Walter H

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!

Just wanted to add to this... While I know that the Panasonic package is for V-Log L rather than the V-Log of the S-line, but I dove in regardless and I'm looking forward to the experimenting. Already having applied the Eterna LC to a number of clips, indoor and out, I'm pretty pleased!

@Attila BakosI've followed your work for years when I was shooting exclusively with Fujifilm. I've always appreciated your interrogation of Fuji's x-trans peculiarities and have purchased LUTs from you in the past. Now with this release for V-Log L and now that I recently purchased an X-H2s (first time back to Fuji in years), I purchased packages for both to ease in intercutting footage from by S1 and the Fuji. Thanks for continuing all that you do. I'm looking forward to using your Eterna LUT for both systems!

Oh, I owned an X100F for about eight months more than four years ago, so I cannot say directly (as much as everyone in this thread is typing based upon the specs of this latest release). I had an X100 for more than a year prior to that. That's all I can speak of based upon direct experience. I think it is a lovely camera that I just didn't connect with. I think it's primary use is as a stills camera and I think it fulfills a genuinely unique market niche really well - hybrid viewfinder and a fixed-lens. What else is there? For that, I think the bump to Fuji's 40mp sensor makes sense (not that I would have been asking for it) and the incorporation of IBIS is what really stands out to me. Since my first IBIS body, I simply won't go back. So many more creative options open up (for me). So to answer your question pointedly, IBIS. The rest of it might as well come along since it's already there. I think the video specs are grand to have (why would you exclude what the XT-5, etc can do with the same sensor/processor?) and I would do b-roll grabs or creative work with it. But that would be a perk for me with the x-series rather than a goal for purchasing the camera.

I think judging this release against the specs and the role as an a-cam on-set affirms just how spoiled we've become. Looks like a wonderfully evolved camera for its use.

Yeah, I think we spoke past one another. The S1 focus brackets raw images nicely with one press of the shutter. Lots of control over the number of images, their depth & step. Easy to dump that sequence into PS or Affinity, etc. and render a blended image. That's what I was referring to as "old school" - doing the post-capture stacking in a software later on. It's the focus stacking feature that renders in camera a single jpeg that I was having issues with in terms of unwanted artifacts. Perhaps the processing in the G9 is improved? Granted I have been working with challenging, detailed material. The process of focus bracketing is fine and I've no complaints in doing it. It's also nice when I can avoid it altogether.

Yes, that is exactly right. To be clear, I was only using the Pro Mist 1/8th to knock the digital edge off a touch was the 24-105 and since switching to Resolve, I simply do that in post if I feel the need. The reason for the OLPF conversion for the S1 in my mind was for stills and portrait work. I've rarely if ever had much of a moire issue in video. But I won't knock the benefit there too.

Yes, I do use an 5" SmallHD monitor regularly and always when I am planning to manual focus. I use a monitoring LUT (but haven't thought to try with b&w) and that with the peaking of the S1 and the focus assist of the monitor gets the job done. There is something with the S1 that I have seen others mention as well over the years: peaking looks clear and strong and as soon as I press record, it dips about 30%. The use of a monitoring LUT helps me see the edges of things a bit better but does not improve or correct this peaking "dip" issue. The Pro Mist only accentuated this odd negative. A monitor with peaking/focus assist as well makes the difference. The S1 does have this feature and I experimented with it quite a bit. For some subjects, works a treat - genuinely cannot fault it. But is creates jpeg's only and if what you are photographing has a lot of fine details, well, too many artifacts and oddities were showing up. Therefore I had to old school focus stack and blend in post, which works great and I would have a dng or tiff to work up in post, but it is just steps and time.

Actually..., really? You seem so "Nikon other than Panasonic" oriented - for good reasons. When I switched to full-frame (from Fuji), I expected to go Nikon but once I held the S1 and played with Vlog, that was it. Right choice at the time, but unsure I would do the same now (at least once the Z6v3 is released).

At risk of cluttering up the thread (but it seems these thread can range a bit from their titles), the X-H2s immediately resolves my main complaints with the S5: namely, the intermediately smaller body that never fit my hand well and a clatchy, miserable feeling mechanical shutter that makes my heart weep when I engage it (@MrSMW knows). The X-H2s feels wonderfully in my hand (just as the S1 does considering two quite differently sized bodies), it feels better built than the S5, and the shutter mechanism makes my angels sing. To me, much better than the X-S20 that I had intended to pick up... I don't have enough experience processing RAWs form both cameras yet to know how easily the I can process them to have a consistent look, but I'm not worried. I have worked with enough Flog and Flog2 footage to feel confident that as long as I have my white balance close, I can get a good match with Vlog footage. If I set each camera to a color chart, then I'm not worried whatsoever - not for the work that I do anyway. More additional context specific to me: for some of the product photography that I do, I really missed the ability to easily tether with Capture One (Panasonics don't) and having a bit more depth-of-field from an APSC sensor has its advantages too. I may have something more useful to add once I've worked with them both together over the next few months. Oh, and good idea on the monochrome preview lut. I'll experiment with that.

I appreciate this. I have considered the (non-)resale value of the S1 and S5 already. (It is stunning how little these bodies are fetching used for such incredible image and, for the S1, build quality. I have been thinking of this investment in the S1 as an opportunity to bridge for the next year or two when these second gen S-series cameras have been out a while and their prices moderate. I do have a 1/8th Black Pro Mist and that has helped at times in some critical moments, BUT it makes the peaking for manual focus in video with the S1 almost disappear, especially in Vlog. Others have already nudged me hard toward picking up a used S1H and I am tempted in large degree as the peaking issue once you hit record just isn't one with that body. So I may wait until v2's announcement when I expect even more used S1H's will hit the market. And, other than screen, better peaking, TC support, I am not seeing many compelling reasons to upgrade from my S1 body to an S1H. Some of the ergo improvements for video are a meh when using it for event and documentation photography - bulkier body & more visual weight (and more just weight). So.... on the fence but appreciate the thoughts. The last point is that they have offered me a $100 discount to the mod, so that helps a bit too. In other news, I'm absolutely ditching the S5 body and picked up a Fuji X-H2s for the role as a lighter weight hybrid cam and I'm really pleased with it. So the consideration of the S1/S1H is in complement to that camera as well (and vice versa).

@PannySVHS@MrSMW Yeah, that's all pretty compelling. Thank you! @kye re. point #2: 😂 😂