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Cameras

Panasonic S1r II Review: It’s Time to Get Excited

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 12/01/2025
02/25/2025
19 Mins read
A Panasonic Lumix S1R camera with two interchangeable lenses on a dark table indoors.
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Last Updated on 12/01/2025 by Chris Gampat

I think there was only ever one time in digital camera history that we’ve seen a camera manufacturer lower the megapixels on a camera sensor — and that was Canon. But now, that’s happened again. Make no mistake, I really liked something about the Panasonic S1R despite how large it was. With the new S1R II though, we’re getting a camera that’s around the size of the S5 II and that lowers the megapixel count to 44MP down from 47.3MP. Why? Well, LUMIX told us that the new Panasonic S1r II is designed to be a hybrid camera for those who want high resolution but also need to shoot video. Essentially, it’s going right after the Canon R5 II and the Nikon Z8. But in some ways, we also think that it’s going after the Sony a1 II.

The Big Picture: Panasonic S1R II Review Conclusions

The Panasonic S1r II is their latest flagship.
The Panasonic S1r II is their latest flagship.

I’ve got to be incredibly frank here: the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II is seriously one of my favorite cameras of the year. It puts photographers and still photography front and center. On top of that, it gives you lots of controls that make the shooting experience pretty simple fot you overall. What’s to really love?

  • The modest megapixel count with the brand keeping it in the 40s for a balance of detail and high ISO output
  • The in-camera creative modes
  • The autofocus comparable to several other brands
  • The weather resistance
  • The big lens selection across the entire L mount alliance
  • The overall weight

If you consider yourself a real photographer, this is the camera to try and possibly commit to. It’s on my list of the cameras I actually want to purchase.

Any problems that this camera has could possibly be fixed via firmware updates — and I’m curious to see how that plays out.

We’re giving the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II the Editor’s Choice award and five out of five stars. Want one? Check it out on Amazon.

Buy Now: $3,297 Without rebate

Pros

  • OH MY GOD THEY BROUGHT BACK MULTIPLE EXPOSURE MODE!!!
  • The shutter finally comes down to protect the sensor when the camera is powered down. And they reinforced the shutter with carbon fiber to do that
  • Weather resistance
  • Panasonic’s claim of making people selection easier and having 2x better scene detection with people
  • 40fps with a blackout free viewfinder is cool
  • CineLike A2 reminds us of Agfa film
  • Constant preview has a new improved adaptability
  • They’re working closely with Godox on integration for affordable flash users
  • Capture one tethering support from day 1
  • Constant preview has a new improved adaptability
  • They kept the buttons on mostly the same places
  • False color for helping to get better exposures in-camera
  • The screen tilts and flips in nearly every direction you could think of.

Cons

  • I wish the autofocus were just a tad faster and more accurate in low light
  • Battery life can drain a bit too fast
  • I wish content authenticity were built into the camera

Innovations

This is the first camera of its type to give carbon fiber reinforcement to the shutter to improve the durability. Additionally, it’s the first camera of its type to use false color to let us get a better idea of how the exposure will work for still photography. Perhaps most important, the screen of the Panasonic LUMIX S1r II tilts and flips in every single direction you could possibly want.

Gear Used

We did a brief test of the camera with the Panasonic 20-60mm lens. Updates from our review are below.

A Lumix camera and lenses on a wooden desk with a white notebook labeled HONEST underneath.
Panasonic S1R II product photo

We tested the Panasonic S1R II (on loan to us from Panasonic and returned before the publishing of this review update) with the:

Who’s The Panasonic S1r II For?

A view of the Panasonic S1r II from up top
A view of the Panasonic S1r II from up top

This camera is very much for the professional photographer, high end passionate photographer, and the hybrid shooter. This is, in so many ways, the closest thing that Panasonic can deliver to the Nikon Z8, the Canon EOS R5 Mk II, and in some ways, the Sony a1 II. It feels every bit like a proper flagship camera. Essentially, if you make taxable income from your images the way I do, then this camera is for you.

While the Panasonic S1R II has lots of great video features, it’s a camera primarily designed for photographers in pretty much every way. I wouldn’t bother shooting video with this as Panasonic has much better cameras for that.

