Is the S1/S1R a good backup camera for SL

[caissa]

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This reviewer is no fan of the S1R. Ok, but is the low-light performance really mediocre ? Or has he made it up ? The S1 has been praised for low light capability, so can the S1R be so much worse ?   https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/29/panasonic-s1r-mirrorless-camera-review/

With an interesting image gallery (75 img) containing also night shots (many pics from Paris).

Edited August 4, 2019 by caissa

[thighslapper]

6 minutes ago, caissa said:

This reviewer is no fan of the S1R. Ok, but is the low-light performance really mediocre ? Or has he made it up ? The S1 has been praised for low light capability, so can the S1R be so much worse ?

https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/29/panasonic-s1r-mirrorless-camera-review/

'On top of that, the S1R has lower dynamic range than its main rivals, the A7R III and Nikon Z 7. As such, I had more trouble recovering RAW image details in highlights and shadows, particularly with high-ISO images'

I don't know where reviewers find this sort of stuff from .....the data I have seen suggests it's as good if not better than these cameras ... and that has certainly been borne out in practice ... despite shooting bracketed images in high DR situations I have yet to need to blend any images to control highlights and bring up shadows.  This is a recent unprocessed RAW image ..... the more underexposed of a bracketed trio but with the best sea .....

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[thighslapper]

and the final processed image ....

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...... and before you ask, it prints at A2 with incredible detail and zero noise.

You can do almost anything to these RAW files and they still produce remarkably good images

Edited August 4, 2019 by thighslapper

[ron777]

Magnificent image.

Which lens was employed?  And I assume that there was considerable post processing?

Edited August 4, 2019 by ron777

[thighslapper]

21 minutes ago, ron777 said:

Magnificent image.

Which lens was employed?  And I assume that there was considerable post processing?

16-35 SL @ 18mm.

In fact the image was 90% there originally with a press of the 'auto' button in LR (see below) and this would have been quite acceptable ..... but didn't really show the actual glow of the sunset or the depth of colour in the sea and rocks. Most of the processing was trying to harmonise the sky tonally (and coincidentally to match the seaweed in the foreground ), accentuating the colour and texture of the sea , and trying to get some separation between the arch and the further island.  Global adjustments to capture the dramatic mood of the scene caused lots of haloing and artefacts so I started again from scratch and used a lot of graduated and radial filters in LR ..... each adding very small adjustments..... and then brushed in areas again with multiple small adjustments. There was an annoying bit of reflected water on the rocks that took a lot of eradicating. I have a few variations that are less dramatic, but the one above is the one that prints the best ...

With regards to processing I've come round to Alister Benn's philosophy of using almost entirely local adjustments in LR to achieve the final result. He's a very interesting photographer with an unusual philosophy and lot of different and controversial ideas. 

 

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[ron777]

Beautifully done. The image, as processed, has an otherworldly feel to it ... love it!

[thighslapper]

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2 minutes ago, ron777 said:

Beautifully done. The image, as processed, has an otherworldly feel to it ... love it!

Yes ...... a lot of the Faroes is like 'Mordor by the Sea' .... with weather to match ....

[caissa]

After the wonderful example of views of Mordor (or Faroer), here a more prosaic review that contains a lot of details that others have omitted. Examples of using the S1R with tethering, for macro, with adapted lenses, with high res mode and also combined with tilt/shift lenses ...   The most in depth experience report I have seen until now.  http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/using-the-panasonic-s1r/

Edited August 4, 2019 by caissa

[caissa]

Wong shows the two teleconverters for L-mount (Lumix-S).    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrD23msQ4so

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by caissa

[caissa]

For thighslapper. Which printer do you use to print it (you mentioned printing in your note above) ?  (Inkjet or laser ?)

Edited August 6, 2019 by caissa

[thighslapper]

6 hours ago, caissa said:

For thighslapper. Which printer do you use to print it (you mentioned printing in your note above) ?  (Inkjet or laser ?)

Epson 3880 ...... getting a bit old but still going strong ....

[michali]

1 hour ago, thighslapper said:

Epson 3880 ...... getting a bit old but still going strong ....

The Epson 3880 is still producing excellent results for me after so many years, especially B&W prints.

[erudolph]

3 minutes ago, michali said:

The Epson 3880 is still producing excellent results for me after so many years, especially B&W prints.

Me too. 

[jonoslack]

1 hour ago, thighslapper said:

Epson 3880 ...... getting a bit old but still going strong ....

 

5 minutes ago, michali said:

The Epson 3880 is still producing excellent results for me after so many years, especially B&W prints.

 

1 minute ago, erudolph said:

Me too. 

