Photographyblog’s conclusion:

Weight and bulk aside, we really enjoyed using the Panasonic S1 during the period we spent with the camera. It’s intuitively designed and well thought out in terms of control layout and operation.

While we were using it 99 per cent of the time during our review period for shooting stills, the ability to shoot 4K up to 60P will be another big tick for photographers who straddle both creative disciplines.

On top of this it’s ruggedly built and instills a confidence in its user that this is one mirrorless camera that will last the course.

It also shows Panasonic bravely bucking its tried and tested Four Thirds system convention, and attempting to carve itself a slice of the full frame mirrorless camera ‘pie’ that Sony, and now latterly the likes of Canon and Nikon, have been enjoying without much in the way of competition.

The level of detail to be found in the Panasonic S1’s images is, however, really impressive – it’s difficult to tell that merely from its own tilting back screen of course, with images truly coming alive when viewed full size on a decent monitor screen. Certainly the combination of full frame sensor and 24 megapixel resolution is more than good enough for us, and we’d suggest, many more photographers besides.

Yes, as expected for the level of specification and weather and dust resistant build it offers, the Panasonic S1 costs a fair amount of money – particularly for a mirrorless ‘compact’ – but for that you are getting a lot of camera, both literally and figuratively.

Also, in preference to the pricier more pixel festooned S1R, this will be the choice of most of us eyeing up a full frame camera from the electronics giant and voting with our heads rather than our hearts. In many respects, the ‘S’ here could stand for sensible. The S1: the Sensible One. It also seems, for now, and if your budget can justify it, a very sensible choice.

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 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.

Diglloyd tested the S1R High-Res Mode and made quite a stunning statement:

Cameras with pixel shift are prone to severe and prominent artifacts like checkerboarding that are just about impossible to deal with, making pixel shift pretty much useless for field shooting, a finding from long experience and true of Pentax and Sony pixel shift (I have probably 50GB of ruined Pentax and Sony pixel shift files).

But the Panasonic S1R uses an 8-frame multi-shot high-res mode approach that performs in-camera merging of those 8 frames into single raw file with size equivalent to four frames. A smart merge, not a dumb-recording science fair project like Pentax and Sony.

For the first time besides an iPhone, I’m seeing a pro-grade field-usable computational photography feature. Huge kudos to Panasonic for unf**king what the other guys could not get right.

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 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.

Diglloyd is testing the Panasonic S1R and is quite impressed:

The Panasonic S1R has a real ISO 50—not a faux ISO “Lo” mode. That is established by the RawDigger analysis as well as the identical match to ISO 100 (except for lower noise). The kicker is that the Panasonic S1R Multi-Shot High-Res mode has the noise of ISO 6.25 and that it is actually usable in the field.

That’s great!

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 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.

Photographyblog tested the new 50mm lens and concludes:

Panasonic set out to make the best 50mm lens that they possibly could for their new S series full-frame camera system, and the new Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 certainly doesn’t disappoint, being fully deserving of the “reference lens” moniker that it has received.

The Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 is an amazing lens, albeit one with an amazing price-tag (and not in a good way financially). It’s one of the best 50mm lenses that we’ve ever reviewed, from any brand, certainly up there with the likes of the Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4 and the Canon RF 50mm F1.2 USM. But as with those two lenses, it’s also one of the biggest and most expensive too, so you really need to make sure that you’re comfortable with the sheer size and weight of the Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4.

If you are, then you’ll quickly discover that image quality is outstanding. Sharpness is superb throughout the aperture range and at both the centre and edges of the frame, distortion is negligible, and chromatic aberrations very hard to find. The only blot on the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4’s copybook is some fairly obvious vignetting at f/1.4, requiring you to stop down to f/4 to completely remove it, but this is typical of fast lenses like this one. Otherwise, the ability to shoot wide-open at f/1.4 and create some wonderful bokeh effects thanks to the 11-bladed circular aperture quickly becomes intoxicating, especially as you can successfully shoot in near darkness (down to -6EV) with the new S1R camera.

The build quality of the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 is superlative, with the weather-proofing down to -10 degrees offering plenty of peace of mind in more inclement conditions. Panasonic also supply a good lockable lens hood and a soft lens bag in the box.

Auto-focusing proved to be very quick, very quiet and almost 100% reliable on the Panasonic S1R camera that we tested the lens with thanks to the dual motor system, while manual focus over-ride at any time is a great feature. The traditional aperture ring, something that we love on other camera systems, most notably Fujifilm, is a lovely touch on such a modern lens, making it quick and easy to change this key exposure setting.

Which brings us to the metaphorically massive elephant in the room – the price-tag – which at £2299 / $2299 makes the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 a very considered purchase indeed. Along with the sheer size and weight of the lens, this will inevitably put most casual users off, who will be better served by the S 24-105mm F4 lens until a cheaper, smaller “fast fifty” is released. For the photographers who value out-and-out image quality and the ability to shoot hand-held in very low light, though, the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 will quickly pay back both the cost of ownership and the cost of a gym membership…

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 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.