Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R vs Olympus Tough TG-4

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R and the Olympus Tough TG-4, 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-S1R was introduced in February 2019 and Olympus Tough TG-4 was introduced in April 2015. 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-S1R over Olympus Tough TG-4.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus Tough TG-4 over Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R.

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-S1R has a 3.2" Tilting screen with 2,100k dot resolution and Olympus Tough TG-4 has a 3.0" Fixed screen with 460k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R also features 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.

Electronic Viewfinder on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.78x magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Olympus Tough TG-4.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R features a 47.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 36 x 24 mm and a total area of 864 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600 and expands to 50 - 51,200 in boosted mode. Olympus Tough TG-4 features a 16 megapixel 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 12,800 in boosted mode.

Olympus Tough TG-4 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.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 8000 x 6000 resolution. Olympus Tough TG-4 is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution.

No Low-Pass Filter on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R. 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.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization (6 stops of compensation in Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R). On Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R it means that you are still getting vibration reduction when it 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 GPS on Olympus Tough TG-4

Olympus Tough TG-4 has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) technology which allows you to automatically tag the location where you took your photos. You can later categorize, organize, and search for photos based on location. This is very useful for travel and outdoor photographers for documenting the locations where images were captured.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in GPS.

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-S1R) 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-S1R

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R 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 inputs for data transfer. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has a Full Size HDMI and Olympus Tough TG-4 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R comes with DMW-BLJ31 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots and Olympus Tough TG-4 comes with LI-92B battery pack with battery life of 380 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for CFexpress Type B / XQD. Olympus Tough TG-4 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory card slot.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R, and up to 1/2000 sec on Olympus Tough TG-4. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps. Olympus Tough TG-4 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has 225 focusing points and Olympus Tough TG-4 has 25 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has detection range from -6 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R ranges from 0 to +18 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R. You can also do exposure lock and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R and exposure bracketing on Olympus Tough TG-4.

Flash

Olympus Tough TG-4 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 7.90 m at ISO 1600. Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/320 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R body has dimensions of 149 x 110 x 97 mm (5.87 x 4.33 x 3.82") and Olympus Tough TG-4 body has dimensions of 112 x 66 x 31 mm (4.41 x 2.6 x 1.22"). Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R weighs 1020 g (2.25 lb / 35.98 oz) and Olympus Tough TG-4 weighs 247 g (0.54 lb / 8.71 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R

Olympus Tough TG-4

149 mm

110 mm

112 mm

66 mm

110 mm

66 mm

97 mm

31 mm