New Panasonic LUMIX Firmware Dramatically Extends Recording Times

Panasonic has introduced a series of firmware updates for its LUMIX S1R II, S1 II, and S1 IIE full-frame mirrorless cameras, as well as updating the LUMIX Flow app.

LUMIX S1R II Firmware Ver. 1.3 / S1 II Ver. 1.2 / S1 IIE Ver. 1.2 Firmware Update

The updates are available for free download as of today via the LUMIX Global Customer Support website and app stores.

Thermal Management

By far the biggest news in these updates is that it addresses some of the thermal management issues that have dogged the cameras since release. It introduces an improved thermal control algorithm for longer recording time, with the thermal control algorithm enhanced to make the recording time less affected by environmental factors.

This is not perfect. Panasonic states in its release notes that under certain conditions where the ambient temperature around the camera changes rapidly (for example, when moving from indoors to outdoors or when the camera is exposed to direct sunlight, causing the body temperature to rise rapidly), the video recording time could still become shorter.

But in general it seems to have more than doubled recording times in most use cases, especially with thermal management set to High (an average of 128% improvement across the three cameras). In some cases runtimes were tripled, and in others restrictions have been removed entirely and you can shoot until the battery dies or the card is full.

Other Major Improvements

Elsewhere, the new firmware also includes the addition of a lower-speed option for SH burst shooting, with a lower-speed option added to SH burst shooting, including pre-burst shooting.

There are several AF improvements, including auto-recognition frames for only the main subject that can now be set for display while using autofocus, an AF frame display for human eye recognition that can be set to "rectangular" while using autofocus, and enhanced tracking AF stability through algorithm improvements.

Among the new video capabilities, added video features include the option for the low-bitrate video format “MP4(Lite),” which can now be selected, with support for 3.8K (3840x2560) 29.97p/25.00p at 50Mbps.

The update also brings improved compatibility, with compatibility enhanced for the interchangeable lens S-R100500 and the teleconverter (DMW-STC14/STC20).

Further Enhancements

• 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 where the live view quality differed 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 rec. 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 that allows you to display the live view with the same quality during both standby and video recording modes has been added. 

LUMIX Smartphone App, LUMIX Flow Ver.1.4

A new version of the LUMIX Flow app has also been released. This gives you:

• Support for LUT view assist - LUT live view is available in the app and can be toggled ON or OFF.
• Support for multiple frame marker display - The same frame markers shown on the camera is output to the app as live view.
• Improved AF frame display for various recognition in Automatic Detection