GEAR
PANASONIC S1 TEST
SPECIFICATIONS Price: £2199/$2498 body only Sensor size: 23.8x35.6mm, 24.2megapixels Formats: MP4 4:2:0 8-bit 3840x2160 4K 59.94/50/29.97/25/23.98p, 150/100Mbps, 1920x1080 FHD 59.94/50/29.97/25/23.98p, 28/20Mbps. MP4HEVC 4:2:2 10-bit 3840x2160 4K 29.97/25/23.98p, 72Mbps Codecs: MP4H.264/MPEG- 4, MP4HEVCH.265/HEVC, AVCHD ISO range: 100-51,200. 50 and 204,800 extended Shutter speeds: 60secs-1/16,000sec Lensmount: L 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, 2.1million dots Viewfinder: OLEDwith 5760k dots, 100%view, 0.78x, three magnification options Audio: 2.5mm input Connectivity: 4KHDMI, 4:2:2 8-bit except for 4K 60/50p 4:2:0 8-bit. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB C 3.1 Maximumframe rates: 60fps for 4K, 180fps FHD
down to 4K, so the processing power can be used for other things. Like recording that glorious 10-bit 4:2:2 colour internally to the camera’s memory cards rather than having to use an external recorder. It uses the full width of the sensor to record oversampled 4K in all frame rates up to 30fps. And this 10-bit HEVC capture is perfect for Hybrid Log Gamma, for quick and easy HDR workflow. You won’t be doing that on a Sony A7S II any time soon. At the moment, the only issue is when you want to record 4K in 60p for some half-speed slowmotion. At this point, it’s just toomuch data for the camera to handle from the full sensor so it uses a Super35-size crop, which isn’t ideal as it changes the angle of view significantly. In fact, it’s the only video-centric area where the pricier S1R has a slight edge over the S1 in terms of a lack of big crop. The S1R doesn’t offer Log or HDR, or 10-bit workflow internally or externally, but it does shoot 4K/60p with only a slight 1.09x crop, but it pixel bins to do it. Like the S1R, the S1 hits the new high of 180fps slow-motion in HD video. That’s been the realmof some specialist cameras until now, and the S1 does it without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, at the highest frame rates no audio is recorded and it’s manual focus only, like most cinema cameras. In contrast, Sony mirrorless cameras top out at a slower 120fps but retain full audio and AF operation. Obviously audio is useless with any slowmotion, but it can be useful, for example, to speed ramp
fromnormal speed to slowmotion and back. It’s a shame only Sony seems to understand this and see the importance of recording audio at faster frame rates. The 180fps is fantastic, crisp and detailed, and gives a whole new look to footage that you just don’t get at slower frame rates. It’s recorded to the camera’s internal SD or XQD card, or externally to a recorder via HDMI. It’s processed in camera, too, so you see true slowmotion in playback rather than having to slow it in post. However, what the S1 isn’t so good at is controlling rolling shutter, and this bending effect really does show up when using slowmotion. It’s no worse than on some rival full- frame cameras, but the 180fps really does make it show upmore. Just like on the S1R, to record in 180fps you have to go into the menus and even then it is greyed out unless you set the mode button on the top of the camera to ‘movie’. It makes sense, but it’s odd to grey out some parameters just because
ABOVE The portrait was shot in stills mode under continuous light and shows the camera’s high-ISO capability, The video frame grab is flatter but can be tweaked in post
Storage: 1xSD, 1x XQD Dimensions (WxHxD): 148.9x110x96.7mm/ 5.86x4.33x3.81in Weight: 899g/1.98lb
“Obviously audio is useless with any slowmotion but it can be useful, for example, to speed ramp fromnormal speed to slowmotion and back”
69
AUTUMN 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER
Powered by FlippingBook