Panasonic S1H Announcement Tuesday, August 27th

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.

Would like to hear back from you on your overall shooting experience with it and once you edit and grade. What about focusing in a wedding, high stress, quick moving environment? Audio? How are you getting your mic feeds into it?
Stuff like that. The feature set looks amazing on the S1H but have seen multiple reports that the AF isn't very good and that the V-Log is tough to grade and that the camera has zero mojo, would be good to hear your impressions.
 
Would like to hear back from you on your overall shooting experience with it and once you edit and grade. What about focusing in a wedding, high stress, quick moving environment? Audio? How are you getting your mic feeds into it?
Stuff like that. The feature set looks amazing on the S1H but have seen multiple reports that the AF isn't very good and that the V-Log is tough to grade and that the camera has zero mojo, would be good to hear your impressions.

Will absolutely report back once I put it through paces.

My biggest concern right now is "mojo"... BMD and Arri have this in spades, I even really like the Canon look. I also always loved the 2014 Varicam LT look. The EVA1 and GH cameras never had mojo I loved but they were such good tools. I think the same may end up being true of the S1H, but we will see. Currently I am more so banking on lenses and grading to add mojo as that tends to be a pretty big variable.

I won't be using AF at all on this wedding so I won't be able to report, call me crazy, never have. I'll be doing MF on Zeiss Milvus. I set focusing peaking to the least sensitive setting and a bright neon green to make it pop. You can also use a monitoring LUT option to swap the LCD to black and white and it really pops focus peaking. Good manual focusing rings and a lot of practice is my "AF". This has worked well for me with Voigt Noktons on GH, I will report on how it compares on S1H.

Audio - I have the Panasonic XLR adapter, a MixPre-D (currently for sale!), and a MixPre 6 ii. I won't be relying solely on this camera for audio, I will also be employing GH5, 5S, and EVA1 so there's a lot of input options. And some Rode VideoMic Pro and Stereo Mic X for scratch audio. Tascam DR10L for lavs. Direct soundboard feed for ceremony and toasts with backup lavs. 32-bit float point is my safety net, a OMB's best friend.

Vlog - we'll see if its tough to grade... I was expecting it would be roughly the same as the EVA1 given the same curve and color.
 
Would like to hear back from you on your overall shooting experience with it and once you edit and grade. What about focusing in a wedding, high stress, quick moving environment? Audio? How are you getting your mic feeds into it?
Stuff like that. The feature set looks amazing on the S1H but have seen multiple reports that the AF isn't very good and that the V-Log is tough to grade and that the camera has zero mojo, would be good to hear your impressions.

First impressions after reviewing footage from shooting.

High stress, yes, not enough time in the wedding. Between the 24-105 and Sigma 18-35 handled everything like a champ. Ran some milvus when time allowed in the chaos and those are extra gorgeous. Manual focus all the way, all critical shots in focus, 90% of others, a few misses. I am dissapointed in the focus peaking, though, it needs a firmware update. it's finicky, and worse than the GH5. There are -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 settings. On GH5 I generally would run at the equivalent of -2, that is, the least sensitive. This helps me make sure I am actually in focus when I see the lines. S1H sucks for that right now. For some reason it's VERY hit or miss when I can even see ANY highlights below 0. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I ended up binding one of the front function keys to the front 2 buttons (along with IS boost) so I could rapidly switch the peaking level on a per shot basis. Not fun. But it worked.

For fast moving, the GH5 line is easier. The lenses are just so light, you can carry a bunch on a lens belt and changed them one handed with a Thinktank belt and camera strap. S1H and FF glass needs more care for the lens change. It's heavier. But all in all I thought it did a great job and the massive jump in IQ is worth it.

So far, checked out a bunch of shots. I dunno about no mojo. I mean, I have good glass, so it helps. But especially the Zeiss shots. Stuff looks really nice. Vlog I haven't messed with the grade too much but with a quick adjustment layer, yes, it is going to be more work than the Leeming LUT baseline. I'm not as happy with the look right out but when I tweak the shots I get much closer. But isn't this just learning on any curve? I'll have to look at why people say its so hard to grade...

