Two cameras both potentially suitable for Netflix – the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) and the Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H). Which one is a better investment for serious filmmakers?
Here’a fun comparison.
Important!
Obviously the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) hasn’t been released yet. Treat this as a fun comparison, or a placeholder article, with currently available information.
In many ways, I’m writing this article to understand the distinction myself. Do these cameras serve an overlapping market, or will they appeal to different sets of filmmakers?
I hope to get the a7S III for review soon. I have shot with the S1 and have played around with the S1H a little bit.
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What kind of filmmaker needs autofocus?
I recently shot a documentary. I had an assistant who also operated a DJI Ronin S (Amazon, B&H).
The idea is, I could potentially have shot the documentary myself, with the entire kit in a backpack.
For the solo filmmaker, having AF is a tremendous advantage. But it has to be reliable. The importance of good autofocus for corporate videos, interview situations, gimbals and weddings cannot be stressed enough. It just saves you a lot of time and money.
If absolutely and critically need autofocus, then the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) can’t be beat (except maybe by the Canon EOS R5). The AF on the S1H is poor and unreliable.
The rest of the article assumes you don’t need world-class AF.
Who are these cameras aimed at?
Sony has aimed the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) at wedding shooters and event shooters, since they form the core of the business. Of course, the a7S III is good enough for many other kinds of productions, as well as Netflix. It is also a B-cam for more expensive cinema cameras.
The S1H can stand alone, but is also aimed as a B-cam for the Panasonic Varicam.
Ruggedness is critical. It is assumed you are not pulling out your camera in air-conditioned halls all the time.
Reliability is key. Both cameras are expected to do well.
If you’re not earning good money already it is hopeless to spend money on expensive gear.
I’m personally only interested in both cameras as A-cams, but I’m not the main market for them!
This article, though, will try to balance all worlds.
Quick menu
- Comparison of sensors and video features
- Exposure, focus and ergonomics
- The costs of media and batteries
- Which is cheapest to own?
- Verdict. Who wins?
Comparison of sensors and video features
Here’s how the camera sensors compare for video:
| Camera | Resolution | Maximum FPS* | Video ISO Range^ |
| Panasonic S1H | 5952 × 3968 | 24p | 640-51,200 |
| Sony a7S III | 3840 x 2160 (4264 x 2408 in RAW) | 119.88p | 40-409,600 |
* Maximum fps at 4K is 60 fps for the S1H and 120 fps for the a7S III.
^Even though the cameras seem to go to impressive ISOs, that’s only in stills mode. The ISO range for video is limited – but not for the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H). This is the low light champion of the world! The S1H is no slouch either. I think both cameras will be equally good for most practical shooting needs.
What about 4K frame rates?
| Camera | Max fps at 4K | Dynamic Range | Max fps at 1080p |
| Panasonic S1H | 60 fps | 14 stops | 180 fps |
| Sony a7S III | 119.88 fps | 15 stops | 240 fps |
The Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) really is a step ahead here, with better frame rates across the board, and more dynamic range.
Even if we account for discrepancies in dynamic range measurement between the two companies, I fully expect image quality to be on par with each other, practically speaking.
The major downside of the a7S III is the overheating limitation in 60p and 120p. I don’t expect it be as bad as the Canon EOS R5, though. It should be practical.
This goes to the a7S III.
Next, the codecs and color information:
| Camera | RAW and Code in 4K and Higher | Color Information |
| Panasonic S1H | Prores RAW | H.264/H.265 ALL-I | RAW | 10:bit 4:2:2* |
| Sony a7S III | Prores RAW | H.264/H.265 ALL-I, IPB | RAW | 10-bit 4:2:2/8-bit 4:2:0 |
Here you see the first big limitation of the S1H. It is restricted to compressed codecs internally, and for 6K you only get 4:2:0. However, if you’re restricting yourself to 10-bit 4:2:2 4K in V-log, you should be okay. This is similar to what you get with the a7S III.
The a7S III goes up to 4.2K in RAW, and at a maximum frame rate of 60p. In this respect it pulls ahead. There’s no recording limitation or overheating with an external recorder.
For both cameras, you need the Atomos Ninja V for RAW.
| Camera | Expected Rolling Shutter Performance |
| Panasonic S1H | Rolling Shutter is Average |
| Sony a7S III | Rolling Shutter is 3x better than the a7S II, and looks good! |
The rolling shutter in the a7S III seems to be better than the S1H in initial test shots.
I’ll not talk about the audio features since that needs to be tested in the real world. They have similar features and ports. However, the fan on the S1H is loud.
Focus and exposure aids, and ergonomics
What’s the point of RAW if you can’t expose it correctly? The little things make all the difference:
| Camera | Exposure |
| Panasonic S1H | Waveform, Vectorscope, Zebras, Histogram, Meter, 3D LUTs |
| Sony a7S III | Histogram, Meter, Zebras |
The S1H is clearly better in this regard. Both have focus peaking.
As far as size and weight are concerned:
| Camera | Ergonomics | Weight |
| Panasonic S1H | It has a fan and it is audible, grip is painful, not the most pleasurable to hold. | 1052g |
| Sony a7S III | No fan, small grip makes the camera front heavy with most cine or zoom lenses. | 650g |
Weather sealing is promised on both cameras, even though the S1H has a fan.
Overall, for ergonomics I’ll give it to Sony. The fan is the problem. It’s loud!
Image Stabilization
Both the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) and Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H) have internal image stabilization (IBIS). If the lens doesn’t have IS, then I think it’s limited to about 3-5 stops.
In initial tests, the a7S III has better stabilization, especially with the new “Active Mode” (but with a small crop).
