Just when we thought we’d seen all the new gear announcements for 2018, Panasonic proved us wrong and announced their new full-frame mirrorless Lumix S series.
2018 has been the year of the Mirrorless camera uprising, well as far as we’re concerned anyway, and Photokina was no exception to the rule with Panasonic dropping a major bombshell. With 100 years of experience on their side, Panasonic were one of the first to announce their new mirrorless cameras at Photokina back in 2008, fast forward ten years and they aren’t disappointing with the announcement of not one but two new full-frame mirrorless cameras known as the Lumix S Series.
This announcement closely followed the launch of the perfectly named L-Mount Alliance, which sees Leica, Panasonic and Sigma banding together giving their combined users the option of using lenses made for the Leica invented L-Mount.
We’re still in a whirl of excitement after watching the live announcement of this new Lumix series, but let’s take a closer look at exactly what to expect from these new full-frame mirrorless cameras.
Both of the cameras in Panasonic’s new Lumix S Series feature 4K 60fps and 10-bit 4:2:2 video capabilities, showing that both will be able to hold their own in this department. Complete with a newly developed 35 mm full-frame sensor in both of the new Lumix S series, the two S bodies are differentiated by resolution with the Lumix S1 featuring 24 Megapixels and the Lumix S1R featuring 47 Megapixels. Panasonic are carrying on their trend and including features users of the Lumix G series fell in love with; the Lumix S series will feature the same Dual IS system with in-body stabilisation. Surprisingly Panasonic have forgone the trend of embedded phase detection AF and instead focused on a 100 % contrast-based DFD autofocus system.
We’re sure this next set of features will encourage a cheer from professional mirrorless users out there… Both the Lumix S1 and Lumix S1R will feature dual XQD and SD memory cards!
As if the announcement of two new full-frame mirrorless cameras wasn’t enough, Panasonic have also unveiled a line of new lenses for their two new full-frame mirrorless cameras. The new 24-70mm, 70-200mm and a 50mm f1.4 prime lens, with the promise of up to ten new lenses to be announced by 2020. This is where Sigma stepped in and upped the ante with the announcement of their collusion in the L-Mount Alliance and the introduction of their own highly-rated line of Art Lenses for use on L-Mount systems.
With this being such a new announcement, we have yet to confirm pricing and an ETA for the new Panasonic Lumix S series but will keep you updated as we receive more information. For now, however, you can have a look at more key features of both the Lumix S1 and the Lumix S1R on Orms Direct. (Please do note that these specifications are subject to change as more information is released)
