The Panasonic S1IIE takes a much loved camera sensor, boosts its performance, adds a ton of useful features, and then comes in at a significantly cheaper price than the regular S1II. I wanted to look at this camera specifically from the perspective of a wedding and commercial documentary freelance filmmaker, so if you are considering picking this up for jobs where you can actually make money filming things, this is the review for you.

Also, for the sake of ethics, I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by Panasonic, but they did give me access to this camera on a long term loan, and whenever they ask for it back, I will happily return it to them.

The S1iiE Sensor May Look Familiar

The first thing you need to know about the S1IIE is that it’s very much a fusion of Panasonic’s older technology with the new, because while this camera has the same much loved sensor as the Panasonic S5II, their engineers have worked hard to push that sensor to its absolute limits, unlocking new features and capabilities while also giving the camera the same updated body as the S1RII and the S1II.

So if you’re someone who has been considering buying the S5II or the S5IIX, just know that the S1IIE is really the ultimate expression of what Panasonic is able to give you with that sensor. You’re getting all the other bells and whistles they’ve created with their new cameras, wrapped around the older sensor, which is exactly what saves you money. If you want to see what the newer body brings to the table on its own, I broke that down in 48 Hours With The Panasonic S1 II.

Frame Rates & Resolutions

The S5II could record 6K open gate up to 30 frames per second, and 4K at up to 60 frames per second with a 1.5 times crop. With the S1IIE, Panasonic has finally managed to unlock 6K at 60 frames per second, which is great, but I need you to be aware of the catch.

The catch is that whenever you choose to record 6K at 60fps, the camera crops the top and bottom of your image to the Cinemascope 2.4 to 1 aspect ratio. So if you’re someone who commonly films with those nice cinematic black bars, congratulations! You’re going to love this, because the camera is already doing it for you.

If you’re someone like me who commonly films and delivers in the more traditional 16 by 9, though, you’ve got a choice to make, and it’s actually a pretty interesting one. You can drop your resolution down to UHD to get a 16 by 9 image at 60 frames per second with that 1.5 times crop. Or, and here’s where it gets interesting, you can film your full frame 6K 60fps video with the Cinemascope bars and then zoom in on the video in post until the bars are gone, which by my measuring leaves you with roughly a 1.2 to 1.3 times crop. That isn’t nearly as bad as 1.5.

Otherwise, from a cropping perspective, the S1IIE offers all the same resolutions and frame rates as the S5IIX, while adding several other Cinemascope formats in 4K. And here’s a big improvement: just like the S1II and the GH7, this camera supports recording in ProRes RAW up to 5.8K at 30 frames per second, and in Cinema 4K at up to 60fps with that 1.5 times crop.

Image Quality & ISO

From an overall image quality and ISO perspective, the S1IIE performs very similarly to the S5II, and in my testing it looks great sitting next to the S1II as well, although it does have slightly less dynamic range because that camera has the dynamic range boost option.

The main thing I would keep in mind is the dual base ISO. The S1II has a brand new sensor with a dual base ISO of 640 and 5000, while the S1IIE’s older sensor has a base of 640 and 4000, so you are getting slightly worse low light performance. If low light is the thing you care about most, I put that question head to head in Panasonic S1ii Vs Sony a7S III.

32 Bit Float Audio Recording Yay

Other than the older sensor, pretty much everything else in this camera has been improved, and one of the biggest upgrades is in the area of audio. Just like all the other newer Panasonic cameras introduced since roughly mid 2024, the S1IIE supports internal 32 bit float audio recording with the Panasonic DMW-XLR2 hot shoe adapter.

At the time I recorded this, Panasonic is still the only camera manufacturer offering internal 32 bit float audio. Whenever you consider how much time this saves you not having to synchronize audio in post, because you already have high quality audio recorded alongside your video, the XLR adapter is completely worth it in my opinion, and it’s one thing I would absolutely recommend picking up over an external audio recorder.

Excellent Autofocus Performance

This camera has the exact same autofocus system as the S1II, enhanced with AI, making this arguably the best autofocus system Panasonic has ever put in a camera. I’ll say the same thing I said in my GH7 review: in my testing, I find this autofocus to be incredibly competitive with what Sony and Canon are doing.

If you’ve been someone who’s been hesitant about Panasonic autofocus performance in the past, I would not be with this camera. You can trust it to keep recording properly without losing focus. It’s great. It took a long time to get here, but I’m so thankful that we are finally here.

