Walter H

Thanks for noting that. The quick twenty-minute look did reveal some of those issues, mostly due to condensation between the filter and sensor separated by rubber gasket and, for an unlucky few, the development of mold. This is also for a camera/filter situation that people were installing in the uncontrolled comfort of their own homes! Not seeing much beyond the BMPCC's, but it does prompt me to ask about this, get more clarity on their application of the OLPF, their expectations of durability, etc. Thanks for the thought, but is your suggestion simply based upon the S1H's current low cost? Fundamentally, there is no difference in output between the S1 and the S1H with the S1's updated firmware, right? (I mean, I know that the answer is yes to that question.) There are some video-centric ergos that the S1H has which, sure, I'd prefer but they aren't worth a ton of coin. Texting with one guy who has had this done, this retro OLPF is seemingly more effective than that within the S1H. Link here. It kind of boils down to hassle as well as $$: 1) selling my S1, buying an S1H; selling my S5, buying a FujiX as a second cam, or 2) for the price of the S1H, I could do this convert to the S1 and buy a Fuji X-S20 (possibly a used H2s?); sell the S5. Option 2 feels so much more efficient and that means something these days. Appreciate you both for chiming in.

Any thoughts/opinions on adding an OLPF to our beloved Panny's? Seriously looking at this option from Kolari for my S1. Context: I'm a hybrid shooter doing almost as much stills work as video professionally. Currently with an S1 and an S5. I've been repeatedly hit with troublesome moiré particularly when doing portrait work and have considered selling off my S1 to pick up an S1h to compliment and diversify explicitly for this image-making issue. Purportedly, their OLPF is more effective than what is in the S1h. I could do this and still be well below the kit cost vs what I could get for my S1 vs. the cost of a lightly used S1h would be. My S1 is now out of warrantee - not worried about voiding anything. I talked with one of their engineers today and the white balance shift is lens specific and quite slight but they felt they had to put a strong/conservative disclaimer on the website. One-year warrantee. I could ditch my 1/8 black mist when filming with the 24-105. Etc. Struggling to find a downside here.

That link was broken but I found the (quite helpful) article here: https://ymcinema.com/panasonic-strengthens-its-imaging-business-will-the-cinema-lineup-be-renovated/ Interesting to read the philosophy behind the alignment: responding to market overlap based upon sensor size and overall image quality of the consumer segment, i.e. Lumix, in recent years and the need (as I read it) to be more responsive & flexible to changing needs/wants. (These forums wonderfully represent the blur between "need" and "want", no? 😉 Guilty.) @Emanuel Tren de sombras. omg

The mechanical shutter on the S1 & S1H (and I assume the S1R) is well damped and therefore quiet, unobtrusive, and honestly just feels good to engage. The S5's shutter is a harsh "clatch" that is loud and while I'm sure it's no less robust, feels so much cheaper and severe. Subjectively, I wince emotionally from the feeling of it; objectively, I will not use the camera in a quiet environment. Given the abundance of led bulbs, etc., electronic shutter is often not an option for me.

Last year was my relatively low-spend year - other than disposables, only some upgrading to my audio kit and a bucket of hard drives for archiving. This year I think I will make one targeted camera purchase, which could come soon. Looks like the S1 has been discontinued in Japan and Panasonic might make an announcement as early as next week. So... Fuji's X-S20 it mostly likely is! I am a hybrid shooter - genuinely as much photo as video although I make more money with video. I had been with Fuji for ages until I sold off everything to purchase a newly released S1 and subsequently an S5 as a second cam. If it hadn't been for the S5ii's retention of that miserable-sounding mechanical shutter, I likely would have replaced the S5 for the improved PDAF, better 6k, etc. I have also REALLY been missing a smaller camera that I can have along with me for pleasure (even smaller than the S5 and my clunky-adapted Canon 40mm). I've been missing being able to be tethered to Capture One for product photography (no joy for the Panasonics). I'm surprised by how much I miss the less shallow dof/more light gathering ratio per aperture that an APSC can provide for certain shooting situations. I played with a few Flog2 files and found them readily matchable to Vlog and nice to work with in their own right. Great on a gimbal. Better autofocus than what I have. I'd still have a the full-frame S1 for its advantages and I'd ditch the S5 for this lighter, more 6k capable, flexible B/A cam... I'm thinking this $2k spent (X-S20 + Sigma 18-50) less whatever I can get for the S5 and additional bits will round things out really well and be a bridge camera (in a sense) that actually extends the life of my S1, which for robustness, record time, quiet shutter, etc. I love, and get me another year plus with it before finding a used whatever-Panny-releases-soon a year or so from now to replace it. Isn't a treatise of justification just grand? Sorry for thwarting your intention, OP.