In reality, too, if you’re shooting video for an algorithm that treats you like a disposable creator, your iPhone is good enough.

How Will This Make You a Better Photographer?

There are a few tools that this gives you to become a better photographer. First off, multiple exposure has returned to being in-camera. Combined with all the pre-production tools that are available to you these days, you’ve got more potential than ever to shoot and work in-camera. On top of all this, you have Real Time LUT. While Panasonic emphasized this camera and its post-production capabilities, there is probably no other camera on the market that encourages you to get it right in-camera than this one.

Hardware

The Panasonic s1r II with other lenses from LUMIX
The Panasonic s1r II with other lenses from LUMIX

This camera is much smaller than what we’ve seen from Panasonic on the S1-lineup. In fact, this camera seems to be a Nikon Z8 in the form factor of the Panasonic LUMIX s5 II. And that’s fantastic in so many different ways. Something that’s really lovely are the texture of the dials up top and how hard they click with each rotation. But perhaps one of the coolest things is how Panasonic went and made a screen that can go into nearly any angle you could possibly think about.

On top of all this, it’s weather resistant. The brand reps told us that it was in Norway for a while with some folks (a paid trip, most likely) and it was raining the entire time. The camera survived.

Something else to note: Panasonic finally brought the shutter-down capabilities to this camera.

Of course, one of the other really nice things about this camera is that the shutter finally comes down to protect the sensor when the camera is powered down. But to address concerns of photographers, they reinforced it with carbon fiber to improve the durability. That’s quite awesome.

The shutter comes down to protect the sensor of the S1r II
The shutter comes down to protect the sensor of the S1r II

Of course, I’d be quite shocked if I didn’t talk about the most innovative thing about this camera: the fact that the screen goes in every which way possible.

Ease of Use

At least from my brief test with the pre-production unit, the camera’s menu system felt like it was stagnating a bit. For example, the multiple exposure option was kind of locked and I couldn’t do much with it. After using the ZS99’s menu for the past week or so, this feels like it’s behind and emphasizing more use of the buttons, dials, and joystick.

The S1r II's menu system
The S1r II’s menu system

Ease of Use Update May 2025

Straight out of the box, the Panasonic S1R II is pretty great and simple to use. Their menu system is and always has been one of the best to interact with. But I also felt like I needed to customize my S1R II experience a whole lot. For example, there are two big red buttons — both of which I disabled video recording for. Instead, I set one to turn off/on the scene detection function while the other one toggled the exposure preview settings. I also set the AF-On button to let me choose what scene detection mode to work with.

Long exposure photo of city skyline at night showing star trails and light streaks from airplanes in the sky.
Live Composite made with the Panasonic LUMIX S1rII

Trust me, these are very important details — and you’ll see why in the focusing section update.

However, the thing you should keep in mind is the absolute pure versatility that this camera gives you:

  • Live View Composite: Pretty much replaces any OM System camera offerings especially because it’s full-frame
  • Real Time Lut with the LUMIX Lab app: replaces Canon’s styles, Nikon’s Image Control, Sony’s Picture Profiles, and Fujifilm’s film simulations. In the case of Fujifilm, it’s replacing X-series because this is full-frame.
  • Multiple Exposure with RAW: Canon took this out of their latest cameras. At the moment, Panasonic LUMIX is the only full-frame camera brand that offers multiple exposure with RAW
A man in glasses and a hat is seen through a double exposure with tree branches and leaves.
Multiple Exposure made with the Panasonic S1R II

If you combine these with Profoto lights, lens filters, etc, there’s very little reason to even need to go into post-production at all. Seriously, this camera is one of the absolute best ones for photographers to make images in-camera and further differentiate themselves from those who spend all their time in post-production to make something look great.

My only big complaint: I wish that content authenticity were added to my images from within the camera and upon creation.

Oh, that and sometimes I feel like the battery life drains a bit quicker than I really wish it

Ease of Use Update October 2025

At this point in the review, I’m providing a much more thoughtful update to things. First off, know that I bought the camera this year It’s perhaps one of my favorite cameras of the year, but I also admittedly haven’t had much time to play with it. I purchased the camera because of the good autofocus, high megapixel count (relatively) and the fact that it still does multiple exposures with RAW options. On top of that, there’s Real Time LUT, the weather resistance and so much more.

