S5 autofocus test in low light conditions.
    Recorded in AFC autofocus mode with 1 area autofocus setting covering a 1:1 large square in the center of the image frame.

    Fishing boats in the evening in Larnaca, Cyprus.

    Recorded in HLG2100 HDR processing to HLG HDR 4K video. Color graded Lumix S5 HLG in Davinci Resolve Studio 18.

    Lumix S5 low light autofocus test video

    Autofocus performance on Lumix S5

    I’ve noticed, the Lumix S5 autofocus problems show in some specific situations.

    Using the Panasonic autofocusing requires some getting used to but it can work really well when used with the right settings for the situation.

    The Lumix S5 Best Autofocus Settings

    The Panasonic Lumix S5 as does GH5, GH5s, GH6, GG5ii, S1H, S1, all have adjustable autofocus settings.

    Autofocus settings can be adjusted by autofocus speed and autofocus sensitivity.

    These settings both work well in some situations but in other situations they must be changed.
    Default autofocus settings are af speed 0 and af sensitivity 0.

    If you prever a snappier response you can increase the autofocus speed up to +5.

    Sensitivity can go up to +3 to change if objects that aquire focus are stickyer or new opbjects coming into the focusing area will be prioritized.

    The focus area can be increased with touch to focus and the scroll wheel.

    My favorite autofocus settings

    My favorite autofocus settings are speed 0 and sensitivity +3 in general situations but for focusing on bigger differences from foreground to background I like the speed +5 and sensitivity +3 setting.
    What is your preffered settings?

    Face detection autofocus

    Face detection autofocus is a great option of you will have people facing the camera and can be enabled and disabled by pressing the af mode button.

    My preference is to use area autofocus mode when recording videos with fixing things or making some delicious soup.

    When people or animals will be in the picture / video then area af autofocus with people or people + animals is the best option in my opinion.

    The video bellow, is a real world Lumix S5 autofocus test in nigh lights and moonlight. The video is HDR HLG2100.

    Used Area + people detection and lens is the Lumix S 50mm f1.8. Hardest areas with dark low contrast images and the autofocus worked great in my opinion. Skater was a random encounter but focus followed him accurately. The moonlight scene too.

    Panasonic Lumix S5 Autofocus Test at Night in Moonlight Darkness S 50 f1.8 hdr hlg

    To enable combined modes, press up arrow when in area autofocus and it will tell you area + people face detection or area + people and animals.

    For family videos I will use autofocus area + people to make sure it focuses on faces when they are in the frame.

    The Panasonic Lumix S5 and S series autofocus is much better in reality than people would like to make you believe.

    It seems to me, there is a new form of clickbait videos on YouTube. ‘Watch this before you buy” head in palm in disappointment… Oh not again. Is it any good? Now it’s enough to write Lumix Autofocus and put a head in palms epic failure or disappointed face as thumbnail.

    These tests are here to show you how it really is. Not perfect, there are moments when the camera focuses on the wrong thing but once you learn to use pinpoint autofocus if the point is critical for you, it gets better. I use area autofocus because I prefer to have a few focusing transitions while moving without always focusing in one point.

    It just works, at least most of the time haha.

    Conclusion

    It’s much better than tech review channels made me believe.

    It needs more time sometimes to focus and it’s not perfect at all but the image quality and colors are so good straight out of camera and af is good enough for me.

    For family videos af speed 5 is great!

    It can do human and animal detection in afc.
    I only used af area to see the afc problems. Normally I use afc area and make the af area bigger. For family home videos combined afc area + people detection mode seems to work best.

    If near perfect autofocus is important and you can’t wait 2-3 seconds sometimes for it to aquire focus, check Canon or Sony otherwise enjoy the amazing image quality on the S5.

  • Panasonic Lumix S5 codecs compared  zoomed in

    Panasonic Lumix S5 codecs compared zoomed in

    Panasonic Lumix S5 codecs compared zoomed in for details and color.

    Recording in all 30fps or 30p and 24p or 24fps. Recording in 60p NTSC frame rate 59.94.

    All recordings done indoor in a home environment with natural sunlight.

    All recordings made in NTSC formats 59.94 for 60p, 29.97 for 30p and 23.98 for 24p.

    Panasonic S5 is a great camera once you learn to avoid the DFD Contrast detection focusing problems on Panasonic cameras in general are well known for.

    There are 2 separate videos one for 30p and a separate video uploaded in 4K 60p for the 60p codecs in the Lumix S5 camera.

    Video uploaded to YouTube at 70 – 100Mbps variable bitrate and expecting the bitrate will eventually will be much lower when you play the video.

    This is the video nobody posted and I wish I could see so here it is for you. All codecs 30p and 24p compared zoomed in to see color detail and resolving capability of each codec.

    Please note that the 150-200Mbps codecs can generate very large files very fast. Even the 100Mbps can create very large files and then there may be more problems with file storage.

    I’m really happy we chose the Lumix S5 instead of the GH6 as we originally planned.

