The Panasonic S1 II pricing is wrong, and so is the entire product strategy since 2018

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, Thpriest said:

First job today, video and photos. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations!

My prediction is it will and it is a step up from the S5II.

I’d also choose lens but Sigma 28-70 will soldier on for now as I prefer 28 over 24 personally and 70 over 60, but the Lumix 24-60 is probably the better lens now.

 

[Thpriest]

5 hours ago, MrSMW said:

My prediction is it will and it is a step up from the S5II.

And your prediction is correct! A huge difference in responsiveness in general and so much easier to use when switching between video and photo. I felt it worked a lot better with my Godox flash as well (I’m still pretty new to flash). I feel I have way more “keepers”. The screen and evf are great. I had it on for 5 hours pretty much non stop with no problem although it was probably only about 20 degrees in the venue.

Tomorrow I have another similar event (video and photo) and on Saturday anther event with photos only. I think they are going to be a lot easier to manage than they would have been with the S5ii. I would probably have had 2 S5iis, 1for doing photo and 1 for video. Now I can do the same with one camera!

[MrSMW]

That ability to flip between stills and video is great…as long as you either:

A. Don’t mind using an ND for stills. Personally I do mind.

B. Or don’t mind cranking the shutter for video. Personally I don’t mind and last 3 weddings I shot with zero ND and did not notice any difference to the quality of the video other than the image quality was better than the previous 3 jobs shot with a VND.

C. Or use a flip up or magnetic filter and I have tried both and didn’t care for either.

I think one of the beauties of shooting video with the S1RII is base 200 ISO in log (and 160 with ARRI log C but personally think Vlog looks better most of the time bit could make a better base if also baking in a LUT) meaning less requirement for using ND anyway.

I have however decided to go back to having separate bodies for stills and video because it just works better for me, with less kit, more range, near zero lens swaps.

On that basis, I currently have one of my S1RII’s dedicated to stills with the 28-70 with hybrid zoom (28-105 and still achieving 18mp stills at the long end) enabled for outdoor use, with the 35mm f1.8 as my low-light indoor option.

The second S1RII I bought used came with the Arri Log preinstalled and I have this one paired with the 17-40 crop lens (and with EIS enabled it’s giving me a FF equivalent range of approx 28-66) as my dedicated run & gun video unit, with 18mm f1.8 as my wide angle FF option, especially for indoor low light, tighter scenarios.

S9 has had a stay of execution and I have welded the 85mm f1.8 to it and mounted it on a lightweight tripod as my sniper video unit, plus is serves as a back up to any or all of my 3 main cams.

The 3rd main cam being the same S5II workhorse with the 70-200 f4 on heavy tripod for all my static and long form capture stuff. I also have the 50mm f1.8 in reserve for it for tighter, lower light, indoor scenarios, so all bases as covered as they can be.

But going back to the video/stills settings, being able to have I think 9 dedicated stills settings and 9 video at the turn of a single dial is fantastic. I only have 4 settings set up and these are; outdoor landscape, outdoor people, indoor lower light and indoor/outdoor extreme low light as in after dark, each with appropriate ISO ranges and WB etc.

It’s crazy really how good this kit now is and the S1RII might not be my favourite camera of all time, but it is easily the most capable and zero complaints other than yes, I would have preferred the more rangefinderesque body style (and hope Panny makes one or at least a Leica Q3 43 rival) and average at best battery life. And obviously, the 4” screen a la ZR would be very welcome, but I’d personally want it with the S1RII style mech and not flipped out to the side. I’d prefer just tilt even to flip out to the side!

Best video quality I have had out of a camera and it’s pretty robust with equal image quality to the best I have ever had which was Sony A7RV.

As a pure stills camera, I think the A7RV does still have the edge being honest, but it’s a narrow margin and as a hybrid, the LUMIX comfortably tops it.

Not updated the firmware yet but that was very welcome.

I hope your shoot goes as well tomorrow.

[MrSMW]

Something else I forgot to say was the difference between the S5II/S9 video and the S1RII is how clean/nicer the latter is.

Working with all 3 on the same timeline, especially with lower light stuff, it’s very clear which is which because the S5II/S9 footage whilst not muddy, seems muddy when compared with that coming from the S1RII.

This is partly why I have moved the S9 into a very limited secondary role where along with the S5II, they will be responsible for pretty much just 3 scenarios resulting in 3 pieces of footage, albeit in the case of the S5II, that means full length wedding ceremony and full length speeches.

Anyone using these cameras together will probably confirm the same difference.

[Jahleh]

4 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Something else I forgot to say was the difference between the S5II/S9 video and the S1RII is how clean/nicer the latter is.

Working with all 3 on the same timeline, especially with lower light stuff, it’s very clear which is which because the S5II/S9 footage whilst not muddy, seems muddy when compared with that coming from the S1RII.

This is partly why I have moved the S9 into a very limited secondary role where along with the S5II, they will be responsible for pretty much just 3 scenarios resulting in 3 pieces of footage, albeit in the case of the S5II, that means full length wedding ceremony and full length speeches.

