Lumix S1RII: First Impressions

Twice the Price, Twice the Camera?

Benjamin Grignon

January 7, 2026

The Lumix S1RII

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Panasonic’s upgrade to the older S1R, a camera designed for high resolution photography. It has a 44 Megapixel Sensor, Phase Detect Autofocus, and 8K Open Gate Recording.

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It’s a beefy camera, packed into the same size as the lower priced S5II.

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Which is nice, because my daily camera is the Lumix S5II, the camera that I would consider my golden goose. It is a versatile, hybrid camera that has reliable autofocus, is light weight, and has a full frame sensor for high dynamic range in photo and video. It’s a great all around camera, and suits my needs perfectly.

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But I had a client ask me for photos that could be printed at extremely high resolution for a large banner.

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I am confident in the S5II. But with a 24mp sensor, I wasn’t confident in how it would look with a massively blown up image. So I grabbed the S1RII, hoping I could grab some high quality stills and call it a day.

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Then the client cancelled on me.

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So with an extra day to use the camera, I brought it out to the pool hall to test it out.

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And first impressions were… mixed

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But with it having a similar body size to the S5II, but a clunkier layout, I just was struggling to capture the way I normally would with the S5II.

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It has a switch on the left side that allows you to change from photo or video, which is pretty cool. But on the S5II, I can just set C1 to a video option, and spin the dial once to shoot in C2 for photo. It’s quick since my right hand is already by the dial. On the S1RII, I have to flick the switch to photo in order to shoot stills. Meaning I have to use my left hand, which if I’m stabilizing a shot, isn’t exactly ideal.

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I was putting this camera in a tough situation and asking it to do a lot. But I know my own personal limitations, and am confident with the equipment I use. But, the phase detect autofocus was not doing well in the low light.

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It felt slower then the S5II by a good bit, and I was struggling to have it capture anything. I eventually just set it to manual focus and had way better results.

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I will say even with my frustrations at low light. The stills this camera can produce look really good.

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Lumix S1RII - Sigma 28-70 F2.8

And I was glad I had tested this camera in the worst conditions, since I was also scheduled to shoot a wedding the day after.

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This is where this camera would be make or break for me. This is the type of event where I need a fast and capable camera that can do what I need. This was a hybrid event, I was operating solo and handling photo and video.

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This was the moment that I needed the Lumix S1RII to shine.

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The goal was to try and use the S1RII for as much of this event as possible. Since I’m operating solo, I need to be present in the moment and not focused on anything else.

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But I still had my trusty S5II with me, just in case something went wrong. But I didn’t want to rely on it, I needed to put the S1RII through the paces and see how it performed.

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And it did not start out good.

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I struggled a good bit to get clean shots at the start, focus was missing, so again, I was back to manual.

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I was frustrated with the performance of this camera. It seemed like such a slam dunk for Panasonic, why was it struggling so much?

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We were only at the first location for about an hour, then it was off to location two.

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I took the opportunity to switch to a prime lens. The prime lens I was using was an f1.8, over the f2.8 zoom that I normally roll with.

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With that change, it was like the camera woke up.

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Autofocus wasn't missing. It was grabbing quickly, I was able to snap easily.

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It was weird.

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I stopped down the prime to hit 2.8, and it still performed just fine.

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So was my Sigma zoom the problem the whole time? The lens that works fine on my S5II and has never given me problems before? No.

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It was a much much dumber reason than that.

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I had switched to using only the viewfinder and joystick. When I put the Sigma back on, it worked fine, autofocus was snappy, no issues at all. My lenses are all fine, the issue is the S1RII. If you touch the monitor, instead of the joystick to grab focus, it will wait for you to confirm before it will grab focus again.

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Which isn't how any other Lumix cameras I have used work. So I would set the point on the monitor, then not understand why it didn't grab focus.

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Is it user error? Yes. Is it also a really stupid change that doesn’t need to exist? Also yes.

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So what do I actually think of the S1RII?

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I like it.

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It was reliable for the entire wedding, after using it, I got comfortable with the different controls. And I feel like it's the type of camera that could be a primary photography camera for me down the road.

But I don't need it. I didn’t feel like I needed it more than my S5II at any point now that I have used it. If it was the first Lumix I ever had, I think it would sell me on the brand.

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But it is twice the price of the S5II, and I just don’t see myself buying one of these over two of those.

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