Hey Paul. We need Leeming LUT for full vlog on EVA1 and S1H. He said it's just a curve adjustment. I'd love to see some TLC on this curve cause I'd rather baseline with that.

Can't really comment on the audio in the way you'd probably want as mentioned I run accessories. MixPre 6 ii w/32-bit is rad for this kind of stuff. I could plug it into the soundboard feed, ballpark it, any peaks it takes care without being monitored. I can run super fast stressed out stuff and not worry on the levels. It's bullet proof for the OMB. I'm not advocating being sloppy, but then, you can be - and it sounds brilliant. It's more "set it as perfect as you can, and it will take care of the rest" and that's great.

I built a little rig with handles, QR to the MixPre, Senn 8060 and threw it on the easy rig. Boost IS on an Easy Rig with the S1H is kind of breezy. You just stand there and hold the camera steady and boost IS locks it down. I was at 105mm for some toasts and the thing looks like it's on a tripod, and my back is happy.

EDIT: Forgot to add low ISO. 10k and 12.8k hold up great for the super lowlight stuff, the grain is pleasing like a natural film grain look, doesn't look like bad noise at all. And neatvideo cleans right out if undesired. Very little to complain about. The native 48hz is also wonderful to have vs just the 60hz, you just double the speed to get normal audio back out of it or turn slow motion into high shutter non slow motion if needed (though I always try to shoot for the intended speed, it's nice to have a quick rock solid switch for such - especially the audio portion).
 
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New S1 Fixes ( I expect the next S1H Update Will Include These )

New S1 Fixes ( I expect the next S1H Update Will Include These )


 
Leica announced SL2, full frame 47 MPX but one can shoot center-crop APS-C too. Basically, a modded S1R - 400 Mbps All-I - but at a price of an AMG ($6,000 body only). Still, the colors are gorgeous even if ISO sucks.
 
First impressions after reviewing footage from shooting.

High stress, yes, not enough time in the wedding. Between the 24-105 and Sigma 18-35 handled everything like a champ. Ran some milvus when time allowed in the chaos and those are extra gorgeous. Manual focus all the way, all critical shots in focus, 90% of others, a few misses. I am dissapointed in the focus peaking, though, it needs a firmware update. it's finicky, and worse than the GH5. There are -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 settings. On GH5 I generally would run at the equivalent of -2, that is, the least sensitive. This helps me make sure I am actually in focus when I see the lines. S1H sucks for that right now. For some reason it's VERY hit or miss when I can even see ANY highlights below 0. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I ended up binding one of the front function keys to the front 2 buttons (along with IS boost) so I could rapidly switch the peaking level on a per shot basis. Not fun. But it worked.

For fast moving, the GH5 line is easier. The lenses are just so light, you can carry a bunch on a lens belt and changed them one handed with a Thinktank belt and camera strap. S1H and FF glass needs more care for the lens change. It's heavier. But all in all I thought it did a great job and the massive jump in IQ is worth it.

So far, checked out a bunch of shots. I dunno about no mojo. I mean, I have good glass, so it helps. But especially the Zeiss shots. Stuff looks really nice. Vlog I haven't messed with the grade too much but with a quick adjustment layer, yes, it is going to be more work than the Leeming LUT baseline. I'm not as happy with the look right out but when I tweak the shots I get much closer. But isn't this just learning on any curve? I'll have to look at why people say its so hard to grade...

Hey Paul. We need Leeming LUT for full vlog on EVA1 and S1H. He said it's just a curve adjustment. I'd love to see some TLC on this curve cause I'd rather baseline with that.

Can't really comment on the audio in the way you'd probably want as mentioned I run accessories. MixPre 6 ii w/32-bit is rad for this kind of stuff. I could plug it into the soundboard feed, ballpark it, any peaks it takes care without being monitored. I can run super fast stressed out stuff and not worry on the levels. It's bullet proof for the OMB. I'm not advocating being sloppy, but then, you can be - and it sounds brilliant. It's more "set it as perfect as you can, and it will take care of the rest" and that's great.

I built a little rig with handles, QR to the MixPre, Senn 8060 and threw it on the easy rig. Boost IS on an Easy Rig with the S1H is kind of breezy. You just stand there and hold the camera steady and boost IS locks it down. I was at 105mm for some toasts and the thing looks like it's on a tripod, and my back is happy.

