The Panasonic S1 and S1R. Seriously HOT Cameras.

49 Comments

1. I’m really interested in these two cameras for a number of things. I’m interested to find out how well it plays with M glass. If it is at least as good as the SL I will get at least the S1. If the multi shot mode works like it should and gets rid of all moire and enhances color and resolution I’d get them both. I may even get rid of my Canon system.

2. Hi,
   Does anybody happen to know if the Profoto A1 and / or any of the Profoto Air Remotes work with Panasonic cameras? I know TTL won’t be supported and that is fine. I have an Air Remote for Olympus and Nikon and my A1 flashes are of the Nikon variety although they work in my Olympus hotshoes. I’m thinking of adding an S1 to my toolbox and I’d love to use my Profoto gear with it.

   Thanks!

   • I wrote to Profoto and Panasonic about this concern. And Was informed that TTL and HSS are not an option as of this point. Furthermore they are unwilling to comment on what they might do in the future.

3. Steve,
   Any thoughts regarding how the new Panasonic 24-105mm might be on the SL compared to the Leica 24-90mm? Also it’s one pound lighter 🙂

   • NO idea. I do know the 24-90 is one of the best zooms made.

4. From a country valuing Simplicity Zen
   producing complex non zen cameras.

   Brave enough to return to Japanese culture roots bringing just One Zen camera
   Or worldwide camera users not wanting Zen.

5. Well I owned the G9 and I found it to have the best ergonomics out of all the mirrorless I have owned, so these should be great as they look very similar. The ONLY thing I think they should have corrected is the +/- button as they messed that up on the G9 as well. It is the most commonly used button out of the three in that particular section and so it should be on the left where it is the most comfortable to reach. Hitting the +/- all day on the G9 caused some cramping and I imagine it will happen with these cameras as well.

6. Funny do we have to have eye af yes if you are shooting af action it makes things better easier and sharper. Looks are nice but we are losing site of weight. I ahve been shooting since 1970 as a 13m yer old and the last thing we need is bigger and heavier, I have arhtritis in 5 places and no these are not sony killers for me. What does interest me is will they be good for Leica M lenses the 47 mp one to be exact and maybe the sigma when it comes out. But Sony killers no Sony withthe 24 1.4 is realizing lenses need to be lighter I took one hold of an SL and said nope these Panny’s are bigger and heavier. No thanks Just maybe one for M lenses but for two bodies and lenses running around an event or a concert or a parade Nope

7. Don’t become an all Leica reviewer…we need your opinion on more than one brand. Thanks for the write up. The Panasonic looks like it will be a great camera. You are right though no camera today is bad, just different. And you have to somehow bond with the camera. Anyway looking forward to your continued reviews of cameras for 2019!!!

   • I doubt I will but sometimes new cameras do not excite me, and if they do not then I do not even want to write about them. I am not a guy who writes reviews to trash anything. If I do not like a camera or lens I simply do not cover it. To me, all of these new cameras are already so good and some so full of gimmicks, they do not really get my blood pumping. A Leica does. Simplicity. beauty. Feel. Quality. I do the work, not the camera. That’s what I like and how this site started 11 years ago. It was all Leica for the 1st 2 years ; ) But I will write about cameras I really like. I think there may be one coming up here soon that I really like ; )

8. Dear Sigma Yamaki San

   Should you deliver a True Foveon Full Frame 1:1:1 Merrill like sensor
   then this would make it difficult to decide whether to purchase Medium Format Fuji GFX for landscape, portraiture, product, fine art.
   Even Medium Format digital couldn’t give unique look of True Foveon FF at iso 100-400.

   Should you make a more Bayer type Foveon FF as Quattro sensor then may as well go with Panasonic S1 for its tech or rumoured $1599 Canon FF EosR.

9. Hmmmm Medium Format (cropped) GFX50R Fuji $750 more than Panny S1R
   for landscapes, portraiture, studio, product photog ??

   • Wo B&H GFX50R used 9/10 just $200 more than new S1R.

10. Spent 10 minutes using an S1 today Steve, deposit PAID!! What a viewfinder!!!! Beautifully built camera.. this will be my new body for my 35 and 50 summilux lenses. I tried the new 50mm 1.4 too… it’s big but way better than the Sony Zeiss I had, could be a summilux killer, seriously!! My M10p is going on eBay the second this baby arrives!!

    Btw, I worked out I’ve spent £27000 on bodies for my M lenses… that’s love for you!…❣️

    • Great to hear!!! Yea, that EVF has to be amazing if it bests the SL.

    • Exciting news about the EVF on that S1. Still, as far as M glass on the S1 I would say jury is out until we see some examples. You wouldn’t want to sell your M10 just to find out you have soft corners and colour casts with your 35 Summilux on the S1….
      Even my SL doesn’t perform quite as well as my M240 with certain wide angle lenses so I don’t know how much faith I have that the S1/S1R will play nicely with m glass. Hope I’m wrong!

