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Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Comparison

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Sony A7S

12 MP | Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) CMOS Sensor

Sony A7S
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Panasonic LX5

10 MP | 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm) CCD Sensor

Panasonic LX5
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Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Sony A7S, which was introduced in April 2014 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 12.0MP Full frame sensor whereas Panasonic LX5, which was introduced in December 2011 is a Small Sensor Compact camera with a 10.0MP 1/1.63" sensor. As you can see, LX5 is 3 years older than A7S. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Sony A7S Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2014-04-06
  • 12MP - Full frame CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 409600
  • Sony E Mount
  • 3 Tilting Screen
  • 2359k dot Electronic viewfinder
  • 5 fps continuous shooting
  • 4K (UHD) - 3840 x 2160 video resolution
  • 120 fps High-Speed Video
  • Built-in Wireless
  • 489g. 127 x 94 x 48 mm
  • Weather Sealed Body

Panasonic LX5 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-12-15
  • 10MP - 1/1.63" CCD Sensor
  • ISO 80 - 12800
  • 24-90 mm F2.0-3.3 Zoom Lens
  • Optical Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 3 fps continuous shooting
  • HD - 1280 x 720 video resolution
  • 271g. 110 x 65 x 43 mm
  • Replaced Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Compare

Sony A7S was replaced by Sony Alpha 7S II. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Sony Alpha 7S II vs Sony Alpha A7S
Sony Alpha 7S II vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

Panasonic LX5 was replaced by Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 vs Sony Alpha A7S

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Sony Alpha A7S over Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
Wireless Connection
Built-In vs None Better connectivity
LCD Screen
Tilting vs Fixed Type Flexible shooting positions
Viewfinder
Electronic vs Electronic (Optional) Better framing and control
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs No very handy for portraits
Max Sensor Resolution
12 MP vs 10 MP 19% more pixels
Max ISO
409.600 vs 12.800 3100% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
25 vs 23 2 more focus points
LCD Screen Resolution
1.230k dots vs 460k dots 167% higher resolution screen
Max Mech. Shutter
1/8000s vs 1/4000s faster mechanical shutter
Continuous Shooting
5.0fps vs 3.0fps 2 fps faster
Microphone Port
Yes vs No High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port
Yes vs No better video control
Environmental Sealing
Yes vs No shoot at tough conditions
Color Depth
23.9 vs 19.6 higher color depth
Dynamic Range
13.2 vs 10.8 higher dynamic range
Low Light ISO
3702 vs 132 better High ISO performance
Sensor Pixel Area
71.24µm2 vs 4.50µm2 1483% larger pixel area
Max Video Resolution
3840 x 2160 vs 1280 x 720 Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
NFC Connection
Yes vs No Easy wireless connectivity with compatible devices
Smartphone Remote
Yes vs No Remote control your camera with a smartphone


Reasons to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 over Sony Alpha A7S
Image Stabilization
Optical vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Built-in Flash
Yes vs No Useful in low-light
Weight
271 g vs 489 g 218 g lighter

Common Strengths of Sony Alpha A7S and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs Yes Better for flash photography
RAW Support
Yes vs Yes Better image quality
Common Weaknesses of Sony Alpha A7S and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Sony A7S has external dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89″) and weighs 489 g (1.08 lb / 17.25 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic LX5 has external dimensions of 110 x 65 x 43 mm (4.33 x 2.56 x 1.69″) and weighs 271 g (0.60 lb / 9.56 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5. Panasonic LX5 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 17mm narrower, 29mm shorter and 5mm thinner than Sony A7S. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Panasonic LX5 has a built-in lens but Sony A7S doesn't. Once you put a lens on A7S, its thickness will increase significantly.

Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5.

Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5.
Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Panasonic LX5 is significantly lighter (218g ) than the Sony A7S which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A7S, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

With its weather sealed body, we believe that A7S has a big advantage over LX5 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3.

On the other hand, Sony A7S features a Tilting screen where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels whereas the Panasonic LX5 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7S.
Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5: Sensor Comparison

Sony A7S has a 12.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Panasonic LX5 has a 10.0MP 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor.

Below you can see the A7S and LX5 sensor size comparison.

Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 Cameras


As seen above, Sony A7S has a 19.1x Larger sensor area than Panasonic LX5. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

DxOMark Sensor Scores

Both Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, A7S has scored 87, 46 points higher than LX5.

Model Overall Color Depth Dynamic Range Low-light ISO
Sony A7S 87 23.9 bits 13.2 Evs 3702 ISO
Panasonic LX5 41 19.6 bits 10.8 Evs 132 ISO
What types of Photography are Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Sony A7S for Portrait Photography

GOOD

Panasonic LX5 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
External Flash Shoe
Optional External Viewfinder
Small 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details

Sony A7S for Street Photography

GOOD

Panasonic LX5 for Street Photography

GOOD
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Fast Lens at Wide: f2.00
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Optional External Viewfinder
Small 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm) sensor
Read the details

Sony A7S for Sports Photography

GOOD

Panasonic LX5 for Sports Photography

POOR
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Image Stabilization
External Flash Shoe
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
23 Focus Points
Optional External Viewfinder
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
90 mm Tele Lens
Read the details

Sony A7S for Daily Photography

EXCELLENT

Panasonic LX5 for Daily Photography

GOOD
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
489g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Compact Body
271g
Small 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm) sensor
Body Thickness 43mm
3.8X Optical Zoom
Read the details

Sony A7S for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Panasonic LX5 for Landscape Photography

POOR
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
24 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/1.63" (8.07 x 5.56 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Sony A7S vs Panasonic LX5: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Sony A7S and Panasonic LX5 scores compare:

Sony A7S
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #39 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #71 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Panasonic LX5
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #56 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #476 out of 1220 in all Cameras

Sony A7S is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Panasonic LX5 in all criteria except one: Portability. But the size difference between these cameras are negligible in real world so it is not a big disadvantage for Sony A7S.

Sony A7S
Sony A7S
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Panasonic LX5
Panasonic LX5
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Panasonic LX5 vs Sony A7S Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Sony Alpha A7S Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
Brand Sony Panasonic
Announced 2014-04-06 2011-12-15
Body Type SLR-style mirrorless Compact
Sensor
Type CMOS CCD
Size Full frame 1/1.63"
Dimensions 35.8 x 23.9 mm 8.07 x 5.56 mm
Area 855.62mm2 44.87mm2
Megapixels 12 megapixels 10 megapixels
Max Resolution 4240 x 2832 3648 x 2736
Max Native Light sensitivity 409,600 ISO 12,800 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 100 ISO 80 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points 25 23
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount Sony E fixed lens
Lens Focal Range no lens 24-90 mm (3.8×)
Max Aperture no lens F2.0-3.3
Macro Focus Range no lens 1cm
Screen
Type Tilting Fixed type
Size 3 3"
Resolution 1,230k dots 460k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Electronic Electronic (optional)
Viewfinder Resolution 2,359k dots no electronic viewfinder
Viewfinder Coverage 100% n/a
Viewfinder Magnification 0.71x n/a
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/8000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization No Optical
Built-in Flash
Flash Range no built-in flash 7.20 m
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 5.0 fps 3.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 1280 x 720
Video Formats MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC AVCHD Lite
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity Built-In None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 489g 271g
Dimensions 127 x 94 x 48mm 110 x 65 x 43mm
Battery Life 360 shots n/a
Other Features
Timelapse Recording With Downloadable App
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score 87 41
DxO Color Depth 23.9 19.6
DxO Dynamic Range 13.2 10.8
DxO Low Light ISO 3702 132
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