▷Panasonic Lumix S1R Review: the right start 🥇

Panasonic Lumix S1R is a camera that made its preview debut at the Photokina 2018, where everything was still very embryonic but we could already clearly see the actual size of the camera body. The first real information received from the first moment was precisely the most important: it is Panasonic's first full frame mirrorless. To better test it and understand if it is a valid product, I went to Menorca and Courmayeur to capture landscapes and landscapes, but above all landscapes.

Panasonic Lumix S1R review: design & materials

This camera is big, really big. This feature, as you well know, I often see it as an advantage as it makes me consider the important ergonomics of a camera, which I prefer in the grip. However, this does not mean that it can always be an advantage because, despite the extreme comfort of a perfect grip, you should consider the fact that this product, a mirrorless, it is actually bigger than a SLR or most of them (excluding flagships); therefore, it is certainly not a product that you buy for greater overall compactness but it is certainly because you are looking for some precise characteristics and an important quality.

The body is made of magnesium resistant and has one of the largest and most comfortable grips I've ever seen.
On the front we find the focus light, two customizable keys (one purely used to calculate the depth of focus), a selective switch (1,2) also customizable and the always comfortable door PC Sync for connecting an external studio flash. This port is present in most reflex cameras but unfortunately not always in mirrorless cameras. Clearly the presence of the Sync port clearly indicates the segment to which this product refers.
Still looking at Panasonic Lumix S1R from the front you can see the shutter button and the ring to change the aperture.

In the upper part the camera immediately shows the ring taken almost directly from GH5 and classic of the Lumix style containing, in the upper part, the various programs to choose from manual, with shutter priority, with aperture priority, iA, Movie and three C (custom) to quickly recall preset configurations. The same program dial offers a lower part that is used to select the type of photo to be taken, i.e. a choice between single frame, burst, 6K burst (to capture frames from a video), time lapse and self-timer (a choice between 2 and 10 seconds delay). The interesting little note of the integrated intervalometer is that it is possible to review the created time lapse on the fly and keep the movie, so as to have a pre-assembled camera immediately without having to mount the individual frames later, convenient if you do a lot of time lapses and you need to be quick.

Also in the upper part we find the hotshoe attachment for flashes and accessories, two microphones, the secondary display very convenient and useful for viewing shooting data and the exposure meter, a button to illuminate the display, the time dial, the power switch. camera and three convenient buttons to set white balance, ISO sensitivity and exposure compensation.

Looking at the back, we move on to the analysis of the left side, where we find all the possible and useful connectors for photographers and videomakers. We start from the attack "Remote", A small jack useful for connecting a remote control and / or an external intervalometer, then continues with the jacks dedicated to headphones and microphone, a USB-C port with which the camera can be recharged and a standard HDMI port that therefore does not require of different connectors or smaller cables but allows you to use a classic cable to connect directly to the TV and / or to a projector (or why not, to an external monitor if necessary).

On the opposite side, that is to say the one on the right, there is nothing except the double slot dedicated to SD memories with which you can save photos and videos by choosing the surplus, the instant backup / clone or the separate recording of photos and videos (photo on one SD, video on the second).

Analyzing the back of Panasonic Lumix S1R, we find the large viewfinder (called in English "viewfinder" from 5.76 million with an OLED panel that promises (and guarantees) 25% more linear resolution than the competition which usually has a standard 3.69 million points. In fact, as a viewfinder, it is certainly one of the best ever seen so far: bright, with an excellent refresh rate and perfect in the type of vision, thanks also to a circular blind that, if you do not have glasses, allows complete isolation for a optimal vision.

The rear display is 2.1 million dot touchscreen LCD with a type of orientation and extension very similar to Fujifilm: it can be oriented upwards, downwards and sideways.