The big changes here for photographers come with being able to change the autofocus frame color. And trust me, that’s super useful. More findings can be found in the autofocus section of this review.

Here are the changes.

LUMIX S1RII Firmware Version 1.2 Updates

  • Advanced Recording Formats
    • 8.1K / 7.2K (3:2) Open Gate recording and RAW data video can be output via HDMI for external recording.
    • ARRI LogC3 will be available by using DMW-SFU3A Software Upgrade Key (sold separately), enabling the colors to match ARRI’s digital cinema cameras (*1).
    • Supports HEIF recording in 4:2:0 10-bit format.
  • Improved Shooting Assistance Tools
    • Urban Sports recognition will be added to the existing human detection capabilities for eyes, faces, and bodies, accurately capturing dynamic movements like breakdancing, skateboarding, and parkour.
    • The frame aspect ratio options will be expanded from 10 to 17 and enable simultaneous display of up to three frames.
    • Focus stacking function introduces the ability to synthesize images taken at multiple focus positions to produce a single image with deep depth of field and sharpness throughout.
  • Expanded Workflow Capabilities
    • Direct transfers from the CFexpress Type B or SD memory card to an external SSD can be made, giving more workflow options and greater flexibility.
    • Supports recording proxy files to the internal memory card during HDMI RAW video data output.
    • Supports data transfer via Wi-Fi and wired LAN (USB-LAN conversion) with Capture One.
    • Compatible with timecode synchronization via Bluetooth®.
    • Connectivity with UVC/UAC devices is supported.
    • Compatible with Bluetooth® connectivity with DJI’s gimbals (*2)
    • HLG View Assist will be available for accurate gradation and exposure checks on the camera’s monitor or viewfinder, as well as on external monitors that do not support HLG.
  • Enhanced customization
    • The focus ring can be used as a control ring (*3), enabling for assigning key functions. Additionally, the focus rotation direction can be selected in MF mode.
    • The AF frame color can be chosen from 10 colors for better usability.

Focusing

We didn’t do much major focus testing with this camera during the 15 or so minutes we had to play with it. However, using a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 I, it was able to track a face while I used the focus and recompose method at the longer end of the lens. Where we will really want to see how this progresses is with people of color in low light. Panasonic was big on talking about how the human detection is 2x better.

Additionally, this camera has all the scene detection that the others have. They went as far as calling it “AI” even though they emphasized that it isn’t really. If anything, they called it more machine learning – which is what the rest of the industry except for Sony says.

Focusing Update May 2025

You should note: if scene detection is on, then tracking subjects that aren’t incorporated into that scene will be quite difficult. Where it’s most difficult is when you’re shooting an event and photographing people but then want to photograph a detail of someone or something. In my case, it was photographing faces and then food.

To explain this further, with quite literally any other camera system, tracking will never give me problems if I’m not focusing on a subject not part of the specific scene detection. In fact, I just did this with a much older Sony a7r III camera and the Canon EOS R5. If I’m at a rave photographing people and their outfits, then I want to focus in on someone’s unique necklace, I should be able to do that with ease while in tracking.

A small, fluffy dog on a leash stands indoors next to a person holding a green water bottle.
Shot with the Panasonic S1R II

Specifically, this problem happened with the tracking mode as I often find these days that the focus and recompose method of shooting is really the easiest way of getting the shot. In fact, I find it to be sometimes much faster than directly using the joystick to focus on a particular detail. Sometimes when trying to move the focusing point myself, it ends up going a bit further away than I want it to and that takes up more time.

Granted, focusing and recomposing isn’t always the best way to use this camera either. But if you’re shooting events, then it works. Let alone for most of photography history, photographers have focus and recomposed.

Autofocusing on people of color in low light is pretty accurate and fast to do. However, I still find Leica and Nikon to be better at it. If anything, the Panasonic S1R II is on par with the Sony a1 II — which Sony claims to be 30% better at autofocus on people.

