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That's what I keep telling my brides...but they don't listen 🤪

Just watched it - some quite interesting development background stuff, e.g. how the 'cropless' stabilization works.

Bzz wrongo thats very nice of you, thank you. the reason i posted these is because just looking at the end result, i wouldn’t know which camera was used for what, and i get paid to be a dp (at least from time to time). i would consider myself a bit of a hack tbh, but i have some rules/logic that i try to adhere to - limit the color palette - avoid white. Walls, clothing, props, etc. Off white fixes the issues with white in clothing and props, but off white walls still feel like theyre white. if you’re stuck with them anyway, try to get the art dept to cover them up or go for a color wash. - i like trying to use as much hard light as i can get away with - i try to frame for depth, looking for layers and shapes. If there’s multiple shots being shot per scene, theres a million slight positioning adjustments happening to get optimal looking distances between subject and camera. - visual language: per project i ask myself, what kind of lensing is appropriate? Is this a piece that feels more wide, medium, telephoto? What are the exceptions to the language/when am I able to break the rules? - when theres a limited budget (in my case almost always), i prefer the budget to go to art, locations and lighting. what’s the point of lomo anamorphics if you’re in a tiny ugly white walled room? - i like the combo of a strong contrasty lut + slightly softer glass + strong diffusion filter

Agree on all points. Even at the 24ms readout of the other modes it's as good as the older LUMIX cameras and by no means a major issue for most work. I think RS on the S1H in open gate was at like 29ms. There are always tradeoffs and so far we are not at the point technologically speaking for 6k or 8k resolution for larger sensor readout speeds and that level of dynamic resolution. Nikons are really, really good but lack in DR and have noise. Like most people I am seeing that the S1Rii just shows us what the next Videocentric Lumix camera should be like if the Photocentric/Hybrid model is this good for video. If you stripped away all the extras and just looked at the basic specs, the S1Rii is a pretty solid upgrade. Yes it took too long and yes it could have been faster but we finally got 4k 60p in FF and people aren't happy. Amazing low light with really, really clean images with ultra fine film like noise/grain, 32 bit float, Anamorphic support, even better IBIS, high res stills. Internal Prores raw and can shoot to SSD. "BUT GERALD SAID THE ROLLING SHUTTER IS BAD" IT'S DOA."

Yes, I will test the S1RII myself before buying it this time, I saw the Slashcam.de test about the resolution in video but I'm suspicious because the same site said the S5II had a flawless and quite "cinematic" video rendering. I could said something like this for the S1 and S5, but certainly not for the S5II. Resolution is a thing, but the processing as well. However, the rolling shutter certainly not look so bad compared to the S5II(X).

Thought also 75mm handheld could be pushing it. With heavier 1,3kg Sirui Venus 1.6x panning would have probably been fine, but I did not want another big and heavy lens to carry along with my S Pro 50 F1.4. Could be the Sirui copy I had was not perfect, as it was sometimes hard to nail the focus even on a tripod through the S5II EVF. Cam’s footage looked absolutely gorgeus, like in his Ronin 4d 8k review. The same with Media Division. Nice to see what S1RII is capable of in the hands of Pros with good optics. S1RII’s 5.76M dot EVF should also help focusing compared to S5II’s 3.78M dot EVF, but they both are 0.78x and not 0.8x like in GH7 and Z6iii. There’s always compromises. Z6iii does not have the desqueeze at all and it’s IBIS is what it is compared to Panasonic. And with NRaw you need NR more often than you’d like. I think I will wait at least 3 months to see if they announce another camera, and to see what actual buyers think about the S1RII and it’s IQ.

Same.

I was disappointed early on but after seeing the low light capabilities and really clean (low noise) video I'm once again considering it. I think I fall into the small niche category of people this camera is perfect for.