EDIT: Forgot to add low ISO. 10k and 12.8k hold up great for the super lowlight stuff, the grain is pleasing like a natural film grain look, doesn't look like bad noise at all. And neatvideo cleans right out if undesired. Very little to complain about. The native 48hz is also wonderful to have vs just the 60hz, you just double the speed to get normal audio back out of it or turn slow motion into high shutter non slow motion if needed (though I always try to shoot for the intended speed, it's nice to have a quick rock solid switch for such - especially the audio portion).

Thanks, this is good feedback about using it in the real world.
 
News shooter has their full review up:

https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/11/11/panasonic-lumix-s1h-review/

Once again (like their first look), kind of an odd tone to it. On one hand he explains how it’s an incredible tool and simply the best mirrorless camera on the market etc etc. which sounds like hyperbole, but then, the tone is also muted. I appreciate a grounded and non emotional review to focus on facts, but the tone is also strangely muted.

I get the impression that he thinks it’s a great camera but doesn’t like the mojo, thinks vlog is hard to grade (but then says he has worked with it very little so maybe it’s just that), and thinks the price is too high to be genuinely effusive.

All fair enough but in my experience I’ll say a few things:

I just had clients over to preview some new work shot on this. Without knowing I swapped gear they all commented on the image quality being really great and better before and asked I upgraded gear. These are not producers or DPs.

Matt seemed to do most work on the 24-105 kit lens. My experience with that lens was that it’s “boring”. It’s perfectly serviceable and I have no complaints other than it has this generic, flat, clinical look. But I like it for its range and Dual IS - it gets the job done when needed. The shots I did on Milvus when played on the big screen got repeated “wow” comments (I knew which ones they were). I’m not suggesting one needs to shoot on expensive glass but i wanted to point out that Matt’s comments on mojo may have some level of correlation with him using the kit lens for the review.

Finally, Matt stated he felt that way about the GH5 too. And frankly, I feel that way a bit about the EVA1 as well. So I think it’s fair to say if in general you are happy with Panasonic IQ you’ll be happy with the S1H.

I am very curious to see how Paul Leemings new LUT performs, he said it is in development and may be out by end of this year. As well, I am curious how new total conversion software like CineMatch will perform in regards to simply setting to convert ones camera to the color science of BMD or canon. It’s only part of the equation, but, it’s an interesting prospect.
 
It looks like a great tool. I look forward to the day when we are fully into some form of RAW video for the masses and past of of this LOG stuff. RAW just makes sense visually and has the deep specs to back it up. LOG is all about fixing stuff or making up for something that is not there imho. Give a me a great image that I can bend and the bits to bend with and we are good.
 
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News shooter has their full review up:

https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/11/11/panasonic-lumix-s1h-review/

Once again (like their first look), kind of an odd tone to it. On one hand he explains how it’s an incredible tool and simply the best mirrorless camera on the market etc etc. which sounds like hyperbole, but then, the tone is also muted. I appreciate a grounded and non emotional review to focus on facts, but the tone is also strangely muted.

I get the impression that he thinks it’s a great camera but doesn’t like the mojo, thinks vlog is hard to grade (but then says he has worked with it very little so maybe it’s just that), and thinks the price is too high to be genuinely effusive.

All fair enough but in my experience I’ll say a few things:

I just had clients over to preview some new work shot on this. Without knowing I swapped gear they all commented on the image quality being really great and better before and asked I upgraded gear. These are not producers or DPs.

Matt seemed to do most work on the 24-105 kit lens. My experience with that lens was that it’s “boring”. It’s perfectly serviceable and I have no complaints other than it has this generic, flat, clinical look. But I like it for its range and Dual IS - it gets the job done when needed. The shots I did on Milvus when played on the big screen got repeated “wow” comments (I knew which ones they were). I’m not suggesting one needs to shoot on expensive glass but i wanted to point out that Matt’s comments on mojo may have some level of correlation with him using the kit lens for the review.

Finally, Matt stated he felt that way about the GH5 too. And frankly, I feel that way a bit about the EVA1 as well. So I think it’s fair to say if in general you are happy with Panasonic IQ you’ll be happy with the S1H.