Focus Update October 2025

Panasonic added Human sports to the LUMIX S1R II. It works very similarly to the other cameras that have this option. And for the most part, I haven’t had much of a problem with this addition. It’s one that I rarely use though. And for the very niche type of situations that this is used for, I’m amazed that it was even made. At the moment, it’s a Panasonic LUMIX exclusive feature.

There’s more to my autofocus update though.

Recently I’ve been using my cameras sort of like how we used to use DSLRs. With that said, I’m often using AF-S mode, a single autofocus point, and I’m turning off scene detection. And when I do this, I’ve found that AF-S mode is really not as great as I’d expect it to be. To be clear here, I tried it with LUMIX, TTArtisan, Sigma, and Leica lenses.

The best way that I can describe it is that shooting with the LUMIX S1R II in the way I just outlined feels like it’s a decade behind in some ways. I make it akin to shooting with the Fujifilm X Pro 1 where often you had to increase the size of the autofocus point to really get something in focus. More than that, you’d often be using the center focus point.

I’ve been seeing this across various camera systems though — with perhaps Canon and Nikon being the only ones being a bit different.

I know the point of mirrorless cameras was that they were supposed to offer up all this new and great tech. But at the same time, they were also supposed to be smaller than DSLRs, and in many cases, they’re not. In this situation though, I wish that Panasonic improved their autofocus performance in AF-S mode and wouldn’t necessarily rely on scene detection.

Make no mistake, if you’re shooting a paid gig, face detection is such a great feature. But when I’m not using it, I feel like I make more intentional decisions about my composition. And more than anything, we need more intentionality instead of making cameras brands and AI make all the decisions for us.

Update December 2025

These updates are minor but nice additions for photographers. At the moment, there aren’t many lenses that really support wildlife photographers. But if you happen to get your hands on one, then the new pre-shooting burst setting might be really nice.

As for autofocus on people, LUMIX hasn’t had this problem for a while. However, you should know that this works best with the AF-C mode on and with the wide area selected. I state this because for a while, I’ve been trying to shoot more and more like a ludite to keep my brain even more engaged with the photography process and to stop exporting brain tasks to the camera. Basically, I’ve been shooting like the camera is a DSLR. In fact, some of my recent work hasn’t involved photographing humans, it has instead involved photographing products and food.

With that said, these changes are nice. But I encourage photographers to remember to not outsource all tasks to a camera lest it replace you.

Below is a full list of the new improvements in this update.

LUMIX S1RII Firmware Ver. 1.3 / S1II Ver. 1.2 / S1IIE Ver. 1.2 updates

  1. Improved thermal control algorithm: This enables photographers to shoot videos for a longer duration without any adverse effects on their shoots due to environmental factors.
  2. Lower-speed option: This addition is ideal for SH burst shooting, including pre-burst shoots
  3. AF improvement: The new updates will allow the cameras to automatically recognise frames for the main subject while autofocusing. There is also an AF frame display, which enables human eye recognition, and it can be set to rectangular while focusing. Last is the enhanced AF tracking, which has been improved through an algorithm.
  4. Video features: The cameras will now have a new low-bitrate video format, ‘MP4 (lite).’ It can be set to 3.8K (3840×2560) 29.97p/25.00p 50Mbps
  5. Improved compatibility: The cameras will now be more compatible with the interchangeable lens S-R100500 and teleconverter (DMW-STC14/STC20).
  6. Support for LUMIX Smartphone App, LUMIX Flow Ver.1.4: The cameras now also have an external motor function, which allows for applying LUTs to live view, displaying multiple frame markers, and showing focus frames.

Other Improvements:

  • An icon indicating that the preview effect is disabled will be displayed on the shooting screen when [Constant Preview] is set to [OFF].
  • ISO Auto can be set in the [ISO Displayed Setting] menu in the Custom Menu.
  • A bug that caused the live view quality to differ between standby mode and video recording mode when applying false color has been fixed.
  • Added a 1.6x display option for the Anamorphic Desqueeze Display.
  • The base ISO sensitivity can now be visible on the ISO sensitivity setting screen when Dual Native ISO is set to AUTO.
  • The default setting for functions registered to the sub video recorder button has been changed to “No Setting” in both Photo Mode and Playback Mode.
  • The processing time for focus stacking has been improved through algorithm enhancements.
  • A menu has been added that allows you to display the live view with the same quality during both standby and video recording modes.

