Walter H

Yeah, when I saw that image... sigh. I'm not an "S1 body or nothing" person but as many here have also noted, the build quality and ergos (despite the weight) of the original three have been amazing. I actively dislike the feel of the S5 in hand. I do think the S5ii/x feels incrimentally better in the hand and I'm interested if the additional proportions of the body "gets it right" or something. The loss of the top LCD is a bummer but not as critical to me as... The mechanical shutter. Again, I think the S5ii/x is marginally better damped than the hollow klatch of the S5. Let's see.

Agree with all of this. I would also be really interested in what the next 24-30mp body (S1Hii or S1x or...) would be and I hope to-f it's not another many months before we have an inkling, but I'm not holding my breath. The S1 sensor is still incredible for how clean the files are for low-light or when lifting shadows with minimum penelty. Triple agree regarding no S5 body and the importance of ergos. Maybe quintuple agree.

Can I introduce you to an up-and-coming forum with a vibrant photographer community - called DPReview? (joking, joking & no shade at DPR beyond being tired af at all of the knee-jerk anti-video sentiment - I've abandoned engaging the L-mount thread a while ago now...) I totally get it for your (and others) use-case and it's notable that your preference is supported by having three other bodies doing video specific things. On my end, the split between photo and video for paid work is so close to 50% (while closer to 65%+ of my income comes from video due to higher rates for video work). I'm rarely out there with two bodies when I'm doing hybrid work so, yeah, I'm looking for that all-around capable body that has more flexibilty (i.e. power) for stills, for its ability to auto-focus in lower light and with subjects with darker skin, and better video... great, yes. Keep my S1 body for two-camera shoots, etc. Edit: also, on the photo front, the rumor some weeks ago was that there has been some form of collaboration between Panasonic and Capture One that will be revealed with this annoucement. Could we FINALLY get tethering support between the two?? Desired/needed.

We will have to see what niche Panasonic wants to hit. If they are prioritizing a fast sensor over a slower read 60+MP sensor, then you know they are going for high performance versatility. Of course, there will be complaints about "Panasonic abandoning photographers" in favor of good video specs, but that's not a lament we'll hear in this forum.

With a mechanical shutter - that's a win for me. i would expect a more Panasonic set of codecs. I was put off by the Z8 due to it being electronic shutter only and the video codecs seemed to have a big hole in them between RAW, RAW Lite, ProResHQ and a dodgy H.265 implimentation.

These look incredible.

I absolutely agree with everyone regarding the lack of communication regarding the release (or planning toward the release) of cameras that are oriented toward professionals. It's one thing if a consumer happily comes upon a new release and is pleased, it is different when our income (and our passion) is tied to a camera line. Edit: Great - since posting this last night, I'm reading up on the Z8...

I hear everyone's lament about the lack of Panny releases and I too am concerned about how well they are positioned to continue - they certainly killed Varicam which at the time was very good and promised improvement. But I feel the criticism about longer periods without a flagship release (and the accordant undertones of feeling betrayed) is partly about being seduced by the market and the immediacy of contemporary capitalism than the tools themselves. My S1 is still killing it as my primary hybrid camera. Within months of its annoucement, I picked it and the 24/105 up and within a year three primes and this has been the best value return system I've ever owned. My only lament is the autofocus (unsurprising), which renders it virtually unuseable in lower lighting for event photography, etc. For my use I could switch to Canon (a C80 and R-something for stills) but the expense of buying into that system is just too much. I don't connect with Sony imagery. I've loved Nikon but they lost me with the Z6iii - I cannot imagine contending with the variable shadow noise while shooting in uncontrolled environments. (Honestly, if it were't for that issue, I'd strongly consider the switch to Nikon). And then I come back to the clean sensor and the color and the robustness of the Panny... If I'm not moved by their releases in the next two months, I will likely (finally) pickup an S5ii/x for low-light autofocus to have alongside my S1 for my hybrid work and, with money saved, get the 24/70 (finally) for that gorgeous microcontrast and leave it at that. Lastly, the hope of the Viltrox 28mm for L-mount actually has me holding on to my S5 body since I could perhaps sell it for $600 at this point. I never really liked the S5 beyond its sensor but I think it would be a great carry most everywhere body - throw-it-in-the-glovebox-and-not-care-much camera. Everyone is rushing to spend so much more than $600 for small cameras (generally with smaller sensors), espeically if your needs dictate an evf (mine do). Lastly, lastly, f'ing tethering to Capture One What The FFFFFFFFFF?! I had to pick up a Fuji X-H2 for proper tethering when needed. The Panasonic workarounds are cumbersome and glitchy. Looks like with the release of the S1Rii, there is a partnership with Capture One so hopefully that will be resolved going forward.

Latest rumors claim an S1Rii announcement on Feb 25th with a second full-frame body announced in April. 😐

^ Agreed. S1/S1H/S1R shutter mechanism as the baseline of bust. A bit smaller than the S1x line, sure, as long as the robustness is there. All this talk of no more proper Panny cameras coming and bailing on the system (in other spaces than here as well) and I'm thinking to what? I have zero complaints with the S1 sensor for either photo or video - it's the overall useability where things lag. I wouldn't exchange the S1 sensor for the Z6III sensor with all of its pulsing noise compromises in the shadows. I wouldn't shoot my X-H2s exclusively for the photography I do. Canon - the outright expense of canon?! Sony.... no. Everything else is compromised despite we being in the age of "no compromises" and "no bad cameras." And it's true, but if things don't materialize in the next months, at least I will reap the rewards of having not purchased an S5II/x when they first came out. Don't like the shutter (but don't dislike it as much as the og S5) and I would still take that sensor over the Z6III. This is a highly rhetorical post. Carry on. And come on Panasonic.

Not sure what you are looking to buy, but I have purchased and sold quite a bit on fredmiranda. I trust those interactions than any other private selling space. I've never had a bad experience and the X-H2s body I recently acquired was immaculate.

Good choice. I love working with my S1 and never connected with the S5. No recording limit is very nice; the first time I had to start the S5 recording again during an interview was the last time I used it as a second cam to the S1.

@kye Great. Thank you for adding that note. I'm quite protective of highlights generally at the point of capture (as long as I'm not compromising skin tones) as I find that clipping is the greatest remaining "digital tell" that can usually be avoided. But this is always good to keep in mind. @Attila Bakos I've never approached LUTs as a "click and done" solution, particularly wanting to preserve options for the further application of tone curves. Since moving on from (and now partially back to) Fujifilm, I have missed Eterna as a baseline for further work. To date, my best, neutral LUT for V-Log has been a 2021 LUT by Gamut applied at 80% - even then the shadows would generally be more crushed that I'd prefer for further grading. Your Eterna LC LUT! It's marvelous for how I like to work! I am now editing a piece that I filmed primarily last year. Replacing the Gamut with this low-contrast LUT - I really like the color interpretation (even in some challenging mixed-lighting) and a whole world of shadows is available to further work with, rather than to try and pull back in some fashion. Just so, so nice.

That's a big range of questions about a heavily covered topic (like, for years and years). When you have search similar topics or the web in general, what have you learned? For example, what are issues that come up when you stack filters? ND32 might be plenty for a sunny day or not at all. What ISO and apertures are you shooting at? What do the terms "cheap" "a fortune" "acceptable" mean to you? I'm punting back to you to do some research to these questions and refine them. People here will be glad to support refined questions but what you are asking currently would require a long, instructional reply about a lot of basics before even getting to what might actually be useful to you.

Great. I was wondering if there might be some upstream adjustments that I should keep track of based upon the V-Log L vs V-Log and I will watch the highlights particularly. I will! Thank you!