      • I take your point but to be honest I’ve never cared about corner sharpness with either of my summilux lenses. I use them wide open all the time and almost never at infinity. My m43 is for everything else.

        My SL (now sold) was actually the best overall M glass experience in terms of IQ and ease of focusing. My M10p offers compactness and is just such a cool thing to use but the EVF is the weak point. All the Sony’s were pants with M glass, in terms of IQ, contrast, micro or otherwise and colour. I’ve every hope that the S1 will do a better job of IQ than the Sony cameras. The new Panasonic 50mm 1.4 looks astounding, the question is, will it have a character to match my M 50mm 1.4…. if it does, I’ll be getting it because the Eye recognition works like a dream on the S1, from my short test..:)

11. $500 LESS than the latest Olympus m43 camera, for a bigger sensor with more MP, better EVF etc?
    What is Olympus thinking?

    • Yea, I know. I mean, have the EM1X here but hmmm. $3k. Guess if you are already a M 43 shooter with loads of glass, and shoot sports, trains or cars…and want a beefed up body.

    • I can see Wildlife “all weather” photographers jumping on EM1X for Reach in a smallish lens.

      I have a Panny GX for Nature Wildlife simply because of Reach :
      400mm smallish lens becomes 800mm
      + with in body lens magnification becomes 1200mm.

      FF 800mm is approx 10X price of m43.
      FF 1200mm is $180Gs !!! Yikes in B&H.

12. This one really does have me interested

    I love my Oly em1ii and particularly the Oly pro lenses BUT ALSO the ability to use damn good really small lenses

    If the sr1 can offer any reasonably small lense options I would/will add it to my shelf. I am hearing and reading about the KILLER viewfinder .. SL’esque or better? User experience means a lot to me. I’m an enthusiast who likes to enjoy shooting. IQ matters most, but doesn’t matter much at all to me if the user experience is not positive. Dumb? I don’t care. I like shooting. Even dumber…..I could see buying the SR1 for what it does AND the EMX1 for what IT does w my awesome Oly lenses.

    • This EVF will be an improvement over the SL, which is still the finest EVF on the market as of today. Until the S1 ships.

13. I like the body size, grip and the build quality does looks exceptional. That said, in a world where you can buy an A7R III for 2799, it is WAY overpriced. Also, NO EYE AF and NO PDAF NO SALE! …sorry. None of the FF offerings that came during this season of new FF mirrorless comes close to challenging Sony’s dominance in the space. From Canikon to Panny nothing but FF MILC disappointments to one degree or another. Props to Oly though for having the balls to produce the EM-1X which I will buy for my long lens assignments and certainly looking forward to that 2000MM Bazooka.

    • Id take an S1 ANY DAY over ANY Sony A7 body. I’d take my SL back over any Sony body today. Not that Sony is bad, they are wonderful but not the be all end all. ALL cameras today are better than 99% of US, that’s fact. To me, EYE Af is not something I would ever use in life. I think its good tech and for some who do the easy way to everything it can be nice but Eye AF, 5 Axis IS and Super High Res modes to not interest me in todays cameras. So it’s all personal pref. The camera will do very well, mark my words. I shot an A7III last night and loved it, superb for the cash, but again, I would enjoy shooting an SL much more, and have. Or the S1, and probably will.

      • I’ll be the first one to buy a new body for stupid reasons and if I had a lot of M glass, I’d likely pick up the S1 for shits and giggles as AF wouldn’t matter. But my A7R III with it ridiculously accurate EYE AF is the end all be all FOR ME and my shooting style and typical subjects. If your typical subject doesn’t have an eye then I get how you feel. I’m guessing by US you mean non-Pro consumer shooters, then I agree with you 😉

        • Did you not shoot before Eye Af came to be? There are many master works of art shot without Eye AF, even manual focus. Eye Af, IMO, is silly. It means the photographer lets the computers do the work for them, and therefore takes the challenge and even learning out of the equation. I believe tech is killing photography in many ways, as is evidenced by seeing the same shots over and over and over online, wether it is of the night sky, a portrait with am model, or well, anything. Photography is getting to be over saturated with the same old same old looking images. Things like Eye AF, a zillion stop 5 Axis (for photos), etc etc take the skills away from the one using the camera and give it to the automated tech. I for one, can’t stand Eye AF for taking photos. Just shows how we all differ. But the good news is, there is something for everyone, and more than ever these days.