Anyone using these cameras together will probably confirm the same difference.

When S1RII came out I played also with the files Connor Maccaskill provided and they did look nice and cleaner compared to S5II footage I had captured during previous year or two.
Still, as I already had my foot firmly in the Nikon Raw camp, did not want to pay the difference to change back to Panasonic.

[Thpriest]

16 hours ago, MrSMW said:

That ability to flip between stills and video is great…as long as you either:

A. Don’t mind using an ND for stills. Personally I do mind.

B. Or don’t mind cranking the shutter for video. Personally I don’t mind and last 3 weddings I shot with zero ND and did not notice any difference to the quality of the video other than the image quality was better than the previous 3 jobs shot with a VND.

C. Or use a flip up or magnetic filter and I have tried both and didn’t care for either.

I hope your shoot goes as well tomorrow.

I have the flip VND. Very happy with it. For years I used magnetic VNDs but the flip is miles better. If I’m indoors and using flash I just take it off.

I had loads more photos that were keepers! I feel so much more confident in the AF, especially with flash, as the camera is just quicker. I sometimes found I’d be a split second behind with the S5ii which meant I had more shots out of focus or with the subject pulling a funny face.

Very happy so far. Let’s see how today goes.

[MrSMW]

4 hours ago, Jahleh said:

When S1RII came out I played also with the files Connor Maccaskill provided and they did look nice and cleaner compared to S5II footage

And when he also did a test of standard Vlog vs Arri log, the standard Vlog looked a lot better to me.

Someone else and I forget who now (but it was someone UK) also did a side by side between the S1II and S1RII and all though he made a case that the S1II was better, about 90% of the comments including myself, disagreed.

I was playing with building a new custom non-log profile based on a download from LUMIX Lab, but heavy rain has stopped play 😒

1 hour ago, Thpriest said:

I have the flip VND. Very happy with it. For years I used magnetic VNDs but the flip is miles better.

Agree as it stays on and there is less risk of touching the glass and getting fingerprints on it or having to put it somewhere safe every time.

I also had mine flip down rather than up as it looked less crap.

I might go back to it now I back to primarily shooting one video designated unit as I could make a VND work better with that, but as above, was working on a non-log profile with an ISO of just 80 which in most scenarios, would remove any need for ND. But ground to a halt thanks to the crap UK weather...

[mtol]

Dpreview released their S1II review today, holding off on a gold rating solely due to the camera's price... Andrew isn't alone in his criticism of Panasonic.

I was expecting to see the price come down a bit already.

If the firmware truly resolved the overheating issues the camera was having, I think the only issue remaining is the poor H264/H265 output of the camera I've been reading about. And the lack of clarity on when / what the S1HII will be...

Still, its becoming a more compelling package.

[Andrew Reid]

I had to squint very hard to see the review amongst the advertorial at DPReview.

Nice firmware updates and nice specs.

Pity about the stuff Panasonic can do nothing about...

- L-mount is a not such a popular mount compared to Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Fuji X / GFX, despite having been released 2nd after Sony

- The price is wrong, it should be at the Z6 III level

- The competition is really fierce and has a very big loyal user base eager for more - A7 V will outsell the S1 II massively and the EOS R6 Mark III specs are really competitive with not a cripple hammer in sight, Nikon with REDcode, Fuji with the best sensors

- All the others have moved into Panasonic's video niche in a big way, so now Panasonic must stand apart without their biggest unique selling point (GH4 days are long gone)

I don't wish ill to Panasonic but they have majorly fucked things up in the camera market and all those great specs and generous firmware updates won't save them

It's all the marketing and planning team's fault, not the engineers.

For the loyal ones, enjoy the S1 II and S1R II, they're great cameras even if they won't sell very many.

[Andrew Reid]

On 11/28/2025 at 8:19 AM, Jahleh said:

When S1RII came out I played also with the files Connor Maccaskill provided and they did look nice and cleaner compared to S5II footage I had captured during previous year or two.
Still, as I already had my foot firmly in the Nikon Raw camp, did not want to pay the difference to change back to Panasonic.

Did they finally revert to the original S1 image, and drop the over-sharpening?

[MrSMW]

9 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Did they finally revert to the original S1 image, and drop the over-sharpening?

🤷‍♂️ but as with the OG S1R and it’s 47mp sensor (Tower Jazz was the speculation at the time?), that was unique to the brand, the 44mp S1RII sensor is Panasonic’s own apparently and totally unique as far as I am aware?

IMO, it has that mojo that the S1R had in that there is something unquantifiably special about it.

I think most reviews/reviewers go mainly off the spec sheet and very very few have proper Panasonic full-frame history/experience but those that actually go and shoot the thing properly, know.

I’ve shot 8 weddings spread over 24 days, stills and video with it now and can see immediately when I drop the files on a timeline, how much better they are than those of the S5II/S9.

And this is no “because I have one” fanboy hallucination, because I have near zero brand loyalty and if I think something else will do a better job, I owe no company or brand anything. Plus have no YouTube channel, have ever received a free piece of kit or anything, so simply user feedback opinion.