People were pretty hysterical about the Lumix S9 when it was first announced. Now it's a relatively popular camera that people have decided is underrated. Even non-Lumix users bought and use it. If you look beyond the influencer noise and listen to what professionals are saying, they're all praising the S1RII. I know it's easy for them to be drowned out by the dudebros who were flown overseas and then flooded YouTube with videos of them listing the specs excitedly interspersed with shitty JPEGS and slow motion clips they took, but they are out there and have good things to say. Among other things, Manny says he doesn't have fun using his other cameras (he is a Sony and Canon shooter) but he actually has fun using the S1RII. He wants to put it through its paces more, but after using it on a shoot he has a lot of good things to say. Cam Mackey set up a shoot with it and showed how he worked with it in post. It sucks that so many people make videos ABOUT cameras, as opposed to making videos WITH the cameras and then giving their opinions on what using them is like.

Slashcam tested the S1RII. Full frame 6K 60p DCI gives exellent resolution downscaled on a 4K timeline with 15.6ms rolling shutter. 24-30p 8K is slightly better but with 22.8ms readout. Battery lasts 1 hour 39min of recording time in 10bit 4K 25p. They tested latitude of the Lumix being best of all Dslms, above a Nikon Z8, being close to the Dual Gain sensor of the C70 and C300 MKII. Best of Dslms means being about 1 stop better than a Z8, which was 1 stop better than a S1H which was slightly better than a Canon R8 in their latitude test. Dynamic Boost didn't show a better result. It stopped after 40min of recording because of heat and it performed increased rolling shutter. The SR1II looks like it has the guts of a great hybrid for 44MPix stills and for full frame 4K and 6K up to 60p and 8K30p with class leading latitude and above average battery life in video. Hopefully they will offer the 15.6ms readout for 4K/6K in 24p to 30p as well, like they did for 50/60p. I'm interested to see actual footage. This camera could be a great bang for the buck.

I've spotted an opportunity for you to be able to drop stuff off and stay within their DHL only policy ..

There's a lot of whining about Panasonic not pushing hard enough in raw specs. Yet, many of these critics go silent when firmware updates completely transform the camera's usability. Panasonic focuses on features and tools that don’t generate the same hype as 4K 120fps or internal RAW—but they offer things like false color, shutter angle, and a lower price point. It’s just a different approach.

I will likely go back and forth on whether the S1RII appeals to me but I recently was reminded not to lust after gear. I've got an S1 and S1H currently and I bought an S5 and eventually an S5II hoping to replace these, sensing size and weight were the only real drawbacks of the S1 bodies. I sold both the S5 and S5II almost immediately, for usability reasons (worse viewfinder and screen) and because of the picture being over-sharp on the S5II. I had somehow convinced myself that a newer camera would spark my creativity, as I am currently in a creative rut. This was misguided. The S1 and S1H are still excellent cameras and they produce an image that feels special to me still. They also feel somewhat indestructible compared to the S5 style bodies. I used them primarily to film a major documentary, along with a GH5 and a slew of other cameras over the years including Canon C300 marks I & II, 6D & 5DIII. In color correction, I learned how little the camera matters compared to what you capture, outside of the quality of life improvements and build quality (the C300II actually broke from use at the hot shoe mount). Even some quality of life improvements should be met with apprehension. IBIS has ruined some of my shots with weird motion artifacts - the days of a loupe and hand grip on my 6D netted some pretty stunning motion. Among all the cameras I've shot with, I found the most usable camera overall was the GH5 - and if I was to embark on a similar documentary project today and had budget for a new camera, I'd probably lean towards a GH7 for its versatility and portability. I think the GH7 actually represents the most unique value proposition in Lumix's line - for run and gun documentary, with 32bit audio and a 12-60 or 12-100 lens, I don't think it can be beat. Of course, I don't want to go through the process of re-acquiring all the MFT glass and adapters I've now sold. For me, the S1RII's reduced size and weight, improved high ISO performance, 32bit audio would be significant quality of life upgrades - but the trade-offs of higher heat sensitivity, lower battery, and a huge hole in my wallet would not be worthwhile. I mean, I'll want one, as is the case with every new camera I see, but will it actually improve my work? Not at all.

Different planet these fucking filmmakers 😉

I appreciate the gear focus that dominate most discussions, but the nuggets of information and techniques like these are golden. Thank you. In order to create layers of depth/separation? Or another reason? I’ve found having a lot of small cob units with spotlights or dishes to highlight subjects, coupled with big soft sources (panels, lite mats, 8x+ frames etc) to fill ambient are a solid go to when creating depth for interiors. Nice one. Should I get in the habit of building a look/monitoring lut for each project?