The various keys necessary to ensure correct operation of the machine also find space on the body, always in the back, such as the video recording key, conveniently located above the display and easily reachable with the thumb, a joystick, the Q key for the quick actions (or for the quick menu), the AF activation key and the other various buttons dedicated to the classic functions. There is also a vertical dial that allows you to manage the rapid rotation of the shots taken or to move quickly in the menu and in the various subsections. A small note in this regard: the ring can also be pressed like a D-Pad, precisely because this control is a hybrid between a classic ring and the classic 4-way. The problem is that, if used as a D-Pad, it is very hard and not very intuitive, giving a bad feeling and risking to make you mistake in some movements, which is why, in most of the times, I preferred to use the Joystick that however, it is multifunctional.

Nothing to say about the orientation of the display, from which I certainly did not expect the full orientation at 180 ° (since it is not a camera with which to take selfies). I have used the adjustable monitor many times in recent weeks precisely at times when the camera was lower or higher than my height (see photos at night and long exposures during the day).

Interesting and feature note that I loved: the keys are all backlit, therefore, if you find yourself in complete darkness, you will still be able to easily orient yourself in the linear and rapid use of Panasonic Lumix S1R. Perhaps I would have appreciated an operation similar to that of Nikon, that is, one more click in the power switch that turns on the backlighting LEDs for just a few minutes; in this case, in fact, with S1R, you will have a function in the menu which, if activated, will always turn on the keys, even during the day, which in any case can contribute to high battery consumption.

In the lower part we find the classic tripod screw attachment and the battery slot which, deo gratias, does not have a bad autonomy and indeed, behaves very well.

The battery is given on the official website with an estimated autonomy of about 380 shots with XQD. Taking advantage of the electronic viewfinder for the most part and always using an XQD, I managed to get almost 500 in a single day (you know, trips, excursions, situations, one takes the photos too) and I felt very satisfied, even if obviously this battery will never reach the almost 1200 shots of Nikon D850 or even, trivially, the almost 700 of Sony A7III with the new NP-FV100.

Interestingly, the standard charger integrates a USB Type C port, a feature that allowed me to leave the original power cable in the box and use only the charger of my MacBook or, trivially, the cable of my Note 9 connected to a powerbank. Obviously you will have to pay close attention to the type of voltage: using the 87W charger of my MacBook I noticed a pretty fast charging, that is from 0 to 100% in about 2 hours, otherwise, if the voltage is lower it could take much longer (even more than double), therefore, make sure you have a very powerful transformer if you do not want to use the standard one (for any reason).

Panasonic Lumix S1R review: performance and specs

According to DXOMark, the well-known portal that analyzes the individual performance of each camera at an extremely precise level starting from the sensor, Panasonic Lumix S1R has an overall score of 100, and ranks third in the rankings tied with Nikon D850 and Sony A7R III. This thing particularly intrigued me, so I decided to take with me, in addition to the S1R, a D850 during an excursion in search of stars and the Milky Way in the Aosta Valley. As I see it, personally, the sensor score should have been slightly higher than the D850 in terms of quality and, in any case, this score must also include ISO sensitivity, which however is often not taken into account. I didn't make a real comparison but it was enough for me to understand a few details to notice some important differences that I will explain below.

Speaking of Panasonic Lumix S1R specs, inside you will find a 47-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, a contrast-detect Depth from Defocus focusing system derived from the m4 / 3 system, one 5 axis stabilizer in body with Dual IS system, total resistance to bad weather (yes, the body is tropicalized), a high definition mode that will allow you to reach ben 187 megapixell, 6 fps burst, a 5.76 million point viewfinder, the ability to record video in UHD 4K/60p with 1.09x crop and pixel binning, one XQD slot and one SD.

DO YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD AND PERSONALLY SEE THE RAW FILES PRODUCED BY THIS CAMERA? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS A SELECTION OF SHOTS WITHOUT COMPRESSION OR POST PRODUCTION

Shooting quality

The premises were more than good: it was enough to know before the official release that this machine would be developed with a 47 megapixel full frame sensor to create great expectations; expectations that have not been disappointed, or nearly so.
I immediately wanted to try the shooting quality because, being born as a photographer in the first place, I was interested in the “fine detail”, that is, that detail so precise and of great resolution that is expected from such a sensor. Clicking at low ISO there are absolutely no problems and indeed, the quality can be seen to such an extent that the photo can almost be "touched". However, if you decide to raise the ISO "a little", then surprises that are anything but funny await you, but I will tell you about them shortly.