Panasonic S1R II Image Quality

Here are a few JPEGs we got to shoot with the camera. But more are coming when we get an official review unit.

The big thing about the Panasonic S1R II is the fact that they announced a partnership to make it more compatible with Capture One. Considering how brands tend to universally recommend the program over Adobe Lightroom to us, this brings us such joy. What’s even better is that the RAW files from the Panasonic S1R II feel like they have nearly endless versatility when editing them. There are situations where I had completely blown out the highlights and backlit a subject, but the S1R II was able to get lots of the details back and save the shadows at the same time.

If you’re one of those photographers who wants to get the exposure right in-camera and doesn’t want to underexpose like crazy to edit later on, then the S1R II is the camera that you’ll want to get. This only really starts to become a problem with highlights at ISO 6400 — and even then, it’s pretty much negligible. I’m not one of those photographers that needs to edit everything to look like a high dynamic range image.

Extra Image Samples

The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience since day one. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, many folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So, we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can decide for yourself.

Edited

Panasonic LUMIX S1r II sample image
A woman with closed eyes enjoys eating a taco outdoors at a food festival.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man with a nose ring is about to eat a piece of meat, sticking out his tongue towards it.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman wearing glasses eats barbecue meat with a plastic fork at an outdoor event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
Two people smiling, holding food close to their faces; one has a small Dominican Republic flag on their cheek.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man with a beard eating a sandwich outdoors, with buildings in the blurred background.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man enjoys eating a taco outdoors, holding it close to his mouth with his eyes closed.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man in a cap eating food with a plastic fork, holding a paper bowl near his mouth outdoors.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman with long hair enjoys eating a piece of meat outdoors at a food event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
Woman wearing sunglasses and a crown eats a sandwich at an outdoor event, bright sunlight on her face.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man with a beard eats a sandwich under bright light, with his mouth open wide and eyes closed.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man in a gray hoodie eating food with a fork at an outdoor event, looking directly at the camera.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman with sunglasses eats a blackberry at an outdoor event, with buildings visible in the background.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
Person wearing blue sunglasses eating food from a small paper tray at an outdoor event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman in a camo hat eats a hamburger, holding it close to her mouth with her left hand.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man with glasses eating food outdoors at a sunny event, with blurred trees and tents in the background.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A man in a hat and sunglasses hanging from his shirt stands outside on a sunny day, with a soft background.
Image by Chris Gampat
Gloved hands hold a cut sandwich filled with meat over a wooden cutting board with a large knife.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman opens her mouth wide to eat a large piece of meat on a fork.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
Woman eating fries from a paper tray, looking at the camera with a playful expression at an outdoor event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A black camera with a strap lying on a brown fabric, illuminated by a beam of sunlight.
Sample image from the Panasonic S1r II showcasing the Fujifilm GFX 100RF
Colorful tulips in red, yellow, and white bloom in a garden in front of a house.
Image by Chris Gampat
Large tree with thick branches in foreground, brick house and leafy trees in background under blue sky.
Image by Chris Gampat
A person takes a photo in a sunlit, leafy garden pathway lined with potted plants and flowers.
Image by Chris Gampat
Green door at 4405 with pink flower petals covering the walkway and steps, surrounded by greenery.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man in a hat photographs greenery on a sunny sidewalk, with a bag on the ground beside him.
Image by Chris Gampat
A tattooed man in an apron talks on the phone, covering his ear, outdoors at a market or event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman with glasses drinks from a can under a white tent, smiling and looking up.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman with short blond hair smiles while eating food at an outdoor event.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A woman wearing sunglasses eats ice cream from a cup with a wooden spoon outdoors.
Panasonic LUMIX S1r II sample image
Person wearing round glasses and a red cap smiling while eating food outdoors.
Panasonic LUMIX S1r II sample image
A woman with curly hair eats food with a plastic fork at an outdoor event, looking directly at the camera.
Panasonic LUMIX S1r II sample image
Two smiling men pose together outdoors, one giving a thumbs up and the other wearing sunglasses.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A gloved hand holds a loaded taco with meat, cilantro, onion, and a lemon wedge.
Sample image from the Panasonic LUMIX S1R II
A horse skeleton decoration stands in a lush, colorful garden beside a brick house.
Image by Chris Gampat
Brick building corner covered in ivy, with large windows and leafy trees overhead against a clear blue sky.
Image by Chris Gampat
Tree branches with small pink blossoms against a bright blue sky and green, leafy background.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man in a denim jacket gestures while standing in a lush, green garden.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man in a maroon Lone Star sweatshirt sits with arms crossed in a lush, leafy garden.
Image by Chris Gampat
Two adjacent front doors, one red and new, the other white and weathered, on a brick house facade.
Image by Chris Gampat
Close-up of pale pink azalea flowers in soft sunlight with a blurred green background.
Image by Chris Gampat
Green ivy climbs the brick exterior of a building, surrounding windows and a doorway numbered 3952.
Image by Chris Gampat
Dimly-lit bar with exposed brick walls, string lights, pinball machines, and cozy seating areas.
Image by Chris Gampat
A single window in a brick wall with plants and sunlight in the foreground.
Image by Chris Gampat