Christopher Frost spent some days with one and shows a somewhat detailed navigation through the interface.

I agree - even a small dick would put Elon Musk to shame.

I thought Elon had a rocket? But then again, he couldn’t get that up could he…

That's how I read it, which is why I would treat this as a 4K/C4K camera. As others have mentioned, I wish they would have delivered a 6K camera with less RS and 4:2:2 rather than prioritize an 8K "benchmark". But they didn't. 1080p & 4K will continue to be a deliverable for my clients for some time to come and I do think this might be a very good 4K camera.

About as low end as the Ursa Cine 12K, yes. 😉 Just about all of the cameras that he mentioned are likely to have some representation at the local short film contest/festival I just wrapped up. (Also add Komodo/Komodo-X and Ronin 4D which I can say from personal experience are also represented)

I didn't get a box of choc after spending £20k with them over the years. I should ask for one. Some good shops in the UK but it is a pity West Yorkshire Camera closed down recently. Loved them.

Rolling shutter will be a situational issue and I agree that more more footage I see, the less concerned I am than from the early reports. Yeah, the middle of the CVP review is disconcerting but this is a very tight crop of the subjects head in 6k open-gate and it really appears to be not significant in many other scenerios that align with how I shoot and what I need. @Jahleh Also agree - super heartening to see some really gorgeous footage. I've not watched everything but I was initially pretty put off by the 8k I saw from PetaPixel - seemed overly sharp with aliasing in the details. So much that I'm seeing now is so much nicer. I may wait until end of June or I might spring for it in early April depending upon the work I have coming up. A few days ago I covered (photo & video) two rallys over six hours at the State House in New York. Profoundly variable lighting, mixed lighting, terrible light quality and hundreds of people in a variety of locations. The S1 is still a champ but when I think about one switch to move from photo to video (vs a dial and two button presses), higher resolution with no lower light penalty, auto focus that I can point to an individual in a crowd and say "stay there" for the next thirty seconds, to be able to walk and have quite good stabilized footage.... I'm excited to not be fighting the camera to get the results, let's just say.

I can understand how some of the reviewer YouTools can get a bit overexcited: Hello this is LUMIX calling. Would you like a free all expenses paid trip to Norway? You would, great. Would you also like to keep and take away the camera that you will be gifted? OK cool, we thought you might. No, you are not obliged to say nice things but next time we plan one of these trips… - They say the weather was not great on this trip but regardless, all I have seen is a few clips of each other on the same boat and a couple of reindeer. A bit weird, but fortunately a few who are actual working filmmakers and photographers, took the time to then go and shoot some real material which is low beginning to appear. As with the S9, give it a few weeks and it’s going to be quite well regarded I think. Once we have all got over the slightly disappointing dull design and the overhyped RS issue. I think…

Got the news just now! And here I am in the same day my own father would turn 86 in this Feb 28 if he hadn't left us one year and eleven nights (ten days) ago... : ( What a sad end/tragedy for one of our legends, terrible news: https://www.tmz.com/2025/02/27/gene-hackman-family-suspects-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-death/ https://variety.com/2025/film/opinion/gene-hackman-tribute-best-movies-the-conversation-1236323080/ Impossible to think of the existence of cinema without his presence forever in our memories. From Gene Hackman's fav movie of his filmography (in his own daughter's words), also a curious metaphor of what life is:

the name of the singer from janes addiction is michael stipe

Of course. I do think @Andrew Reid is spot on in pointing out that the S1RII’s physical design is uninspired. Even if all else remains equal, LUMIX desperately needs to find their video-centric camera body format. Sony’s FX line is walking off with that segment, even without including open gate. I do believe that there’s a sizable market still hanging out sub-$5K, and BMD could quickly walk away with a large slice of the pie. What they don’t cover, the FX line covers very nicely. The Sonys are feature-rich and maximalist in terms of including hybrid type features on top of the video-first format. BMD sits in an interesting place where they keep things simple/straightforward in a way that is heavily focused on streamlining cinema work. They're still building up trust on reliability and build quality, but there’s traction on that front… and at some point, the price point with what they offer is just too good to ignore. the 12K is $7K, and the Pyxis? Almost 1/3rd that price. I find it hard to believe they’re not aiming to land something in the middle, just a touch over $4K. You’re on a good track with the S35 cut-down of the 12ak sensor. I also wonder about simply binning the existing sensor, to keep the data rates within reason for basic cards, and the processing needs within the means of a lesser pipeline, and the cooling requirements down. Presumably BMD could also do RGBW with a larger photosite arrangement, to bring the resolution down. It’s pretty obvious that the 12K is “look what we can do,” and it’s gonna trickle down over time. Again, I hope it spurs LUMIX and others to push for better CMOS tech, because they’re all capable of building good cameras. I do really like what LUMIX has put out on a number of occasions. The S1H was the only camera to put a proper OLPF on the IMX410 until Pyxis just recently. The GH5S with dual native ISO and V-Log L in such a small form factor was a true joy to work with. And the GH2 had a really lovely look back in the day. The S1RII is sitting in a very strange zone. High resolution. High readout speed. The big standard color and dynamics that come with decent Sony CMOS these days. It’s not a bad camera. It’s just not remarkable either. I guess I’m just glad the last couple years I’ve pivoted to buying glass, because I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on any cameras in that timeframe.

The real challenge is that until very recently, proper full frame sensor tech has been extremely stagnated. Even Canon, who make their own sensors, went bigger and ditched their lauded DGO in the process. Sony, who makes most everyone else’s sensors, hasn’t done much since shifting to BSI. Panasonic had Dual Native ISO, now it’s been an option for everyone to leverage lately. But ultimately, if you want a 24X36mm video sensor, it’s gonna top out at ~13 stops of DR (maybe half a stop more than that thanks to some highlight recovery and/or noise reduction.) The market has tightened up, sure, but the core technology has also provided very low motivation for existing users to upgrade. Most of the changes have been in tertiary areas like autofocus and ergonomics. Those are important in some contexts, sure, but they’re not paradigm shift improvements. That’s what is needed for market share to shift in a company’s favor. I have a small amount of hope for LUMIX from two things: the shuttering of Varicam, which moved their team into the LUMIX department, and the recent (even if half-baked,) collaboration with Arri. Both bring an insight into a camera ethos that differs from what LUMIX have been releasing up to this point. Arri has also been feeling market shrink, which could mean a window of opportunity for LUMIX to deepen that relationship and do something interesting in concert with Arri. But the window is probably only 2-3 years at the very most, thanks to the elephant in the room: BMD’s 12K RGBW sensor has just demonstrated a paradigm shift. If you already have some cine batteries and the right memory cards, you can have that thing shipped, powered, and recording blindingly impressive footage for only $7K. That may seem expensive, but not when it is very nearly on par with an Alexa LF. And the real kicker-time-ticker? It ain’t gonna get MORE expensive, I can tell you that for certain. BMD surely has a roadmap already in place to reach economy of scale with that tech, and we’ll likely see it in Pyxis/Pocket price point cameras in under 5 years. Everybody else better hope Sony’s sensor development team has been saving something in their back pocket, because now’s the time, or everyone’s going to get outplayed in the not so distant future.

I should clarify that I’ve mostly had very positive experiences with MPB and still use them on occasion. All the good experiences are why the bad ones were so surprising. I’ve had several instances of them paying more than initially quoted as well; that’s always a nice feeling.

There's a lot of that and it's frustrating. It's why I keep going back to the people who are using it on actual shoots. So far I've heard how much of a let down the camera is by people who haven't used it, while the professionals I have seen use it are filled with praise. If real photographers, filmmakers and colorists are all saying great things about the camera, maybe it's not so doom and gloom? I mean, at the end of the day, all we've gotten is: Specs. A couple dozen YouTubers who wouldn't know how to put a camera through it's paces if their life depended on it, who are saying mostly positive things. A small handful of professionals who have used it in a professional setting, who are also saying mostly positive things.