Define ‘better’. It’s one of those things that is not any single thing but the sum of several smaller things…

As above somewhere or perhaps the other Lumix thread, ‘less muddy’, not that the material coming out of the S5II/S9 is muddy, but using words, it’s the best I can do.

I’d throw up some sample footage myself for download except I only shoot log with the baked in Phantom conversion LUT for workflow purposes but the comparison with S5II/S9 is the same because that is what I have done with those cameras since I had them.

The pricing was a bit too high straight out of the gate, but I picked mine up for £2700 which was acceptable compared with any kind of brand swap which I looked at which would have been anything from 5-10k based on my needs.

So did I remain ‘brand loyal’ purely on cost then?

Nope; cost + familiarity/continuity + capability, but starting afresh today, I’d go Nikon with adapter E Mount glass.

[Thpriest]

Having just bought an S1ii I can agree that the price is high for most people. In my case I got it with the 24-60 2.8 for 3800 which is about 300-400€ less than buying both separately. With the 3 jobs I had over the last 3 days I’ve paid it off (once I sell one of my S5iis). 
So it’s all relative, if it’s a tool that makes money (whilst making my life easier in my case), then maybe it’s good value?

[sanveer]

IMHO the biggest issues with the S1ii is that it wasn't badged as an S1Hii, with Netflix Approval, an added top control panel, and more unique design features (moving or multi angle EVF, 4inch LCD etc). 

It seems everything about it is superior to the S1H, including dynamic range, exposure latitude (?), rolling shutter, weight etc.

 

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, Thpriest said:

if it’s a tool that makes money (whilst making my life easier in my case), then maybe it’s good value?

That is the sum of it.

Enthusiast weighing up A vs B vs C vs what they already have, yes, even 500 is a BIG difference.

Business user however, turning over 50k+ PA, it's still 500, but 1% of gross turnover and 50k is a very small business. And that is based on 1 year so if you can use something for 3+ years on say a 100k turnover, it's a difference of near zero consequence.

3k camera on 3 years at 100k = 1%.

The difference being if it's a tool that makes you money and if that tool can also save you time, or improve your output in some way such as maybe it's more flexible such as open gate, or any other factor that works for you, then it becomes an asset. A depreciating asset (as all this stuff is), but the cost is not that big a consideration.

22 minutes ago, sanveer said:

IMHO the biggest issues with the S1ii is that it wasn't badged as an S1Hii, with Netflix Approval, an added top control panel, and more unique design features (moving or multi angle EVF, 4inch LCD etc). 

It seems everything about it is superior to the S1H, including dynamic range, exposure latitude (?), rolling shutter, weight etc.

Maybe but maybe not because it would need to have 'more' really (as you suggested), so it would have been wrong to badge it IMO as an S2H, even though, based on current evidence at least, it may very well be the replacement for the S1H that we have got.

I always thought they would go a 2 model route and said so on this forum, but I thought they were going to make the S1RII (should have been badged S2R) and an S2H, the S2R with the Leica SL3/Sony A7RV sensor and then the more video-centric S2H.

Instead we got what we got and for me, the pick of them is the S2R S1RII, and though it's a good body, would rather have seen something more innovative such as the ZR style body with 4" screen but articulating like that of the S2R S1RII.

If...and it's a massive if, they do come out with a replacement for the S1H, I think if they go for this body style with that kind of rear screen, it would be a monster hit for Lumix.

[ArashM]

10 hours ago, MrSMW said:

🤷‍♂️ 

IMO, it has that mojo that the S1R had in that there is something unquantifiably special about it.

I think most reviews/reviewers go mainly off the spec sheet and very very few have proper Panasonic full-frame history/experience but those that actually go and shoot the thing properly, know.

I’ve shot 8 weddings spread over 24 days, stills and video with it now and can see immediately when I drop the files on a timeline, how much better they are than those of the S5II/S9.

And this is no “because I have one” fanboy hallucination, because I have near zero brand loyalty and if I think something else will do a better job, I owe no company or brand anything. Plus have no YouTube channel, have ever received a free piece of kit or anything, so simply user feedback opinion.

 

I couldn't agree more, Most of my stills now are on the S1R2 and the files are fantastic. Only step up for me would be a GFX100II.

I don't think any of the typical reviews can address this, I think you have to shoot and work on files for a few months to get a good feel for what you can do (and can't do) with them.

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, ArashM said:

I don't think any of the typical reviews can address this, I think you have to shoot and work on files for a few months to get a good feel for what you can do (and can't do) with them.

Photo and video.

So many so-called reviews are really just biased opinion pieces that are all about getting views, sponsorship and ad money, rather than authentic unbiased guides, but that is just how it is.

I think anything around that pixel count will deliver similar results whether it be Nikon, Canon, Sony or Lumix and never tried a 100mp medium format Fuji or Hassie and it would be quite interesting to shoot one or the other back to back.

On-line, unless told or pixel peeped to a high magnitude, I doubt anyone could tell and for me personally, there is a sweet spot of professional pride in my craft as it were and for stills that is FF and for video FF or APSC and possibly even 4/3…