Panasonic DC-S1 Gets DxOMark Score

2019.04.09

DxOMark brings us the first preview of the image-quality of Panasonic's first pair of Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera with the rating today of the 24 megapixels Lumix DC-S1. This is the high-speed and lower-resolution of the S1 and S1R near-twins.

The new DC-S1, where DC stands for Digital Camera, rather than the DSC-S1 which is a much older ultra-compact Digital Still Camera, is one of two mirrorless from Panasonic to be built around the full-frame L-mount licensed as a 3-way agreement between Leica, Panasonic and Sigma. The 24 megapixels CMOS sensor in the S1 features a standard ISO 100-51200 range, expandable to 204800, and is mounted on a 5-axis image-stabilization system.

DxOMark rates the new S1 at 95 which falls right inline with the top 24 megapixels competitors, notably the Nikon Z6 and Sony A7 III which score 95 and 96, respectively. In fact, their performance is extremely similar. The Panasonic scores a 25.2 color-depth, just below the Z6, while reaching 14.5 EV, just above it. The Sony A7 III scores the reverse, a tiny bit more dynamic-range and a fraction less color-depth. All in all, such differences should be completely unnoticeable in real-world photos.

For High-ISO, the Panasonic scores 3333 which is too close to call over the Nikon's 3299 but 15% less than the Sony's 3730 which gives that camera its one-point lead. Until we get stabilization efficiency scores, it will be impossible to say which of these will actually perform better in low-light.

The 95 score of the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 highlights this new camera as a serious contender in the Full-Frame Digital Camera market.