It’s been known for a while that Panasonic has been planning a paid upgrade for the Panasonic S1 mirrorless camera. And it wasn’t really unexpected, as they’ve done this before with the GH5. This upgrade adds some pretty significant video features to the S1, such as V-Log and 4:2:2: 10-bit video. It’s coming in July, but Panasonic hasn’t said how much it will cost yet.
Panasonic has announced that the company will release a software upgrade key for the full-frame mirrorless camera LUMIX S1 in July 2019. As scheduled, this paid firmware upgrade is to further expand the video performance of the LUMIX S1 for advanced video recording. The optional Software Update Key will be available for purchase from authorized Panasonic dealers.
Functions available with the upgrade program are as follows.
- 4:2:2 10-bit 4K 24p/30p internal video recording
- 4:2:2 10-bit 4K 60p HDMI output
- Full V-Log recording
・Design and specifications are subject to change without notice.
V-Log has so far only available on the professional Panasonic video cameras like the EVA1. V-Log claims to offer two stops more dynamic range over V-Log L found on the GH5 and GH5S, potentially offering better highlight control in high contrast scenes.
As mentioned, there’s no word on price yet, but it’s coming in July, which is only just over 3 months away, so I would expect a price to come quite soon.
While the benefits of 4:2:2 10-bit 4K video and V-Log are quite obvious, I’ll still never understand companiesr offer paid upgrades such as these. Why not just include it in every camera and factor it into the price? It almost feels like those “in-app purchases” in mobile apps.
We’ll update this post as we find out more about a price.
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