It was for being a 'good customer' might give you an indicator of how much of a tart I am when it comes to camera gear!

Right, I am getting myself sponsored by NordVPN and Bingoplus.com because whenever I am on Bingoplus.com which is the only on-line betting platform I use for all my on-line bingo needs, it is always whilst using NordVPN and I wouldn’t trust anyone more for my on-line privacy than Nord.VPN Thanks NordVPN! Thanks Bingoplus!

FWIW, I'd say that if Jordan is grouchy about Lumix, it might be more in the category of being more critical to the ones that you love. He's a long-term Panasonic shooter and he and Chris have been doing most of their videos with Panasonic for years now. I can't remember if Jordan's main camera is currently the G9 II or the GH7 - I think it's the latter. I'd be cautious with even putting faith in those folks, though - they're in a different categories than the straight-up shills, but I also can't remember a time that Media Division didn't like a camera that somebody gave them - and a company who gives them a camera for review can also be relatively sure in most cases that it'll be used to film some slick footage, often with a robot arm, that will look great for their marketing. This is why I'm much more a fan of getting a general pulse of real end user feedback vs putting too much stock in what YouTubers say. Gerald Undone is also the one who made a huge deal of Z Cam leaving a file in an unusable state (though you could send it to Z Cam and they'd fix it for you) if the camera lost power while filming and how it was completely unusable on a professional set for that reason, etc. His followers got so obnoxious about it that Z Cam finally had to invest engineer time in building a tool into the camera to recover the files instead of building features that 99.999% of the users actually cared about. By that point, a bunch of us had been successfully using our Z Cams for at least a couple of years without the dreaded power loss problem (partly because it supports redundant power - plug a V mount into the DC in and put a small NP-F on the camera, no danger of power loss). That and, y'know, just about anybody I know who shoots isn't a complete idiot and swaps the battery when it gets down to 20-30% (or at least gives the heads-up that after this shot, we need a swap - sometimes you let it get a bit lower so you don't break the flow). At the time, a few other vendors that he reviewed favorably also had problems with potentially-corrupted files if you yanked power while the camera was recording. He just didn't think to try it because most hybrid cameras don't make it easy to do that, vs an exposed np-f on the back of the camera. That whole thing was really similar to what you're saying about him preloading the complaints about rolling shutter. I can't remember, but if he treated that like the battery problem, he then went on to mention it every 15 seconds for the rest of the video, even when talking about unrelated stuff. In the case of Z Cam, he also then went on some big thing about how people felt "attacked" because they were Z Cam fanboys - which might have been true of some people, but the rest of us were just irritated that every time we mentioned our camera, some zombie would lurch out of the shadows to moan "what... about.... power.... losssssss??????"

I've been trying to use Reddit more lately and explore different communities but wow... makes me really appreciate our group here. You can see the different age groups represented in various social media platforms and it sure is eye opening to hear from Millennials and Get Z as opposed to Facebook Groups. Instagram is useless now at this point. Youtube and Reddit really show how strange the industry and marketing have become. It is great that we have more transparency and technical knowledge as buyers. I feel for people in sales these days when the average consumer can come into a location, (If there even is a brick and mortar store anymore) and already know the specs and sale prices of everything. But the power of Youtube shills is pretty abhorrent and how quickly the younger generation is swayed by certain people for better or worse... I'm so tired of the clickbait thumbnails and "Why I'm Leaving X" videos. It's like walking unto a used car lot or a cheap department store. Thanks for this space Andrew. I came here to buy your "Anamorphic PDF" years ago and have been a fan ever since. This forum helped me Learn to adapt my Kowa and Elmoscoppe II, decide to get the GH4 and metabones speed booster combo and then the GX85 as a little B cam. I've sold at least 5 other people on those devices after they saw my footage and didn't believe it was m43. This shift in Panasonic and the industry in general has been sad, I agree. I miss the old days. I wish they would just listen to us and give us the camera everyone wants. Even if Sony is holding out on the better sensors I still feel like there is a way to come up with products that are better thought out. Honest reviews and opinions aren't rewarded in this world like they used to be so I know it's been a long and hard road.