Interesting all of this: noise covering flaws, the role of a camera downsampling or not, 8-bit camera profiles vs 8-bit log, etc. Lots of singular details I've been aware of but this thread helps me think of them in combination with one another. Thankful of that. I too was assuming 10-bit as a reference to log and 8-bit as a REC709 profile. (My C100 days feel so long ago now...) Wary of noise, I've been mindful to keep ISO's at or only one stop-ish over panny's 640/4000 base and I have never really had much noise concern. I feel like I savor log's roll-off character but perhaps I've been telling myself that now for so long that it deserves doing another round of testing to interrogate. And I am thinking of a shoot this summer at a singing retreat in which I had no lighting control under a 20'x40' tent with buildings to one side, a lake to the other, a ceiling that reflected the green of the surrounding grass, and a huge range of skin tones... I think the 10-bit paid its dues during that edit, but this is the kind of extreme for which it's suited, not the point of this thread, which I appreciate.

This is interesting, @kye, thanks for putting 8-bit back out there. Nice to be reminded that there is more latitude than I've perhaps remembered. I've shot log almost exclusively for the past five years or so except for under-lit situations. I found 10bit vlog so easy to work with that I came not to question the extra bit of workflow vs the headache of getting anything in 8bit wrong.

It is so.

I wasn't aware of the lawsuit and that spurred me to make a purchase right now. I had been surprised to even see Rode offer these features in one unit and assumed they must have made some arrangement with Zaxcom without the announcement... I'm in the US and scoured to options to find only one set being sold by ProCam Photo/Video via Walmart of all places. Seemingly no stock anywhere else. I assume this legal limbo is why. ProCam just confirmed that my unit is shipping today. Indeed there are compromises with this unit but relative to the two RodeLink systems I've been using for almost nine years, the slimmed-down size and massively improved feature-set will be a boon for me as a solo shooter doing my own audio for the most part. Originally I'd been holding out till work necessitated but realized reading this thread this morning that this might be the only option for quite some time in the US. #sigh

"Autofocus be damned" pt. II: It's more $$ but the DJI/Panny partnership is interesting and the SH1 is the DJI LiDAR test horse. Hopefully that system develops a rail-mounted focus motor to bypass the need for using a gimbal. I mean, I would use it on a gimbal (although I would prefer to not have to upgrade to an RS Pro3) but it would be grand to have a system for handheld work as well. Everyone's notes about image and shutter of the S1H/S1 series is compelling to me. Whenever I hear the "KLATCH" of my S5, I shudder and wish I brought my heftier S1 instead.

Yeah, great. Confirming. I've certainly not had issues in terms of stills AF with either the S1 or the S5. No fast-moving subjects, etc. And 2x YES for the S1 (and apparently S1H) mechanical shutter. Makes me quote loathe using the S5 for stills, which is still sounds appreciably better than Sony some others.

