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Panasonic S1 V-LOG -- New image quality king of the hill


Andrew Reid
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On 11/12/2020 at 5:20 PM, mtol said:

I was previously feeling a bit cynical about Panasonic, debating trading in my S1 for an S5 but not wanting to give any more money to the company, and I take it back.

Looking forward to this next update, though I wonder if there's a real jump in quality from 4k to 5.9k. What's the real use value of that?

The real value is when your capture resolution exceeds your delivery resolution, you can do post punch-ins and pans without a loss in quality. If you don't need to post pan, then downscale to make up for the 4:2:0 encoding, or just shoot ProRes RAW and have even higher quality footage.

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EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

Just grabbed the v.2.0 FW updater and VLog_RAWGamut_to_VLog_VGamut_forS1H_ver100.cube LUT, thank you Panasonic! :) Looking keep one of my S1's on v.1.6 for the immediate future so as to do a proper side-by-side of the original 8-bit VLOG output vs. the now internally available 10-bit variants to see what it brings to the table.

Regarding the now available external ProRes RAW capabilities, purchasing an Atomos Ninja V (roughly and extra $1000+ upfront cost for the unit + SSD + proper HDMI cable + mounting accessories) seems extremely unlikely (unless I can locate a good deal on someone's used no-longer-loved setup...at an agreeable price, ha!) for the foreseeable future as I'm already in need of figuring out a "best solution" for an external HDR monitor for my desktop NLE setup (2019 i9 iMac Mojave FCPX 10.4.8). I'll have to sit it out with the rest of the non-Ninja-owning crowd and suffice with the online test-reviewers for their experiences and verdicts regarding the RAW capabilities for now.

A future FW update for Internal ProRes RAW data packet dumps to the internal CFExpress cards please, Panasonic/Apple. :)

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9 hours ago, Jimmy G said:

 

A future FW update for Internal ProRes RAW data packet dumps to the internal CFExpress cards please, Panasonic/Apple. 🙂

That is up to RED unfortunately as they hold the internal compressed raw patent

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On 4/6/2021 at 4:03 PM, ntblowz said:

That is up to RED unfortunately as they hold the internal compressed raw patent

I keep seeing this "RED's RAW patent" topic pop up...does anyone have a link or some source material on this matter? It's infathomable to me that a single company could possibly hold some sort of, um, "imperial control" over how the outputted digital bits, coming off of a sensor, are counted and sorted and transported and stored.

Disclaimer: I am no lawyer, no mathematician, no digital circuit design wizard. LOL

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20 minutes ago, Jimmy G said:

I keep seeing this "RED's RAW patent" topic pop up...does anyone have a link or some source material on this matter? It's infathomable to me that a single company could possibly hold some sort of, um, "imperial control" over how the outputted digital bits, coming off of a sensor, are counted and sorted and transported and stored.

Disclaimer: I am no lawyer, no mathematician, no digital circuit design wizard. LOL

No imaginary control is more real than when Apple can't out lawyer it and China can't ignore it.

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I'm more and more pleased with this camera all the time. I recently purchased the 1.5x aivascope anamorphic adapter (amber flare) and, paired with my trusty Helios 44-2, a little black pro mist, and of course that thick V-Log image, this little Easter Weekend run-and-gun lens test I shot last week felt effortlessly cinematic:

(this was even before the big firmware 2.0 update, so now I'm even more excited to try out some of the new anamorphic ibis modes and especially that 6k, 3:2 open-gate/full sensor mode.) 

Also: 12-bit, 5.9k anamorphic Pro Res Raw, anyone?! 🤯

The S1 is going for like $1500 used these days. Absolutely incredible what it's capable of. The best bang-for-buck in the camera world right now 👌🏻 

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On 4/16/2021 at 4:10 PM, Parker said:

The S1 is going for like $1500 used these days. Absolutely incredible what it's capable of. The best bang-for-buck in the camera world right now

 

It´s easy to second that. Best bang for buck regarding image quality. Would love to try out a Sigma FP due to its form factor but S1 is a technical marvel.

