Panasonic Lumix S1 II

Just saw the news yesterday about the new Panasonic S1 II being announced. While it's not available yet and obviously no underwater housings or specific accessories are even on the horizon, I won't venture to talk about features related to photography but looking purely at the listed video specifications, there are a few points that caught my eye for potential underwater use down the line.

From what I've read on the official UK site, the S1 II offers some pretty robust video capabilities.

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-s-mirrorless-full-frame-cameras-learn/article/s1ii-videography.html

We're talking resolutions up to 6K (in 3:2), 5.9K at 60p (16:9), and 5.1K at 60p in Open Gate, which could offer some flexibility in cropping for different aspect ratios in post. It also mentions DCI 4K and 4K at up to 120p with a slight crop, and 4K at 60p with no crop in certain modes.

Internal recording options are quite promising, including both ProRes and ProRes RAW, which are definitely professional formats that could be beneficial for grading underwater footage directly in camera. The camera apparently has a new sensor and a double ISO circuit that contributes to a wide dynamic range,.

Autofocus performance for video is highlighted as improved, and there's mention of enhanced subject recognition. While underwater AF is a whole different ball game, any step forward in this area is worth noting.

Stabilization is another key feature mentioned, with high stops of compensation. This could be very useful for handheld shots or reducing minor movements underwater, though the effectiveness within a housing and underwater environment would need to be tested.

Other video assist features like waveform, vectorscope, and zebras are included, along with frame markers which can be helpful for framing shots.

Again, it's early days and this is just based on the specs released. No idea how it will perform in a housing or what the lead time for those will even be. But purely on paper, the video features seem quite promising for those of us interested in underwater filmmaking with a full-frame system. Will we have dedicated underwater housings? In the past, only Nauticam had a housing for the S5 in their catalogue, and the camera body is almost identical. we'll see...