Panasonic S1H Announcement Tuesday, August 27th

Anyone know if the S1H can do S35 crop in anamorhpic mode?
Yes, it has a 4:3 aspect ratio anamorphic 4K mode that uses a Super 35 sensor crop (actual resolution is 3328 x 2496).

Here is a pretty useful list of the S1H video recording modes:
LUMIXS1H_01.jpg
 
No 10 bit VfR which is disappointing,

I know the camera can do it - afterall it does native 30, 48, 60p in 10 bit - and GH5 can do it.

I think they figured since most of the rates were > 60fps which 10bit can’t handle, they would just skip offering VfR in 10bit to save on menu complexity and confusion. It’s alot.

I get it, but I’m dissapointed in the decision and hope they address this in a firmware update. The lost of undercrank in 10 bit, and 36fps in 10 bit, are two bummers for me.
 
No 10 bit VfR which is disappointing, I know the camera can do it - afterall it does native 30, 48, 60p in 10 bit - and GH5 can do it.
I think they figured since most of the rates were > 60fps which 10bit can’t handle, they would just skip offering VfR in 10bit to save on menu complexity and confusion. It’s alot.
Although the camera can do 120 fps (HD) in 10-bit, so it might only be the frame rates > 120 fps that would be an issue for the 10-bit encoding. Perhaps they didn't want to create two different VFR modes a 10-bit and and 8-bit one, but there are so many different recording formats in the camera already, what's a couple more?

I thought this situation was similar on the GH5 though, with the variable frame rate (VFR) option only available in the 8-bit recording modes.
 
Although the camera can do 120 fps (HD) in 10-bit, so it might only be the frame rates > 120 fps that would be an issue for the 10-bit encoding. Perhaps they didn't want to create two different VFR modes a 10-bit and and 8-bit one, but there are so many different recording formats in the camera already, what's a couple more?

Exactly... I think its capable I suspect they may have just found it a cluster? I don't get it.

The GH5 is limited to 8-bit in VFR, which is odd as it can do 60P in 10-bit.

You're right, I forgot about that. I knew there was a reason I never used it.

Externally?

I emailed Atmos about that a year ago for the EVA1. At that time, VFR was not supported. I don't think it's every been added. It needs to be a native framerate output from the camera.

I am just thankful the S1H offers C4K @ 48p 10-bit. That will work internally and externally. That's really great!
 
Yes, autofocus with the right settings seems to be quite reliable, especially @ 60p as there is more than twice the information from the sensor.

It's still a step behind the Canon and Sony autofocus, but now Panasonic is possibly just a firmware update away to match them. Higher processing power and AI in the long run will make contrast detection as reliable as phase detection, maybe even in this camera generation already.
 
Higher processing power and AI in the long run will make contrast detection as reliable as phase detection, maybe even in this camera generation already.
I've read somewhere there will be a firmware update for S1 and other Lumix (GH5) cameras before the end of the year. It's not mentioned S1H for this update, but I assume they share the same technology so it should be possible that also S1H will have this update. I'm not talking about January update to unlock RAW recording. If someone knows more it would be great to be informed.
 
I've read somewhere there will be a firmware update for S1 and other Lumix (GH5) cameras before the end of the year. It's not mentioned S1H for this update, but I assume they share the same technology so it should be possible that also S1H will have this update.

Is it an AF related update? I also assume all S1 cameras share the same AF-technology.
 
Is it an AF related update? I also assume all S1 cameras share the same AF-technology.
I dunno, I can't find further information, I've read somewhere about new Lumix family firmware update, but it was not mentioned S1H, just GH5 and S1. I remember it was something official from Panasonic but I can't find the source or the website talking about it.
 
Cinema5D have posted their dynamic range and rolling shutter results. Not bad:

https://www.cinema5d.com/panasonic-s1h-lab-test-dynamic-range-and-rolling-shutter-results/

"ISO 640 V-Log 6K 3:2 Mode (5952×3968) and 5.9K 16:9 Mode (5888×3312) Dynamic Range Results:

First positive surprise: in 6K 3:2 mode (5952×3968) and 5.9K 16:9 mode (5888×3312) the dynamic range measured by IMATEST at a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 2 is 12.7 stops! This is the second-best result that we have ever measured, right after the ARRI Alexa (14 stops at SNR=2)."

"ISO 640 V-Log 4K DCI (4096×2160) Full Frame Dynamic Range Results:

Next up is 4K DCI (4096×2160) in full frame mode. Quite interestingly the dynamic range drops to 12.3 stops. This comes unexpectedly, as I was assuming that the 6K sensor width would be scaled to 4K hence the noise and therefore dynamic range should slightly improve."

"ISO4000 V-Log 6K 3:2 Mode (5952×3968) and 5.9K 16:9 Mode (5888×3312) Dynamic Range Results:

The next surprising result – at ISO4000 we see only a slight drop of 0.4 stops in dynamic range, see the IMATEST result below. While we got 12.7 stops at ISO640, we are now seeing 12.3 stops at ISO4000 for 6K and 5.9K full frame mode."

"ISO 4000 V-Log 4K DCI (4096×2160) Full frame Dynamic Range Results:

Another surprise – in 4K DCI mode almost the same result as for 6K and 5.9K is now achieved – 12.2 stops. Even more surprising is the fact, that there is almost no difference between ISO640 and ISO4000 in 4K DCI mode – only 0.1 stops of dynamic range are lost switching to the higher ISO value – very impressive!"
 
Reading the comments, it seems like there's something funny going on with noise reduction in the S1H, I hope someone at Panasonic can clear things out and maybe provide a fix.
 
Reading the comments, it seems like there's something funny going on with noise reduction in the S1H, I hope someone at Panasonic can clear things out and maybe provide a fix.
It seems to mostly be one person complaining about the temporal noise reduction in the Cinema5D comments though, so I'm not sure what to make of it.

It would be nice to see some sample footage that more clearly demonstrates when the problem occurs. There are also some noise reduction settings that can be adjusted in the picture profile which might affect things as well. When you consider all of the different resolutions, aspect ratios, sensor crops, frame rates, recording codecs, picture profiles, etc. there are just a lot of different combinations of settings that are possible with the camera. So much so, that they had to add a filtering function just to help narrow things down.

Combine that range of settings with the fact that the camera has only been shipping for about a month now, and I'm pretty sure people are still discovering all of the camera's quirks, along with its best settings. Panasonic did quite a few firmware updates for the GH5, so lets hope that if there does turn out to be an issue with some of the recording modes or settings, they can fix it in the next firmware.
 
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12.2 stops at ISO 4000 is a dream come true for those of us shooting challenging lighting situations.

I haven't filmed weddings now in a few years (I think my last one was 2015) but I took one on this weekend for a close connection. I will look forward to putting the S1H through it's lowlight, dynamic range stretching paces.
 
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