Yesterday I visited a friend of mine. He used to work in a hotel in Berlin, which has been sold to investors so they can turn it into an office building. He has been working there for ten years. The hotel received financial aid from the state because of Covid and was able to maintain a small profit. Despite that it was sold and with it all labor of love and the stories and memories. So we roamed the rooms and floors and exiting sights. I filmed with a bargain zoom lens, which I bought for around ten EU I think, a Unitor 35 to 70, very soft when wide open in bright sunlight conditions and at longer distances. Still love that lens for its built and character. Shot in VLOG 10bit 25p with high shutter speeds.

So here it goes, my lil poem, "Hotel Farewell", filmed with my S1 yesterday. Hope you enjoy. cheers

 

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8 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

 

It´s easy to second that. Best bang for buck regarding image quality. Would love to try out a Sigma FP due to its form factor but S1 is a technical marvel.

Yesterday I visited a friend of mine. He used to work in a hotel in Berlin, which has been sold to investors so they can turn it into an office building. He has been working there for ten years. The hotel received financial aid from the state because of Covid and was able to maintain a small profit. Despite that it was sold and with it all labor of love and the stories and memories. So we roamed the rooms and floors and exiting sights. I filmed with a bargain zoom lens, which I bought for around ten EU I think, a Unitor 35 to 70, very soft when wide open in bright sunlight conditions and at longer distances. Still love that lens for its built and character. Shot in VLOG 10bit 25p with high shutter speeds.

So here it goes, my lil poem, "Hotel Farewell", filmed with my S1 yesterday. Hope you enjoy. cheers

 

Great film. It looks like an urban Overlook... Come play with us, Marty. Forever. And Ever. And Ever.

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7 hours ago, mercer said:

Great film. It looks like an urban Overlook... Come play with us, Marty. Forever. And Ever. And Ever.

Thank you, my friend! This coming from you means a lot to me! I am always exited to see your stuff. This is what this forum is about for me. Exitement, inspiration and great friends!

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14 hours ago, Thpriest said:

Camera looks amazing. Is there a real difference in image quality/look over the S5? (Other than internal 6k). I mean, does 4K 25p and 50p 10bit look the same?

 

S5 would look the same, same sensor, same digital pipeline, same codecs. That open gate 6K from the S1 will be something I will love to check out though. Full height for my lenses, awesome!

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20 hours ago, Thpriest said:

Camera looks amazing. Is there a real difference in image quality/look over the S5? (Other than internal 6k). I mean, does 4K 25p and 50p 10bit look the same?

The 4K on the S5 is the same as the 4K on the S1, as far as I can tell. I am surprised at 150Mbs h.264 how "pushable" the files are in post. 

Also, I have zero issues with shooting at ISO 4000 in 4K and delivering in 1080p. Whatever noise is in there isn't really a problem and the dynamic range is still quite good.

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  • 2 months later...

That´s a mini Varicam for 1000 GBP! That´s a steal! @Tim Sewell

I am curious to test some primes with it. So far I have used my S1 with little cheapo zooms. The 35-70mm F4 Canon FD is indeed a little beauty. Mechanically it´s flawed. Lens alignment is shaky once the rubber pads inside get worn out. Here is some footage for location scouting with the kewl Tokina 25-50. Sun was very harsh. It was a beautiful summer day, to say it with other words.:) The mellow contrast of the Tokina gives the S1 image nice smoothnes. Anyway, this camera is fun. Hard to believe what kinda quality we get for around 1500EU if bought used. Grading is a bit too greenish. Was trying to built a greenish Lut I guess.:)

 

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From my personal experience it is amazing at around 28-40mm. Its a little wonky on the super wide end like 20mm or less. 50mm is good though iffy for moving shots, past 50mm starts to get iffy in general. The boost mode IBIS works great for locked down looking shots even at longer focal lengths though. 

 

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