Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1, 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-S5 was introduced in August 2020 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 was introduced in April 2007. 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-S5 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 over Panasonic Lumix DC-S5.

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-S5 has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,840k dot resolution and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has a 2.5" Fixed screen with 207k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 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.

Viewfinder

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has a built-in Optical (pentamirror) viewfinder. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has 100% coverage with 0.74x magnification and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has 95% coverage with 0.92x (0.46x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 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. Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 features a 7 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 1,600.

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-S5 is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 can take pictures up to 3136 x 2352 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has Leica L lens mount and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

No Low-Pass Filter on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5. 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-S5

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 6.5 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 on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) 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-S5

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 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. connector for video signal output.

Battery

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 comes with DMW-BLJ31 battery pack with battery life of 440 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I). Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has a single SD/MMC card slot.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5, and up to 1/4000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 can shoot continuously up to 7.0 fps. Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has 225 focusing points and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has 3 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has detection range from -6 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 ranges from 0 to +18 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 and ±2 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 13.00 m and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 and 1/160 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1.

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 body has dimensions of 133 x 97 x 82 mm (5.24 x 3.82 x 3.23") and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 body has dimensions of 146 x 87 x 77 mm (5.75 x 3.43 x 3.03"). Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 weighs 714 g (1.57 lb / 25.19 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 weighs 606 g (1.34 lb / 21.38 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-S5

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1

133 mm

97 mm

146 mm

87 mm

97 mm

87 mm

82 mm

77 mm