Overheating Performance In The Texas Heat

This is an older sensor in a newer body with new features like 6K 60fps Cinemascope recording, so I wanted to push it. I put the camera outdoors in direct sunlight in the Texas heat, which is where I live and which is the perfect testing location for cameras, in approximately 85 degree weather. Screen pulled out, fan set to auto 2 so it ramps as high as it needs to, the high heat setting enabled in the menu so the camera lets itself get hotter before shutting down, and a Panasonic approved CFexpress Type B card in the slot.

Then I set it to a rather extreme 6K at 60fps in the Cinemascope aspect ratio, which is the maximum this camera can do. It lasted 49 minutes and 34 seconds before overheating. To be clear, yes, it did overheat, but I struggle to think of anyone needing to record 6K 60fps video for 50 minutes straight. That’s a bit extreme. Let me know in the comments if you’re one of those people.

I also wanted to test it in a more realistic way, so to mimic filming an outdoor wedding ceremony, I set the camera to record 6K at 24 frames per second. It ran for 54 minutes and 13 seconds before the sun started going down, things cooled off, and I had to go parent my children. The camera was warm, but there was no overheating warning, the fan wasn’t running too hard, and I think it could have kept going until the battery died.

So just like the S5IIX did not have an overheating issue, I would say the S1IIE does not either, unless you’re someone who needs to record 6K at 60 frames per second for almost an hour. In which case, are you insane? Maybe you are. Let me know.

Timecode Improvements (And Negatives)

The S1IIE performs identically to the S1II here, which is an improvement over the S5IIX but still not where it needs to be. This camera supports timecode over Bluetooth, so as long as you buy an Atomos UltraSync BLUE, you can connect it wirelessly and synchronize your camera with an external audio recorder like a Zoom or a Tascam, or even another Panasonic camera.

While I appreciate seeing Bluetooth timecode, I really wish timecode was supported over a physical USB cable. Unfortunately that isn’t possible on the S1IIE, just like it wasn’t possible on the S5II. So if you want to use a non Atomos device, something from Deity or Tentacle Sync, you’ll still have to sync your timecode over audio using the microphone jack, which is definitely a pain. If you do want to run timecode over Bluetooth, I made a full deep dive on exactly how to set it up. I’m thankful Bluetooth timecode is here, but give me a hardware connection over USB too, Panasonic. Or hey, I’ll take a flash sync port. Either way.

Should You Choose The S1iiE Or The S1ii?

Looking at this camera overall, Panasonic is truly trying to stretch a relatively old sensor to its limits. They’re teaching the old dog new tricks, literally, while giving it a ton of useful features and capabilities pulled from the S1II.

Your decision is mostly going to come down to sensor technology, and whether you’re comfortable paying a decent chunk of money to not have a crop in slow motion. Panasonic tells me the S1IIE is $2,500 and the S1II is $3,200. You can check current pricing on the S1IIE at B&H and the S1II at B&H. If you choose to save that $700, you’re still getting a camera capable of 6K open gate, 32 bit float audio recorded internally, the same autofocus system, Bluetooth timecode, and so on, which is a really great deal. But your dynamic range and low light performance are going to be slightly worse, and anything you film at 60 frames per second in full frame is going to have that 1.5 times crop, unless you want to do the wonky workaround of filming 6K Cinemascope and zooming in for about a 1.3 times crop on a 4K timeline.

It’s an annoyance, but really, that’s it as far as compromises go. If you can look past that, it’s kind of hard for me to recommend the S1II over the S1IIE. But if you can’t, and you’re tired of dealing with a crop, and you want full frame video at 60fps finally, and you have $700 more to spend, go for the S1II, because hopefully you’re filming videos for paying clients and you’re going to make that money back very quickly while also having an easier workflow.

Or heck, if you need an A cam and a B cam, the S1II would make a great A cam with basically no compromises, while the S1IIE would be great as a B cam for secondary shots. Not a bad idea, right?

Whichever one you land on, I’ve put together a Panasonic S1 II Menu Setup Guide that walks through the settings that get you the highest quality video out of these bodies, and you can sign up here to be notified whenever I release a new one. The footage in this video was graded with my own WhoisMatt LUTs if you want the same look, and if you want to get faster and better at the editing side of all this, you can download my Edit Videos Like A Pro guide completely for free.

Let me know in the comments what you think of these two cameras and which one you’d choose!