Ho tried the 187 megapixel shooting mode and it's actually impressive: the camera takes a series of photos and then merges them automatically (procedure that takes a few minutes depending on the scene). In short, in a few seconds you will have a photo with a truly incredible resolution and already in the room, in RAW format. Of course, then you will always have to reflect on the fact that it will be appropriate to edit a file of about 250 mb and with 187 megapixels, but basically, as I see it, if you can already manage a certain number of shots with this camera you will not have too many. problems processing a file captured in this mode.

I am absolutely satisfied with the shooting quality, the details, the sharpness and also the good possibility of recovering the shadows and highlights in post production. I saw the real degradation of quality, alas, in the part where I wanted more performance ever, but perhaps I was asking too much. Now wait a minute, I write another title, highlight it and go back to what I was explaining here.

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ISO sensitivity

I said: the shooting quality is fantastic, but, when you have to raise the ISO sensitivity, the "flaws" begin to appear. From this point of view, perhaps I feel too (excessively I would say) spoiled by Nikon D850, which has always left me speechless even at relatively high ISOs compared to the average (around 10.000, for example, where the quality is still more than good ). In fact, taking pictures of the Milky Way or in any case the starry sky, I decided to try to raise the ISO a little to test the performance and understand the tightness of this sensor: I should never have done it.
More than artifacts, I would like to define them almost "purple aliens" that appear inside the shots, a disastrous carpet at the edges and in the darkest parts that makes the photos unusable. This does not mean that if you take a night photo at 30 ″, F4 (of / 2.8) and ISO 1600/2000 it will be unusable, on the contrary, but certainly more is expected from a camera of this caliber.
As I said above, I am absolutely spoiled and used to D850 (although it is a reflex and not a mirrorless as in this case), because before its release I always thought to myself that the large sensor with so many megapixels necessarily led to a lot of noise at high ISO, and by "high" I always mean between 5000 and 10.000, no more. In this regard, in fact, I did not have the courage to go beyond 10.000 ISO because the situation became really unsustainable and too exaggerated with real “holes” in the image or absolutely unusable parts.
Already at ISO 10.000 there are many problems, even without raising shadows or exposure: in fact you can see some purple halos on the sides and bottom (as in my case) and the photo is unusable or useless to post-produce unless you want to have fun with Photoshop, a brush and a lot of patience and care in details.
Moreover, I was bothered by the lack of an ISO sensitivity below 100: in fact I would have liked to be able to take some shots, especially during the day of course, at ISO 50 (not to say 25), but Panasonic Lumix S1R "stops" at ISO 100 as minimum. Obviously all the various tests were done with the noise reduction disabled as systems like this can make the photos worse in some cases (see the photos at night, where they could even remove large amounts of stars read as "noise" by the software) .

Autofocus

Panasonic Lumix S1R uses a contrast detection autofocus system using the "Depth from defocus" technology”Already seen in other models of the manufacturer. The key feature of this AF is precisely that of intelligently understanding out-of-focus regions and enabling faster focusing. In fact, the focus is decidedly soft and effective, but it is not always very fast and personally, on a subjective level, I am not a lover of this type of system as I find it performing but not sufficiently.

If with GH5 I could turn a blind eye, with S1R I can't as I consider it the new Panasonic Lumix flagship (waiting for more?) And, consequently, I expect maximum performance as many other brands have already demonstrated.
Good function dedicated to face detection that works correctly with eyes and faces of people and animals, even if, however, it can happen that the focus on the face often shows false positives and sometimes loses the subject in cases where there are more people and with different positions.

