Everyone is telling me that I need the new iPhone “for the camera.” Yep, I’ve fallen for that a few times, and while the camera on my old iPhone 11 is still pretty good, my day job over at TONEAudio still has me using a DSLR or Mirrorless camera in the studio every day. I’ve been a Nikon guy most of my life, but these days I have a wider palette of tools at my disposal. I still use a Nikon D800 with a bevy of lenses, and a Sony A7 III with mostly Leica R lenses. Occasionally, I break out the Leica M9, but the latest tool of choice is the Panasonic Lumix S1R.
This 47.3 Megapixel beauty feels like my old Nikon F3 with motor drive in my hands, but it does so much more. Cameras for a while, like phones had been getting smaller and smaller to the point, that they not only are tough to hold steady for a shot, but the buttons and readouts had become near impossible for anyone over 30 read. (and I didn’t need reading glasses till 50)
We can argue about that till the cows come home, and the cows on my morning drive are snoozing in their barn as I write this.
The pictures the Lumix delivers are beyond anything I’ve yet had the pleasure to use in my photographic career. Regardless of whether you use the eyelevel viewfinder like an SLR camera, or the viewing screen on the back – images are easy to compose. If you take advantage of the S1Rs snappy autofocus, you merely point on the view screen (also a touch panel) to pick your point of focus. Done.
Like getting more power out of a normally aspirated BMW, this kind of horsepower isn’t inexpensive. The S1R with Lumix 24-105mm F4, L series lens will set you back about $4,600. And if you really want to get wacky with the checkbook, these L series lenses also happen to be made by Leica, for their version of this camera. I’m gonna have to wait till the cows come back out (and my taxes are paid) to investigate this option, but I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.
Here’s a couple of shots from this morning’s drive in the E34. You’ll be seeing and hearing more about the Lumix S1R in the months to come. For my photo enthusiast readers, these were shot on a pretty blustery morning at ISO 1600.
If you’d like to find out more about the Lumix S1R, please click here to visit the factory site:
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