Panasonic S1 and S1R for the flightdeck ?

[SkyTeam]

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Hello guys, 
I am a fresh airline pilot and I asked in a German forum about the perfect camera for some nice , high quality flightdeck footage/pictures. They recommended me to ask here about some experience with the new S1 and S1R.  I am a complete newbie when it comes to photography so I am really sorry for mistakes etc. What do you think? Is a S1 or S1R a good choice for such a situation or what would you recommend ? My budget is about 4500€ and I thought at first place about the Nikon D850 or Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. 

 

Thank you guys 🙂 

Edited May 18, 2019 by SkyTeam

[jaapv]

Panasonic is, in general, a very good choice for Video. You need a good wide angle lens. 

[Greg Haag]

Not certain, but my impression is the S1 is the better choice for video.

[SkyTeam]

Thank you and which lenses would you recommend ? My priority one are pictures and second one videos because I have a GoPro and it's difficult to mount such a huge and heavy camera in the cockpit. 

[Greg Haag]

I also own the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, if you also intend to shoot stills in that situation, this may be the better camera due to the speed at which it will focus.  This is based on my experience with the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and the Lumix S1R, not sure about the S1’s focusing speed.

[SkyTeam]

And how does the Canon behave at night ? 

[Greg Haag]

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4 minutes ago, SkyTeam said:

Thank you and which lenses would you recommend ? My priority one are pictures and second one videos because I have a GoPro and it's difficult to mount such a huge and heavy camera in the cockpit. 

If your pictures are not of planes taking off, tough to beat the image quality of the Panasonic for the money.  I bought the Lumix 24-105 just to have a lens native to the camera, I think it is a great lens for the money.  I think all of the cameras you mentioned are great.  I have no experience with the D850, but I have read great things about it.  I think if speed of focus is important, I would lean toward the Nikon or Canon.  

[SkyTeam]

Thank you for all the answers. Most of the time the "situations" are clouds, cities and the cockpit itself, maybe some air to air pics, but thats all I think. And which mm would be a good choice ? 

[jaapv]

However, if you are leaning towards smaller size and less weight, the Leica CL might be a good choice. Video is simplistic, but good quality and you have better lens choice. In operational simplicity and image quality it is hard to beat. In the cockpit I would advise CL and the 11-23 zoom, for general photography the 18-56.. it might just strain your budget, but it will be worth it. 

[Greg Haag]

7 minutes ago, SkyTeam said:

Thank you for all the answers. Most of the time the "situations" are clouds, cities and the cockpit itself, maybe some air to air pics, but thats all I think. And which mm would be a good choice ? 

I would lean towards the 24-105mm if you go with the Panasonic, in close quarters like the cockpit the minimum focus distance of 11.81” might be good and it gives you a wide angle to short telephoto.

[SkyTeam]

Thank you Greg and jaapv. The most important thing for me is the quality and not the handling. I want hight quality photos and the possibility to change the lenses depending on the situation. So in general you would lean towards the Panasonic ? 

[Greg Haag]

1 minute ago, SkyTeam said:

Thank you Greg and jaapv. The most important thing for me is the quality and not the handling. I want hight quality photos and the possibility to change the lenses depending on the situation. So in general you would lean towards the Panasonic ? 

I think the Panasonic offers a lot for the money with good dynamic range, high iso capabilities and many features that I have not even gotten use yet.  Also on lenses, the Leica SL are great, and you can probably pick up a very high quality used lens in these.  I will have to let someone else recommend which one, my only experience is with the Leica S lenses.  It is a great time to be buying a camera, you can get so much for your money these days in both new and used gear.  Good Luck!

[grahamhoey]

I agree with Greg. The S Panasonics are great value given the features and IQ. If you need wider than 24mm the SL 16-35 is a great but expensive lens. Also I have seen good reviews of the Voigtlander ultra wide but I have no personal experience with them. The Voigtlander won’t be auto focus but the DOF is so huge anyway probably doesn’t matter. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by grahamhoey

[SkyTeam]

Thank you guys! I think I will go for the S1R in a kit with a 24-105mm lense.

Edited May 18, 2019 by SkyTeam

[grahamhoey]

You won’t regret that choice. Look forward to your picture posts. 

[Stuart Richardson]

Hi SkyTeam, I am sorry, it was not quite clear to me...are you interested in taking pictures of the cockpit and plane itself, or are you primarily interested in taking pictures out the windows? If you are interested in out the windows then I would advise a longer lens, though not necessarily that long. I take a lot of photos out of planes on my trips, and I have found that a mix of a lens around the 90-135mm range is good for taking pictures of the ground or clouds, along with a lens in the 28-35mm range. Much wider than that and you are likely to get parts of the plane or window in the frame, though this is usually more of an issue with the passenger seats...even at the very front of the plane, you are often photographing things as they pass by, and a wider lens is more likely to catch the engines. I have not photographed out of the cockpit windows other than on very small planes, so it may be different. If you are interested in taking pictures of the cockpit and consoles etc, then you are likley going to need a very wide lens, though you should try to use the longest you can as super wide lenses tend to distort perspectives a lot. I think the 24-105 is a good place to start, but if you are photographing in the cabin, you might find that 24 is not quite wide enough...

[frame-it]

3 hours ago, SkyTeam said:

Thank you guys! I think I will go for the S1R in a kit with a 24-105mm lense.

and a good tripod

 

[Bob Andersson]

I retired 17 years ago but with 30 years as an airline pilot under my belt could I offer a contrary view? Do you really want to lug 2 kg of camera gear around in your flight bag?

Unless you expect to be shooting in low light situations, need to print very large or need the extra stop or two of dynamic range a m4/3rds camera might be a better choice. Both the body and the glass are comparatively lightweight while still capable of great images, particularly if you opt for the better lenses. And yes, lenses in the plural as you'll have space in the bag for several. Just a thought...

[jaapv]

Exactly why I advised the CL. The quality argument is spurious - all cameras from 4/3rds upwards are capable of an image quality that was undreamt of a few years ago. APS-C is so close to full-frame as to be indistinguishable for any normal use.

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[mmradman]

18 hours ago, SkyTeam said:

Hello guys, 
I am a fresh airline pilot and I asked in a German forum about the perfect camera for some nice , high quality flightdeck footage/pictures. They recommended me to ask here about some experience with the new S1 and S1R.  I am a complete newbie when it comes to photography so I am really sorry for mistakes etc. What do you think? Is a S1 or S1R a good choice for such a situation or what would you recommend ? My budget is about 4500€ and I thought at first place about the Nikon D850 or Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. 

 

Thank you guys 🙂 

For close quarters photography you really need extreme wide, preferably zoom as you may get bored of a fixed focal length.

if you need quality in compact size with AF and video capability I would suggest to consider Nikon Z6 with 14-30mm f4 zoom, it will be well below your budget and more importantly compact and lightweight.  To stay in a spirit of the Leica forum you can easily attach M lens via suitable adaptor, M lenses are also very compact but require manual focusing.

Panasonic full frame is a brick. Only wide lens fitting to shooting in cramped aircraft cockpit would be Leica L 16-35mm zoom, that lens itself exceeds your budget. Providing you can absorb the cost of Leica zoom you end up with two bricks.

Alternative to full frame would be APS-C, format, as suggested, Leica CL with wide zoom starting at 11mm or 16.5 full frame equivalent FL (1.5 x FL).  Not sure about the price of the camera and lens in relation to your target budget.

Edited May 19, 2019 by mmradman