          • I just want to get the shot and if something the camera does can help me achieve that goal, then I won’t sacrifice the opportunity just so I can call myself a Luddite 😉

14. Steve, I can’t wait for your real world reviews of this camera as well as the Olympus em1x. As a oly user I’ve been eagerly awaiting a new release and am still a little dumbfounded by the x. Mostly it’s not the camera I was wanting them to release. Nonetheless I really appreciate your thoughts and am looking forward to what you’ll have to say about that camera. I’ve been wanting to add FF to my kit mainly for low light performance but could never make my self like the Sony’s. The ergonomics aren’t for me, I fear it’s lack of weather sealing as I’m frequently in extreme sandy, snow and cold environments and they just never inspired me. However since Photokina I’ve been dreaming and hoping this new s line might be just what I’ve been waiting for. Can’t wait to hear your full review on it. Cheers

15. Let’s see whether Sigma also releases 2 FF cameras :

    # Foveon True 1:1:1 layers : iso 50-400
    should blow out the water every other FF sensor at iso 50-400.
    Imagine Leica Glass on this true Foveon.

    # Foveon compromise for iso up to 12800.

16. Now it’s your turn Fuji…
    Those lenses just look like well built beautifully constructed glass!!

17. As an SL and M/L and M lens user who came from Panasonic M4/3 some years back, I am very excited about this. But I also really want to see how the color signature compares between the two before I get too excited about the S1 as a companion body…

    Looking forward to more reports and some reviews, Steve!

    • Why worry about color signature? Shoot in Raw and process in Adobe or whatever. Done.

      • Not all RAW files look the same, they even have a signature in RAW. No matter how one processes, files will always retain the look of that camera. Panasonic, Leica, Nikon, Canon and Sony all have a look to the files, even when shooting RAW. Can’t hide it either.

      • I have had the same experience, Steve. And I think we should be a little more cautious in sometimes assuming a person is not shooting in RAW and processing for color, etc. – I do, even on my snapshots. The color (the RAW files in general) is a big reason why I left Panasonic M4/3. But I loved nearly everything else about the GX8 I had.

      • it is a common misbelief that you can adjust color in post to make it identical looking to another cameras output. you can come close but you cant get identical results not even when you make your own custom dng profiles for body and lenses.

18. great specs but seems large..slightly larger than the SL and quite noticeable when compared to Sony etc.
    Perhaps a good strategy to differentiate from the others..not sure if it will work for or against..

    • It’s not larger than the SL.

19. Looking forward to your review Stevie.

    We getting 2x Card Slots, Weather Resistance, 5.7MP evf, Tilt Swivel screen :
    Betters existing canon nikon sony mirrorless.

    This is the camera I was expecting canon nikon would made.

    Sigma ART glass will make it Sing.

20. It looks great… but if that EVF gets into the SL2, they better just take my money. I think we will see an SL2 soon, and this looks promising for how great that camera is going to be.

    • Oh we will see an SL2 soon, with this EVF. I just hope Leica makes it and doesn’t have Panasonic make a Leica version of the S1. I prefer the SL controls, minimal approach, and style. We shall see though. But I will say 100% this EVF will be in an SL2.

      • I agree Steve! Can’t wait!

21. As a Leica SL owner I’m super pumped about these Panasonic cameras and the upcoming Panasonic and Sigma L mount lenses. The S1R will allow me to supplement my SL with a high resolution body for landscapes. I’m quite certain an SLii will be announced before long and that it will likely share the sensor as the S1R, but I also know it will be too expensive for my taste. This S1R is the perfect answer for me.

    Couple that with some cheaper L mount lens options and man, I am set. Leica SL owners should be very happy!

22. The mighty Leica SL: You let it go AGAIN? Why?

    • In all reality I just did not use it enough to justify. I still wouldn’t. But I still miss it ; )

      • Steve, you no longer have an SL? Which M are you eyeing (M10-D?) or are you waiting for the SL2? Yes, we are all looking forward to your S1 review 🙂

        • That had to go when I spent a ton on the X1D, and I mentioned this in my X1D reports. ; )

          • Yes, we all need to make some tough choices… The X1D looks like a fantastic camera (it must be if you had to let go of the SL to get). Thanks again for the excellent reports!!

23. This is really exciting news about the S1 and S1 R. Physically, the cameras look highly ergonomic and Panasonic’s teaming with Leica’s on the glass means very high quality lenses. The movement of Panasonic into the full frame environment from its half frame universe may be signaling a more general movement away from half frame cameras despite Olympus’s new high price professionally aimed entry that Olympus hopes will expand its niche.

    I do not share Steve’s preference for the 24mp vs 43-47mp cameras. This is probably because of my emphasis on cropping to produce images that fit my artistic tendencies. The question for me is whether the new 47 mp sensor will be sufficiently high ISO/low noise capable and possess the great dynamic range needed to make great photos. If the SR 1R makes the grade in these categories, I would tend to prefer it.

    • You need 47 mp to make great photos?

      Hmm…

Comments are closed.