Mine died - slowly, but not very painfully - the sheet feeder just stopped feeding. it was pretty old and I replaced it with an Epson SP800 which I really like - it's the same in principle, but has a roll feeder and is generally snappier with great prints. 

[caissa]

 

Another set of measurements of the S1R plus 50mm lens.  https://www.pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/mirrorless/panasonic-lumix-s1r-review/.  For those who love numbers and diagrams. 

Another test report with strange results (for me), listing cameras by their dynamic range (but mainly from jpg). Anyway, the Q2 is top (not what I have expected). Take it with a grain of salt.  https://www.pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/medium-format/the-best-still-cameras-for-dynamic-range-ranked/.  (Personally I regard dynamic range as not so important and would never base a decision for a camera on it.)

Edited August 8, 2019 by caissa

[thighslapper]

1 hour ago, caissa said:

Another test report with strange results (for me), listing cameras by their dynamic range (but mainly from jpg). Anyway, the Q2 is top (not what I have expected). Take it with a grain of salt.  https://www.pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/medium-format/the-best-still-cameras-for-dynamic-range-ranked/.  (Personally I regard dynamic range as not so important and would never base a decision for a camera on it.)

measuring Dynamic Range from Jpeg's  ???? 

I suspect the results are not worth the paper they are printed on. The rest of the tests on the S1R review might as well be in ancient greek as it is impossible to extrapolate what they actually mean in real world use. It's a bit like giving a violinist a long list of measurements and the measured sound profile of a violin and asking him to predict what it will sound like.  These days I am only interested in tests that show images with observable variations. 

[jonoslack]

1 minute ago, thighslapper said:

measuring Dynamic Range from Jpeg's  ???? 

I suspect the results are not worth the paper they are printed on. The rest of the tests on the S1R review might as well be in ancient greek as it is impossible to extrapolate what they actually mean in real world use. It's a bit like giving a violinist a long list of measurements and the measured sound profile of a violin and asking him to predict what it will sound like.  These days I am only interested in tests that show images with observable variations. 

Well - quite a lot of sports photographers (and other PJ) shoot jpg to get it back to the office quicker . . so it might be relevant to some.

But I think that dynamic range is rather like top speed in a car - once its fast enough - then its fast enough, and all the modern cameras seem to be fine - it's ages since I haven't been able to dig enough detail out of shadows in an image. . . . and your violin analogy is a good one!

All the best

 

[iiiNelson]

1 hour ago, jonoslack said:

Well - quite a lot of sports photographers (and other PJ) shoot jpg to get it back to the office quicker . . so it might be relevant to some.

But I think that dynamic range is rather like top speed in a car - once its fast enough - then its fast enough, and all the modern cameras seem to be fine - it's ages since I haven't been able to dig enough detail out of shadows in an image. . . . and your violin analogy is a good one!

All the best

 

I'd also add that dynamic range would be important to street/event shooters but on the RAW side. One thing that alwasy bothered me though is that technique in making the most of DR is an important part of the DR. A lot of people are used to ETTR but on a lot of Sony camera (and the M9) this wasn't always optimum which I feel slanted many people's viewpoint of these cameras. On these camera I almost always slightly underexposed because the Sony usually had a stop or two on the highlights that wasn't really visible on the histogram but they could also recover 2-3 stops in the shadows... I generally protected the highlights with the M9 too and didn't worry about crushing shadows because the brain generally does a funny thing where it expects less detail in shadows which I find more aesthetically pleasing myself.

[jrp]

On 8/4/2019 at 6:14 PM, thighslapper said:

 

With regards to processing I've come round to Alister Benn's philosophy of using almost entirely local adjustments in LR to achieve the final result. He's a very interesting photographer with an unusual philosophy and lot of different and controversial ideas. 

 

I must say that I've gone the opposite way with raw files as flexible as the S1r's and rarely use other than global adjustments (with Lightroom): white balance, auto + exposure + black and white endpoint setting + tonal curve (if necessary), sharpening, vignette and there's not much more to be done.  If you need local adjustments, you may as well HDR it with multiple exposures and apply the universal recipe.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[caissa]

A serious pro camera for neophyte users ?  😎🤔   https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/18/18681667/panasonic-lumix-s1-review-mirrorless-full-frame-camera

Or better for wedding and portrait experts ?   https://expertphotography.com/panasonic-s1-s1r-review/

Or rather for DSLR shooters ?   https://www.thephoblographer.com/2019/07/31/review-panasonic-s1r-the-dslr-shooters-mirrorless-camera/

What is a Metascore ?    (A comparison of all (?!) reviews).  https://www.techspot.com/products/cameras/panasonic-lumix-s1r.189101/

Edited August 10, 2019 by caissa