Sony had its reign, and Leica always will have its share from its dedicated fanbase (with deep pockets), but just as Canon and Nikon were about to declare a piece of that full-frame mirrorless pie for themselves, Panasonic punches a hole through that pie.
If you’re the kind to root for the underdog, this is perhaps welcoming news. After all, it was Panasonic who brought us the very first mirrorless camera ten years ago, in association with Olympus with their Micro Four Thirds system (when all the other companies sneered at the concept). Today, Panasonic just announced the Lumix S1R and the S1, both professional grade full-frame mirrorless cameras that support 4K video at 60fps.
With not much information revealed, the S1R (47MP) is aimed at the dedicated photographer while the S1 (24MP) is probably for the photographer-videographer, since the lower pixel count is better suited to withstand the higher frame rate at 4K. Fully weather-sealed, both feature dual memory slots for XQD and SD (take that, Nikon and Canon).
The new cameras will be in L-Mount, the same mount as the Leica SL. While Leica lenses are just too pricey for many of us, this is, in a way, Panasonic leveling the field to go head to head with Sony’s Zeiss. It will be a camera geek’s dream to see the two German optics behemoths and historical rivals bring their fight to a new stage.
And given that Panasonic already made a name for itself in the video world (even with its much smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor compared to Sony’s full-frame), mirrorless companies will now face some serious competition. And that’s including Sony.