I am very curious to see how Paul Leemings new LUT performs, he said it is in development and may be out by end of this year. As well, I am curious how new total conversion software like CineMatch will perform in regards to simply setting to convert ones camera to the color science of BMD or canon. It’s only part of the equation, but, it’s an interesting prospect.

I had some of the same thoughts when I read Matt's review, he seemed to not be that hyped about it but then finishes saying he thinks it's the best mirrorless camera on the market? Maybe he just doesn't like mirrorless, which
I think his A camera is an Amira so that makes sense a bit. I agree with what he said about the samples he shot at 6K, they are lacking detail and if I was buying the camera, I would only be shooting 4K anyway, so maybe not
that big of a deal. The AF, to me, seems about as useful as the current hobbled XT-3 AF, it kind of works, some of the time, but you definitely cannot count on it to work all of the time.

It seems like there is a lot to like about the S1H but it's a camera I would definitely, 100% rent before buying, to see if I could live with it's limitations. I'm living with the limitations of my XT-3 right now and it's usable
here and there for how I would like to be using it, but if it was my only camera, I would definitely sell it and buy a video camera.

I still really dislike the mirrorless form factor, the lack of internal NDs, TC i/o, although the S1H has TC i/o of sorts. Mirrorless is fine on the gimbal, but for shooting handheld or on tripod, I prefer my C200.
I'm surprised since you have the EVA-1 that you are so hyped on the S1H, it seems as if the EVA-1 has a lot more usability for handheld or tripod video shooting than the S1H? As far as the Mojo thing,
I saw where Matt was coming from with the kit lens, the images looked okay but were definitely lacking anything to make them look compelling, hardly any fine detail it seemed? Have you posted any
of those shots you shot on the Milvus?
 
I'll probably just get the S1, they sorted out the noise reduction ghosting issues on it and also the color clipping issues. Still haven't done that with the S1H. I'd rather have a C500 MK2 or one of the new Sony's but its way out of my price bracket.
 
I agree with what he said about the samples he shot at 6K, they are lacking detail

I agree, but when I looked at that shot I thought "that looks very telephoto... and he shot this on the lackluster 24-105 lens... so is this at 105mm on the kit lens, the worst spot of that lens?". I am not sure, but I suspect so, and as mentioned prior I really think his review is partly a review of a kit lens on which his sentiments I share.

I still really dislike the mirrorless form factor, the lack of internal NDs, TC i/o, although the S1H has TC i/o of sorts. Mirrorless is fine on the gimbal, but for shooting handheld or on tripod, I prefer my C200. I'm surprised since you have the EVA-1 that you are so hyped on the S1H, it seems as if the EVA-1 has a lot more usability for handheld or tripod video shooting than the S1H?

I think it's because I realized that the S1H is everything I had wanted/hoped the EVA1 would be. It really is the camera I've been hoping for for quite some time around here, has finally satisfied me.

It's funny you say the EVA1 has more usability for handheld than S1H, I guess it's perspective. In my mind, EVA1 has way worse useability! I'll lay it out for my (very personal and subjective) tastes:

S1/S1H UI is miles better. First, the EVA1 requires two hands to control for most things. The handgrip is not very customizable. I requested a month after launch a list of features directly to Mitch and about 1-2 have been addressed in years. YEARS. Such as, making the handgrip have a button assignable as modifier key for the scroll wheel. You can't do this. So in the right hand hand grip, you can do very little. On the S1H, I can control almost every setting with my right hand only. The menu UI on EVA1 is slow and clunky and confusing by comparison to the very slick and fast S1H menu. EVA1 changing ISO is a pain going between Dual 800/2500, on S1H you can set it to autoswitch base ISO at optimal spot (I also requested this on EVA1 years ago and was told the EVA1 was "too pro" to have such a feature).

Everytime you reboot the EVA1, it resets things like focus peaking and zebra. Which is annoying, because you have to reset this camera a lot if you are changing modes. And you still can't see which Zebra setting you are on, even though I and others mentioned this at launch and it feels like a bug. No text comes up.

S1H has IBIS which is game over VS the EVA1 when speaking of handheld, for me.

