Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-07-27)

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 27 July 2019 45

The S1’s bulky body is packed full of high-end

features for both stills and video shooters

Focal points

Connectors

On the side you’ll find 3.5mm stereo

headphone and mic sockets under

a shared hinged rubber cover, along

with USB-C and full-size HDMI ports.

The remote-release socket is placed

high on the left shoulder where it

won’t interfere with an L-bracket.

L- m o u n t

Thanks to the L-Mount Alliance, this gives compatibility with 8 native

full-frame lenses from Leica (3 zooms and 5 primes), and 11 upcoming Art

primes from Sigma, alongside Panasonic’s own 3 optics. In addition, Sigma’s

MC-21 adapter allows the use of Canon EF-mount SLR lenses (see page 53).

110 mm

96.7 mm

it not for the fact that you use
these controls a lot. Overall,
though, the S1 gets far more
right than it does wrong in
terms of handling.

Viewfi nder and screen
If there’s one aspect where the
S1 trounces its rivals, it’s when it
comes to composing and viewing
images. Indeed the sensational
5.76-million-dot OLED viewfi nder
is quite simply the best we’ve yet
seen. With 0.78x magnifi cation, it
offers an impressively large and
detailed view; those who fi nd it
diffi cult to see into the corners of
the fi nder can cycle through two
lower magnifi cations by pressing
a button beside the eyecup. All
the most important exposure
information is displayed on
black strips above and below
the preview image, and it’s
possible to superimpose gridlines,
an electronic level and a live
histogram. Colour, white balance
and exposure are all previewed
live by default, while a front-plate
button provides depth-of-fi eld
preview and (more unusually)
shutter-speed preview.
The S1’s rear screen provides
another ace card over the
competition. Not only can it tilt up
for use as a waist-level fi nder or
downwards for overhead shooting,
but a third hinge allows it to tilt
for portrait-format shooting, in a
similar fashion to Fujifi lm’s top-end
cameras. Unlike a fully articulated
screen, it’ll also work perfectly

148.9 mm

CAMERA TEST Testbench

happily with an L-bracket for tripod

shooting; the only disadvantage is

that it can’t be set to face forwards

for selfi es for vlogging. Like the

EVF it’s bright and unusually sharp,

and the two are near-perfectly

colour matched. Overall I can’t

think of another camera that

provides a better experience for

composing your photographs.

Autofocus

Panasonic is unusual in not

exploiting on-sensor phase

detection for autofocus. Instead,

it uses its tried-and-tested

combination of contrast detection

and depth-from-defocus (DFD)

technology, with the latter using

information on the lens’s optical

characteristics to determine how

to achieve correct focus. This

works really well with native

lenses, and with static subjects

you won’t see any disadvantage

compared to other cameras that

use phase detection. In AF-C

mode, you can see the focus

continually ‘wobbling’ very slightly

so the system can keep track

of moving subjects. Tested with

the 24-105mm f/4, I found

the AF system delivered a

very respectable hit-rate of

correctly focused shots.

Panasonic has included its usual

array of focus-area modes, which

is comprehensive to the point of

being overwhelming. In addition

to the usual single area and

expanded modes, there are

multiple user-confi gurable

Power

The huge DMW-BLJ31

battery can be charged

either internally or

externally. It’s rated as

being good for around

360-400 shots per charge,

or up to 1150 when power

save LVF mode is enabled

Illuminated buttons

Pressing a small button

beside the power switch

lights up the top-plate LCD

and five buttons on the back.

Flash

The S1 is

compatible

with the same

dedicated

flash units as

Panasonic’s

Micro Four

Thirds cameras.

Status LCD

The top LCD screen shows

exposure settings at a

glance, alongside white

balance, metering mode and

the number of frames left on

the active memory card.