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The 10bit 4K offered out of the box right now on the S1 is equivalent to 140Mbit H.264 (similar to a Nikon Z6 or D850) but half the file sizes. The Nikon Z6 will get ProRes RAW via HDMI “from May/June onwards” and that’s free, so something for Panasonic to consider there. Initially the Panasonic S1 will use normal H.265 at quite low bitrates, no raw, before a paid firmware update later unlocks higher bitrates in 10bit and V-LOG, but still no raw. Blackmagic of course now have BRAW on the Pocket 4K camera. Sony for example, on the upcoming A7S III is said to be using H.265 compression in their RAW codec which is an interesting hybrid of the two. Rec.2020 colour is used in 10bit mode along with a Hybrid LOG Gamma curve, which make the source files particularly good for grading.īroadly speaking, the Panasonic S1 H.265 codec carries on a trend that began with the Samsung NX1 in 2014 towards replacing H.264, but it’s been such a slow trend that advanced compressed RAW formats are now available that balance smaller file sizes, ease of playback and editing with image quality as well. So now’s your chance, if you’re wondering how good the initial 10bit codec is at just 72Mbit or how well it grades, to download my files and have a look for yourself… I couldn’t offer any original files from my shoot in Barcelona as the firmware back then was version 0.7. The 4K full frame S1 is on my desk at EOSHD HQ and for the first time it’s the final released camera that is shipping to stores, with firmware version 1.0.
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