Photographylife tested the Panasonic S1R

In many ways, it’s the best full-frame mirrorless camera you can get at the moment. It has more features than even the Sony A7R IV – and higher resolution than anything from Nikon or Canon.

Yet – I can’t recommend it, unless you really know what you’re getting into. The price, weight, and lack of lightweight or inexpensive lenses really make this a specialized camera system, not something I think most photographers should have at the top of their list.

I do love the thought that Panasonic put into the S1R, and I’m excited about their full-frame mirrorless system overall. If they trim down the price and fill out the lens lineup, I think enough people would look past the S1R’s weight and size (or even see it as a positive) and get this camera in a heartbeat.

But we’re not there yet. If you like the look of the S1R based on what I’ve said, I recommend instead that you get the standard Panasonic S1. It has almost exactly the same feature set, build quality, and everything else, but it sells for a more palatable $2500 (body only). If you’re good with 24 megapixels – plus a 96 megapixel high resolution mode – that’s the much more reasonable buy.

Links:
Panasonic S1R at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1H at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 50mm f/1.4 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 24-105mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 70-200mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.

Dpreview writes:

It might seem odd having both the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and S1H on the same list, for best stills / video hybrid camera and have the S1 beat its more video-centric stablemate, but this is precisely the point. With the S1H in the pipeline, Panasonic didn’t need to make the S1 as good for video as it did, and it certainly didn’t need to make it even better with a paid firmware update.

With the paid update, the S1 becomes a formidable camera for video, even to the extent that the costlier S1H may prove unnecessary for many filmmakers. We’ve done a lot of shooting this year on the S1 and it’s an impressive machine from a manufacturer that perhaps more than any other, really knows how to do video right.