Unedited

Brown and white dog on a leash standing on a sidewalk, looking up at the camera.
Image by Chris Gampat
A person reaches through a wire fence to pet a gray cat standing on the other side.
Image by Chris Gampat
Man with glasses and a yellow cap stands in front of a brick wall, looking directly at the camera.
Image by Chris Gampat
A person with a camera looks up at blooming pink flowers on a sunny day outdoors.
Image by Chris Gampat
Blurred vertical streaks in earthy tones, possibly trees or buildings, with a red circular logo in the corner.
Image by Chris Gampat
A smiling family of three poses together at a cozy restaurant with brick walls.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage Ernst Leitz Wetzlar camera sits on a dark surface, showing its top controls and lens.
Image by Chris Gampat
Tree-lined residential street with parked cars on both sides, under bright daylight.
Image by Chris Gampat
Audience seated in a dimly lit room, watching a presentation on two large screens at the front.
Image by Chris Gampat
A sunny park with benches, trees, people sitting, and a statue at the center.
Image by Chris Gampat
A tall, leafless tree with a few small green buds against a bright, clear sky.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man in a suit presents a vintage camera slide at an auction event using a microphone.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man and a woman laughing and speaking into microphones at an indoor event, with another man seated nearby.
Image by Chris Gampat
Pink cherry blossoms on tree branches with a blurred brown building in the background.
Image by Chris Gampat
A man presents a camera auction slide showing a vintage camera and auction details on a projector screen.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage Leica M4 prototype camera displayed in a glass case with an information card beside it.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage black Leica camera displayed on a dark surface with a blurred background.
Image by Chris Gampat
A camera on a block.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage black camera with a textured body sits on a dark surface, viewed from above.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage Leica camera prototype displayed on a stand with an information card beside it.
Image by Chris Gampat
A person in a suit with a camera hanging from their neck by a red strap.
Image by Chris Gampat
A cameraman films in a gallery with people viewing photos and cameras in glass display cases.
Image by Chris Gampat
A blurry image of a house and cars with streaked motion blur, making details hard to distinguish.
Image by Chris Gampat
Close-up of a fluffy dogs face, focusing on its curious eyes and fur, with a blurred background.
Image by Chris Gampat
Tree branches with sparse leaves against a clear blue sky, viewed from below.
Image by Chris Gampat
Close-up of a red tulip with open petals, surrounded by purple tulips and green leaves.
Image by Chris Gampat
A painted glass ornament hangs from a leafy tree branch with blurred greenery in the background.
Image by Chris Gampat
A potted plant and a tube of cream sit on a round wooden table in natural light.
Image by Chris Gampat
A tree-lined city sidewalk bordered by a black fence and parked cars on a sunny day.
Image by Chris Gampat
A vintage camera with gold accents placed on a dark surface, viewed from above.
Image by Chris Gampat
A woman with glasses speaks into a microphone in front of a screen, with three men standing behind her.
Image by Chris Gampat
A woman leans forward to photograph a display case with a digital camera in a modern gallery.
Image by Chris Gampat

