BTM_Pix

Got my S1RII and like I thought, I'm a bit disappointed.
Stills are great with very good resolution, the Dpreview studio test is odd because the camera is very sharp even when using not so sharp lenses like the 28-200mm. 
But there are better cameras for photography, AF implementation is weird, AF-S is only DFD and the buffer is a joke when shooting high fps pictures.
Video quality is the same than S5II, a bit less sharpening but still the same video engine, it still looks worse than the old gen, the resolution just feels not as good, no matter the mode or resolution used the image doesn't look really sharp in a good way, lines are not straight, some details are missing like if a filter or blur in some part of the image was added. The image looks like there is a slight oil painting touch softening the image at the core. Like on the S5II the rec 709 profiles are worse than V-log.
So it is a bit ironic from Lumix to say "discover unseen details" for their S1RII tagline. Because of this the moire is not too much prononced. Some will like this tradeoff. 
I tested Prores Raw 6K Pixel to Pixel and the image is much better, the weird processing is gone. But I can't get the image right when using Premiere Pro, colors are off, I don't think Prores Raw is really fully supported by Premiere. The crop and the data size also makes this mode hard to use and it is not supported at all by Resolve.
Using the Canon R5 or Z6III for raw is much easier as the files are better supported and there is no crop.
The rolling shutter is just bad when using the DR boost, I didn't think I could see it but I can see jello even with relatively slow movements. In addition 24fps is the max fps we can use with DR boost and Open Gate. I can't select 30fps, maybe a bug.
I think the best modes are 6k or 4k 60fps, there is only a slight crop, worse DR because no DR boost and the image quality becomes even slighltly worse but there is not a big difference with the 30fps and the rolling shutter is better.
I quickly tested the 4k 120fps and as if it isn't enough that the 4k30fps was not great, the 120fps is even worse : blurry, bad details, just unusable. When selecting Pixel to Pixel, the quality is better but again these crop make these Pixel to Pixel modes hard to use and feel like we are using a S35 camera. 
Stabilization is the best in the market and for me it's the main reason I still use Panasonic (with Open Gate too). But the S5II is as good ...
 
The S1RII feels like it was created for people taking mostly photography of still subjects. And for this the camera is good, not the best DR performance but nice colors and impressive 177MP handheld mode (the image makes a very long time to create though, much longer than on the S5II). For video it comes with marketing bait as 8k and 4k 120fps. The 8k like every other modes except raw is too much processed, it has high rolling shutter when the DR boost is enabled and the 4k120fps is not good at all. Yes we can do a lot of things with this camera but with big penalties most of the time.
The added Prores Raw is questionable too, the files are not supported in Resolve and the crop is really disappointing.

The fact remains, however, than the S1RII is the only affordable high resolution camera with acceptable autofocus for L mount. However, I don't see anything which could attract new users to Lumix or L mount, the S5II is a much better value for Youtube and other social media creators. And the A7RIV is much cheaper and has better AF for stills. 3600€ is a lot of money but I would have happily spend a bit more to get better video engine, better rolling shutter and 8k raw. 
As things stand at the moment with the current firmware, I think the right price should be more about 3200€.


About the reviews available online like the one from Northrup, I think the best is to always wait for some Chinese or Korean reviews, they provides much more informations and are much more unbiased than any Northrup or Undone reviews.

Here is an exemple of a good and accurate review :

 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you definitely won’t get either in that Blackmagic presentation 😀

OK, so we have until Friday to indulge in baseless wild speculation about what the new products will be.
Watch along live here.
 

One that would be interesting is if they took the original UMP12K Super35 sensor and put it in the Pocket 6K Pro body.
Though I suspect they would need to add too much power to make it viable.
I’m hopeful that they have a firmware upgrade for the Micro Studio 4K G2 that allows the use of the USB-C monitor they make for the PYXIS.
Or at least one that switches on the Bluetooth module we all know that’s in it but they inexplicably won’t let us use!

