Six years is a long time in the world of digital cameras, so what exactly has changed between the Panasonic Lumix S1R II that was released in 2025 and the original Lumix S1R from way back in 2019?
We’re bringing you this in-depth Panasonic Lumix S1R II vs S1R head-to-head comparison to explain the differences and help you choose between these two mirrorless cameras.
You can also read our detailed Panasonic Lumix S1R review to find out exactly what we think of that camera.
Sensor
The original Lumix S1R uses a 47.3MP full-frame CMOS sensor with no low pass filter to help maximize overall resolution.
The S1R II features a newly developed 44.3MP BSI CMOS sensor that offers slightly less resolution but supports faster continuous shooting speeds and better video.
Both models use the Venus image processing engine.
High Resolution Mode
Both cameras offer a special High Resolution mode, which captures 187-megapixel equivalent photos on the S1R and 177-megapixel equivalent photos on the S1R II by rapidly taking 8 separate images and combining them into one.
On the S1R, this mode required the camera to be mounted on a tripod or other stable surface to ensure sufficient sharpness.
The newer S1R II can additionally capture its high resolution images whilst hand-holding the camera even at the full 177-megapixel resolution, which makes it a lot more versatile, although it’s still best suited to non-moving subjects.
ISO Speed
The S1R has an expanded ISO range of 80-51200, which the S1R II betters at each end by offering an expanded ISO range of 40-102400.
Dual Native ISO is a new feature on the S1R II that is borrowed directly from the S1H and Panasonic’s broadcast line of video cameras. This automatically switches between native ISO settings of 80 and 400 without increasing noise by changing the way the camera reads out the image sensor.
You can manually switch between the LOW and HIGH settings or choose Auto and rely on the camera to do so at various ISO levels.
Video
The original S1R featured 4K video recording at up to 60/50p in 4:2:0 8-bit quality with a 1.09x crop of the full frame sensor.
The S1R II ups the ante significantly by being the first Lumix camera to offer 8K 30p video recording with 14 stops of dynamic range. It also features 4K 120p recording without any crop.
The popular Open Gate format has been enhanced, allowing you to shoot in 6.4K, and even up to 8.1K / 7.2K with a future firmware update.
It also supports 5.8K Apple ProRes RAW HQ / ProRes RAW internal recording to a CFexpress Type B card for the first time on a full-frame Lumix camera. You can record to an external SSD via USB-C.
Autofocus
The six-year-old S1R was ahead of its time by featuring an Eye AF mode and animal recognition driven by Artificial Intelligence Technology.
Unfortunately it used a 225-point Contrast AF system with Panasonic’s unique DFD technology which made it slower in low-light than its immediate peers.
Fast forward to 2025, and as you’d expect the new S1R II has a hybrid contrast and phase-detection auto-focus system with AI tracking that quickly and precisely detects human eyes and faces and follows a subject’s movements smoothly.
Automatic Detection can be turned on to seamlessly switch between Human / Animal / Car / Motorcycle/Bike / Train / Airplane without having to dive into the menu system.
Autofocus on both cameras works in low light all the way down to -6 EV with the 50mm F1.4 lens.
Burst Shooting
The Panasonic S1R’s shooting mode allowed you to take 9 frames per second with the focus and exposure locked at the first frame, or more usefully 6fps with full-time AF/AE tracking.
The S1R offers high-speed burst shooting rates at up to 40fps with the electronic shutter “SH” mode, and an extended continuous shooting “H+ (High Speed Plus)” mode of approximately 10fps with the mechanical shutter, both with full-time AF/AE tracking.
The SH pre-burst mode even starts taking pictures before the shutter is fully pressed, ensuring you never miss a shot.
Shutter Speeds
The S1R offers a fastest shutter speed of 1/8,000sec for stills and video, whereas the S1R II can shoot stills at 1/16,000sec in the Electronic shutter Speed Priority mode and video at up to 1/10,000sec.
Body and Design
Measuring 148.9 x 110.0 x 96.7mm and weighing 898g body only, the Panasonic S1R is one of the largest and heaviest mirrorless cameras on the market, so if you equate mirrorless with being small, the S1R will definitely “surprise” you. The Panasonic S1R paired with the Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4 lens weighs in at almost 2kg.
The S1R II has a newly designed, much more compact body that is almost identical to the Lumix S5 II, which measures 134.3 x 102.3 x 91.8mm and weighs 712g / 1.57 lb body only.
This does mean that the the large status LCD on top of the S1R which was useful for quickly checking the camera’s key settings has been removed on the newer model.
Both models are fully weather-sealed and splash/dust-proof and freeze-proof down to -10 degrees Celsius.
Viewfinder
The Panasonic S1R had one of the best, if not the best, electronic viewfinders that we ever had the pleasure of using.
The S1R’s OLED unit has a phenomenal resolution of 5.76-million-dots, offers 100% field of view, and a magnification ratio of 0.78x with a 50mm lens at infinity.
The EVF operates at a native rate of 120fps with a minimum lag of less than 0.005 sec, which helps to make it completely flicker-free.
The new S1R II continues to use exactly the same viewfinder as the original model.
LCD Screen
The S1R has a triaxial tilt 3.2-inch touchscreen LCD with 2.1-million-dot resolution.
The new S1R II uses the same 3.0-inch, 1.84 million dot vari-angle LCD screen as the S5 II model, which offers slightly less resolution but more versatility.
IBIS
The S1R has a 5-axis, 5.5-stop in-body image stabilisation system, increasing to 6-stops when used with compatible lenses.
The S1R II has an enhanced in-body image stabilization system that offers 8 stops in the centre and 7 stops at the edges of the frame and 7.0-stops even in the telephoto range with Dual I.S.
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There’s also a newly developed cropless E.I.S. video distortion correction which stabilizes footage without cropping the angle of view.
LUTs
The S1RII is compatible with the LUMIX Lab smart phone application, enabling you to load LUTs directly into the camera.
A new LUMIX Flow app will be launched to enhance production workflows across various scenarios, such as short films, documentaries, music videos, and corporate promotional
videos. This app offers a range of features, from storyboard creation and shooting to file organization.
Capture One
For the first time in Lumix history, the S1R II supports tethering via Capture One, assisting various creators across various production scenarios.
Memory Cards
Both cameras have two memory card slots, utilising one UHS-II SD slot and one XQD / CFexpress slot housed in a dedicated compartment on the side of the body.
Battery Life
The S1R’s DMW-BLJ31E battery offers up to 340-shot battery life when using the Live Viewfinder. This can be substantially boosted to 1,100 shots using the Power Save LVF mode.
In real world use, we took around 300 stills and a few short videos and the remaining battery life was about 50%, so markedly better than the CIPA rating without having to use the power save mode.
The S1R II offers up to 280-shot battery life when using the Live Viewfinder and 350-shots when using the rear LCD screen, increasing to 1,100 shots using the Power Save LVF mode.
Price
When it was launched in 2019, the Panasonic S1R was priced at £3,399 / $3,699 body only, or £4,199.99 / $4,599.99 with the Lumix S 24-105mm MACRO F4 O.I.S. kit lens.
The Panasonic S1R II body only will be available in March 2025 for £2,999 / €3,599 / $3,499, or £3,799 / €4,499 with the same 24-105mm lens.
Conclusion
The new S1R II improves on the original model in almost every way, which is probably what you’d expect given that the S1R was launched in 2019. While owners of the original model may not like the move to a smaller S5 II-esque body, for everyone else the S1R II is clearly the camera to pick.
So what do you think? Would you choose the new Lumix S1R II or the bigger, more expensive S1R? Leave a comment below!
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