Batteries and media cards
Here’s a look at the media
| Camera | Dual card slots | Price per GB for 512 GB* |
| Panasonic S1H | Yes, SDXC | $0.33/GB |
| Sony a7S III | Yes, CFexpress Type A or UHS-II SD Card | $2.49/GB and $0.33/GB |
CFexpress cards are not cheap (comparing Sandisk Extreme Pro to be fair). For practical shoots, you will need multiple cards. This could really add to your budget for RAW shooting.
For the a7S III, you need CFexpress cards for 4K 120 fps. The SD cards can only go up to 60p in 4K. Also, you need to buy a special Sony reader as well. It gets expensive, fast!
Tie here, all things considered.
What about battery life?
| Camera | Battery life* | Cost one one battery | Cost of 6 hours of operation |
| Panasonic S1H | 60 minutes | $88 | $528 |
| Sony a7S III | 80 minutes | $78 | $351* |
I’m going to give this to Sony for smaller and lighter batteries, and for better battery life. The lack of fan makes a difference!
Which is cheaper to own?
Let’s just add up the costs:
| Camera | Sony a7S III | Panasonic S1H |
| Camera body | $3,498 | $3,998 |
| Media and Accessories^ | Tie | Tie |
| Batteries* | $351 | $600 |
| Total | $3,849 | $4,598 |
The prices are really similar to both. The external recorder will add costs to both if you need RAW (which as of this writing is still not available). It looks like Sony is cheaper and it is, as long as you don’t want CFexpress. Buy one card and reader, and you’re even.
Recap
First, a recap:
| Feature | Winner |
| Sensor and ISO | Sony a7S III |
| Video features | Panasonic S1H |
| DR and Color | Sony a7S III |
| Rolling Shutter | Sony a7S III |
| Exposure Aids | Panasonic S1H |
| Media | Tie |
| Lenses | Sony a7S III |
| Ergonomics | Tie |
| Ports and Monitoring | Tie |
| Audio | Sony a7S III |
| Autofocus | Sony a7S III |
| Battery life | Sony a7S III |
Before we take our final decision, we’ll let the cameras tell us what they offer that the others don’t:
| Camera | USP | Major Cons |
| Panasonic S1H | Exposure tools, unlimited recording | Fan noise, size and weight |
| Sony a7S III | 4K 120p and 4.2K RAW in 60p, Autofocus, lightweight | Overheating, expensive media for this price-class |
My Verdict
I said I’ll try to provide a balanced overview, even though it’s hard. Here’s what I think:
| Type of Filmmaking | Preferred Camera | Major Reasons |
|---|---|---|
| Short documentaries and corporate videos | Sony a7S III | AF makes the difference. |
| Major documentaries or B-cam to the same | Panasonic S1H | Long recording times and no overheating. AF not that critical. |
| Short or feature films | Tie | Depends on AF, as mentioned earlier. |
| Music Videos | Sony a7S III | 120 fps and 240 fps |
| Journalism | Sony a7S III | Lightweight, battery life, autofocus |
| Wildlife | Sony a7S III | Autofocus and low light performance |
| Weddings and Events | Sony a7S III | AF is very important. Low light is very important. Weight is important! |
I know people won’t care if they can afford the camera they want, regardless of what might be best for them. If you’re under a budget and seriously considering which camera is best, I hope this comparison helps you some.
For me, the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) wins. It’s the camera I would pick if I had to fulfill multiple roles as a video shooter or cinematographer.
And, even if you don’t want autofocus, you have it when you need it.
Hopefully I’ll get my hands on the Sony a7S III (Amazon, B&H) soon (I’ve placed pre-ordered one) to put it through its paces.
What do you think?
I’d pick the A7siii because I love autofocus and compactness. But to your audio category…the S1h wins every time. I’ve owned one and never heard my fan, but most importantly you can set the mic jack to “line-in” so I can run my mix-pre 3 output into the camera and record in camera high quality audio while also recording it on the recorder itself for a back up. That’s kind of a huge, yet under the radar feature.
Hey man, so there’s one significant thing which I felt was left out is the dual native iso – of the S1H. A7s3 is just pushing the gain to achieve the necessary exposure and using internal noise reduction – but I am not sure about the raw capabilities.
I’m seriously thinking of going to the Sony A7siii as A and B cam to the fx9. And this is all projecting into the future. I need to replace or upgrade the cameras I’m using now .
We shoot Live Music shows and then edit them down to be aired on tv . At the moment we shoot with 4 Nikon DSLRs; two d500s , one d810 and one d850 . Then we have a Canon DSLR , a Sony A6400 and a Panasonic gh4 With a Metabones to f mount.
We have four Atomos recorders and need more .
We are looking to start using the income form the show episodes to start replacing cameras. We want an fx9 or two later but start with replacing the Nikon DSLRs with the A7siii. Fist camera gone is the Canon apsc . The Sony image is closest to the Nikons . It has a more digital and harder look with blacker blacks . The Nikons image is hands down better that the other cameras.
I did now see a rumor on Nikon might be coming out with cameras with much better video. So we will sit and wait a bit . But still we believe for what we do an fx9 is a great camera to have in the company.
bitrate!! Sony have very poor internal bitrate compared to Panasonic!
Am I right?
What is “poor bitrate”? I would call them even with available information. When I get my hands on the a7S III I’ll know better.
4k 24p 10 bit All I internal recording
Sony 240Mbps
Panasonic 400 Mbps
Sony record in h.265 which is half the bitrate of h.264.
Mmmm. They recomend to shoot h264 for better quality. For some resone… wait for deep tests! And bitrate matter!)