    The extra codecs in GH6 would have even higher bitrate when, for family photos and videos + YouTube uploads the Lumix S5 seems like a great deal to me.

    Also please notice how the Lumix S5 autofocus problems that many talk about are not happening or at least I don’t notice them.

    Once in a while the focus will go away from the subject but it returns gracefully and most important smoothly back.

    Did not experience any autofocus pulsing on the Lumix S5.

    Hope this helps someone.
    Going on a trip where you might want to make videos but would take photos is the main reason we will use this camera and to make great looking YouTube videos.

    The colors out of the Lumix S5 are really really amazing!

    Tested video codecs

    Panasonic Lumix S5 codecs compared mov vs mp4
    • 00:00 [C4K] 29.97p, 150Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 00:37 [C4K] 29.97p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 01:11 [C4K] 23.98p, 150Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 01:47 [C4K] 23.98p, 100Mbps (4:2:2 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 02:24 [4K] 29.97p, 150Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 02:56 [4K] 29.97p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 03:31 [4K] 23.98p, 150Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 04:11 [4K] 23.98p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 04:47 [4K] 29.97p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AAC)
    • 05:22 [4K] 29.97p, 72Mbps (4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.265/HEVC, AAC)
    • 05:58 [4K] 23.98p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AAC)
    • 06:34 [4K] 23.98p, 72Mbps (4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.265/HEVC, AAC)
    • 07:10 [FHD] 29.97p, 20Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AAC)
    • 07:46 [FHD] 23.98p, 24Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AAC)
    • 08:26 My favorite codec so far MP4 4k 30p HEVC
    • 08:55 [FHD] 29.97p, 100Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 09:33 [FHD] 29.97p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 10:09 [FHD] 23.98p, 100Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 10:45 [FHD] 23.98p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 11:23 Lumix S5 codecs compare all 24p and 30p fomats

    Lumix S5 4K 60p codecs tests

    Lumix S5 4K 60fps test codecs
    Chapters in the Lumix s5 Codecs tested video
    • 0:00 [4K] 59.94p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.265/HEVC, AAC)
    • 0:35 [FHD] 59.94p, 28Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MP4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AAC)
    • 1:11 [C4K] 59.94p, 150Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 1:47 [4K] 59.94p, 200Mbps (4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.265/HEVC, LPCM)
    • 2:22 [4K] 59.94p, 150Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 2:58 [FHD] 59.94p, 100Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 3:35 [FHD] 59.94p, 100Mbps (4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP) MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, LPCM)
    • 4:12 All 60p codecs on Lumix S5 compared
    • 5:12 My favorite recording format codec and conclusion
  • Panasonic Lumix S5 External Stereo Microphone Test Primo EM172

    Panasonic Lumix S5 External Stereo Microphone Test Primo EM172

    Panasonic Lumix S5 test external stereo microphone Primo EM172 / Lom Usi / Clippy stereo.

    Tests done in the video bellow, use headphones.

    Lumix S5 stereo external microphone Primo EM172

    Testing and comparing the Panasonic Lumix S5 camera built-in stereo microphone.

    Testing Lumix S5 external microphone diy Primo EM172 / Primo EM272 – plug-in power active.
    Comparing the sound of the same Primo EM172 / EM272 when plugged into the Lumix S5 and a portable digital recorder Sony PCM A-10.

    To me the sound from the camera sounds a bit too bright but sounds good from the dedicated recorder Sony PCM A-10.

    What do you think sounds better?

  • Panasonic Lumix S5 20-60 f3.5 50 f1.8 kit

    Panasonic Lumix S5 20-60 f3.5 50 f1.8 kit

    Just finally received the S5 and tested it’s autofocus and formats.

    Autofocus is much better than the 99% of people would make you believe.
    For me best settings so far: speed 0 and sensitivity +3.

    Have both the 50mm 1.8 and 20-60 3.5 both are really good lenses but the 50mm f1.8 is much better for low light and portraits photos or videos.

    For YouTube the 20-60 is the best for us.

    For home photos and family videos the 50mm 1.8 is the one!

    Unboxing

    Panasonic Lumix S5 unboxing 20-60 f3.5 50 f1.8 kit lens with extra 50mm f 1.8 S series lens that was made for Panasonic it has no lens O.I.S. built into the lens but has it’s all automatic focusing smooth focus.

    Video unboxing

    Lumix S5 kit with 2 lenses unboxing

    this Panasonic Lumix S5 kit comes with the camera and two lenses.

    First lens is the 22-60mm 3.5-5.6 kit lens.

    The second lens is the 50mm f-18, a very good lens for low light when the 20 to 60 mm lens doesn’t have enough light to to work.

    The 50mm prime lens doesn’t have any zoon so that might be a problem but when you need zoom you can use the 20-60mm lens.

    Unboxed the camera + 2 lenses kit and charged the battery. Tried the Panasonic 20-60 lens today and it works pretty good evening low light conditions.

    Attach shoulder strap

    Follow the steps in the video to attach the camera shoulder strap to the Lumix S5 camera anchor points.

    Attach camera shoulder strap to Lumix S5