PANASONIC LUMIX S1H
SPECIFICATIONS Price: £3599/$3999 body only Sensor size: 35.6x23.8mm, 24.2-megapixels with OLPF Formats: 6000x4000 6K, 4272x2848 5.4K, 3024x2016 in 3:2 format; 5238x4000 5.9K, 3792x2848, 2688x 2106 in 4:3, 6000x3368, 4096x2160 C4K, 4272x2400, 3840x2160 4K, 3024x1704, 1920x1080 FHD 16:9. 6K 24p, 5.9K 24/30p, 5.4K 30p 4:2:0 10-bit 200Mbps; C4K 24/ 30p 4:2:2 10-bit All-I 400Mbps: 4K 24/ 30p 4:2:2 10-bit All-I 400Mbps. FHD 24/30/50/60p 4:2:2 10-bit All-I 200Mbps Maximumframe rates: 180fps FHD, 60fps for C4K in Super 35 crop ISO range: 100-51,200. 50 and 204,800 extended. Dual Native ISO 100/640, 640/4000 in V-Log, 400/2500HLG, 200/ 125 Cinelike D2/ V2 Shutter speeds: 60secs-1/16,000sec LensMount: L-Mount Focusing: 225-area AF. Auto detection (face, eye, body animal), tracking, zone (vertical/horizontal), zone (oval and square), single area, single area pinpoint, custommodes, full area touch. Contrast detect Stabilisation: Image sensor shift 5-axis Screen: 8cm/3.2in LCD tri-axial tilting touchscreen, 2.33 million dots Viewfinder: OLEDwith 5760k dots, 100%view, 0.78x, threemagnification options, 120/60fps Audio: 3.5mm input Connectivity: HDMI 4:2:2 10- bit, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB-C 3.1 Storage: 2xSD Dimensions (WxHxD) : 151x114.2x110.4mm/ 5.94x4.50x4.35in Weight: 1052g/2.32lb
“The Panasonic has 6K resolution, 4:2:2 10-bit internal recording, Dual Native ISO and V-Log, waveforms, vectorscopes, peaking and lotsmore”
ultimate resolution in stills mode, frankly you’re buying the wrong model, as the S1R or S1 are more suitable for you. In a recent test, we said the S1 was incredible for low-light performance. Although the footage from the S1H was only a prototype sample – so the final production version may be different – it was clear to see it’s also great when the ISO gets cranked up. We’d have to do back-to-back tests with a S1 and a final-production S1H to really see if it’s better, but from the sample we used, the S1H is very clean. It has a maximum ISO of 51,200 with Dual Native ISOs. These vary according to the settings, so for stills and normal video it’s ISO 100 and 640, but 640 and 4000 in V-Log for video use. At the lower settings at 640 in V-Log, quality is excellent. When the ISO creeps up, the sensor switches to another circuit to provide a second base ISO of 4000. The Varicams do this, and it works incredibly well. Now this tech is on a mirrorless full-frame camera – which, thanks to its larger sensor, is even better at low light. Shooting Log, you do need to add some noise reduction, as you’d expect at such high ISO settings. The sensor is claimed to have more than 14 stops of dynamic range in V-Log, but we couldn’t check this as the camera was a prototype. But it certainly had lots
mean you can keep shooting for as long as you have space on your cards. Once a card is full, the camera can be set to automatically keep shooting to the second card. Simply take out the full card and put in an empty one. Keep doing this and there is no limit on file space. Or you could record to huge USB-C external drives, although this means there is no additional power input. At least you have a choice. Getting rid of heat from that large sensor is the big issue and Panasonic has solved this by not only making the chunkiest full- frame mirrorless camera on the market to act as a heat sink, but also fitting a silent fan and air cooling ducts. They even managed to keep the weatherproofing of the sibling S1 and S1R models, despite these additions. The cameras may look the same, but the S1H is marginally bigger in every dimension. Many of the improvements over the more photo-biased full- frame Panasonic S series cameras are specifically for filmmakers. Although the S1H shares the same basic 24-megapixel sensor as the S1, Panasonic claims it’s engineered totally differently. The S1H omits the S1’s optical low-pass filter, which marginally reduces ultimate stills resolving power, but is far better at controlling moiré, which is far more important for video use. If you’re looking at an S1H for its
BELOW The screen not only folds out, but also tilts, which is a huge bonus when the camera is on a tripod
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WINTER 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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