I love that their positivity/negativity is relative. An exact same feature in brand X that they called "game changer", they call it "good to have" in brand Y, even if the release date between the two is just 3 months. A cripple hammer limitation in brand X is "unfortunate" and the same thing in brand Y is like "if its important for you maybe this camera is not for you".

It takes a special kind of Kermitting to wind me up as a love camera shopping more than life itself. But MPB have managed it, on about 5 separate occasions now in two countries, which is an achievement Gonzo himself would be proud of. I think posting off thousands of euros of gear to a warehouse 20 mins bike ride away is daft. Especially if the post is on strike or it's DHHelllll. Their staff are so bad at communicating or making you feel valued. They let me drop stuff off once, and then dodged the question and refused to answer when I wanted to do it a second time. How about catering for this demand of 20-30 high-value customers per day wanting to do business with you and open a fucking counter! I don't care if it has Miss Piggy herself behind it, it's better than losing $$$ to the post!

Attention economy! Did you see the Northrup video on the S1R II, with the clickbait title "better than Sony and Canon"... How the turn tables. I wouldn't be surprised if he is just using this to bait Sony's PR team into giving him more attention. *Attention economy* I agree with you 100%. Yep, I sold my GH6 for less than £700. Indeed and although it was $1000 more expensive at launch than the S1R II is today, that Panasonic still does not have an answer to the 2020/21 flagship sensor technology in 2025 should concern us all. I don't know how much longer they can half-commit resources to this market without leaving it entirely. And add on top of that the uninspired design department, unimaginative marketing and unintelligent product strategy as a whole and I really do think Lumix is on the way out. S1R II just reinforces it if anything. That it came out before the S1H II as well... Means we have to wait even longer for the real hybrid filmmaking camera, which is Pana's biggest strength!! They ignore their strengths and deliver what nobody wants. Look at the S9... people were expecting the GH7 launch and they showed them that!! It's just dumb. Yeah cloning 5 year old Sony/Canon bodies but with worse AF seems to be the new Lumix strategy. From pioneers to copy-cats. I fully agree. Yes that's another elephant in the room nobody talks about, the S Pro lens range absolutely cannot compete with Canon/Nikon/Sony. All I can say is that it's a good job Sigma is carrying the whole thing, as left to Panasonic and Leica, L-mount would be seen as so expensive nobody in their right mind other than rich Leica users would go anywhere near it! The image quality is the least of the S1R II's problems. All looks good. But then so do 7 or 8 other full frame cameras.

For Pannyboy it's a step in the right direction at least! I hate the game, but more Sony, Canon, and Nikon shooters saw Lumix related content that they normally wouldn't see. Whether that persuaded any of them into giving Lumix a shot or not is unknown, but it's a start and it shows that they realize they need to move beyond the bubble and try to attract users to their system. I get the frustration and criticisms, especially when they were leading the way in innovation for so long, but it's still a quality release that is pretty aggressively priced. As a user myself who is constantly looking at the big picture, especially when it comes to a systems longevity, I'm cautiously optimistic for the first time in a while. For the better part of 15 years Lumix has done right by me. Most of those years were great, and totally changed the way my business was run and how I work. In recent years they've struggled; the delay between the GH5 and the GH6 was a frustrating period with subpar releases and mostly silence. They're taking steps to address that, though, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

In fact, I've just bought one Mark II unit upgraded to work with AF @120fps and my FX30 for a bargain... Less than 70 bucks! :- )

i don't think they necessarily do. not to suck my own dick too much, but here's some stills of work I've shot that I mostly like (and one i dislike). some pocket 4k, alexa and fx6 in the mix. some still have a lut on, some are graded by me, and some are graded by someone else with my intentions as a DP taken away. feel free to guess which is which and why, since i feel like you guys love doing that.

That ^ is Dave, well known camera reviewer and influencer. Normally ends his reviews by smashing the kit to pieces. And here is a pic below after he went on the Matt Granger diet.

He’s a well known camera reviewer who wears oversized trousers (pants to the US brethren but trousers in the more civilised world who can also spell words like civilised properly) with his pockets stuffed full of camera gear like flashes and tripods and snacks. Who the hell are Jane’s Addiction?