S1H is smaller and more compact. I also think the ergos as pointed out are much better.

The S1H has much better lowlight than the EVA1, which was touted to have great lowlight and... umm... no. It's very mediocre. It's fine, but make no mistake, the S1H completely obliteraties it.

T/C in/out - I've never used this in my life, I just use PluralEyes. Also, if needed, there is Tentacle Sync. But, S1H has this... but it may be broken like GH5s.

Lumix team also seems a whole lot more responsive to firmware and UI updates. I mean, it took the EVA1 years to get a preset switch to quickly swap between modes on the EVA1 (which takes forever + a reboot vs like... 1 second on the S1H). And when they finally did that, you could only use the templates if they were stored on an SD card, which is ridiculous... essentially the camera either becomes a one slot SD camera, or you have to manually recopy them back to the SD card between every format. It's just infuriating on a pro camera.

Oh, and even on a tripod... S1H has some wins. With the battery grip installed, I can hot swap batteries while running an interview. EVA1 you obviously can't (though the battery is very long, but still). Also S1H I can power from a portable USB battery brick... and recharge easily in the car!

AND - Here is Matt's list of what the EVA1 has that the S1H doesn't: "The EVA1 has proper onboard audio recording with XLRs, built-in ND filters, external RAW recording, Dual Native ISO, 2K up to 240 fps, and SDI out."

Point by point...

Proper onboard audio - I am not sure what makes the EVA1 more "proper" than the $400 XLR adapter, they sound about identical if going straight to the internal preamp and it's very easy to add the adapter to S1H... If anything, it's con, I might instead say "The EVA1 has a non removable XLR module which I only need a % of the time, and meanwhile it always adds weight and bulk, and the quality is no better". Also, after using an SD MixPre 6 II I am not sure why I would ever want to use the on camera pre-amp for anything, I'd lose the silky smooth preamps of the SD and 32-bit float. The MixPre is so small I just used a manfrotto snapping QR plate sandwiched on it to quickly attach it to camera bottom. Plus I can always feed that into the camera anyhow. So what is the point in 2019/2020, really?

Built in ND - this is a win for the EVA1, but hold on, only sort of... not as big as you might think. For me. Why? Well, the EVA1 needs one more level of ND. It's just not strong enough, I find the internals insufficient in bright outdoor light which is when I need this the most. So now I have to add ND's back on! Oh, and let's not forget it's not as good an implementation as Sony with an electronic variable ND. It's hard settings. Which means I lose the advantage of VND which I love, that is, keeping my lens at a constant aperture and just sliding the VND to the perfect exposure level. Nope, everytime I want to change I have to do a 3 way dance with ND, f/stop, ISO and usually make a compromise. It also is clunky to do this on the EVA1 vs S1H, especially if you have tio switch your base dual ISO setting... which is common as I move between indoor/outdoor. Sure, there are theoterical quality reduction on a VND but I rarely actually notice unless the VND is pushed to the extremes. So I use a good SLR Magic VND and don't push to the extremes, and frankly I prefer it these days with the Xume adapter. The EVA1 does make it easy to get a lens hood on though, so that's nice, and if I could get a Sony style internal electronic VND with more stopping power I'd be really happy. But this is not that solution.

External RAW - The S1H will get this in Q1 2020... but I don't love shooting external anyway, regardless, it will certainly be a more compact solution on the S1H since EVA1 can only do that via SDI vs HDMI.

Dual Native ISO - The EVA1 is worse here, it's 800/2500 which is a small split in the dual native ISO range. S1H is 640/4000 which is much more useful.

2k up to 240fps - The S1H does 2K up to 180fps... AT A HIGHER BITRATE CODEC internally!! The EVA1 HD codec is seriously gimped at 50mbps. Ok, but I can get this external on the EVA1 if I go SDI out with my Inferno. And yes, this is how I will shoot any extreme slow motion (which I do rarely) but it is definitely the way to go. And I can get the 240 at nice quality, too, so the EVA1 has a clear win here but its definitely a "speciality" feature and requires a burly rig to do it well. And if it actually loses against the S1H for 180fps or below in most cases because the S1H has better lowlight (helpful for slow motion) and better internal codec and you can do those frame rates with a very small/light package.

