I wasn’t looking forward to a trip halfway around the world even though I’ve always wanted to see northern Norway. My main concern was the two full days of flight time to partake in the two-day-long launch event, but the rumors pointed to a long-awaited S1R replacement so it was worth the toil. The weather turned out to be very wet and very cold, but the camera may have made it all worthwhile.
The Panasonic staff had a pair of pre-production S1R II cameras for Jordan and me to shoot with so that we could get both photo and video impressions. It has been a long time since the original S1R so I happily put the new version through its paces to see if the results justified the wait.
Panasonic S1R II First Look: How It Handles
The S1R II is borrowing essentially the same body design from the S5 II cameras which makes it twenty percent smaller and lighter than the original S1R. The camera only weighs 795 grams (28 ounces) and yet makes very efficient use of the limited real estate to provide all the customization and control you could ask for. I like the AF joystick, the position of the AF-ON button, and the dial placements.
There is a new three-way selector switch to choose between photo, video, and slow/quick settings, and each option will remember its own button customizations and camera settings. The S1R II has twin record buttons, for example, and I can happily customize those in photo mode to serve another function but have them remain record buttons when I switch back to video mode. I also love the addition of tally lamps, both front and back, which allow me the presenter to confirm that we are indeed recording.
Otherwise, the layout is very similar to the S5 II and existing users should find the S1R II both intuitive and familiar. I also want to mention the return of the locking switch, which is a useful control that prevents any settings or errant button presses from messing up your set up. You can even customize which controls are locked and which ones can still be utilized which provides an excellent level of control over the camera.
Although the battery is the same BLK-22 that the S5 II uses which is smaller than the last generation camera’s, the overall lifespan should be comparable to the older S1R due to the more modern processor and more power-efficient components used in the camera. For those who want more power and a vertical grip, the BG-2 battery grip is going to be available as well. There is both a CFexpress Type B slot and UHS-II SD card slot and I found the buffer to essentially shoot as long as you would ever want it to when using the mechanical shutter. If you use the fastest electronic shutter burst, expect to get about 70 shots or so before the buffer fills.
Panasonic has placed a carbon fiber shutter assembly in front of the sensor which serves to protect it when a lens is removed. I fully admit that I totally forgot to set this feature and the sensor subsequently collected a fair amount of mist from the lousy weather we experienced every time I changed lenses. This is a great feature to have and you especially appreciate it when you forget to use it.
I found the brilliant 5.76-million dot EVF to be clear and easy to compose with. The back LCD touch panel is also an excellent 1.84-million dots of resolution and has both full articulation as well as a separate tilting hinge. Panasonic certainly put a very usable set of displays into this latest camera.
Panasonic S1R II First Look: How It Shoots
At the heart of the S1R II is a sensor we haven’t really seen before in a full-frame mirrorless photo camera. The 44-megapixel sensor is not stacked and looks very familiar to the chip you would find in the DJI Ronin 4D. The choice to go with a non-stacked sensor has a couple of major benefits to the end user. First, the overall cost of the camera can be lower which is beneficial in today’s economy. Second, the sensor should give us a maximum dynamic range advantage over contemporary cameras like the Nikon Z8 and Canon R5 Mark II.
We clocked the readout speed to roughly 1/50 second which is fairly good considering the high resolution involved. The downside is the appearances of a little bit of rolling shutter if you have any movement involved which limits the usefulness of the electronic shutter modes. However, I think landscape and studio photographers for example, will find the extra DR very useful and the low-light performance is excellent on this camera too. In photo mode the base ISO of this dual-gain sensor is 80 and it goes up to 400 in darker situations.
In the aforementioned electronic shutter settings, the S1R II can go up to a respectable 40 frames per second although the RAW file quality drops to 12-bit. I found myself instead using the mechanical shutter more, not just to preserve dynamic range but also because the shutter can reach a quite fast 10 frames per second. However, to be more specific I stuck to nine frames per second (fps) because this is the maximum rate at which 14-bit files can be shot. It’s a little convoluted to figure out but nine fps is still plenty for most situations.
The S1R II has a very stable in-body image stabilization (IBIS) unit which, in conjunction with a compatible image stabilized lens, can deliver up to eight stops of stability. I found the mechanical shutter to be well dampened and was able to handhold very slow shutter speeds effectively. The S1R II also debuts a new handheld image stacking feature that allows for 177-megapixel files without needing a tripod.
Panasonic is using a similar phase detect hybrid AF system to the one that debuted with the S5 II. However, they claim that new AI-based technology is being used to refine the autofocusing experience and make it more reliable. Due to the pre-production nature of the S1R II, I want to reserve my full findings until we can fully test the camera but I will say that the experience seems quite similar to what I’ve seen before.
I found the object tracking to work decently if the composition stay fairly still but any fast movement on the part of the subject or camera itself tends to allow the focus to slip. The subject detection modes did seem to work quite well when tracking peoples faces and eyes and we did our usual running Jordan test which had a high hit rate once the eyes and face were locked on.