I really appreciate this post. I have an S1 and S5 for stills and video and recently was hired for a set of portraits, which I'd not done in quite a while. Doing that work again was a treat but I was stunned by the moiré I had to contend with. I asked each sitter to bring two outfits, but couldn't get around it with one sitter for either shirt. It really left me dampened about by kit's potential for portrait work. I did try to investigate the S1H for photo work given its OLPF, but little to no commentary on that on the web - unsurprising since most S1H users are almost exclusively video shooters. I was also thinking about an S1H/S5II combo for hybrid work, with an emphasis on video, but that is still an investment given how little my current cameras are selling for used. I've been holding out to see what the S1/S1H/S1R replacement might be, but I also rather doubt that machine will come with an OLPF. How is the auto-focus with the S1H? I expect it must be similar to the S1 since firmware updating a year or so ago?

Brilliant. And thanks to others for footage already posted!

Tonality and detail is gorgeous as are the colors for the most part. Thanks for sharing. I do see some of that cyan tilt to the sky that other reviewers have mentioned with raw footage. But I am also not finding a lot of footage online from the past six or so months and I'm curious how this has all developed and what people have learned. Still interested to see some BRAW/Panasonic footage.

@stephen or anyone else, would you be willing to point me/us to some of the footage you have shot with a Panasonic and the Video Assist? I'd be really interested to see. I've been a 10-bit 422 VLOG shooter both with an S1 and an S5. I'd love to see what else might be available.

Anyone have any updates on this lens they would like to share? Particularly as a video lens? I've got the 24-105/4 but would be glad to use something more compact/lighter for a day of hand-held video work. I really don't need the extra 4mm at the wide end. Also curious about the character (if any) of the lens. I find moderns glass a bit sterile but do like the 35mm & 65mm DG DN's pretty nice on my S1 for video. (Also considering tracking down a Tokina 28-70 ATX Pro but certainly noting saved in terms of weight there. Would be more for aesthetic character of the image...)

Firmware 1.6 has just been released: https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index4.html Improved autofocus, gain, 4k xfer over wifi, other bits...

@ParkerThose grabs look fantastic. What are you using for lensing for the S1 in these shoots?

Could you say a bit about how you anticipate the add-on modules will work with this AFX module as they are developed? Do they literally "add on" to this initial component for greater functionality, i.e. eye AF? Thanks much. This is a really exciting development! I am also a Panny S1 shooter and this could really be the component to address that camera's AF inconsistency.

Just don't cry more than your client. Also not for me to do, but I appreciate seeing this work since it is about as "high-stakes" for a videographer as it gets. So @omega1978, could you say a bit about how it performs for you? Are you using manual focus or autofocus and how is the latter working in these changing situations? Is the camera limiting you and how? How do you have it set up (are you doing photo and video or strictly video)? etc. All this could be helpful for event shooters in general, which I am from time to time. Also, on the current topic, have you noticed moire in your filming?

I'd not say that moire is anything that I have noticed shooting mostly at 4k/24p FF and a little bit of cropped 4k60. Interviews later this month. I'll be sure to try out fabrics and patterns beforehand myself.

Really glad to hear this impression re. Super35. I've been selling of a tone of un-/ under-used kit to streamline and fund this transition to the S1. The 18-35 almost went, but considering that 4k/60 is an APS-C crop, I decided to keep it to preserve the option. Haven't grabbed an MC21 yet since I would only do it for this combo. Perhaps imminent. Willing to post a little footage? Some 4k/24 as well? Thanks.

edit: more or less answering my own question. Seems there is no way to de-couple settings as I hoped. Will rely upon setting up the custom modes for video as needed.

Is the S1 able to "decouple" shutter speed, ISO, etc. settings when switching between photo and video modes ala the X-T3 or Nikon Z's? I've been searching the menus & online but I'm not finding any mention. Really hoping there is a selection to be made that when I turn to video on the mode dial, it reverts to the previous video settings rather than the last photo settings. (keeping the Vlog image thread about the Vlog image.)

I also "pestered" @Sage in the other thread. Dunno if they appreciate it or not but I do think a growing number of video-oriented folks are going to pick up this camera, whether they also work with the GH series or as a stand-alone.