TALKINGPOINT...
l-mountlenses
AlongwithLeicaandSigma,Panasonicispartof
theL-MountAlliance,whichenablesPanasonic
tousetheLeicaL-mountontheS1andS1R.This
mountfirstappearedin 2014 andwasusedon
theAPS-CformatLeicaT.However,in 2015 Leica
sprungasurpriseandusedthesamemounton
itsSL,afull-framemirrorlesscamera.
TheL-mounthasaninnerdiameterof51.6mm
andaflangedistanceof20mm.Thosefigures
areimpressive–butnotquitesoflashasthose
ofNikonZ-seriescameras,whichhaveawider
mountdiameter(55mm)andanevenshorter
flangedistance(16mm).Nevertheless,according
totheL-MountAlliance,thisdesignenablesdust
andmoisturesealstobeusedandallowsforfast
lenscreation.
HavingthreemanufacturersintheL-Mount
Alliancemeansthatthenumberofcompatible
lensesshouldgrowquickerthanaverage.JointheDeBateonoursoCialMeDianow: @DPhotographer http://www.facebook.com/DigitalPhotographeruK
room for a sturdy grip and bigger controls,
which combine to make it feel good in your
hand. Front and rear dials, plus a control wheel
on the back of the camera and the excellent
touch-screen also allow you to adjust settings
quickly and easily.
With 5,760,000 dots, the OLED electronic
viewfinder (EVF) is the highest-resolution
viewfinder around. The view in it is superb
until light levels fall; then it becomes a bit
laggy, at either of its frame rates.
On the back of the camera, the 3.2-
inch, 2,100,000-dot screen has a dual-tilt
mechanism that feels robust. It’s useful for
video and stills in whichever orientation you
shoot, but it can’t be flipped for viewing from
in front of the camera.
The extensive menu is arranged reasonably
logically, although its habit of sending you
back to the last feature you accessed in each
tab as you navigate between sections means it
takes a while to find features in the early days.
You seem to be continually scanning up and
down, looking for the feature you want.
The results from the S1 don’t hold any major
surprises, as they accurately reflect what
you see in the EVF and main screen when
Constant Preview is selected in the menu. As
we’ve found before with Panasonic cameras,
the standard auto white balance setting is
pretty reliable in natural light, but the Fine
Weather setting tends to produce slightly
more pleasing results.
The S1’s 24Mp sensor strikes a nice balance
between detail level and noise visibility. Noise
is controlled well up to around ISO 12,800,ReviewS