The focus modes are many and quite easy to use or understand. There are three macro categories to choose from: MF, C, S, i.e. manual, continuous and single focus. Inside you will then find other various modes depending on the type of photo you need to take. You can choose the face tracking mode, the classic tracking of a subject chosen via touchscreen, a multi AF area with 225 points, three different areas (vertical, square and oval), single point, extended single point and PinPoint, that is a particular single-point mode that was created to be able to focus on subjects similar to stars.

Overall, the autofocus is well built, functional and easy to understand. It works well in most cases, but, just as I thought in GH5 or other similar Lumix models, it is not among the best, it is not among the most accurate and above all it is not among the most reliable, a feature that, alas, in this case significantly drops the bar of the final evaluation, because this product must be specific for taking pictures, even at speed for many cases, therefore the AF must be performing and pushed to the maximum, much more than the micro 4 / models 3, which I have absolutely not seen.

Video recording

Panasonic Lumix S1R is not only necessarily a camera designed for photos but also offers good specifications on the video side, even if, if you are interested exclusively in this sector, surely you should choose Panasonic Lumix S1, that is the lower sister with less megapixels and more suitable to make videos.

This camera is capable of recording videos in 4K / 60p, feature not so easy to find, and above all a 1080p up to 180fps, more than great for important slow motion. However, there are unfortunately some important shortcomings to point out in a product that is expected to be suitable for demanding professionals. In this case it must be said that this product is definitely more dedicated to a photographer than to a videomaker.

For the rest, the video quality is decidedly good, but there are too many shortcomings and lower specifications than the competition that make you turn up your nose too much despite the generous presence of connectors especially dedicated to videomakers (see various jacks, large HDMI port and so on. ).
The great important advantage, on the video side, which represents a clear detachment from the competition, is undoubtedly it integrated stabilizer in the camera body able to work with the one inserted inside the Panasonic / Sigma / Leica lenses designed for this system (therefore not all of them). Thanks to this combination of stabilizers, you may be able to achieve up to 7 stops of movement compensation, a truly unique and important feature that would almost allow you to record a moving video without external stabilizer. Too bad, however, that the optics with which you can fully exploit this system are still few and the other flaws, on the video side, do not make you love this system to the fullest.

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Panasonic Lumix S1R review: photo gallery with all the shots

Panasonic Lumix S1R conclusions

Panasonic Lumix S1R is a very particular and niche camera that needs important and real needs in order to justify the purchase. I was positively impressed and struck by many "small things", such as the 187 megapixel shooting mode or even, trivially, the ability to take up to 60 seconds of exposure without an external remote control.. The very nice thing that I really liked (even if it may seem strange to you) is the actual countdown of the exposure that shows you in the monitor how much time is left to the end of the exposure, an extremely convenient feature for those who shoot at night, for who does time lapse and the like. Excellent, albeit already seen, the possibility of taking time lapse and seeing them immediately mounted in the room as well as the fantastic ergonomics that I consider among the best ever on the market (especially because I have a big hand).

However, there are many flaws and problems that are difficult to forgive in a camera of this caliber, unless you decide to use this camera body exclusively for low ISO studio photos, where you will be able to obtain important results in terms of sharpness.

Even for the daytime landscape this Panasonic Lumix S1R can be an excellent ally, but certainly in that case you will have to collide with an important footprint and a weight definitely above the average of the mirrorless in this segment. If you have strong shoulders and big backpacks, you will not mind taking S1R for a walk, and someone who has carried it with him for days and days without feeling the slightest fatigue, but we are not all the same and I realize that, compared to the standard, Panasonic Lumix S1R becomes more difficult to manage on the go.

It is certainly not a suitable camera for those looking for high ISO sensitivity, perfect video quality and performing autofocus, where the competition offers too important differences within the same segment.

I don't think this is a failed attempt, I see it more as a start in style, an important entry of Panasonic Lumix into the full frame market. Perhaps many manufacturers may not be too worried about it, but I'm sure that, over time, thanks to the alliance with Leica and Sigma, even more interesting products and systems could come out that will be able to shake the competition.