SDI Out - I'm not "pro enough" to use this like you do Dan, so it's not a fair comparison, but as a OMB/small shop the only thing I need SDI for is the EVA1's slow motion output and I covered that above. So it's sort of a non thing for me.

So why do I keep the EVA1? Honestly... credibility. It really helps. The $5k I might get in resale simply isn't worth it, as I am nearly certain it's netted me more than $5k in jobs based on appearances only. Also, I actually really do still like the camera despite how negative I may have just seemed on it. It can produce a very nice image, it gets me RAW slow motion at great quality, etc. Ironically, it is my B Camera to the S1H.

As far as the Mojo thing,
I saw where Matt was coming from with the kit lens, the images looked okay but were definitely lacking anything to make them look compelling, hardly any fine detail it seemed? Have you posted any
of those shots you shot on the Milvus?

Yeah, I had posted Milvus footage (but from the S1 model) in May after Solomon Islands trip. Here is the thread link and the quote with link to footage:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...R-Official-Announcement-(Jan-31-Feb-1)/page32

I changed to -2.5 on Sharp/NR since I thought the Lumix S1 image was maybe better closer to 0s unlike the GHx but I am still playing. All 4k scaled to 50% in Premiere and exported at FHD. All handheld with IBIS via the MC-21 adapter. 4k 60p, so APS-C, so that Zeiss 25 looks like a 37.5mm ish FF equiv.

New S1 w/Milvus footage (Solomon)
password: dvx
link: https://vimeo.com/336159581

These were in Honiara at Red Beach, Vilu War Museum in the jungle an hour away, and a vocational training school.

The indoor shots are ISO 12,800 at f/2.8 or so on the Milvus. The lighting indoors was abysmal and no artificial lights were used. The GHx could never handle this. Very impressed with the Lumix S1 ability to make crap interiors look good. That camera was pushed to 11 to make it work, and it did it, even in slow motion with proper 180 shutter. I will add Neat Video on a few of those, too, to clean them up more (like the CU on the blue shirt man with sunglasses - you can see me in the reflection there handholding if you look close).

No grading, no Lumetri, no tweaks, straight from camera.

Keep in mind that's 8-bit CineD S1 footage vs 10-bit vlog S1H footage but it's similar. It's also a 1080p stream (downsampled from 4K, exported @ 15mbps h.264). I'll have more to share in a month when I finish the film. I'll also share some Milvus S1H 10-bit vlog shots later as well. But the image quality is pretty similar, except more DR in vlog of course. I'm not sure if that satisfies the sharpness you would be looking for but in general, I have been on a bit of a rant to REDUCE digital sharpness and I like a little softer image that feels less crispy. I think the shots look plenty sharp for my taste! Again, no grading or anything on that link above, CineD straight out of box.
 
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And one more small addition to that laundry list above: The S1H has a really killer EVF, the EVA1 has none. The S1H has a superior flip out LCD screen, the EVA1 is very lacking... meaning you have to accessorize and bulk up more to get to the same functionality as the already smaller/lighter S1H. The S1H you really can use straight out of box with zero accessories... fully handheld... etc. And get unbelievably good results. That's just... incredible.

(minus, you know, a VND/Xume adapters, and your choice of Panasonic XLR or MixPre).
 
And one more small addition to that laundry list above: The S1H has a really killer EVF, the EVA1 has none. The S1H has a superior flip out LCD screen, the EVA1 is very lacking... meaning you have to accessorize and bulk up more to get to the same functionality as the already smaller/lighter S1H. The S1H you really can use straight out of box with zero accessories... fully handheld... etc. And get unbelievably good results. That's just... incredible.

(minus, you know, a VND/Xume adapters, and your choice of Panasonic XLR or MixPre).

Thanks for the education. I didn't realize the EVA-1 was so hobbled in so many ways. Sounds like you may have found what you were looking for for the stuff and style you shoot in. Looking forward to seeing more stuff, I'll check out your links.
 
Most S1H clips that I have seen looked very video'ish*. I wonder if a knee reset or a higher quality LUT would change that.

* Nikon Z6, with the same sensor, also has the same look, though depending upon the settings, it has looked far too saturated in other videos.
 
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