Panasonic S1r II Tech Specs

  • 44.3MP full frame sensor
  • The new Leica 2 engine
  • ISO 80 to 51200
  • Real time LUT 
  • AFC to 40fps with blackout free 
  • New EIS mode for image stabilization 
  • 779 af points 8 stops of Ibis 
  • Phase hybrid autofocus with AI for subject detection and recognition 
  • IS works well with Lumix and Sigma
  • 1.84k lcd screen 
  • Shutter closing function as the shutter blades have been reconstructed with carbon to do that. 
  • Metal gearing in the shutter with 400,000 rating 
  • 5760k OLED viewfinder 
  • 39 LUTs on the camera can be stored
  • False color: an exposure tool for video use that overlays a color chart that is tied to levels of exposure. That’s now added into video and photo. Pink for skin tones. Red is blown out highlights. Fully black is shadows. 
  • Shutter speed limiter is so that you can ensure that the camera doesn’t shoot slower than a specific setting for video. 
  • Weather sealing 
  • MULTIPLE EXPOSURE MODE IS BACK
  • 8.1k and 7.2k open gate is coming via firmware updates
  • New photo style: Cinelike a2 (like Agfa)
  • Dynamic range expansion for 14 stops of dynamic range for video
  • Tally lamps for video recording 
  • This camera has “AI”
  • 1.6x faster to lock onto target than s5 II. 2x better than those for human. 
  • They redid the human detection, it will really focus in on the eye and the pupil
  • Updated subject recognition of the human form
  • Cropless mode: it corrects perspective distortion with lumix lenses. Others might come later. 
  • New button on around the mount for video. It can be reprogrammed for photo
  • New grip that uses that battery first and then the one in the camera second
  • Direct support to frame.io

Declaration of Journalistic Intent

The Phoblographer is one of the last standing dedicated photography publications that speaks to both art and tech in our articles. We put declarations up front in our reviews to adhere to journalistic standards that several publications abide by. These help you understand a lot more about what we do:

  • At the time of publishing this review, Panasonic LUMIX is running direct-sold advertising with the Phoblographer. This doesn’t affect our reviews anyway and it never has in our 15 years of publishing our articles. This article is in no way sponsored.
  • Note that this isn’t necessarily our final review of the unit. It will be updated, and it’s more of an in-progress review than anything. In fact, almost all our reviews are like this.
  • None of the reviews on the Phoblographer are sponsored. That’s against FTC laws and we adhere to them just the same way that newspapers, magazines, and corporate publications do.
  • Panasonic loaned the unit and accessories to the Phoblographer for review. There was no money exchange between us or their 3rd party partners and the Phoblographer for this to happen. Manufacturers trust the Phoblographer’s reviews, as they are incredibly blunt.
  • Panasonic knows that it cannot influence the site’s reviews. If we don’t like something or if we have issues with it, we’ll let our readers know.
  • Panasonic paid for Uber rides for us to meet with them in NYC. They also provided refreshments, of which we only took coffee and water. At a later time, a a unit will be shipped to the Phoblographer and, if they request it back, will be paying for the return shipment. This is a standard practice in the world of journalism.
  • The Phoblographer’s standards for reviewing products have become much stricter. After having the world’s largest database of real-world lens reviews, we choose not to review anything we don’t find innovative or unique, and in many cases, products that lack weather resistance. We’ve also steered away from Micro Four Thirds and APS-C as they’re dying formats in the interchangeable lens camera world. This is a conclusion that even the other members of TIPA agree on. Unless something is very unique, we probably won’t touch it.
  • In recent years, brands have withheld NDA information from us or stopped working with us because they feel they cannot control our coverage. These days, many brands will not give products to the press unless they get favorable coverage. In other situations, we’ve stopped working with several brands for ethical issues. Either way, we report as honestly and rawly as humanity allows.
  • At the time of publishing, the Phoblographer is the only photography publication that is a member of Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative. We champion human-made art and are frank with our audience. We are also the only photography publication that labels when an image is edited or not.

More can be found on our Disclaimers page.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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