Panasonic has announced a significant update for its latest full-frame Lumix cameras, the S5 II and S5 IIX. The firmware update improves the overall shooting experience and camera performance and brings considerable changes to the ways Panasonic shooters can share photos and videos.
The new updates, which bring the S5 II to version 3.0 and the S5 IIX to version 2.0, will be available on April 21.
The most significant addition to the S5 II and S5 IIX is native Camera to Cloud (C2C) integration with Adobe’s Frame.io cloud-based workflow platform for sharing and collaborating. The two cameras work with Frame.io without the need for any additional accessory or hardware, and Frame.io accounts are free for Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers.
With C2C, photographers and videographers can automatically upload their images and videos to the cloud, allowing people to instantly begin collaborating and working on files. This could be a boon for event and sports photographers trying to get content to editors from the field. For wedding shooters, an editor could be making a deliverable video while the photographer continues to work on the wedding.
Recorded content is sent from the Lumix camera to Frame.io via Wi-Fi or USB tethering, and users can share captured photos (JPEG/RAW) and videos (proxy files). “This empowers creators to receive remote real-time feedback during capture and enables collaborative editing among production teams using their preferred creative software,” Panasonic promises.
Proxy video recording itself is also a new feature for the S5 II(X) cameras. This new feature enables users to record low-bit-rate proxy video files simultaneously alongside high-bit-rate video.
Beyond C2C integration, the new updates include plenty more. Real-time autofocus recognition, including for subjects like animal eyes, cars, and motorcycles, is now included. Further, Panasonic says that human autofocus detection accuracy and consistency have been improved, particularly when photographing multiple subjects.
In addition to the Standard E-Stabilization for video recording, there is a new High mode. This electronically corrects large shakes when shooting, especially on the move. A new perspective distortion correction has also been added to address the distortion that can occur when shooting video with a wide-angle focal length. Panasonic adds that when combined with Active I.S. technology, the stronger E-Stabilization promises even more stable video.
Rounding out the new features is a new SH pre-burst drive mode. This shooting function begins recording bursts of images before the shutter is fully pressed. When in SH PRE mode, the camera shoots once the user half-presses the shutter. Once the shutter is fully pressed, up to 1.5 seconds of images captured during half-press will be saved to the card, and full shooting will continue.
Lumix S5 II Version 3.0 and S5 IIX Version 2.0 will be available to download for free from the Lumix Global Customer Support website at 9 PM EDT on April 21.
Image credits: Panasonic