Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 vs Sigma fp L

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and the Sigma fp L, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 was introduced in February 2019 and Sigma fp L was introduced in March 2021. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 over Sigma fp L.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sigma fp L over Panasonic Lumix DC-S1.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has a 3.2" Tilting screen with 2,100k dot resolution and Sigma fp L has a 3.15" Fixed screen with 2,100k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.78x magnification.Sigma fp L does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 features a 24.2 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Sigma fp L features a 61 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 36 x 24 mm and a total area of 576 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600 and expands to 6 - 102,400 in boosted mode.

Sigma fp L has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Sigma fp L can take pictures up to 9520 x 6328 resolution.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Leica L lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

No Low-Pass Filter on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 6 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has a built-in Bluetooth which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has a Full Size HDMI and Sigma fp L has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 comes with DMW-BLJ31 battery pack with battery life of 380 shots and Sigma fp L comes with BP-51 battery pack with battery life of 240 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for CFexpress Type B / XQD. Sigma fp L has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Sigma fp L has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1, and up to 1/8000 sec on Sigma fp L. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps. Sigma fp L can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has 225 focusing points and Sigma fp L has 49 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 has detection range from -6 to +18 EV and Sigma fp L has detection range from -5 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and Sigma fp L range from 0 to +18 EV and -5 to +18 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sigma fp L.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and via Hot Shoe to Sigma fp L. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/320 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 and 1/15 sec on Sigma fp L.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 body has dimensions of 149 x 110 x 97 mm (5.87 x 4.33 x 3.82") and Sigma fp L body has dimensions of 113 x 70 x 45 mm (4.45 x 2.76 x 1.77"). Panasonic Lumix DC-S1 weighs 899 g (1.98 lb / 31.71 oz) and Sigma fp L weighs 427 g (0.94 lb / 15.06 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1

Sigma fp L

149 mm

110 mm

113 mm

70 mm

110 mm

70 mm

97 mm

45 mm