One that would be interesting is if they took the original UMP12K Super35 sensor and put it in the Pocket 6K Pro body.
Though I suspect they would need to add too much power to make it viable.
I’m hopeful that they have a firmware upgrade for the Micro Studio 4K G2 that allows the use of the USB-C monitor they make for the PYXIS.
Or at least one that switches on the Bluetooth module we all know that’s in it but they inexplicably won’t let us use!

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you definitely won’t get either in that Blackmagic presentation 😀

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you definitely won’t get either in that Blackmagic presentation 😀

One that would be interesting is if they took the original UMP12K Super35 sensor and put it in the Pocket 6K Pro body.
Though I suspect they would need to add too much power to make it viable.
I’m hopeful that they have a firmware upgrade for the Micro Studio 4K G2 that allows the use of the USB-C monitor they make for the PYXIS.
Or at least one that switches on the Bluetooth module we all know that’s in it but they inexplicably won’t let us use!

OK, so we have until Friday to indulge in baseless wild speculation about what the new products will be.
Watch along live here.
 

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

Not to mention that Museum Of Modern Moiré building.
 

Not to mention that Museum Of Modern Moiré building.
 

I have a new setup and pipeline and I'm really happy with it.
GH7 shooting V-Log in C4K Prores 422 internally, at around 500Mbps 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 lens for daytime, 12-35mm F2.8 for night-time K&F True Colour 1-5 stop vND Pipeline in Resolve: CST to DWG as working colour space Plugin for basic shot adjustments Film Look Creator for overall look (and for taking the digititis out of the image) ARRI709 LUT to get to 709 output I went on a walk on Monday to test the full setup, and it was a crazy hot day (37C/99F) and direct midday sun, so seriously challenging conditions.  Here are a few grabs (be sure to click-through rather than viewing the preview files embedded in the post).










My notes and impressions - while shooting:
Setup was GH7, 14-140mm lens, vND, and a wrist-strap and that's it I used the integrated screen, showing histogram, zebras, and focus-peaking to monitor I used back-button focus to AF before hitting record, so no AF-C going on while shooting (and randomly changing its mind about what to focus on) All shots were 14-140mm at F5.6 for constant exposure The K&F 1-5 stop vND had enough range, when combined with the DR of the GH7, so I never needed to change settings, despite going in and out of shadow (and even inside, which isn't included in the above images) The vND had a much more consistent sky and colour render than my old (crappy) vND, so I'm really happy with it I did ETTR and bring images down in post, but my tests indicated that V-LOG is very linear so there are a good few stops of latitude there The "tripod mode" of IBIS, which locks the frame completely, was very effective (despite me being hot and not having eaten for hours) and I could hand-hold past 70mm without it needing to drift, and even at 140mm (280mm FF equivalent) the shots will be fine with a bit of stabilisation in post (C4K on 1080p timeline) I shot about 18mins of footage in about 1.5 hours, camera was on most of the time with screen at full brightness, and didn't get any notifications about the battery, and didn't look to see how much was left since I have a spare My notes and impressions - in post:
I chose a Film Look Creator preset and then just messed with it for maybe 10 mins, while scrolling back and forth through the footage, and I deliberately pushed the contrast to create a really strong sense of the contrast between the beating sun and the deep shadows Shots had exposure adjusted (obviously, due to ETTR) and some had contrast lowered and a few had slight WB tweaks, but that's it I never felt like I was fighting with the footage, and it didn't feel like work when creating the look..  I've shot with a lot of cheap cameras with tiny sensors and you always feel like you're trying to make gold out of lead, but playing in the FLC was more like choosing between a large range of high-quality options I used another copy of the FLC to adjust exposure etc per shot, with it set to not impart and 'look'.  The advantage of that is that in Resolve there is a mode (Shift-F) that maximises the preview image and gets rid of the GUI except for the vertical toolbar on the right-hand-side where the DCTL and OFX plugins are, so it's a way of getting almost a full-screen view but keeping the controls visible..  very useful if you don't have a control surface or a second monitor handy. I'll talk more about my thought process and how I got to this setup in a later post, and also go into some of the technical stuff (DR, high-ISO, etc) but more importantly than that, I finally feel like the tech has come of age.
What I mean by that is that I now have a setup where:
I can shoot with a conveniently sized setup that doesn't need a rig and is ergonomic to use It has the right usability features, such as histograms, zebras, focus-peaking etc internally The monitor is bright enough The GH7 plus lenses (14-140mm F3.5-5.6 and 12-35mm F2.8) are long enough and fast enough to shoot what I see, without being too large, heavy, or prohibitively expensive It has enough spec that it can deal with almost all the situations that I actually shoot in, with enough DR for the sun, enough ISO for night-time, and fans so it doesn't overheat before I do, etc It shoots internally using a colour space and codec that don't look cheap/amateurish and make me think about upgrading It doesn't fight with me in the colour grade Resolve and the Film Look Creator are able to easily give me the flexibility in post to match images and correct any weaknesses from shooting (e.g. if there's a bit of movement when shooting hand-held at 140mm) Resolve and the Film Look Creator are able to remove the 'digital/video' look and instead give me a range of options that don't look artificial and most importantly, contribute a feeling to the footage without distracting from the content of the images (this is, after all, the entire purpose of what we're doing here.....) For the first time it feels like I'm getting the results I want because of the equipment I have, rather than in spite of it.