The Reindeer I photographed provided a difficult test, with many animals present in the frame and snowy, dark weather further complicated things. I was fairly impressed with the hit rate with animal subject detection. Occasionally the focus would slip but it did catch the eye of the Reindeer more often than not. Shooting in a fire-lit building with minimal light did challenge the autofocusing and I think I’ll revisit this further once the camera has been updated. So as advanced as the S1R II is for photo, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to video.
Panasonic S1R II First Look: Video Capabilities
While the original S1R was a vastly better camera for photographers than videographers, I think this camera will be equally compelling for people who like their art motionless or motion-full. That starts with the sensor which reads out slightly faster than the S5 II sensor, while offering much higher resolution. The 8K recording is a first for Panasonic and is offered in 17:9 or 16:9 aspect ratios. There is a ton of detail in the image, but remember that all 8K and open-gate modes are H.265 10-bit 4:2:0, so it won’t be quite as malleable as the 4:2:2 modes found in other resolutions.
One of the best features of Panasonic cameras is the inclusion of open gate recording, and it can now be captured at 6.4K. Now that reduced resolution might imply a crop, but this is still recording full width, and I’ve confirmed that it is oversampled from the full 8K image. I’m not sure why 8K open gate isn’t available at launch, but Panasonic says it will be coming in a future firmware upgrade.
In terms of slow motion, the S1R II can capture 60p up to 5.8K, although with a small 1.1x crop. This is a significant improvement from the S5 II, which required an APS-C crop, with the 60p footage maxing out at 4K. There is a 4K/120p mode which also records the full sensor width, but this mode is subsampled and will be substantially softer and more noisy than the other 4K frame rates. 1080p is available up to 120p as well. Basically, this matches what we saw on the original Canon R5, making this a much better slow motion camera than the S5 II, but if you want slow motion with as few compromises as possible, the GH7 is still the king.
Rolling shutter is better than the S5 II, but can still be seen in most record modes. We’ve figured it to be around 1/50 in 8K and all the oversampled modes. This means whip pans and fast action will still have some jello effect, and this is where the more expensive stacked sensor cameras like the Nikon Z8, Canon R5 Mark II and Sony a1 Mark II have a real advantage. There is also an “Extended Dynamic Range” option which give users an additional stop of highlight information when shooting V-Log, but comes at the price of even worse rolling shutter, around 1/30 second. As a result, Extended Dynamic Range can only be used at frame rates of 30p or below.
The capable IBIS unit in the S1R II is also good for video applications, with excellent stability when hand-holding the camera. There is a little bit of bounce but it is very natural looking. Kick on the digital stabilization in normal mode and it helps quite a bit albeit with a crop factor. There is also a new cropless mode which makes use of the surface area of the sensor that isn’t actually recording to further stabilize the footage. This only works with supported Panasonic lenses but it does provide a way to eke out as much stability as possible when needed.
Panasonic has always had fantastic audio tools and this camera is no exception. While it lacks the dedicated audio button of the GH7, you can program a custom button to bring up the excellent and intuitive audio quick menu. If the new XLR2 is attached, four channel recording and the ability to record 32-bit float audio are unlocked. This gives you much more flexibility when adjusting audio levels in post. I do wish we could record dual channel 32-bit float without the adaptor though.
There is also a new color profile, which was strongly implied to be similar to the ArriLog 709 LUT. It’s definitely pleasing and might replace my beloved Like-709 profile in situations where Log is not required. Panasonic is also launching a new app alongside this camera, Lumix Flow. This is designed to help you through a typical video workflow from conception, to scripting and file management. It’s very cool, but outside the scope of this review.
However this software has a hidden feature when you attach your phone to the camera via USB-C. You can use your phone as a video monitor, similar to Sony’s Monitor + App. There is a small amount of latency, but it’s much better than the wifi connection previously offered on the Panasonic app. The only limitation is that assist tools are greatly reduced, with no waveform or de-squeeze option. That said, these can still be displayed on the LCD while outputting to a phone, so I generally use the phone display to confirm composition and focus, and use the LCD or EVF to confirm exposure.
Lastly, I am very happy to see the option to use the new false color tool to assist in proper exposure settings and the internal fan should mitigate any overheating issues. The S1R II represents a very powerful video camera and should only get better as more firmware updates come out in the future.
Panasonic S1R II First Look: Panasonic’s Full Frame Answer
The S1R II is the most well-rounded Panasonic full frame body so far, and takes a crack at cameras like the Nikon Z8 and Canon R5 Mark II. Although the lack of a stacked sensor makes it less capable for sports and action, the usable mechanical shutter speeds still allow it to handle some faster shooting situations.
The raw image quality offers an advantage over the competition and the video capabilities make it a powerful contender too. And all of this comes at a lower price point than the stacked-sensor competition. There are plenty of users who can work around rolling-shutter issues and don’t need insanely fast electronic shutter burst rates. The S1R II may have been a long time coming, but it is sure to make an impact now that it is here.
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