S1 II banding and APSC photo mode

[JWhinnery]

I have an S1 II with firmware 1.3. I am having two issues. On other brand cameras, for example Nikon Z6III, I can easily switch between FX (full frame) and DX (APSC) in photo mode by assigning it to a custom button. I do this to get occasional extra reach. I cannot find this option in the S1II menu. I’m probably missing something. Could be a deal breaker for me. Next, I am getting serious banding using mechanical shutter as low as 1/250 sitting in my living room during the day. The room has can LED lights. This should not happen using mechanical shutter. This does not happen on other cameras I have owned, even in a high school gym at 1/1000 using mechanical shutter. I found a video on YT showing a menu option on the S1 in the “photo/other2” section, there is a "Flicker Decrease (photo)" option. This is not in the S1II menu, or at least I cannot find it. I am going to test this in a few days in a gym. This will be a deal breaker if this camera has banding using the mechanical shutter without a de-flicker option. Any advice on these issues would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[xaviergut]

I have an S1 II with firmware 1.3. I am having two issues. On other brand cameras, for example Nikon Z6III, I can easily switch between FX (full frame) and DX (APSC) in photo mode by assigning it to a custom button. I do this to get occasional extra reach. I cannot find this option in the S1II menu. I’m probably missing something. Could be a deal breaker for me

There's a way to assign an f-button to perform a one-click crop zoom. With the left dial in photo mode, go to Menu/Set, then to the second option below the camera icon. Once there, go to "Operation," which is the third "half dial" with an arrow pointing to the left, and then to Fn Button Set > Setting in Photo Mode. Choose a button. I chose the White Balance button because I do this in post-production, rarely in-camera. Press it, and you'll have a lot of options; just look for Crop Zoom. Inside Crop Zoom, you have up to six more options. You want the CrZ Crop Zoom Increment (Step). With a 35mm lens, pressing it once changes the focal length to 49mm, which is (1.4x crop) practically APS-C mode. Pressing it again changes it to 70mm. And pressing it a third time returns it to the original 35mm focal length.

If you want to only be able to change from full-frame to apsc (1.4x crop) go to menu/set>camera>Others (Photo) 1> Crop Zoom (Photo) >Set> Mini um Image Size and choose M.

This works with the Lumix S1Rii, I imagine it works the same with the S1ii.

 

[JWhinnery]

There's a way to assign an f-button to perform a one-click crop zoom. With the left dial in photo mode, go to Menu/Set, then to the second option below the camera icon. Once there, go to "Operation," which is the third "half dial" with an arrow pointing to the left, and then to Fn Button Set > Setting in Photo Mode. Choose a button. I chose the White Balance button because I do this in post-production, rarely in-camera. Press it, and you'll have a lot of options; just look for Crop Zoom. Inside Crop Zoom, you have up to six more options. You want the CrZ Crop Zoom Increment (Step). With a 35mm lens, pressing it once changes the focal length to 49mm, which is (1.4x crop) practically APS-C mode. Pressing it again changes it to 70mm. And pressing it a third time returns it to the original 35mm focal length.

If you want to only be able to change from full-frame to apsc (1.4x crop) go to menu/set>camera>Others (Photo) 1> Crop Zoom (Photo) >Set> Mini um Image Size and choose M.

This works with the Lumix S1Rii, I imagine it works the same with the S1ii.

Thank you, Zavier. I tried all of your suggestions to no avail. So I asked Chat GPT. It appears with the S1 II you have to shoot JPEG to get any of the crop modes to work. Chat's answer:

On the Panasonic Lumix S1 II, Crop Zoom in Photo mode is JPEG-only.
What that means:
Works with: JPEG
Does NOT apply to: RAW files
If shooting RAW+JPEG, the crop zoom only affects the JPEG
When you use Crop Zoom:
The camera digitally crops the image (like an in-camera zoom)
The JPEG is saved at a reduced resolution
The RAW file remains full-frame and uncropped
So if you open the RAW later, it will look uncropped.

I just confirmed through Chat that Sony, Nikon, and Canon have crop mode (apsc) for raw file photos. So for me, this is not good the S1 II can't do this. This shows for certain Panasonic is intending this camera for video only users with a small interest in professional photography. Sad. I love the video features of this camera but this is more than likely a deal breaker for me. I can speak with certainty that the Nikon Z cameras I have owned can shoot in APSC mode on RAW files.

Thanks again!

 

[CharlesH]

I use crop zoom with RAW + JPEG and get crop with RAW. This works with Lightroom, and I use it often. I don’t know about other photo editors.

 

[JWhinnery]

I use crop zoom with RAW + JPEG and get crop with RAW. This works with Lightroom, and I use it often. I don’t know about other photo editors.

Thanks Charles. Do you have firmware 1.3 on your S1 II? It doesn't let me enable crop zoom (photo) when set to raw. It is greyed out with a prompt that says it cannot be enabled in RAW, only JPEG. Could be a firmware 1.3 change or issue.

 

[CharlesH]

I have firmware 1.4, which is a very small upgrade to 1.3. The crop zoom restriction is the same. Note that I said RAW+JPEG, not RAW alone. I download the RAW and never use the JPEG. With RAW+JPEG crop zoom still works, and with Lightroom it works with RAW. I use this all the time with both the S1II and the SIRII. I’ve discussed this several times on this Forum - it is a very useful feature.

 

[Quentinquirelino]

Thanks Charles. Do you have firmware 1.3 on your S1 II? It doesn't let me enable crop zoom (photo) when set to raw. It is greyed out with a prompt that says it cannot be enabled in RAW, only JPEG. Could be a firmware 1.3 change or issue.

In Lightroom, the RAWs can be set that you directly see the crop you have captured in camera, but you have the benefit of using the full frame, if you need for recomposition.

With cropped RAW you are loosing that benefit but gain nothing but smaller files. However, 24 Mpix RAW files shouldn't be a big problem for any PC or Mac.

...Next, I am getting serious banding using mechanical shutter as low as 1/250 sitting in my living room during the day. The room has can LED lights. This should not happen using mechanical shutter. ...

Because the S1II is using a focal-plain shutter in mechanical shutter, just like almost any other mirrorless camera, banding also can happen with mechanical shutter. Only exception are cameras with globe shutter (electronic) or leaf shutter (mechanical). Other than that, that's the case with any brand what so ever. It's more an issue of the light sources than of the camera.