It was missing a question mark as I was looking for confirmation if it was or wasn’t 😀
I don’t disagree but by the same token, the S5 has garnered the reputation as being a much nicer image than it’s successor the S5ii from people who own both bur I only have personal experience with the latter so I have no idea.
Keeping the resolution of the camera in all names means It has a whiff of the file naming abyss you fall down with “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion.mov” that quickly becomes “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion_v2.mov”
 

It was missing a question mark as I was looking for confirmation if it was or wasn’t 😀
I don’t disagree but by the same token, the S5 has garnered the reputation as being a much nicer image than it’s successor the S5ii from people who own both bur I only have personal experience with the latter so I have no idea.
Keeping the resolution of the camera in all names means It has a whiff of the file naming abyss you fall down with “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion.mov” that quickly becomes “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion_v2.mov”
 

Dr. No Clue
Blofortune
Scaramaga 

It was missing a question mark as I was looking for confirmation if it was or wasn’t 😀
I don’t disagree but by the same token, the S5 has garnered the reputation as being a much nicer image than it’s successor the S5ii from people who own both bur I only have personal experience with the latter so I have no idea.
Keeping the resolution of the camera in all names means It has a whiff of the file naming abyss you fall down with “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion.mov” that quickly becomes “FinalEditUltimateRevisionDeliveryVersion_v2.mov”
 

To save you bothering to watch that video (as pretty as the visuals are) here is what it ended up being about.

It doesn't have a full HDMI, SDI or proper timecode.
FAIL.
For me, it doesn't look as good as my 5Diii, no internal storage and it doesn't have IBIS.
WTF...
Why didn't anybody tell me this?
Haha, but I'd still argue that BM neutered everything that was cool about the OG Pocket's image for those other things, without adding the better battery life... but I guess that's debatable because there are so many different low end, +K BM Pocket models that it's hard to differentiate which one does what or all of those things.
"If you want better battery... well then you have to upgrade to the 6K... better screen and internal NDs... you my friend will need the 6K Pro. If you just need 4K and a better screen, then the 4K will work for you... but just a warning it is in no way pocketable, but by pocket we always meant it had a built in hand grip and was shaped kinda like a regular camera not that it could actually fit into a pocket. Also the image just isn't as cool as the original pocket... but with the included software you can just do it in post."
"Ok... cool. But I shoot events and YouTube content"
"Then you will want one of our various switchers. We sell them too"
Blackmagic Design, your all stop shop for things you don't need that end up being a lot more complicated than Premiere and FCPX.
 

Dr. No Clue
Blofortune
Scaramaga