Hot on the heels of the recent S1RII announcement, Panasonic has just announced the long awaited S1II and a new camera in the line-up, the S1IIE.
The recent announcement of the S1RII was welcomed wholeheartedly amongst Panasonic fans. As a long term user of the original S1, it's a camera that not only still holds its own in terms of image quality, but it's also a camera I can rely on. The only thing I don't like about it is the lack of phase detection autofocus, which is something that was addressed by the release of the S5II.
However, fans including myself have been awaiting a true S1 successor, and today that time has come. Panasonic has announced two new cameras, the S1II and the S1IIE.
Superficially, both the S1II and S1IIE feature the same body design, including a fully articulated 1.84 million-dot tilt and free-angle monitor, a 5.76 million-dot electronic viewfinder, and both are equipped with a shutter mechanism that's rated for up to 400,000 cycles.
The S1II has a totally brand new 24.1MP partially stacked sensor, while the S1IIE has a different 24.2MP chip. At 24MP, both are a similar resolution to the original S1, but are much more capable. For example, 4K at 120fps on the S1II is now possible without a crop in C4K mode, and if the electronic shutter is used, stills can be burst captured up to 70fps with the option of a 1.5 second pre-shooting buffer, and 30fps on the S1IIE.
It remains to be seen how the readout speed of the chip will affect results when it comes to fast moving subjects, but for a camera of this price, that's a very respectable burst speed. Panasonic claims that the new Venus processing engine allows for much faster readout speeds than the previous camera, which potentially bodes well. Using the mechanical shutter, both new cameras are capable of burst speeds of up to 10fps.
On the S1IIE, video can be recorded up to 6K resolution in 'open gate' at up to 30fps as well as 5.1K and 5.8K at up to 60p on both cameras. Just as with the S1RII, both the S1II and S1IIE feature internal 5.8K 30p/C4K 60p Apple ProRes RAW HQ / ProRes RAW recording. Both new cameras can take advantage of a paid DMW-SFU3A firmware upgrade the camera can use the Arri LogC3 logarithmic curve, which I welcome.
I'm getting rather tired of a new log format being introduced every five minutes, so the availability of something that is considered something of an industry standard is a good thing. Panasonic claims that the S1II capable of up to 15-stops of DR using a Dynamic Range Boost mode in V-log at 30p and below, compared to around 14.5 stops of the S1. The S1IIE has a claimed 14+stops of DR.
While anamorphic shooting is all the rage at the moment, Panasonic has decided to include a spherical 2.4:1 'cinemascope' format with the S1IIE. This takes advantage of the full range of resolution of the chip on the horizontal axis, and can be recorded at a resolution of up to 60fps without a crop.
I'm slightly sceptical of cinemascope modes like this due to the fact that one of the advantages of anamorphic shooting is that you can take advantage of the full resolution of the chip in both the X and Y axis. There are also other benefits, such as the way depth of field is handled, and of course the famous light flares. Panasonic hasn't yet said whether there is a true anamorphic de-squeeze mode available like there is in the original S1.
The autofocus system has been upgraded with new AI recognition for urban sports, including skateboarding, parquor, and break dancing and offers improved object tracking overall. IBIS stabilisation on both cameras has been improved to 8-stops, and they include the cropless EIS stabilisation function that is found in the S1RII.
The USB port can be used for recording onto external media for the more resource hungry formats, as well as for powering the camera via power banks. A new feature is that the cameras now conform to the USB USV webcam standard, so the devices can be used for web conferencing without the need for an HDMI adaptor. Lastly, both cameras are compatible with Capture One and Frame.io, as well as introducing the HEIF stills format to the range.
In addition to the new camera announcement, Panasonic has also announced a new 24-60mm f/2.8 constant aperture lens. This compact piece of glass weighs in at 544g and is 99mm long.
New to this particular lens is the ability to have the control ring change function when used with the new S series cameras. For instance, instead of using it for focus, you could assign the iris function instead.
The lens also features a hybrid zoom function, which can extend the range up to 187mm. We're assuming that this is some sort of clever digital zoom, but it isn't clear how the interaction works between the lens and the camera at this point.
Something video users will appreciate is that the lens can perform micro f/stop changes, which means ultra smooth exposure changes across the range. Minimum focus distance is 19cm at focal lengths between 24-30mm.
Of the two cameras, the S1II would appear to be the one to go for if you value high frame rates in video and stills, while the S1IIE has lower frame rates and slightly lower dynamic range, but features a sensor that Panasonic says is "inspired by the performance features of the S5II". What this means in reality is not too clear. Panasonic also goes on to state that it "anticipates that the LUMIX S1IIE will be the preferred choice for those seeking upgrades in ergonomic design and refined engineering." Again, a bit of a PR word salad.
It's worth noting that S1RII adopters shouldn't feel left out. Many of the new features, found on the S1II and S1IIE such as the enhanced object recognition, Arri Log-C3, HEIF, and Bluetooth timecode sync among many other enhancements are becoming available on the camera in a forthcoming firmware update.
Both cameras will be available in June. The S1II will retail for $3199 while the S1IIE will retail for $2499. The LUMIX S-E2460 lens will be available in June 2025 for an RRP of $899.