The efforts of Canon and Nikon in the full-frame mirrorless market following Sony’s monumental success with the format has caused a significant stir in the imaging industry. The competition offered by the trio and the outlook of the preexisting Canon EF and Nikon F systems has sparked conversation and caused turbulent second-hand camera market movement. Today, Panasonic joins the fray with their highly anticipated L-mount system with the Lumix S1 and S1R cameras.
S1 & S1R Shared Feature Highlights
- PHOTO FEATURES
- HLG Photo Mode
- 6K Photo Mode. Burst Rate 30 fps
- 4K Photo Mode. Burst Rate 30 or 60 fps
- Burst Speed (Mechanical Shutter/EFCS)
- 9 FPS with AFS/MF
- 6 FPS with AFC
- 5 FPS with Live View
- Burst Speed (Electronic Shutter)
- 9 FPS with AFS/MF
- 5 FPS with AFC or Live View
- 1/320s Flash Sync Speed
- 1/8000 Max Mechanical Shutter Speed
- VIDEO FEATURES
- H.264/AVC1
- 4K 3840 x 2160 59.94p 150Mbps 4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP
- 4K 3840 x 2160 29.97p 100Mbps 4:2:0 8-bit LongGOP
- High Speed Video
- 4K 3840 x 2160 48 FPS
- 1080p 1920 x 1080 180 FPS
- H.264/AVC1
- OTHER FEATURES
- 1 XQD Card Slot
- 1 SDXD UHS-II Card Slot
- Top facing 8-segment LCD
- 3.5mm microphone input
- 3.5mm headphone monitoring output
- Super-Speed USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- Type-C USB Power Delivery
- Full size HDMI Port
- HDMI Output @ 4:2:2 8-bit up to 4K 29.97p
- HDMI Output @ 4:2:0 8-bit for 4K 59.94p
- 3050mAh DMW-BLJ31 Battery. 360 shots (CIPA)
- 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth v4.2 (Bluetooth Low Energy)
- OLED Viewfinder
- 5,760k dots
- 0.78x Magnification
- 120/60 FPS
- 3.2-inch Triaxial Tilt Display (Tilt-up, tilt-down, and swivel-right only)
- 2,100k dots
- Contrast AF System
- 5-Axis Dual I.S. (5 stops, 6 stops with compatible OIS lenses)
S1 Feature Highlights
- IMAGE SENSOR
- 35.6 mm x 23.8 mm CMOS Sensor
- 6000 x 4000 (24 megapixels)
- ISO 100 – 51200
- PHOTO FEATURES
- Image Buffer
- RAW: 90+
- RAW+JPEG: 70+
- JPEG: 999+
- 12000 x 8000 XL Photo (Sensor shift)
- Image Buffer
- VIDEO FEATURES
- No recording limit
- Full sensor readout/pixel binned 4K video
- 59.94p has 1.5x crop, 30 min limit
- 59.94p has 1.5x crop, 30 min limit
- HEVC 4K
- 3840 x 2160 29.97p 72Mbps 4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP
S1R Feature Highlights
- IMAGE SENSOR
- 36.0 mm x 24.0 mm CMOS Sensor without Low Pass Filter
- 8368 x 5584 (46.7 megapixels)
- ISO 100 – 25600
- PHOTO FEATURE
- Image Buffer/Processing Queue
- RAW: 40+
- RAW+JPEG: 35+
- JPEG: 50+
- 16736 x 11168 XL Photo (Sensor shift)
- Image Buffer/Processing Queue
- VIDEO FEATURES
- Line skipped full-frame 4K video
- Pixel binned/down sampled 1.5x crop
- 59.94p has 15 min limit
- Line skipped full-frame 4K video
Links to the full specifications LUMIX DC-S1 & LUMIX DC-S1R
In addition to the aforementioned features, the LUMIX S1 will have a paid firmware upgrade in the near future, unlocking the following features:
- V-Log L Gamma Profile
- 4:2:2 10-bit Internal Recording
- 4:2:2 10-bit 50/60p HDMI-output
- Other unannounced video features
The cameras are priced at US$2,499 (S$3,370) and US$3,699 (S$4,990) respectively and will ship on 4 April 2019. Accompanying them are three L-mount LUMIX S lenses:
- LUMIX S Pro 50mm f/1.4 – US$2,299 (S$3,100)
- LUMIX S 24–105mm f/4 Macro OIS – US$1,299 (S$1,750)
- LUMIX S Pro 70–200mm f/4 OIS – US$1,699 (S$2,290)
Panasonic was a pioneer in the mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera market. Along with Olympus, they developed the Micro Four Thirds system to be a relatively open standard. The result today is a vast selection of compatible camera bodies, lenses, and accessories from more than sixteen companies, each bringing something to the table.
Utilising a similar strategy, Panasonic has adopted Leica’s L-mount. Together with Sigma, they form the L-Mount Alliance. With Leica’s existing line-up of SL lenses, Panasonic’s LUMIX S L-Mount full-frame lenses roadmap includes three more lenses in 2019 — 24–70mm f/2.8, 70–200mm f/2.8, and 16–35mm f/4. Panasonic will have 10 lenses by the end of 2020, while Leica and Sigma would each contribute 18 and 14 lenses respectively (albeit with Leica’s impractical pricing).
We understand that a spec sheet may not tell you nearly everything there is to know about a camera. Hence we’ve found an incredibly helpful video from DPReview TV highlighting of some of the features that aren’t in the spec sheet:
Engadget has reported that testing of pre-production units reveal that the contrast detect autofocusing system “seemed slower than on Panasonic’s GH5” in video mode. Panasonic claims that the performance of the deep-learning autofocusing system improves over time.