Established in 2001, LUMIX is the photographic brand of the Panasonic Corporation. In 2008, it introduced the world’s first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. With the launch of the Micro Four Thirds G Series – GH5, GH5s and G9 – LUMIX was propelled into the professional market, a position that was further cemented with the recent launch of its full-frame S Series cameras: S1, S1R and S1H.

The rear touch screen is on a three-way hinge, like that of the Fujifilm X-H1, that flips up and down for shooting in either orientation. I generally prefer a vari-angle screen, but the fact that this one can flip up in portrait orientation is enough for me as I rarely use a screen from the front. 

The rear screen is bright and uses 2.1 million dots to form the image, but the viewfinder is a far better place to see what you are going to shoot and what you have done. The OLED has 5.76 million dots and is incredibly detailed. It has about 30 per cent higher resolution than the previous best viewfinder (in the Leica SL) and has more than twice that of competing full-frame mirrorless models. It is brilliantly clear and feels very big – though glasses users can reduce the size of the active area of the 0.78× screen to 0.74× and 0.70× to provide better eye-relief if needed. The 120fps refresh rate also really helps with the quality of the view, the speed at which the subject movement is relayed, and how much we feel in touch with what we are photographing. 

The new button layout took me a while to get used to, and the three WB/ISO/+/− buttons near the shutter release seemed always to be where I wasn’t expecting them. They are clearly identifiable to the touch as they have individual markings that we can feel with our finger, but it took me a good while to remember where to feel. The on/off switch is in a most peculiar place on the top plate, and I immediately took a dislike to it when I first saw the camera. In use, however, it became clear that it is in an ideal position, and is exactly where my shutter finger reaches for when wanting to switch the camera on. My biggest handling issues were predicting the movement of a very small AF point when moving it using the joystick, and the distracting simmer in the viewfinder when using the continuous AF mode. 

Panasonic has brought across its Dual IS II image stabilisation system from the G series, which combines in-camera sensor-shifting stabilisation with in-lens stabilisation to produce what it claims offers six stops’ worth of camera-shake compensation. 

Noise begins to show itself as a very fine sandy texture in 100 percent enlargements at ISO 800, and becomes noticeable at ISO 6400. By the maximum standard setting of 25,600 we’ve lost some contrast and shadows are becoming green, and the expanded setting of 51,200 is only for emergencies. Right up to ISO 12,800, noise takes on a grain-like feel and is actually quite pleasant. So I’d be very happy to use this setting, but would hesitate to go further. 

Where the system seems to excel is in the reproduction of fine detail and smooth tonal transitions. We haven’t seen this sensor before and it behaves differently to those of similar resolutions I’ve used in the past. Low ISO shots accept plenty of sharpening with masking/threshold set to 0, and display masses of detail. The High Resolution mode is extremely useful if you need even more detail, and now works more successfully when there are moving elements in the scene.

It works like the same feature in the Lumix G9 – by taking a picture and then shifting the sensor half a pixel to record another part of the detail that would normally fall between pixels. It shoots eight images in all and processes them into a single 187MP Raw and/or JPEG file.  As before, although the final picture does in fact measure 16,736×11,168 pixels, I don’t think the detail really matches what would be recorded in a single frame using a 187MP sensor.

The detail resolution is more like that of a 150MP sensor, but that is still very impressive. Prints made from the High Resolution mode images will measure 56×37inches when used at 300ppi. 

Resolution is important obviously, but I’m usually more interested in the flexibility of image files and how well they retain highlight and shadow information. I found that even when working in extremely contrasty conditions I was able to lift shadows and pull down highlights to create an image with much more moderate contrast that doesn’t look manipulated or have gaps in the tonal range. Images work well in Adobe’s Camera Raw, but the best is tickled out of them in Phase One’s Capture One Pro – version 12 is compatible with these files. The straight-out-of-camera colour is also very nice, matching what we would expect from Fujifilm’s best X-series cameras, with no overdone reds or saturation in general. I’m extremely pleased with the picture quality, finding a mixture of what I’d expect from Leica, Fujifilm and Phase One all blended together. 

Although primarily a stills camera, the S1R shoots very good video too. It can record 4K 60p in 8-bit 4:2:0 150Mbps with a slight crop, and 6× slow motion in FHD. A Hybrid Log Gamma setting, which is also available for stills, allows footage to be played directly to an HDR display. 

A note on lenses

Panasonic launched three lenses with its S series cameras – Lumix S Pro 24-105mm f/4; Lumix S Pro 70-200mm f/4; and Lumix S Pro 50mm f/1.4. I usually don’t have much time for f/4 zoom lenses, but being forced to use these found I was impressed with their sharpness and lack of aberration. The wide lens mount and close proximity of rear element and sensor make avoiding chromatic faults, vignetting, curvilinear distortion and issues like comma much easier. Panasonic has made the most of that fact. The optical star of the show though is the 50mm f/1.4. Wide open it produces fabulous out-of-focus highlights and beautifully smooth transitions, and stopped down to f/4 it is incredibly sharp. The Leica L lenses have real competition on their hands here. 

Conclusions

First impressions really do count, and it’s clear that Panasonic has been careful to ensure its entry into the full-frame market gets the right sort of attention. While Canon, Nikon and Sony still dominate the full-frame arena, Panasonic needs to shout louder to get heard, and this Lumix S1R does that very well indeed. Not content to just join the market, Panasonic has pushed to include features that exceed expectations and a performance that will more than satisfy those working in a wide range of genres. I’ve been really impressed with the system’s ability to render fine details and textures, to produce excellent colours and to allow extensive tonal manipulation that can conjure moderate-contrast images from high-contrast scenes. 

Panasonic has brought something very different to the full-frame mirrorless market and shows the maturity of its experience in the way the camera handles and the speed with which it can be worked. I’m trying not to go too over the top here, but it is one of the best cameras that I’ve ever tested.